Air Pollution Control Areas, and Emissions from Automobiles

The Air Act's central obligations are keyed to an air pollution control area. Section 21 forbids establishing or operating an industrial plant in an air pollution control area without consent. Section 19(3) and (4) operate in an air pollution control area. So until an area is declared, much of the Act has nothing to attach to. The default is off.

The reason is historical and practical. Air pollution in 1981 was understood as a problem of industrial concentrations and of particular cities, and a national consent requirement for every chimney in the country was not thought workable. In practice States have declared very large areas, and many have declared the whole State, so the distinction now matters less than it did. It still matters legally, because the validity of a consent requirement depends on the declaration.

And note what is notconfined to a declared area. Section 22, which forbids emission in excess of the standards, applies to a person operating an industrial plant in an air pollution control area. But section 31A directions, section 24 entry and inspection, and the Board's function of assessing air quality are not so confined.

Section 20: emissions from automobiles

With a view to ensuring that the standards for emission of air pollutants from automobiles laid down by the State Board under clause (g) of sub-section (1) of section 17 are complied with, the State Government shall, in consultation with the State Board, give such instructions as may be necessary to the concerned authority in charge of registration of motor vehicles under the Motor Vehicles Act, and such authority shall, notwithstanding anything contained in that Act or the rules made thereunder, be bound to comply with such instructions.

Four things.

The standards are the State Board's, under section 17(1)(g), which expressly names automobiles.

The instructions are the State Government's, given in consultation with the State Board.

The recipient is the registering authority under the Motor Vehicles Act, not the vehicle owner. The Air Act does not regulate the driver; it regulates the office that registers the vehicle.

And the obligation is non obstante: the registering authority is bound notwithstanding anything in the Motor Vehicles Act or the rules made under it.

That is an unusual and rather elegant piece of drafting. Rather than creating a parallel vehicle inspection regime, the Air Act reaches into an existing one and binds it. The pollution under control certificate that every Indian vehicle carries is the practical descendant of this section read with section 190(2) of the Motor Vehicles Act 1988, which makes it an offence to drive a vehicle that does not comply with emission standards.

And the limit. Section 2(e) defines an automobile as a vehicle powered by an internal combustion engine or by any method of generating power to drive it by burning fuel. A vehicle that does not burn fuel is outside the definition, so an electric vehicle is not an automobile for this Act. In 1981 that was an academic point.

A worked example

A State Government wishes to act against winter smoke in a district: brick kilns burning tyres, households burning refuse, and old commercial vehicles.

The kilns. First, the district must be declared an air pollution control area under section 19(1), after consulting the State Board. Once declared, section 21 requires every industrial plant there to have the Board's consent, and section 22 forbids emission in excess of the Board's standards.

The tyres. Section 19(3) permits the State Government, after consulting the Board, to prohibit the use of any fuel other than an approved fuel in the area, with effect from a date at least three months after the notification. Whether a tyre is a fuel or a material burned is a fair question, and section 19(4) answers it either way, because it permits the prohibition of the burning of any material, not being fuel.

The households burning refuse. Section 19(4) again, and note that it reaches a householder and not only an industry.

The vehicles. Not by prosecuting drivers under this Act. Under section 20 the State Government, in consultation with the Board, instructs the registering authority under the Motor Vehicles Act, which is bound notwithstanding that Act. The enforcement against an individual driver is then under the Motor Vehicles Act.

And the three months? Sub-section (3) requires the prohibition of an unapproved fuel to take effect not earlier than three months from the notification. That is a transitional protection for people who have to change what they burn, and it should be mentioned.

Distinctions

What it does NOT mean

It does not mean the whole Act is confined to declared areas. Sections 21 and 22 and the fuel prohibitions are; entry and inspection, directions under section 31A and the Board's assessment functions are not.

It does not mean the State Board declares the area. The State Government declares, after consulting the Board. The Board approves fuels and appliances.

It does not mean section 20 regulates the motorist. It binds the registering authority under the Motor Vehicles Act. The offence for driving a non-complying vehicle is in that Act.

It does not mean an electric vehicle is an automobile here. Section 2(e) requires power generated by burning fuel.

Quick revision

• 19(1) and (2): the State Government, after consulting the State Board, declares, alters or merges air pollution control areas by notification.
• 19(3): prohibit the use of any fuel other than an approved fuel, effective not less than three months after the notification.
• 19(4): prohibit the burning of any material, not being fuel.
• 2(c) approved appliance and 2(d) approved fuel are approved by the State Board.
• Sections 21 and 22 operate in an air pollution control area; 31A, 24 and the Board's assessment functions do not depend on a declaration.
• 20: the State Government, in consultation with the Board, instructs the registering authority under the Motor Vehicles Act, which is bound notwithstanding that Act. The standards themselves are the Board's under 17(1)(g).
• 2(e) automobile requires power by burning fuel.

Test yourself

1. Who declares an air pollution control area, and after what? The State Government, by notification in the Official Gazette and in the prescribed manner, after consultation with the State Board. The same authority, after the same consultation, may alter an area by extension or reduction, or declare a new area merging existing areas or parts of them.

2. Why does the declaration matter? Because the Act's central obligations are keyed to it. Section 21 forbids establishing or operating an industrial plant in an air pollution control area without the State Board's consent, section 22 forbids a person operating an industrial plant in such an area from emitting in excess of the standards, and the fuel and burning prohibitions in section 19(3) and (4) operate in such an area. Until an area is declared those provisions have nothing to attach to, which is the opposite of the Water Act, where the Act applies throughout the State unless restricted.

3. What is an "approved fuel", and who approves it? Section 2(d) defines it as any fuel approved by the State Board for the purposes of the Act. The distinction matters because the prohibition on using an unapproved fuel is imposed by the State Government under section 19(3), after consulting the Board, so the two functions sit with two different authorities.

4. How does the Act control emissions from vehicles? Indirectly. The State Board lays down emission standards for automobiles under section 17(1)(g). The State Government then, in consultation with the Board, gives such instructions as are necessary to the authority in charge of the registration of motor vehicles under the Motor Vehicles Act, and that authority is bound to comply notwithstanding anything in that Act or its rules. The Air Act therefore binds an existing registration machinery rather than creating a new one, and enforcement against an individual driver is under the Motor Vehicles Act.