S.O.
594(E). - July,
1989
In exercise
of the powers conferred by sections 6, 8 and 25 of the Environment (Protection)
Act, 1986
(29 of 1986), the Central Government hereby makes the following rules,
namely :
1.
Short title and commencement
(1) These rules may be called the Hazardous Wastes (Management
and Handling) Rules, 1989.
(2) They shall come into force on the date of their publication
in the official Gazette.
2.
Application
These
rules shall apply to the handling of hazardous wastes as specified in
Schedule and shall not
apply
to-
(a)
waste water and exhaust gases as covered under the provisions of the
Water (Prevention and
Control
of Pollution) Act, 1974 (6 of 1974) and the Air (Prevention and Control
of Pollution)
Act,
1981 (14 of 1981) and rules made thereunder;
(b)
wastes arising out of the operation from ships beyond five kilometres
as covered under the
provisions
of the Merchant Shipping Act,. 1958 (\44 of 1958) and the rules made
thereunder,
(c)
radio-active wastes as covered under the provisions of the Atomic
Energy Act, 1962 (33 of
1962)
and rules made thereunder,
3.
Definitions
In these rules, unless the context otherwise requires,-
(a) "Act" means the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986
(29 of 1986);
(b)
"applicant" means a person or an organisation that applies,
in Form 1, for granting of
authorisation
to perform specific activities connected with handling of hazardous
wastes;
(c)
"authorisation" means permission for collection, reception,
treatment, transport, storage and
disposal
of hazardous wastes granted by the competent authority in Form 2;
(d)
"authorised person" means a person or an organisation
authorised by the competent authority
to
collect, treat, transport, store or dispose of hazardous wastes in accordance
with the
guidelines
to be issued by the competent authority from time to time;
(e)
"export" with its grammatical variation and cognate expression
means taking out of India to a
place
outside India;
(f)
"exporter’ means any person under the jurisdiction of the
expor.6ng country who exports
hazardous
wastes and the exporting country itself, who exports hazardous wastes’
(g)
"facility" means any location wherein the processes,
incidental to the waste generation
collection,
reception, treatment, storage and disposal are carried out;
(h) "Form" means Form appended to these rules;
(i) "hazardous wastes" means,
(a)
Waste Substances which are generated in the process indicated
in column-2 of
Schedule-1
and consists of wholly or partly of the waste substances referred to
in
column
- 3 of the same schedule;
(b)
Waste substances which consists wholly or partly of substances
indicated in
Schedule-2,
unless the concentration of the substances is less than the limit
indicated
in the same schedule: and
(c
) Waste substances indicated in Part-A, List 'A' and 'B' of Schedule
-3 applicable only
to
rule 12, 13 and 14 unless they do not possess any of the hazardous characteristics
in
Part-B of the same schedule.
(j)
"hazardous wastes site" means a place for collection,
reception, treatment, storage and
disposal
of hazardous wastes which has been duly approved by the competent authority;
(k)
"import" with its grammatical variations and cognate
expressions, means bringing into India
from
a place outside India;
(l) "importer" means an occupier or any person who
imports hazardous wastes;
(m)
"operator of a facility" means a person who owns or operates
a facility for collection.
reception,
treatment, storage and disposal of hazardous wastes;
(n) "Schedule" means Schedule appended to these rules;
(o)
"State Pollution Control Board" means the Board appointed
under sub-section of the section 4
of
the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act 1974 (6 of 1974);
and under Section 4
of
the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution3 Act, 1981 (14 of 1981);
(p)
"transboundary movement" means any movement of hazardous
wastes or other wastes from
an
area under the national jurisdiction of one country to or through an
area under the national
jurisdiction
of another country or to or through an area not under the national jurisdiction
of
any
country, provided at least two countries are involved in the movement;
(q) “disposal” means deposit, treatment, storage and recovery
of any hazardous wastes;}
(r)
“manifest” means transporting document originated and signed
by the occupier in accordance
with rule 7(4) and 7(5);
(s)
“State Government” means State Government and in relation to Union
Territory the
Administrator
thereof appointed under Article 239 of the Constitution;
(t)
“storage” means keeping hazardous wastes for a temporary period,
at the end of which the
hazardous
waste is treated and disposed off;
(u) “transport” means movement of hazardous waste by air, rail,
road or water;
(v)
“transporter” means a person engaged in the off-site transportation
of hazardous waste by air,
rail,
road or water;
(w)
“treatment” means a method, technique or process, designed to change
the physical, chemical
or
biological characteristics or composition of any hazardous waste so
as to render such
wastes
harmless;
(x)
"environmentally sound management of hazardous wastes"
means taking all steps to ensure
that
the hazardous wastes are managed in a manner which will protect human
health and the
environment
against the adverse effects which may result from such wastes;
(y) "illegal traffic" means any transboundary movement
of hazardous wastes as specified
in
rule 15;
(z)
the words and expressions used in these rules and not defined
but defined in the Act,
shall
have the meanings respectively assigned to them in the Act.
