Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) ( UPSC Prelims)

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News Context

The Supreme Court (SC) has re-evaluated and reversed its decision from May 2025 in the case of Vanashakti v. Union of India. This previous ruling had prohibited the Centre from issuing ex-post facto environmental clearance (EC) for mining projects or from legitimizing actions that violated the 2006 EIA notification.

About Ex-Post Facto Environmental Clearance

• An ex-post facto Environmental Clearance (EC) essentially permits a project proponent to proceed with its project without securing an EC before the project begins. • The Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Notification, 2006, explicitly mandates ‘prior environmental clearance’ before a project can commence. • In the past, in the case of Common Cause v. UoI & Ors. (2017), the Supreme Court ruled that the notion of ex post facto or retrospective environmental clearance is entirely foreign to environmental jurisprudence.

Environmental Clearnance (EC) in India

In India, Environmental Clearance (EC) is mandatory for projects that could have a significant impact on the environment. The EIA Notification of 2006 specifies over 39 types of activities, including mining, infrastructure, and power plants, that require EC before a project can commence. Projects are categorized into two types: Category A projects, which are reviewed at the Central level by the Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change (MOEF&CC), and Category B projects, which are managed at the State level by the State/UT Environmental Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA).