Power to make rules
(1) The Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, make rules for carrying out the purposes of this Act.
(2) In particular, and without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing power, such rules may provide for all or any of the following matters, namely—
(a) the standards in excess of which environmental pollutants shall not be discharged or emitted under section 7;
(b) the procedure in accordance with and the safeguards in compliance with which hazardous substances shall be handled or caused to be handled under section 8;
(c) the authorities or agencies to which intimation of the fact of occurrence or apprehension of occurrence of the discharge of any environmental pollutant in excess of the prescribed standards shall be given and to whom all assistance shall be bound to be rendered under sub-section (1) of section 9;
(d) the manner in which samples of air, water, soil or other substance for the purpose of analysis shall be taken under sub-section (1) of section 11;
(e) the form in which notice of intention to have a sample analysed shall be served under clause (a) of sub section (3) of section 11;
(f) the functions of the environmental laboratories, the procedure for the submission to such laboratories of samples of air, water, soil and other substances for analysis or test; the form of laboratory report; the fees payable for such report and other matters to enable such laboratories to carry out their functions under sub-section (2) of section 12;
(g) the qualifications of Government Analyst appointed or recognised for the purpose of analysis of samples of air, water, soil or other substances under section 13;
(h) the manner in which notice of the offence and of the intention to make a complaint to the Central Government shall be given under clause (b) of section 19;
(i) the authority of officer to whom any reports, returns, statistics, accounts and other information shall be furnished under section 20;
(j) any other matter which is required to be, or may be, prescribed.
In plain English
What this section actually means
Section 25 is the general rule-making power. Sub-section (1) lets the Centre make rules to carry out the purposes of the Act. Sub-section (2) catalogues ten specific subjects — the standards under Section 7 (clause a), procedures under Section 8 (clause b), Section 9 reporting authorities (clause c), sampling manner under Section 11 (clause d), Form V notice (clause e), lab procedures under Section 12 (clause f), Government Analyst qualifications under Section 13 (clause g), Section 19 citizen-notice form (clause h), Section 20 reporting authorities (clause i), and a residual 'any other matter' (clause j).
This is the section under which the Environment (Protection) Rules, 1986 are made — the single most important piece of subordinate legislation in Indian environmental law. The Rules in turn carry the operative Schedules: emission limits (Schedule I), general effluent standards (Schedule VI), noise limits (Schedule III), NAAQS (Schedule VII), reporting authorities (Schedule V), and so on.
Real life
What this looks like in real life
Centre issues new e-waste rules
Setup. MoEFCC notifies the E-Waste (Management) Rules, 2022 imposing Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) on electronics brand owners.
What the law does. The Rules are made under Section 25(1) read with Section 25(2)(j) (residual clause) and Section 3 (umbrella power). They have force of law and a breach is punishable under Section 15.
Cross-references
Read this alongside
- Environment (Protection) Rules, 1986§—·Principal rules made under Section 25.
- Hazardous and Other Wastes (Management and Transboundary Movement) Rules, 2016§—·Specialised rules under Section 25 read with Section 8.
Frequently asked
Questions about Section 25
Open this section in the source PDF
Environment Protection Act, 1986.pdf
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