4.
Responsibility of the occupier and operator of facility for
handling of wastes
(1)
The occupier and the operator of a facility shall be responsible
for proper collection, reception,
treatment,
storage and disposal of hazardous wastes listed in Schedule 1,2 and
3.
(2)
The occupier or any other person acting on his behalf who intends
to get his hazardous waste
treated by the operator of a facility under sub-rule (1), shall give
to the operator of a facility,
such information as may be specified by the State Pollution Control
Board.
(3)
It shall be the responsibility of the occupier and the operator
of a facility, to take all steps to
ensure that the wastes listed in schedules -1, 2 and 3 are properly
handled, and disposed of
without any adverse effects to the environment.
4A.
Duties of the occupier and operator of a facility
It
shall be the duty of the occupier and the operator of a facility to
take adequate steps while handling
hazardous waste to
(i) Contain
contaminants and prevent accidents and limit their consequences on human
and
the environment; and
(ii) provide
persons working on the site with information, training and equipment
necessary to
ensure their safety.
4B.
Duties of the Authority
Subject
to the provisions of these rules, the authority shall also perform duties
as specified in Column
3 of Schedule 4.
5.
Grant of authorisation for handling hazardous wastes
(1)
Hazardous wastes shall be collected, treated, stored and disposed
of only in such facilities as
may be authorised for this purpose.
(2)
Every occupier generating hazardous wastes and having a facility
for collection, reception,
treatment, transport storage and disposal of such wastes shall make
an application in Form 1
along with a sum of rupees seven thousand five hundred only for processing
application for
authorization and analysis fee, if required, as prescribed under the
Environment (Protection)
Act, 1986 to the State Pollution Control Board for the grant of authorisation
for any of the
above activities:
Provided that the occupier not having a facility for the collection,
reception, treatment,
transport, storage and disposal of hazardous wastes shall make an application
to the
Member-Secretary, State Pollution Control Board or any officer designated
by the Board in
Form 1 for the grant of authorisation within a period of six months
from the date of
commencement of these rules.
(3)
Any person who intends to be an operator of a facility for the
collection, reception, treatment,
transport, storage and disposal of hazardous wastes, shall make an application
in Form 1
along with a sum of rupees seven thousand five hundred only for processing
application for
authorization and analysis fee, if required, as prescribed under the
Environment (Protection)
Act, 1986 to the Member-Secretary, State Pollution Control Board or
any officer designated
by the Board for the grant of authorisation for any of the above activities:
Provided that the operator engaged in the business of the collection,
reception, treatment,
transport, storage and disposal of hazardous wastes shall make an application
to the
Member-Secretary, State Pollution Control Board or any officer designated
by the Board in
Form 1 for the grant of authorisation within a period of six months
from the date of
commencement of these rules.
(4)
The State Pollution Control Board shall not issue an authorisation
unless it is satisfied that
the operator of a facility or an occupier, as the case may be, possesses
appropriate facilities,
technical capabilities and equipment to handle hazardous wastes safely.
(4A)
the authorisation application complete in all respects shall
be processed by the State
Pollution Control
Boards within ninety days of the receipt of such application
(5)
The authorisation to operate a facility shall be issued in Form
2 and shall be subject to
conditions laid down therein.
(6)
(i) An authorisation granted under this rule shall unless sooner
suspended or cancelled,
be in force for a period of five years from the date of issue or from
the date of renewal.
(ii)
An application for the renewal of an authorisation shall be made
in Form lr before its
expiry.
(iii)
The authorisation shall continue to be in force until it is renewed
or revoked.
(7)
The Member-Secretary, State Pollution Control Board or any officer
designated by the Board,
may, after giving reasonable opportunity of being heard to the applicant
refuse to grant any
authorisation.
(8)
The Member-Secretary, State Pollution Control Board or any officer
designated by the Board
shall renew the authorisation granted under sub rule (6), after examining
each case on merit,
subject to the following:
(i) on submission of annual returns by the occupier or operator
of facility in Form 4;
(ii) on steps taken, wherever feasible, for reduction in waste
generated or recycled or
reused;
(iii)
on fulfilment of conditions prescribed in the authorisation regarding
management in
an environmentally sound manner of wastes; and
(iv) on remittance of a processing application fee and analysis
fee, as the case may be.
6.
Power to suspend or cancel an authorisation
(1)
The State Pollution Control Board or Committee may cancel an authorisation
issued under
these rules or suspend it for such period as it thinks fit, if in its
opinion, the authorised person
has failed to comply with any of the conditions of the authorisation
or with any provisions of
the Act or these rules, after giving the authorised person an opportunity
to show cause and
after recording reasons therefor.
