Environmental laboratories
(1) The Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette,—
(a) establish one or more environmental laboratories;
(b) recognise one or more laboratories or institutes as environmental laboratories to carry out the functions entrusted to an environmental laboratory under this Act.
(2) The Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, make rules specifying—
(a) the functions of the environmental laboratory;
(b) the procedure for the submission to the said laboratory of samples of air, water, soil or other substance for analysis or tests, the form of the laboratory report thereon and the fees payable for such report;
(c) such other matters as may be necessary or expedient to enable that laboratory to carry out its functions.
In plain English
What this section actually means
Section 12 is the infrastructure clause. It empowers the Centre to set up its own environmental laboratories — or to recognise existing ones (typically CPCB's labs, NEERI, IIT environmental labs, and accredited private labs) — for testing samples taken under Section 11.
Sub-section (2) lets the Centre make rules on what the lab does, how samples reach it, the format of the report and the fees. These rules sit in Rules 8 and 9 of the Environment (Protection) Rules, 1986. Recognition of labs has been delegated by the Centre to the CPCB by Notification S.O. 145(E) dated 21-2-1991.
Without a Section 12 laboratory analysing the Section 11 sample, there is no admissible evidence under Section 11(2) — the entire prosecution chain rests on the laboratory's certification.
Real life
What this looks like in real life
Sample sent to an unrecognised lab
Setup. An over-stretched SPCB office sends a water sample to a nearby private lab that has not been notified under Section 12(1)(b).
What the law does. Section 11(3)(d) requires despatch to a laboratory 'established or recognised under section 12'. Analysis at an unrecognised lab is inadmissible under Section 11(2). The defect cannot be cured retrospectively.
Cross-references
Read this alongside
- Environment (Protection) Rules, 1986§Rules 8, 9·Procedure for submission of samples (Rule 8) and functions of the environmental laboratory (Rule 9).
- Notification S.O. 145(E) dated 21-2-1991§—·Centre's delegation to CPCB to recognise labs under Section 12(1)(b).
Frequently asked
Questions about Section 12
Open this section in the source PDF
Environment Protection Act, 1986.pdf
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