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EIA, clearances and pollution control law

The law that decides whether a project may go ahead: environmental impact assessment and its amendments, clearances and public hearings, the pollution control boards, and the Air and Water Acts. Environmental impact assessment is named in the GS3 syllabus.

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Ex post facto environmental clearance

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Prelims and Mains

An ex post facto clearance is permission granted after a project has been built or begun, which regularises a violation. An office memorandum is an administrative instruction without the force of law, while a statutory notification is issued under powers given by an Act and published in the Gazette.

What changed

  1. 14 Aug 2026

    • A judge on the bench that shaped the doctrines says they are not applied evenly.
    • His dissent in the Vanashakti review ranked the precautionary principle above polluter pays, which only repairs harm after the event.
    • His view is that a court should test whether a project complies with the norms rather than dismiss petitioners at the threshold.

    The Indian Express, 14 Aug 2026: Supreme Court has nurtured environmental law. Is it distancing itself from its legacy? (opens in a new tab)

  2. 29 Jul 2026New subject

    • The Supreme Court struck down the Environment Ministry's July 2021 office memorandum, which had created a standard procedure for clearing projects that started without clearance.
    • The Court held that such clearance may still be allowed in exceptional circumstances and in the public interest, but only through a statutory notification under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986.

    The Indian Express, 29 Jul 2026: Supreme Court strikes down the Centre's 2021 memorandum allowing retrospective environmental clearances, but leaves a narrow statutory route open (opens in a new tab)

Also filed elsewhere

  • Siting and environmental clearance · on Semiconductors, computing hardware and data centres

    Where the new capacity lands decides whether its water demand can be met at all.

  • Hydropower in the Himalaya · on Wind, hydro and other renewables

    The mountains hold most of the fall a turbine wants and most of the hazard a project cannot survive.