Illegal Traffic, Accident Reporting and Liability

In one line

An accident with hazardous waste must be telephoned in at once, the occupier is liable for all the damage, and an appeal against a refused authorisation goes to the Environment Secretary.

In the wording a student can write in an examination: rule 21 of the Hazardous and Other Wastes (Management and Transboundary Movement) Rules 2016 provides that the authorities specified in column (2) of Schedule VII shall perform the duties specified in column (3); rule 22 requires that where an accident occurs at the facility of an occupier or of an operator of a disposal facility, or during transportation, the occupier, operator or transporter shall immediately intimate the State Pollution Control Board by telephone or electronic mail and subsequently send a report in Form 11; rule 23 provides that the occupier, importer or exporter and the operator of a disposal facility shall be liable for all damages caused to the environment or to a third party due to improper handling and management of the waste, and that the occupier and the operator shall be liable to pay financial penalties as levied for any violation by the State Pollution Control Board with the prior approval of the Central Pollution Control Board; and rule 24 provides an appeal to the Environment Secretary of the State within thirty days, to be disposed of within sixty days.

Rule 21 and Schedule VII, who does what

Schedule VII allocates duties among the authorities, and a student should be able to name the principal ones.

The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. Permission for import and export of Part A and Part B wastes; the classification of wastes not listed; and the overall administration.

The Central Pollution Control Board. Guidelines and standard operating procedures; the approval of financial penalties levied by a State Board; and the compilation of national inventories.

The State Pollution Control Board. Authorisation, inspection, the register of conditions, the passbook, the annual returns, accident reports and enforcement.

The Directorate General of Foreign Trade. Import licensing where applicable.

The customs authorities. Verification of the documents accompanying a consignment.

The State Government's Departments of Industry and Labour. The duties in rule 5, including the allocation of industrial space for recycling and the recognition and registration of workers.

The allocation is the answer to a question about who regulates hazardous waste in India, and the honest observation is that six bodies do parts of it.

Rule 22, accident reporting

Where it applies. At the facility of the occupier handling hazardous or other wastes, at the facility of the operator of the disposal facility, or during transportation.

Who must report. The occupier, the operator or the transporter.

How and when. Immediately, by telephone or electronic mail, to the State Pollution Control Board.