The Coastal Zone Management Plan

In one line

Nothing in the notification can be applied to a stretch of coast until the plan for it has been made and approved.

In the wording a student can write in an examination: paragraph 6 of the Coastal Regulation Zone Notification 2019 requires all coastal States and Union territory administrations to revise or update their Coastal Zone Management Plans framed under the notification of 2011 in accordance with the provisions of the 2019 notification and to submit them to the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change for approval at the earliest, provides that all project activities attracting the provisions of the notification shall be appraised as per the updated plan and that until the plan is so revised or updated the provisions of the 2019 notification shall not apply and the plan under the notification of 2011 shall continue to be followed for appraisal and clearance, and prescribes that the plan be prepared on a 1:25,000 scale map in accordance with the guidelines in Annexure IV, which involve public consultation, appraised by the Coastal Zone Management Authority, approved by the Ministry, and not normally revised before a period of five years.

The transitional rule, which is the most important sentence in paragraph 6

Read it again. Until and unless the Coastal Zone Management Plan is revised or updated, the provisions of the 2019 notification shall not apply, and the plan as per the provisions of the 2011 notification shall continue to be followed for appraisal and clearance.

That is a rare and important drafting device. The 2019 notification supersedes the 2011 one, and yet the 2011 plans continue to govern appraisal in a State until it produces a new plan.

Two consequences follow, and both are examinable.

The relaxations of 2019 are not self-executing. The fifty metre No Development Zone in CRZ-III A, the fifty metre creek distance, the tourism provisions and the decentralised clearance all depend on an approved plan under the new notification.

A State that has not planned is governed by the older and stricter regime. Which is the right incentive, and it means that at any given moment the coastal law of India is not uniform: it depends on which States have completed their plans.

Who prepares the plan and how

Who prepares it. The coastal State Government or Union territory, which may engage reputed and experienced scientific institutions or agencies including the National Centre for Sustainable Coastal Management, and must do so in consultation with the concerned stakeholders.

On what. A draft plan on a 1:25,000 scale map, identifying and classifying the coastal regulation zone areas within the territory in accordance with the guidelines in Annexure IV, which involve public consultation.

Who appraises it. The draft is submitted by the State Government or Union territory to the concerned Coastal Zone Management Authority for appraisal, including appropriate consultations, and for recommendations, in accordance with the procedures laid down in the Environment (Protection) Act 1986.