Environmental Clearance — Environmental Laws

Entry	Year	Description	Impact
EIA Notification 2006 (S.O. 1533(E))	2006	Replaced the 1994 EIA Notification, streamlining the process, introducing Category A and B classifications, and decentralizing some appraisal powers to the state level. It also clarified the four stages of the EC process.	Decentralized environmental governance, introduced SEIAAs and SEACs, and provided a more structured and time-bound EC process. However, it also led to concerns about potential dilution of environmental safeguards at the state level.
Various amendments to EIA Notification 2006	2020 (and subsequent years)	While the controversial EIA Notification 2020 draft was not formally notified, several amendments were made to the 2006 Notification through various S.O. notifications and office memorandums. These included provisions for online processing, revised validity periods for certain projects, and mechanisms for dealing with violations, often aiming to ease the regulatory burden.	Aimed at 'ease of doing business' by streamlining procedures and reducing timelines. However, some changes, like provisions for post-facto regularization of violations, drew criticism for potentially weakening environmental protection and undermining the 'prior' nature of EC.

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Climate data, pollution metrics, and treaty timelines are natural practice for CSAT data interpretation and careful reading. CSAT hub.

• Data interpretation
• Correlation vs causation
• Estimation techniques