Is India's Hazardous Substances Law Comprehensive?
Chapter One Hundred Twenty-Seven
Syllabus topic 4, "Laws on Hazardous Substance"
Pages 567 to 571 of 913
In one line
Count the instruments before answering. India has at least sixteen that govern a hazardous substance, and the honest answer is that the coverage is comprehensive and the enforcement is not.
The University has printed this twice: "Do we have comprehensive legislations to tackle the problems of hazardous substances" and "Critically analyse the existing legal provisions pertaining to the management of hazardous substance." Both invite an assertion, and an assertion earns nothing. This chapter builds an answer out of what the module has proved.
The count
Take a single hazardous chemical from the day it is imported to the day its residue is buried, and list the instrument that governs each stage.
| Stage | Instrument |
|---|---|
| Import | Hazardous and Other Wastes Rules 2016, Schedule III Parts A, B and D; Foreign Trade policy |
| Registration, if a pesticide | Insecticides Act 1968, sections 9 and 13 |
| Siting the plant | OSH Code 2020, section 83, formerly Factories Act 1948, section 41A; the Environmental Impact Assessment Notification 2006 |
| Consent to establish and operate | Water Act 1974, sections 25 and 26; Air Act 1981, sections 21 and 22 |
| Storage and quantity thresholds | Manufacture, Storage and Import of Hazardous Chemicals Rules 1989 |
| Insurance | Public Liability Insurance Act 1991, section 4, above the quantities in S.O. 227(E) |
| Disclosure to workers and neighbours | OSH Code 2020, section 84, formerly Factories Act 1948, section 41B |
| Exposure limits and medical examination | OSH Code 2020, sections 85 and 88, formerly Factories Act 1948, sections 41C and 41F |
| Emergency planning | 1989 Rules, on-site and off-site plans; Chemical Accidents Rules 1996, the four crisis groups |
| Transport | Hazardous Wastes Rules 2016, the manifest; Motor Vehicles Act 1988 |
| Discharge to air and water | Water Act 1974; Air Act 1981; Environment (Protection) Rules 1986, Schedule I standards |
| The accident | Environment (Protection) Act 1986, section 9; 1989 Rules, rule 5; 2016 Rules, rule 22 |
| Relief without fault | Public Liability Insurance Act 1991, sections 3 and 7 |
| Liability and compensation | absolute liability at common law; Rules of 2016, rule 23; National Green Tribunal Act 2010, sections 15 and 17 |
| Waste, storage and disposal | Hazardous and Other Wastes Rules 2016, authorisation, manifest, treatment facility |
| Penalty | Environment (Protection) Act 1986, sections 14A to 15F, from 1 April 2024 |
Sixteen rows, and the list is not exhaustive. It omits the Atomic Energy Act 1962 for radioactive material, the Explosives Act 1884, the Petroleum Act 1934, the Disaster Management Act 2005, and the parallel rules for plastic, electronic, battery, bio-medical and solid waste.
That table is the answer to the first half of the question. In terms of coverage, the law is comprehensive. There is no stage in the life of a hazardous substance that no instrument reaches.
The rest of this chapter
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