Resolution Adopted at the State Environment and Forest Ministers’ Conference (April 6-7, 2015)

The following is the text of the Resolution adopted at the State Environment and Forest Ministers’ Conference at Vigyan Bhawan today:

• Adhere to timelines prescribed for processing of online applications for FC to clear backlog accumulated up to 31-03-2015 by end of June 2015, or earlier as per prescribed timelines;

• Establish effective mechanism for source segregation of waste by generators and arrange door-to-door collection of segregated solid waste in all urban areas within two years and put in place authorised waste recycling arrangements for the waste processing;

• Ensure that recycled materials from construction and demolition waste is mandatorily used in non-load bearing structures;

• Ensure that industrial area/zone/cluster plans mandatorily have waste recycling units;

• Share common treatment storage and disposal facilities (TSDFs) for hazardous waste with other States;

• Arrange a web-based platform for integration of various kinds of approvals with respect to waste management;

• Enforce effective plastic waste management and e-waste management by involving Producers through Extended Producers Responsibility.

• A comprehensive amendment of the Indian Forest Act, 1927 may be prepared to ensure effective implementation of law; • States will send geo-reference maps of all the forest areas and notify all the CA areas transferred and mutated in favour of forest department as RF/PF latest by 31.10.2015;

• States will realise outstanding NPV latest by 31.5.2015 and will create land bank in degraded/non-forest/revenue forest lands;

• States will accord high priority for research in emerging areas, fill vacancies at field level and take steps to improve working conditions in Forest Departments;

• State Forest Departments will objectively assess the animal population of species and carefully consider the option of population management;

• Delineation of Eco-sensitive Zones must be completed by 30.6.2015. In case the boundary of a PA is along interstate border, the states concerned will work jointly for finalizing the proposal based on the parameters recommended by NBWL;

• All tiger range states will constitute State level Steering Committees and prepare Tiger Conservation Plans including voluntary village relocation from core/critical tiger habitats;

• Protect, restore and enhance India’s green cover and take steps to:

o Constitute State, District and Cluster level Committees as per GIM guidelines within three months.

o Identify landscapes based on bio-geophysical and socio-economic parameters.

o Issue of Government orders for convergence (at implementation level) with other existing programmes.

o Identify and propagate indigenous species suited to their local environment.

• All participating Ministries, States/UTs will provide their inputs on the recommendations that have been made by the High Level Committee and circulated to the Central Ministries/State Governments/UT Administrators at the earliest but positively by 30th April, 2015.

• Work towards developing a national environment and forest database for expedited integration of clearances and enforcement of stipulated safeguards;

• Resolved that the provisions on “Violations” need to be rationalised and civil penalty provisions be incorporated in EPA and pollution related Acts;

• To establish Green Platform – environmental database to the Project Proponent and for filing compliances;

• States to start online submission of applications for TOR and EC before October 2015;

• Resolved that guidelines on sustainable sand mining and sustainable and environment friendly building norms be issued at the earliest;

• To adopt pollution criteria for categorisation of Red, Orange and Green categories of industries and that a Committee be constituted with State representatives;

• To give consent to operate with the validity period of five years in respect of Red categories, 10 years for Orange categories and one time consent for Green category;

• Make treatment of sewage and granting consents to the Municipal authorities mandatory under the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974;

• To revisit Standard treatment of sewage proposed by CPCB and secondary treated sewage be recycled and used for non-potable purposes; • Resolved that States that have not yet notified State specific Rules under Section 63 of the Biological Diversity Act will notify the same by December 2015 and States whose rules are not in consonance with the Act will amend the rules by December 2015;

• States will communicate their approval to the list of threatened species to the MoEF&CC by July 2015;

• States may develop year-wise five year plan by 15 May 2015 for setting up of BMCs at appropriate local level and for preparing PBRs by BMCs, giving priority to biodiversity rich areas;

• States will consider declaring at least one Biodiversity Heritage Site in 2015-16;

• States shall put in place a transparent and effective mechanism for access to biological resources in their jurisdiction as envisaged under Section 7 and recently issued ABS guidelines by June 2015;

• States shall prepare a shelf of projects immediately and will submit at least 1 project of upto Rs. 10 crore for National Adaptation Fund/National Clean Environment Fund and 1 project costing up to Rs. 30 crore for Adaptation Fund Board (AFB) within 30 days;

• States will prepare demonstration projects under Climate Change Action Programme (CCAP) during FY 2015-16 and will submit at least 1 project worth upto 10-25 million USD for submission to Green Climate Fund; • MoEF&CC has coordinated with various expert agencies and offered that the States could seek assistance from agencies like GIZ (Government of Germany), DFID (Government of UK), SDC (Government of Switzerland), UNDP, NABARD and other notified agencies for project preparation.