Public Consultation Process Questions and Answers

Answer: D

The public hearing is conducted after preparation of the draft EIA.

Under the EIA Notification of 2006, the project proponent first prepares a draft EIA report according to the approved terms of reference. The State Pollution Control Board then holds a public hearing near the site, where local people can comment on the draft, and the final EIA report must address the concerns raised before the project is appraised.

The hearing therefore comes after the terms of reference are fixed and the draft is ready, but before environmental clearance, not before site selection or after clearance.

Answer: B

The mandatory notice period is 1 month.

Under Appendix IV of India's EIA Notification, 2006, the State Pollution Control Board must publish the notice of a public hearing in a major national daily and a regional vernacular daily, giving at least thirty days for the public to respond before the hearing. The draft EIA and its summary are made available in that period so that affected people can read them.

One week or 15 days would not give enough time to study the documents, and that is why the notification fixes thirty days. Two months is longer than the rule requires.

Answer: C

The public hearing is held after preparation of the EIA (draft).

Under India's EIA Notification, 2006, the sequence is screening, scoping (with Terms of Reference), preparation of the draft EIA report, public consultation including a public hearing, appraisal, and then the decision on environmental clearance. The draft report is made available so that local people can comment on it at the hearing.

The hearing cannot come before the Terms of Reference or site selection, because there is no report yet, and it would be pointless after clearance has already been granted.

Answer: A

The correct statement is that public hearing is conducted before environmental clearance of the project.

Under India's EIA Notification, 2006, the stages are screening, scoping (when the Terms of Reference are fixed), public consultation, and appraisal, after which clearance is granted or refused. The public hearing, organised by the State Pollution Control Board, is part of public consultation and is held on the draft EIA report, so it always precedes the clearance decision.

It is not held before the EIA: the draft EIA must exist first for people to comment on it. It does not come before site selection, which the proponent proposes at the outset, or before the Terms of Reference, which are approved at the scoping stage.

Answer: C

A public hearing is conducted after the preparation of the EIA, since it is held on the draft EIA report and its executive summary. Under the Indian EIA notification, the hearing gives local people and others affected the chance to comment on the project and its predicted impacts, and the comments are placed before the appraisal committee. Site selection and the Terms of Reference come earlier, in screening and scoping, and the environmental clearance is the decision made after the hearing, so it cannot come first.

Answer: B

The key gives 10th April 1997 as the date of the amendment of the EIA notification that made a public hearing mandatory for environmental clearance. The dates 27th January 1996 and 27th January 1997 are not given by the key. This explanation follows the official key.

Answer: B

State Pollution Control Board and District Collector

The State Pollution Control Board and the District Collector are responsible for the public hearing, as the Board arranges it and the Collector or his representative presides. The CPCB chairman and civil society are not responsible for running it.

The other options, State Pollution Control Board; State Pollution Control Board and CPCB Chairman; State Pollution Control Board and Civil Society, are not the answer to this question. This agrees with the official final answer key for the paper, which gives option B.