3 days ago
What are the new rules on chemically contaminated sites?
The story so far: The Environment Ministry has notified new rules under the Environment Protection Act that lays out a process for addressing sites with chemical contamination. Called the Environment Protection (Management of Contaminated Sites) Rules, 2025, they give a legal structure to a process of addressing chemical contamination, that until now was missing despite several such sites already identified across the country.
What are contaminated sites?
Contaminated sites, according to the Central Pollution Control Board, are those where hazardous and other wastes were dumped historically, and which has most likely resulted in contamination of soil, groundwater and surface water that pose a risk to human health and the environment. Some of the sites were developed when there was no regulation on management of hazardous wastes. In some instances, polluters responsible for contamination have either closed down their operations or the cost of remediation is beyond their capacity. These may include landfills, dumps, waste storage and treatment sites, spill-sites, and chemical waste handling and storage sites. There are 103 such sites identified across the country. Only in seven sites has remedial operation commenced, which involves cleaning the contaminated soil, groundwater, surface water and sediments by adopting appropriate technologies.
Why were these rules necessary?
The Environment Ministry had, in 2010, initiated a Capacity Building Program for Industrial Pollution Management Project to formulate the National Program for Remediation of Polluted Sites. This consisted of three broad tasks — creating an inventory of probable contaminated sites; developing a guidance document for assessment and remediation of contaminated sites; and developing a legal, institutional and financial framework for the remediation of contaminated sites. While the first two steps have been in place, the last step, regarding a legal codification, remained unfulfilled. The rules that were made public on July 25 were part of this legal codification process.
Under these rules, the district administration would prepare half-yearly reports on 'suspected contaminated sites.' A State board, or a 'reference organisation' would examine these sites and provide a 'preliminary assessment' within 90 days of being thus informed. Following these, it would have another three months to make a detailed survey and finalise if these sites were indeed 'contaminated.' This would involve establishing the levels of suspected hazardous chemicals — there are currently 189 marked ones under the provisions of the Hazardous and Other Wastes (Management and Transboundary Movement) Rules, 2016. If these sites exceed safe levels, the location of these sites would be publicised and restrictions placed on accessing it. Then, the 'reference organisation', which would basically be a body of experts, would be tasked with specifying a remediation plan. The State board would also have 90 days to identify the person(s) responsible for the contamination. Those deemed responsible would have to pay for the cost of remediation of the site, else the Centre and the State would arrange for the costs of clean-up. 'Any criminal liability, if it is proved that such contamination caused loss of life or damage would be under the provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (2023),' an official told The Hindu.
Are there any exemptions?
Contamination resulting from radioactive waste, mining operations, pollution of the sea by oil, and solid waste from dump sites would not be dealt with under the provisions of these laws as they are governed by a separate legislation. Another major omission from the rules is the lack of a defined timeline whereby once a contaminated site is identified, a deadline is set by which it must be returned to safe levels.
