The Four Stages: Screening, Scoping, Public Consultation and Appraisal

In one line

The four stages are the machinery a student is really being asked about when the question says how development projects are controlled.

In exam wording: the four stages of prior environmental clearance under paragraph 7 of the Environmental Impact Assessment Notification 2006 are screening, applicable only to Category B projects, in which the State level Expert Appraisal Committee scrutinises Form 1 to decide whether an environmental impact assessment report is needed, dividing them into Category B1 and B2; scoping, in which the Committee determines the detailed and comprehensive terms of reference addressing all relevant environmental concerns; public consultation, comprising a public hearing at or near the site conducted by the State Pollution Control Board and written responses from other persons having a plausible stake; and appraisal, being the detailed scrutiny of the application, the final report and the outcome of the consultation in a transparent proceeding to which the applicant is invited, ending in the Committee's recommendation to the regulatory authority.

Stage one: screening

Who. The State level Expert Appraisal Committee.

What it looks at. An application in Form 1, seeking prior environmental clearance.

What it decides. Whether the project or activity requires further environmental studies for the preparation of an environmental impact assessment report for its appraisal, depending on the nature and location specificity of the project.

The result. Projects requiring a report are Category B1; the rest are Category B2 and require no report. Guidelines for the categorisation are issued by the Ministry from time to time, except for item 8(b) of the Schedule.

Why location specificity matters here. A project of a given size near a protected area, a wetland or a critically polluted area is more likely to be B1 than the same project elsewhere. That is the point at which biodiversity first enters the process.

Category A projects skip this stage because they always require a report.

Stage two: scoping

Who. The Expert Appraisal Committee for a Category A project; the State level Committee for a Category B1 project.

What it produces. Detailed and comprehensive terms of reference addressing all relevant environmental concerns, for the preparation of the environmental impact assessment report.

What it is based on. The information in Form 1, the pre-feasibility report or, for certain classes, a conceptual plan, and any other information the Committee may seek. The Committee may visit the site or ask the applicant for further information.

Why it decides the case. Because what is not in the terms of reference is not studied. A student writing about how a project destroys biodiversity should say that fragmentation, edge effects and induced development are usually absent from the terms of reference and therefore absent from the report.