(2)
Upon suspension or cancellation of the authorisation and during
the pendency of an appeal
under rule 12, the State Pollution Control Board or Committee may give
directions to the
persons whose authorisation has been suspended or cancelled for the
safe storage of the
hazardous wastes, and such person shall comply with such directions.
7.
Packaging, labelling and transport of hazardous wastes
(1)
The occupier or operator of a facility shall ensure that the hazardous
wastes are packaged,
based on the composition in a manner suitable for handling, storage
and transport and the
labelling and packaging shall be easily visible and be able to withstand
physical conditions
and climatic factors.
(2)
Packaging, labelling and transport of hazardous wastes shall be
in accordance with the
provisions of the rules made by Central Government under the Motor Vehicles
Act, 1988 and
other guidelines issued from time to time.
(3) All hazardous waste containers shall be provided with a general
label as given in Form 8.
(4)
No transporter shall accept hazardous wastes from an occupier
for disposal unless it is
accompanied by five copies of the manifest (Form 9) as per the colour
codes. The transporter
shall give a copy of the manifest signed and dated to the occupier and
retain the remaining
four copies to be used as prescribed in sub- rule (5).
(5)
Occupier shall provide the transporter with six copies of the
manifest as per the colour codes
indicated below:
Copy 1(White) forwarded to the Pollution Control Board
by the occupier
Copy 2(Light Yellow) signed by the transporter and retained by the
occupier.
Copy 3 (Pink) retained by the operator of a facility.
Copy 4(Orange) returned to transporter by the operator of
facility after accepting waste.
Copy 5 (green) orward to Pollution Control Board by operator
of facility after disposal.
Copy 6 (Blue) returned to the occupier by the operator
of the facility after disposal.
(6)
The occupier shall obtain necessary no-objection certificate from
State Pollution Control
Boards in the respective states involved in case of any inter and intra
State transport of
hazardous wastes;
(7)
The occupier shall provide the transporter with relevant information
in Form 10, regarding the
hazardous nature of the wastes and measures to be taken in case of an
emergency.
8.
Disposal Sites
1.
The occupier or any operator of a facility shall be responsible
for identifying sites for
establishing hazardous wastes disposal facility;
2.
The State Government, operator of a facility or any association
of occupiers shall identify
sites for common hazardous wastes disposal facility in the state;
3.
The State Government, occupier or any association shall after preliminary
impact
assessment studies identify possible sites for disposal facility. They
shall then undertake
an Environmental Impact Assessment of these sites for selecting an appropriate
site for
hazardous waste disposal facility;
4.
The occupier or any association after identification as prescribed
in sub-rule (3) shall inform
the State Government to take necessary action for notifying of the site;
5. The
State Government shall after identification or on receipt of information
regarding
identification by such occupier or any such association shall cause
a public notice inviting
objections and suggestions within thirty days;
6. The
state Government shall on receipt of any objection conduct a public
hearing as per the
procedure notified for Environmental Impact Assessment;
7.
The state Government shall then, acquire or inform such occupier
or any such association to
acquire the site before notifying the same. It shall also undertake
to compile and publish
periodically an inventory of such disposal sites in the state;
8A.
Design and setting up of disposal facility:
1.
The occupier, any association or operator of a facility, as
the case may be shall design
and set up disposal facility as per the guidelines issued by the Central
Government or
the State Government as the case may be;
2.
The occupier, any association or operator, shall before setting
up a disposal facility get
the design and the layout of the facility approved by the State Pollution
Control Board;
3. The State Pollution Control Board shall monitor the setting
up and operation of a
facility regularly.
8B.
Operation and closure of landfill site:
1.
The occupier or the operator as the case may be, shall be responsible
for safe and
environmentally sound operation of the facility as per design approved
under Rule 8A
by the State Pollution Control Board;
2.
The occupier or the operator shall ensure that the closure of the landfill
is as per the
design approved under Rule 8A by the State Pollution Control Board.
9.
Records and returnes
(1)
The occupier generating hazardous waste and operator of a facility
for collection, reception,
treatment, transport, storage and disposal of hazardous waste shall
maintain records of such
operations in Form 3.
(2)
The occupier and operator of a facility shall send annual returns
to the State Pollution Control
Board or Committee in Form 4.
10.
Accident reporting and follow-up
Where
an accident occurs at the facility or on a hazardous waste site or during
transportation of
hazardous wastes, the occupier or operator of a facility shall report
immediately to the State Pollution
Control Board or Committee about the accident in Form 5.
11.
Import and Export of Hazardous Wastes for dumping and disposal
(1)
Import of hazardous wastes from any country to India and export of hazardous
wastes from
India to any country for dumping or disposal shall not be permitted.
