A procedure for environmental protection through control of Industrial Pollution………..
Preface
Gradual deterioration of quality of life on earth is apparent, as a result of the development structure, based on the western philosophy prevailed over many centuries after the post industrial revolution. In the decade of nineteen sixties, sensitive personals, professional environmentalists, social activists who observed these impacts on environment and human health, voiced together with the participation of the public. As a result, it was able to commemorate the World Earth Day on the 22nd of April 1970, gaining the attention of the entire globe.
With time, a stage was being created, through Environmental Conventions, Ordinances, Policies, Strategies, procedures and mechanisms to approach development, with sustainability. One of the most importantincidenceat this juncture was the global demand for a “regulatory system” panoply with scientific, technological legal and educational aspects. It is worth to mention that the establishment of the Central Environmental Authority of Sri Lanka occurred in the decade of 1980, was under such background.
Apart from that, with the open economy policy in 1977, conspicuous changes in the economy wasevident. Accordingly, there was a development in the industrial sector, foreign investments on development projects, and as the “consumption propensity” was prominent under the new liberal trade economy, it leadto increase of generation of solid waste. This in-tern, paved the way to the deterioration of the quality of the natural environment, with the uncontrolled generation of solid waste, and with the pollution caused by the industrial sector. These aspects, created a high demand for a system for environmental regulation, in Sri Lanka.
The Central Environmental Authority which was established under such background, accords its service with professional environmental regulatory service, scientific, technological, legal and educational aspects, to provide a “green and clean country with service excellence”. As the national regulatory body of Sri Lanka pertaining to environmental aspects, the Central Environmental Authority uses a few tools and strategies to facilitate the conservation, management, and promotion of the environment of the country.
Today, under this it is discussed on the “Environmental Protection License” which is one of such most effective tools, used in the control of environmental pollution.
What is an “Environmental Protection License”?
The legal tool which is used in control of discharges, deposits or emissions of waste such as waste water, gaseous emissions, noise, vibration or solid waste from the industrial sector of Sri Lanka, is the Environmental Protection License. The objective of the Environmental Protection License is to authorize such industries or individuals to discharge deposit or emit waste into the environment in accordance with such standard and criteria as may be prescribed under the National Environmental Act, and to lead such persons to carryout industrial activities without causing damages to the environment. In other words, the base of the Environmental Protection License procedure is, to create a green culture to achieve sustainable development goals.
Legal background of the Environmental Licensing procedure.
Prior to the decade of 80s, there was no legislative framework available in the country which could directly enforced on environmental conservation, though Ordinances and enactments which could be used for the same purpose existed. With the establishment of the Central Environmental Authority, and the enactment of the National Environmental Act No.47 of 1980, it was able to make legal provisions which could be compellable directly on environmental conservation.
It is discussed in this letter on the introduction of the “Environmental Protection License” as a tool for conservation of the environment, under the provisions of the amendments made to the National Environmental Act, by the (amendment) Act of No. 56 of 1988.Accordingly,the requirement of obtaining a License for the prescribed activities as per Regulations (Protection and Quality) No.01 of 1990, was ensured. Under the Regulations on protection and quality, it was published the relevant standards on discharge of wastewater.
Considering the changes in the technologies inthe industrial sector, and timely requirements of the economy and social aspects, amendments has been introduced to the regulations in the recent past. Under the provisions of the National Environmental (amendment) Act No.53 of 2000, the prescribed activities for which an Environmental Protection License has to be obtained, was published by the Gazette Notification No.1159/22 dated 22nd day of November 2000.
It is also noted that the above prescribed lists had to be amended considering the changes of activities/industries, and accordingly, new prescribed lists has been published on 25/01/2008, and 27/01/2022, by Gazette Notifications No. 1533/16, and by No. 2264/18 respectively.
Categories of Industries/Activities, for which an Environmental Protection License is needed to be obtained.
