How to get Pollution Certificate for Business in Assam

A pollution license/certificate is a written official consent from the State Pollution Control Board to establish or operate any business that has the potential of generating pollutants or ‘trade effluents.’

Consent / Authorization Management::

Granting Consent under the provisions of the Water (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 and the Air (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1981 and Authorization under Biomedical Waste (Management & Handling) rules, 1998, the Hazardous Waste (Management & Handling) Rules, 1989 and the Municipal Solid Waste (Management and Handling) Rules, 2000 are some of the important functions of Board.

Water Act:

Control of Water Pollution is achieved through administering conditions imposed in consent issued under provision of the Water (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1974. These conditions regulate the quality and quantity of effluent, the location of discharge and the frequency of monitoring of effluents. The surface and ground water monitoring conducted by the Board indicates that the water quality has improved over the years and that it is now, in general, reasonably good.

Air Act:

Under the Air (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1981consent of the Board is mandatory for releasing emissions to the atmosphere. The Board issues consent to air polluting industries with conditions to regulate the quality and quantity of emission and stipulate the frequency for monitoring the emissions. Consent to Establish / Operate: To establish an industry with potential for water pollution / air pollution; prior consent under the Water Act / Air Act is to be obtained respectively which needs to be obtained in two phases:

1. Consent to Establish [NOC]: This consent is to be obtained prior to Establishing any industry or process or plant.

2. Consent to Operate [Initial & Renewal]: Once the industry or process plant is established along the required pollution control systems, the entrepreneur is required to obtain consent to operate the unit. The consent is given for a particular period, which is mandatory to be renewed regularly. Only after acquiring this CTE (consent to establish) can any individual initiate the construction or set up the business phase. Once this setting up phase is completed, that is to say, the construction is completed, and the building is ready to function as the headquarters of the business, the individual must mandatory acquire a second official consent from the State Pollution Control Board that is, the consent to operate or the CTO. This official consent that allows the individual to initiate operations in the previous.

Categories of Industries:

All existing industries sectors are classified into four categories, namely, red, orange, green and white categories.

Red category:

The industries with highest pollution index belong to the red category in the sense that it generates the highest amount of emissions, effluents, and hazardous waste. According to a press release by the Environment Ministry, industrial sectors having a pollution index of 60 and above belong to the red category.

Orange Category:

Industries with a pollution index score of 41 to 59 belong to the orange category, with comparatively reduced levels of pollutant emissions.

Green Category:

Industries with a low pollution index score with 21 to 40 belongs to the green category industries.

White Category:

A fairly new classification, industries belonging to the white category are practically non-polluting. With the lowest pollution index score of anywhere up to 20.

The following industries are eligible to apply for a pollution license/CTO

1 Industries belonging to the red category must mandatorily acquire pollution licenses and will not be permitted to function in ecologically fragile or protected areas.

2 Industries belonging to the orange category.

3 Industries belonging to the green category.

Industries belonging to the white category do not require the CTO or CTE. Such industries only need to intimate the concerned SPCB or PCC prior to construction or operation initiation.

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