(2)
The exporting country or the exporter as the case may be, of hazardous
wastes shall
communicate in Form 6 to the Central Government (the Ministry of Environment
and Forests)
of the proposed trans-boundary movement of hazardous wastes.
(3)
The Central Government shall, after examining the communication
received under sub-rule(2)
and on being satisfied that the import of such hazardous wastes is to
be used for processing
or reuse as raw material grant permission for the import of such wastes
subject to such
conditions as the Central Government may specify in this behalf and
if, however, the Central
Government is not satisfied with the communication received under sub-rule
(2), may refuse
permission t-o import such hazardous wastes.
(4)
Any importer importing hazardous wastes shall provide necessary
information as to the type of
hazardous wastes he is to import, in Form 6, to the concerned State
Pollution Control
Board/the Central Pollution Control Board in the case of Union Territories.
(5)
The State-Pollution Control Board shall examine the information
received under the sub-rule
(4) and issue such instructions to the importers as it considers necessary.
(6)
The Central Government or the State Pollution Control Board, as
the case may be, shall inform
the concerned Port Authority to take appropriate steps regarding the
safe handling of the
hazardous wastes at the time of off-loading the same.
(7)
Any person importing hazardous wastes shall maintain the records
of the hazardous wastes
imported as specified in Form 7 and the records so maintained shall
be open for inspection by
the State Pollution Control Board/the Ministry of Environment and Forests/the
Central
Pollution Control Board in the case of Union Territories or an officer
appointed by them in this
behalf.
12.
Import and Export of Hazardous Wastes for recycling and reuse
1.
Import and/or export of hazardous wastes rule 3(i)(c) shall
only be permitted as raw material
for recycling or reuse;
2. The
Ministry of Environment and Forests shall be the nodal Ministry to deal
with
transboundary movement of hazardous waste;
3. For
regulation of export and import the authorities mentioned in Schedule
4 shall be
responsible;
4. The
decision of the Central Government in respect of grant of permission
for import or
export shall be final;
5. Any
occupier importing or exporting hazardous waste shall provide detailed
information in
Form 7A to the Customs authorities.
6.
Any occupier exporting or importing hazardous waste from or to India
shall comply with the
articles of the Basel Convention to which the Central Government is
a signatory.
13.
Import of Hazardous Waste
1.
Every occupier importing hazardous waste shall apply to the
State Pollution Control Board,
one hundred twenty days in advance in Form-6 for permission to import
along with a minimum
fee of rupees thirty thousand payable to Ministry of Environment and
Forests, Govt. of India
for imports upto five hundred metric tonnes and for every additional
five hundred metric tonnes
or part thereof of waste imported an additional sum of rupees five thousand
will be payable;
2. The
State Pollution Control Board shall examine the application received
from the occupier
within thirty days and forward the application with recommendation and
requisite stipulations
for safe transport, storage and processing, to the Ministry of Environment
and Forests;
3. The
Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India will examine
the application
received from the State Pollution Control Board and after satisfying
itself will grant permission
for imports subject to the following;-
a. environmentally
friendly/ appropriate technology used for re-processing;
b.
the capability of the importer to handle and reprocess hazardous
wastes in an
environmentally sound manner;
c. presence
of adequate facility for treatment and disposal of wastes generated;
and
d. approvals,
no objection certificates and authorisations from all concerned authorities;
and
e. remittance
of a processing application fee;
4.
The Ministry of Environment & Forests, Government of India, shall
forward a copy of the
permission granted, to the Central Pollution Control Board, the State
Pollution Control Board
and the concerned Port and Customs authorities for ensuring compliance
of the conditions of
imports and to take appropriate steps for safe handling of the waste
at the time of off-loading;
5.
An application for licence to the Directorate General of Foreign
Trade for import shall be
accompanied with the permission granted by the Ministry of Environment
and Forests,
Government of India under sub-rule (3) to the importer and an authenticated
copy of Form 7
of the Exporter under sub rule (3) of rule 14;
6.
The Port and Custom authorities shall ensure that the shipping
document is accompanied with
an authenticated copy of Form 7 and the test report from an accredited
laboratory of analysis
of the hazardous waste shipped;
7.
The occupier having valid permission to import shall inform the State
and Central Pollution
Control Board and the Port authorities of the arrival of the consignment
of hazardous wastes
ten days in advance;
8.
The occupier importing hazardous waste shall maintain the records of
hazardous waste
imports as specified in Form 6A and the record so maintained shall be
available for inspection;
14.
Export of Hazardous Waste
1.
The exporting country or the exporter as the case may be, of
hazardous waste shall apply
ninety days in advance in Form 7 to the Ministry of Environment and
Forests, Government of
India, seeking permission for |
Water
Act