Accordingly,as per Gazette Notification No.2264/27 dated 2022/01/27, i.e., the regulations which are compellable, industries/activities are categorized for which a License is required and set out in 04 Schedules. Under schedule “A”,33 categories are included, and 71 categories are includedinschedule “B”, 56 categories under “C” and 39 categories under schedule “C” has been published under the saidGazette Notification.
The industries/activities under category “A” and “B” are considered as highpollutingindustries, “C” category as “Medium polluting, and “D” category as low polluting industries/activities.
Amendments under the National Environmental Act are being made to the Environmental Licensing procedure, and the legal requirements and mechanisms are included accordingly, and considering the level of pollution and emissions by each sector of industries, categorization has been made, for which the respective category of Licenses are needed to be obtained. It shall be noted that the Environmental Licensing procedure has contributed to the conservation and maintain the quality of the environment to a great extent.
Procedure to be followed to obtain an Environmental Protection License.
Applications as well as instruction on other requirements to be fulfilled at the time of submission of the application for the purpose of obtaining an Environmental Protection License, can be obtained from the Head office of the Central Environmental Authority, or downloaded from the official website, www.cea.lk, by the relevant industrialists. It is also possible to get information and relevant application, from any of the Provincial or District Offices of the Central Environmental Authority. Dully filled application, together with the other required documents, could be submitted to the relevant Provincial/District office of the Authority. The other documents necessary to be submitted along with the application would be; a copies of the Business Registration (in the case of registered businesses), and the Trade License from the relevant Local Authority, (or the receipt of payment to obtain the Trade License),any other document as the case may be, and a route sketch to reach to the industrial destination.
After submission of the dully filled application to the Provincial/District office of the Central Environmental Authority, it is required to pay the fee for inspection of the industry. Subsequently, the Officers of the Authority shall carry out a site inspection, and based on the observations made therein, the decision of issue or not issue of the License is being decided. In the case of the industry is being carried out and dispose, emit or discharge of waste water, or pollutants in accordance with the prescribed standards published by the Central Environmental Authority, issuance of an “Environmental Protection License” is considered after the payment of the License Fee.
This License is included with a set of conditions for which, the developer/industrialist has to comply with and carry out the industrial activities.By complying with the stipulated conditions in the License, control of the environmental pollution is controlled and hence the conservation of the environment is ensured.
The application submitted to obtain an Environmental Protection License can be rejected at the instances when the required information is not included, include false or incorrect information, or due to not submissionof the required supporting documents with the application. But, after submission of a fresh application, inclusive of all the required information and supportive documents processing of the further activities pertaining to issuance of the License wouldbe continued.
Payment of the prescribed Fee for the License and the validity period of the License.
According to the Gazette Notification No.2264/17, dated 2022.01.27, the License fee and the validity period of the Licenseare as follow;
For the industries/ activities prescribed under schedule “A” which are defined as high polluting industries, the License fee is R.15,000 /= + VAT, and the validity period of the same would be not more than 01 year.
For the industries/Activities under schedule “B”, which are also considered as high polluting industries, the validity period is not more than 01 year, but the License fee would be Rs. 10,000/= +VAT.
For the medium polluting industries/activities included in the schedule “C”, the Fees would be Rs.4000/= +VAT, and it could be paid in two equal installments, and the validity period would be not more than 02 years.
Industries/activities considered as low polluting, are included in the schedule “D”, of which the prescribed License fee would be Rs. 4500/= + VAT and it could be paid in three equal instalments, and the validity period would be not less than 03 years.
According to the Cabinet decision dated 2021/10/02, as priority has to be given for the mining materials for prioritized development activities. Therefore the revised License Fees and their respective validity periods for Mining activities under schedule “A”, “B”, & “C” are as follows;License fee for mining activities of “A” category would be Rs.45, 000/= +VAT and the validity period of the License is not more than 03 years.
