The Hazardous Chemical Rules 1989: Scope and the Threshold Quantity

In one line

Twenty rules of 1989 are the principal Indian law on how a dangerous chemical must be kept, and everything in them turns on a threshold quantity.

In the wording a student can write in an examination: the Manufacture, Storage and Import of Hazardous Chemical Rules 1989, made under sections 6, 8 and 25 of the Environment (Protection) Act 1986, define a hazardous chemical as any chemical which satisfies any of the criteria laid down in Part I of Schedule 1 or is listed in Column 2 of Part II of that Schedule, or is listed in Column 2 of Schedule 2 or of Schedule 3; define an industrial activity as an operation or process carried out in an industrial installation referred to in Schedule 4 involving or likely to involve one or more hazardous chemicals, including on-site storage and on-site transport associated with it, together with isolated storage and pipeline operations; and apply their heavier duties to an industrial activity in which such a chemical is present in a quantity equal to or exceeding the threshold quantity specified in the relevant Schedule.

The three questions rule 4 asks

Rule 4 states the general responsibility of the occupier and begins by fixing the application of the rules. Three questions decide whether a unit is caught, and a student should ask them in order.

Is the chemical a hazardous chemical? It is if it satisfies any of the criteria in Part I of Schedule 1, or is listed in Column 2 of Part II of Schedule 1, or is listed in Column 2 of Schedule 2, or in Column 2 of Schedule 3.

Is the activity an industrial activity? It is if it is an operation or process carried out in an industrial installation referred to in Schedule 4 involving or likely to involve one or more hazardous chemicals, including on-site storage and on-site transport associated with it; and the definition also covers isolated storage and a pipeline.

Is the quantity at or above the threshold? Schedule 2 sets threshold quantities for isolated storage and Schedule 3 for industrial activities, in two columns, and the applicable duties depend on which threshold is crossed.

Answer yes to all three and the heavier duties in rules 7 to 15 apply. Answer no to the third and the general responsibility in rule 4 still applies.

The criteria in Schedule 1

Part I sets out criteria rather than names, and a student should know the categories.

Toxicity, in three grades, defined by lethal dose by the oral and dermal routes and by lethal concentration by inhalation. The grades are extremely toxic, highly toxic and toxic, and the schedule gives numerical values for each.