Environmental impact assessment and the Coastal Regulation Zone

1. Meaning and purpose of EIA

Environmental impact assessment is a process for identifying, predicting and evaluating the likely environmental and social effects of a proposed project before a decision is taken on it, and for designing measures to avoid or reduce them. It puts the precautionary principle into procedure, gives affected people a hearing, and forces the developer to consider alternatives. Rio Principle 17 calls for EIA of activities likely to have a significant adverse impact, and the ICJ in Pulp Mills (2010) treated it as a requirement of general international law for projects with transboundary risk.

2. The discretionary model (before 1994)

EIA in India began in 1978–79 with the appraisal of river valley projects by the Department of Science and Technology, later the Department and then Ministry of Environment. Projects needing Central approval or Planning Commission funding were asked to obtain environmental clearance under administrative guidelines. There was no statutory duty, no public hearing, no fixed list of projects and no sanction for non-compliance; clearance was often given after the project had started. That is why it is called discretionary.

3. The mandatory model: 1994 and 2006

On 27 January 1994 the Central Government issued the first EIA notification under section 3 of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 and rule 5 of the 1986 Rules. Prior environmental clearance became compulsory for listed categories of projects; public hearings were added in 1997. The 1994 notification was replaced by the EIA Notification, 2006 (S.O. 1533(E), 14 September 2006), which is still in force with many amendments.

• Categories. Projects in the Schedule are Category A (appraised at the Centre by the Expert Appraisal Committee, with clearance by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change) or Category B (appraised by the State Expert Appraisal Committee, with clearance by the State Environment Impact Assessment Authority). Category B is split into B1 (needs a full EIA) and B2 (does not).
• Prior clearance is needed before any construction or preparation of land, for new projects and for expansion or modernisation beyond limits.
• Four stages:
  • Screening (Category B only): deciding whether a project is B1 or B2;
  • Scoping: the appraisal committee fixes the terms of reference for the EIA study;
  • Public consultation: a public hearing at the site or nearby, conducted by the State Pollution Control Board, and written responses from others with a plausible stake; certain projects are exempt;
  • Appraisal: the committee scrutinises the final EIA report and the outcome of consultation and recommends grant or rejection; the regulator decides.
• Validity and monitoring: clearance is valid for a fixed period, and the project must file compliance reports.
• Appeals against clearance lie to the National Green Tribunal under section 16 of the NGT Act.

4. Courts on EIA

• Hanuman Laxman Aroskar v. Union of India, 2019 INSC 434: the clearance for the Mopa airport in Goa was suspended because the EIA report had concealed material facts (forest cover, eco-sensitive zones) and the appraisal had not applied its mind. The Court stressed that public access to information and participatory decision-making are part of the rule of law in environmental matters, and sent the matter back to the appraisal committee.
• Alembic Pharmaceuticals Ltd. v. Rohit Prajapati, 2020 INSC 326: a 2002 circular permitting ex post facto clearances was illegal; the concept of an ex post facto clearance is “in derogation of the fundamental principles of environmental jurisprudence” and an anathema to the EIA notification. The units were not closed but were made to pay compensation.
• Vanashakti v. Union of India, 2025 INSC 718 (16 May 2025): a 2017 notification and a 2021 office memorandum creating a procedure for regularising projects begun without clearance were struck down, and the Centre was barred from granting ex post facto clearances.
• That judgment was recalled on review in Confederation of Real Estate Developers of India (CREDAI) v. Vanashakti, 2025 INSC 1326 (18 November 2025), and the matter was heard again. A further judgment in the case was delivered on 29 July 2026 (Vanashakti v. Union of India, 2026 INSC 761). Check the holding of that judgment before writing on ex post facto clearance; Alembic remains the safest authority to cite.

5. The Coastal Regulation Zone

The coast is protected by notifications under section 3(1) and 3(2)(v) of the 1986 Act, which allow the Centre to restrict industries and activities in specified areas. The first CRZ Notification was issued on 19 February 1991. It was replaced in 2011 and again by the CRZ Notification, 2019. The coastal stretches of seas, bays, estuaries, creeks, rivers and backwaters influenced by tidal action, up to 500 metres from the High Tide Line on the landward side, and the water area up to 12 nautical miles, are regulated. Plans are prepared and enforced through the Coastal Zone Management Plans and the National and State Coastal Zone Management Authorities.

Classification under the 2019 notification (January 2026 asked for it):

• CRZ-I, ecologically sensitive areas. CRZ-IA: mangroves, coral reefs, sand dunes, salt marshes, turtle nesting grounds, national parks and sanctuaries near the coast and similar areas, where development is largely prohibited. CRZ-IB: the inter-tidal zone between the Low Tide Line and the High Tide Line.
• CRZ-II: developed land areas up to or close to the shoreline, within existing municipal limits or other legally designated urban areas with infrastructure. Construction is allowed on the landward side of existing roads or authorised structures.
• CRZ-III: relatively undisturbed rural areas. CRZ-IIIA: densely populated rural areas with a population density of 2,161 or more per square kilometre (2011 census), with a No Development Zone of 50 metres from the High Tide Line. CRZ-IIIB: other rural areas with density below 2,161, with a No Development Zone of 200 metres.
• CRZ-IV: water areas. CRZ-IVA: the water and sea-bed area from the Low Tide Line up to 12 nautical miles on the seaward side. CRZ-IVB: the water and bed area of tidally influenced water bodies on the landward side, such as rivers, creeks, estuaries and backwaters.

The 2019 notification also created a No Development Zone of 20 metres for all islands near the mainland and in backwaters, and treats certain areas (Sundarbans, Gulf of Kutch, Gulf of Mannar, Malvan and others) as Critically Vulnerable Coastal Areas.

6. CRZ cases

• S. Jagannath v. Union of India, 1996 INSC 1466, (1997) 2 SCC 87: intensive and semi-intensive shrimp farming in the coastal regulation zone, which was salinating groundwater and destroying mangroves and livelihoods, was held to violate the 1991 notification; such farms were to be closed and workers compensated, applying the precautionary and polluter pays principles. Parliament later enacted the Coastal Aquaculture Authority Act, 2005.
• Kerala State Coastal Zone Management Authority v. State of Kerala (Maradu Municipality), 2019 INSC 651 (8 May 2019): apartment buildings constructed on the shores of the Kochi backwaters in a CRZ-III area on permits issued by the panchayat in violation of the notification were ordered to be demolished. The towers were brought down in January 2020, and the flat owners were paid interim compensation recoverable from the builders.

How this is examined

January 2026: CRZ classification (6) or EIA as prevention (6). February 2025: the two models of EIA (10). August 2024: a note on EIA. For the models question, set the discretionary and mandatory phases side by side in prose: legal basis, coverage, public participation and sanction. End with Alembic and the current position on ex post facto clearance.