The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) has released a draft notification proposing to omit Common Effluent Treatment Plants (CETPs) from the list of projects requiring prior Environmental Clearance (EC) under the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Notification, 2006. This draft was issued on October 1, 2025.
The draft proposes to entirely delete Item 7(h) and all corresponding entries related to CETPs from the Schedule of the EIA Notification.
Rationale for Proposed Exemption
The proposal is based on the consensus recommendation of the Expert Appraisal Committee and the Expert Advisory Committee, citing several advancements in the regulatory landscape and industrial technology:
Industrial clusters (including pharmaceuticals, textiles, and chemicals) have significantly upgraded their infrastructure to meet increasingly stringent environmental norms.
The government now views CETPs as a beneficial solution that ensures better compliance by enforcing collective accountability and facilitating effective monitoring at one central location, instead of diffused monitoring across multiple individual industrial sites.
There is a growing trend toward Zero Liquid Discharge (ZLD) systems, which recycle and reuse the entire effluent stream, substantially minimizing environmental pollution and conserving freshwater.
CETPs are already governed by a stringent and comprehensive regulatory framework under the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974, and the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981. This continuous monitoring and inspection by State Pollution Control Boards (SPCBs) provides adequate accountability.
The exemption is therefore viewed as a measure to encourage the establishment of CETPs while relying on the existing consent mechanism of the SPCB/PCC (State Pollution Control Board/Pollution Control Committee) to enforce environmental safeguards during construction and operation.
Public Consultation
The draft notification is published for public information. Any interested person may submit objections or suggestions in writing to the Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, or send them via email to diriapolicy-moefcc@gov.in.
The Central Government will take the proposal into consideration on or after the expiry of a period of sixty days from the date of the notification’s publication.