For “B” category License of mining industries, fee would be Rs.30, 000/= +VAT, and the validity period would be not more than 03 years. Similarly the mining for activities of “C” category, the Licens fee would be 6,000/= +VAT, and the validity period would be not more than 03 years. Accordingly, it is clear that the Environmental Protection License is renewable, and not valid for full time of operations of any industry/activity.Therefore it is possible for the inspecting officers to monitor the impact on environment and the compliance to the conditions stipulated in the License.
It is noteworthy that the fee for the Government Hospitals and solid waste management facilities, when issuance of new Licenses as well as in renewal of License, the fees would be charged as half of the actual rate.
For the industries/activities listed under schedules “A”, “B”, and “C”, Licenses are issued by the Provincial and District Offices of the Central Environmental Authority, while “D” category Licenses are issued by the relevant Local Authorities.
For industries/ activities registered under Section 17 of the Board of Investment of Sri Lanka (BOI), the Environmental Protection Licenses are issued by the Board of Investment of Sri Lanka (BOI).
Cancellation and suspensionof the Environmental Protection License.
If any License holder violates any terms, standards,andcondition stipulated in the License,or where since the issue of the license receiving environment has been altered,or changed due to natural factors or otherwise,or where the continued discharge deposit or emission of waste into the environment under the authority of the license will or could affect any beneficial use adversely, the Authority may by order suspend for any period specified or cancel such licenses.
In the event of any discharge, deposit or emissions from any industry/activity does not confirm with the stipulated standards, but if it could be adjusted or rectified, the industrialist will be informed to rectify the matter and inform the Authority within a specified period. After the industrialist takes required steps to rectify the matter, the Authority take steps to monitor the industry on conformity, and consider issuance of the license.
In the event of cancellation, refusal to renew the license, or suspend the license, and if any holder of license is aggrieved by the suspension, or cancellation or refusal to renew the license so issued may appeal in writing to the Secretary of the Ministry of the Minister, on such decision within thirty days from the date of the notification. At the appeal hearing, the decision of the Secretary of the Ministry to the Minister shall be the final, and issuance of a new license, or instituting legal action will be done accordingly.
Responsibilities of the License holders
It is the responsibility of the license holder to inform the Authority, at the time of expansion of the industry, any alterations, changes to the process or any raw material, and obtain prior approval for the same.Also the holder shall be responsible for the discharge, deposit or emit any waste water solid waste or polluted air in conformity with stipulated standards. Within the specified time, the license holder shall take steps to submit an application for the purpose of renewal of the license, and not contravene or failure to comply with the conditions stipulated in the license for the conservation of the environment.Also it is required to submit the authority on analytical reports, as and when requested by the Authority, with the specified time duration. The officers shall have the authority to enter any industrial premises, as and when required and monitor or inspect the process or the surrounding.
It is important that the industrialists shall be well aware on the nature and the extent of the pollution caused by their own industrial processes and also, be updated on the existing methodologies for abatement or control of pollution so as to be in par with the environmental standards, and to adopt such methodologies in order to conserve the environment of our motherland. Environmental friendly practices are responsibilities of all citizens of our country. It also leads to gain honour and respect from the society on the commitment of such industrialists, on conservation of nature. The Central Environmental Authority holds the “Presidential Environmental Awards”, annually, to encourage such industrialists, and they too can get awarded at international platforms for such dedications.
On the other hand, gain of eligibility to participate and winning awards at international and globally accepted platforms by operating of industries in conformity of national standards and norms, is beneficial to the progress industrial sector. A few of other benefits gained by the industries/activities, due to operating with a valid Environmental Protection License can be listed as, minimizing or elimination of public complaints against such industrial activities due to proper maintenance without public nuisance, legal protection, facilitating when obtaining loans from banks, and approvals/recommendations from other relevant authorities and institutions, to obtain customs clearances, etc;.
This letter briefly discusses on the importance and role of the Environmental Protection License, as a tool to control industrial pollution. It is kindly requested highly appreciated from all relevant parties who are engaged in industrial activities and services to contribute to create a “greener industrial culture” which will eventually enable achieving goals of “sustainable development”
P.B.HemanthaJayasinghe
Director General
Central Environmental Authority.
