Environment Protection Act, 1986

The Environment (Protection) Act was enacted in 1986 with the objective of providing for the protection and improvement of the environment. It empowers the Central Government to establish authorities charged with the mandate of preventing environmental pollution in all its forms and to tackle specific environmental problems that are peculiar to different parts of the country. The Act was last amended in 1991.

Issues

• The Act is out of date with the modern forms pollution such as noise, transport system and radiation which are also an important cause for the deteriorating environment.
• The centralization of powers is a major issue under the act. Though environment protection is under the concurrent list of the constitution yet, wider powers have been provided to the Union Government and no powers to the state governments. The act does not involve provisions related to public participation for environmental protection. Thus, there is a need to amend the act to bring it in line with the current trends.