Boards Under the Air Act
Chapter Forty-Four
Syllabus topic 3, "Pollution of Air"
Pages 198 to 202 of 783
In one line
There is no new Central Board and usually no new State Board: the Water Act's Boards do the Air Act's work, and a fresh Board is constituted only where a State has none.
In exam wording: section 3 of the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act 1981 provides that the Central Pollution Control Board constituted under section 3 of the Water Act 1974 shall, without prejudice to its functions under that Act, exercise the powers and perform the functions of the Central Board under this Act; section 4 provides that in a State where the Water Act is in force and a State Pollution Control Board has been constituted under section 4 of that Act, that Board shall be the State Board under this Act; section 5 provides for the constitution of a State Board where there is none; and section 6 provides that no State Board shall be constituted for a Union territory, in relation to which the Central Board acts.
The design, in one paragraph
Parliament in 1981 had two choices: build a second regulator for air, or give the air job to the water regulator. It chose the second, and sections 3 and 4 are how.
The result is that in every State where the Water Act is in force and a Board exists under it, one body administers both statutes. It grants consent under section 25 of the Water Act and section 21 of this Act. It takes samples under section 21 of that Act and section 26 of this one. It issues directions under section 33A of that Act and section 31A of this one. A single letter from the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board may be exercising powers under both.
Sections 3 and 4: the borrowed Boards
Section 3. The Central Pollution Control Board constituted under section 3 of the Water Act shall, without prejudice to the exercise and performance of its powers and functions under that Act, exercise the powers and perform the functions of the Central Board under this Act.
Section 4. In any State in which the Water Act is in force and the State Government has constituted a State Pollution Control Board under section 4 of that Act, that Board shall be the State Board for the purposes of this Act.
The words "without prejudice" in section 3 matter: the Board's water functions are not diminished by the addition of air functions, and the two sets run side by side.
And notice the condition in section 4. It is not enough that a State exists; the Water Act must be in force there and a Board must have been constituted under it. Because the Water Act is an Article 252 Act that spreads by adoption, a State that had not adopted it in 1981 had no such Board, and section 5 was needed for exactly that case.
Boards Under the Air Act
Section 5: a fresh Board where there is none
When it applies. In a State where the Water Act is not in force, or is in force but the State Government has not constituted a Board under it.
Composition. Six classes, on the familiar pattern:
| Clause | Who |
|---|---|
| (a) | a Chairman having special knowledge or practical experience in matters relating to environmental protection, nominated by the State Government, whole-time or part-time as it thinks fit |
| (b) | officials, not exceeding five, to represent the State Government |
| (c) | persons, not exceeding five, from among the members of the local authorities in the State |
| (d) | non-officials, not exceeding three, to represent agriculture, fishery, industry, trade, labour or any other interest |
| (e) | two persons to represent State government companies or corporations |
| (f) | a full-time member-secretary with the prescribed qualifications, knowledge and experience of scientific, engineering or management aspects of pollution control |
Two differences from the Water Act's section 4 worth marking.
"Labour" is in clause (d). The Water Act's corresponding clause names agriculture, fishery, industry or trade and any other interest, and does not name labour. The Air Act does. It is a small thing and it is the sort of small thing an examiner notices.
The proviso. The State Government shall ensure that not less than two of the members are persons having special knowledge or practical experience in respect of matters relating to the improvement of the quality of air or the prevention, control or abatement of air pollution. There is no such requirement in the Water Act. A Board constituted under this Act must contain at least two air specialists.
Sub-section (3). The Board is a body corporate with perpetual succession and a common seal, with power to acquire and dispose of property, to contract, and to sue and be sued.
Section 6: Union territories
No State Board shall be constituted for a Union territory, and in relation to a Union territory the Central Board exercises the powers and performs the functions of a State Board under this Act, with power to delegate all or any of them to a person or body of persons the Central Government specifies.
Word for word the position under section 4(4) of the Water Act.
Sections 7 to 9: terms, disqualifications and vacation
These follow the Water Act closely and are read with the chapters on that Act. The points specific to this Act are:
Section 7(1). A member of a State Board constituted under this Act, other than the member-secretary, holds office for three years from the date on which his nomination is notified in the Official Gazette, and continues after expiry until his successor enters upon office.
Boards Under the Air Act
Notice the small difference: the Water Act runs the term from the date of nomination, this Act from the date the nomination is notified. The Water Act's own section 5(1) says "from the date of his nomination".
