Chandigarh, Dec 14: The Centre has decided to reconstitute Chandigarh’s two key environmental clearance bodies — the State Level Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA) and the State Expert Appraisal Committee (SEAC) — which are responsible for approving a wide range of development projects in the Union Territory.
The reconstitution will be carried out under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, in line with a 2006 notification of the Union ministry of environment, forest and climate change (MoEF&CC), officials said.
“These statutory bodies are essential for decentralising the environmental clearance process and ensuring timely scrutiny of Category B projects at the UT level,” a senior environment department official said.
SEIAA functions as the final decision-making authority for granting environmental clearances, while SEAC acts as its technical advisory body. Projects falling under Category B would otherwise require appraisal at the central level.
SEAC examines proposals through screening, scoping and impact assessment, and evaluates environmental and risk-related aspects before submitting its recommendations to SEIAA.
Based on these recommendations, SEIAA takes a final view on granting clearances, factoring in pollution control measures, mitigation strategies and environmental safeguards.
The authority comprises a chairperson, a member-secretary and other members appointed by the Central government. SEAC, meanwhile, includes subject experts drawn from disciplines such as forestry, environmental science, economics and allied fields.
“The idea is to ensure scientific appraisal while balancing development and environmental protection,” the official said.
The tenure of both SEIAA and SEAC is fixed at three years.
