Environment body issues fee deadline for green approvals
The
Goa State Environment Impact Assessment Authority
(Goa-SEIAA) has now set a time limit for project proponents to pay the processing fee for the application seeking
environmental clearance
(EC). The authority noted that several project proponents were not paying the required fee. It has now set a limit of payment of 60% fees within five days of submitting the application.
'The authority, upon reviewing the financial statement, noted a delay in payment of processing fees by project proponents after applying for environmental clearance. During the discussion, the authority decided that
PPs shall
pay 60% of the processing fees within five working days of submission of the application. The balance amount shall be paid before the project proposal is placed before the Goa-SEIAA,' the authority has said at its recent meeting.
The Goa-SEIAA had recently also decided to hike the fine imposed on project proponents for not submitting their
six-monthly compliance reports
on time, as required by the respective projects' EC conditions. The fine has been hiked from Rs 15,000 to Rs 30,000.
A notification dated Nov 26, 2018, issued by the Union ministry of environment, forest and climate change (MoEF&CC) has made it mandatory for project proponents to submit six-monthly compliance reports. The compliance reports ensure that the project proponents are meeting the conditions set in the EIA, such as mitigation measures to reduce air and water pollution, among others.
In Nov 2021, the Goa-SEIAA had noted that several project proponents in the state were not meeting this requirement.
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