Section 7(2). The term of an official member or a member representing a State government company ends as soon as he ceases to hold that office.
Section 7(3). Resignation, in writing, by the Chairman to the State Government and by any other member to the Chairman.
Sections 8 and 9. Disqualifications and vacation of seats, on the Water Act pattern, including the disqualification for an interest in a business connected with control equipment, which under this Act is about equipment for the control of emissions rather than for the treatment of sewage or trade effluent.
These sections apply to a State Board constituted under this Act. Where the State Board is the Water Act Board by force of section 4, its members' terms, disqualifications and vacation are governed by the Water Act, because that is the Act under which they were nominated. That is easy to miss and it is a fair examination question.
A worked example
A unit in Maharashtra receives a notice from the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board about its stack emissions.
Under what authority is the Board acting? As the State Board for the purposes of the Air Act, by force of section 4 of that Act, because the Water Act is in force in Maharashtra and a Board has been constituted under section 4 of it. The Board was not constituted under section 5 of the Air Act and never has been.
Whose provisions govern its composition? The Water Act's. Sections 5 to 9 of the Air Act apply to a Board constituted under this Act, and this Board was not.
And in Delhi? A Union territory. Section 6 provides that no State Board is constituted for one and that the Central Board acts, though it may delegate. The Delhi arrangements have their own history and, for air, the Commission for Air Quality Management now sits over the whole National Capital Region, which is the subject of four chapters at the end of this module.
What it does NOT mean
It does not mean there are two Boards in a State. In almost every State one Board administers both Acts.
It does not mean the Air Act's Board provisions are dead letters. They apply wherever a Board was constituted under section 5, and their differences from the Water Act, the labour representation and the two air specialists, are real.
Boards Under the Air Act
It does not mean the Central Board's water functions are affected. Section 3 says "without prejudice" to them.
It does not mean a Union territory has no regulator. The Central Board is the regulator there, and may delegate.
Quick revision
- Section 3: the Water Act's Central Board is the Central Board under this Act, without prejudice to its water functions.
- Section 4: where the Water Act is in force in a State and a Board has been constituted under section 4 of it, that Board is the State Board here.
- Section 5: a fresh Board only where the Water Act is not in force or no Board has been constituted. Composition on the usual pattern, but "labour" appears in clause (d) and the proviso requires at least two members with air expertise.
- Section 6: no State Board for a Union territory; the Central Board acts and may delegate.
- Section 7(1): three years from the date the nomination is notified, and the member continues until his successor takes office.
- Sections 5 to 9 apply only to a Board constituted under this Act.
Test yourself
1. In a State where the Water Act is in force and a Board exists under it, which body is the State Board for the purposes of the Air Act? That same Board. Section 4 of the Air Act provides that in any State in which the Water Act 1974 is in force and the State Government has constituted a State Pollution Control Board under section 4 of that Act, that Board shall be the State Board for the purposes of the Air Act. No separate air board is constituted, and section 5 has no application there.
2. What two features distinguish the composition of a Board constituted under section 5 of the Air Act from one under section 4 of the Water Act? First, clause (d) of section 5(2) names labour among the interests non-official members may represent, which the Water Act's corresponding clause does not. Second, the proviso requires the State Government to ensure that not less than two of the members have special knowledge or practical experience in matters relating to the improvement of air quality or the prevention, control or abatement of air pollution, a requirement with no counterpart in the Water Act.
3. Whose provisions govern the term of office of a member of the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board? The Water Act's. Sections 5 to 9 of the Air Act, including section 7 on terms and conditions, apply to a State Board constituted under this Act, and the Maharashtra Board was constituted under section 4 of the Water Act. It is the State Board for air purposes by force of section 4 of the Air Act, but its constitution, terms, disqualifications and vacation of seats remain governed by the statute under which it was created.
Boards Under the Air Act
4. Why did the Air Act need section 5 at all, if section 4 borrows the Water Act's Boards? Because the Water Act is an Article 252 Act, which applied in 1981 only to the twelve States named in its section 1(2), to the Union territories, and to States that had adopted it. In a State where the Water Act was not in force, or was in force but no Board had been constituted under it, there was no Board to borrow, so section 5 provides for one to be constituted under this Act instead.
The rest of this subject
These notes are cut from the University's printed syllabus. Open the syllabus itself, or the past papers, for the same subject.