Appointment of officers and their powers and functions
(1) Without prejudice to the provisions of sub-section (3) of section 3, the Central Government may appoint officers with such designation as it thinks fit for the purposes of this Act and may entrust to them such of the powers and functions under this Act as it may deem fit.
(2) The officers appointed under sub-section (1) shall be subject to the general control and direction of the Central Government or, if so directed by that Government, also of the authority or authorities, if any, constituted under sub-section (3) of section 3 or of any other authority or officer.
In plain English
What this section actually means
Section 4 is the staffing clause. Sub-section (1) lets the Centre appoint officers with whatever designation it pleases and entrust to them whatever EPA powers it considers fit. So when a notification creates 'Environmental Engineers', 'Authorised Officers' or 'Adjudicating Officers', Section 4 is the legal source.
Sub-section (2) puts the chain of command in place: every officer appointed under Section 4 acts under the Centre's general control — and, if the Centre so directs, also under any Section 3(3) authority or any other officer. In practice, most field-level officers under EPA work through the State Pollution Control Boards even though their statutory basis is Section 4.
Real life
What this looks like in real life
Authority of a Sub-Divisional Environment Officer
Setup. A State PCB officer designated as 'Sub-Divisional Environmental Engineer' issues a Section 5 direction to a polluting unit, citing his Section 4 appointment notification.
What the law does. Valid, provided the Centre's notification under Section 4 actually entrusts him with the power to issue directions. The first cross-examination question in the appeal will be: 'Show me the notification.' Without it, the direction is open to challenge as ultra vires.
Cross-references
Read this alongside
- Notification S.O. 83(E) dated 16-2-1987§—·Empowered 64 officers under Section 10 — read with Section 4 for their full chain of authority.
Frequently asked
Questions about Section 4
Open this section in the source PDF
Environment Protection Act, 1986.pdf
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