Environment ministry notifies rules for management of contaminated sites

Hindustan Times

28-07-2025

NEW DELHI: The Union environment ministry has notified the Environment Protection (Management of Contaminated Sites) Rules, 2025 for remediation of contaminated sites by those responsible for contamination These rules are important in light of incidents such as the Baghjan oil field blowout in Assam in 2020
The rules also provide for voluntary remediation of sites that are not already identified as contaminated.
The local body or district administration, on its own or on receipt of a complaint from the public, shall identify an area affected with contaminants and list all such areas as suspected contaminated sites in its jurisdiction on a centralised online portal, according to the rules.
The notification names 189 contaminants and their response level for agricultural, residential, commercial and industrial areas.
A senior official said the rules will not apply to radioactive waste as defined under clause (xxii) of rule 2 of the Atomic Energy (Safe Disposal of Radioactive Wastes) Rules, 1987 or mining operations as defined under clause (d) of section 3 of the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957 among others. But, if the contamination of a site is due to a contaminant mixed with radioactive waste or mining operations or oil spill or solid waste from a dump site, and if the contamination of the site due to the contaminant exceeds the limit of response level specified in these rules, then remediation of the site would be covered under these rules. The rules cover various halogenated aromatic compounds, pesticides, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, organofluorine compounds, and some metals, among others.
These rules are important in light of incidents such as the Baghjan oil field blowout in Assam in 2020, near the Maguri-Motapung Wetland and the Dibru-Saikhowa National Park, which impacted the ecosystems in the area.
The local body or District Administration shall furnish the state board with a list of suspected contaminated sites on a half-yearly basis. Upon receipt of a list of suspected contaminated sites, the state board, either on its own or through a reference organisation, undertakes a preliminary site assessment of the suspected contaminated site by sampling and analysis within ninety days from the date of receipt of such a list. The state board shall then furnish a list of probable contaminated sites and investigated sites to the Central Board on the centralised online portal within thirty days from the date of completion of the preliminary site assessment.
The state board shall issue a public notice restricting or prohibiting any activity during the preliminary or detailed assessment of the suspected or probable contaminated site, taking into account the risks involved to human health and the environment. It shall publish the list of contaminated sites on the centralised online portal, inviting comments and suggestions from the stakeholders likely to be affected, within sixty days of such publication.
It is the state board's responsibility to identify, following an inquiry, the person responsible for causing the site contamination within a period of ninety days. In case the contaminated site has been transferred by the person (transferor) causing the contamination to another person (transferee), the state board shall determine the transferee as the responsible person. Where the responsible person is identified, the state board shall direct the responsible person to prepare a remediation plan and undertake remediation through a reference organisation as selected by the state board and bear all the expenses towards it.
The state board shall review and approve the remediation plan submitted by the responsible person within three months from the date of submission of remediation plan, and forward it to the Central Board. However, where the responsible person is not identified, the state board shall, on its own or through the reference organisation, prepare a remediation plan within six months from the date of publication of the contaminated site, for undertaking remediation of the contaminated site either out of its own resources or through support from State Government or both and resources of Central Government.
The central board may appoint any reference organisation to verify the completion of remediation activities. In all cases, funds for conducting preliminary assessment and detailed assessment for suspected contaminated site and probable contaminated site, respectively, may, to the extent feasible, be initially met in whole or part by the Central Government from the Environmental Relief Fund under sub-section (9) of section 7 of the Public Liability Insurance Act, 1991 and also by the State Government.
Further, the central government shall constitute the Central Remediation Committee to review the remediation activities under these rules. The committee will consist of chairman, Central Board; a representative from the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs; the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Ministry of Commerce and Industry; the Department of Chemicals and Petrochemicals, Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers; the Ministry of Science and Technology; the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare; two technical experts from the field of environment, geotechnical and industrial waste management to be nominated by the Central Government among others.
The state board may impose environmental compensation on any responsible person who does not comply with the provisions of these rules in undertaking the remediation or does not undertake the remediation under these rules in respect of a contaminated site and poses risks to human life and the environment, contributing thereby to loss, damage or injury tothe environment or human health.
'The Rules address a long-pending legal vacuum around the remediation of legacy pollution sires, but they place disproportionate operational and oversight burden on the State and Central Pollution Control Boards, which are already constrained by limited capacity. The composition of the Remediation Committees is also skewed toward industrial, urban development, and chemical sector ministries, with little to no representation from the Ministries such as Agriculture, Jal Shakti, or Environment which are important trustee of the soil and water. Furthermore, the absence of independent ecologists, public health experts, and social science raises concerns about balanced decision-making. There should also be a third-party audit or an independent verification mechanism in the remediation or monitoring phases for proper monitoring,' said Debadityo Sinha, Lead- Climate & Ecosystems, Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy.