The West Bengal Pollution Control Board has issued a Comprehensive Inspection Policy to assist and ease the investments and new start-ups in the State. This policy is applicable to following Acts and Rules:
- The Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974
- The Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981
- Hazardous and Other Wastes (Management and Transboundary Movement) Rules, 2016
The policy aims to establish a system for identification of establishments that needs to be inspected based on computerized risk assessment. The inspection requirement is classified into following categories and each category is to be inspected with differentiated norms as per Central Pollution Control Board:
- Red (High Risk Industries)
- Orange (Medium Risk Industries)
- Green (Low Risk Industries)
The policy undertakes a computerized system for allocation of inspectors and the same inspector will not inspect an establishment twice consecutively except in unavoidable circumstances. Provisions for surprise inspection or complaint based inspection is also embodied in the policy and every inspector is required to submit an online inspection report within 48 working hours of conducting inspections. Each industry registered with the Board shall be allotted Unique Identification Number known as Unit Code which shall be mentioned to every third party during the inspection process. An inspection report cum check list is also attached with the notification for ensuring uniformity.
The policy also paves way for establishing Agencies for Third Party Certification which will monitor industrial emission, wastewater and solid waste discharge industrial units classified under Orange category by the Board. The selection of such agency will depend upon a Technical Advisory Committee which will be formed by the Board comprising of knowledgeable experts in the field of environmental monitoring and assessment and Board officials. The Committee will scrutinize shortlist and verify applicants and grant recognition to an entity to function as third party certifier. These agencies will inspect Orange category industry and submit their report to the Board and such report may liable to be inspected by Board.
The official notification lays down comprehensive procedure for inspection, operating procedures, frequency of inspection and miscellaneous provisions.
Click here to read the full notification
