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The government has decided to transfer all existing environmental clearances of cancelled coal blocks to the new owners once the auction is completed. This will help the government avoid starting the process from scratch for the 200-plus mines. The process of giving green clearances usually takes at least two years for each block.
All blocks require clearance under the Forest Conservation Act, 1980, and the Environment Protection Act, 1986. These run as parallel processes, though the final environmental clearance hinges on securing the forestry one.
Around 60 per cent of the blocks had secured environmental clearance and a similar number had also received their forest clearances, sources said. Many applications by previous mine owners are in the pipeline. Business Standard did not independently verify how many blocks held clearances.
Sources in the government said the Union environment ministry was likely to issue notifications announcing this decision within a few days. "This will ensure that those who are allotted the mines do not have to initiate the process in cases where clearances have already been obtained," said a senior government functionary.
The law allows transfer of environment clearances between different private parties with the approval of the government if there is no change in the nature or process of the projects. The government wants to assure coal mining companies that the auction of blocks will not be saddled with uncertainty over clearances.
A source in the environment ministry said this also meant the inviolate policy would not be applied to review blocks that had been cleared. The United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government had begun marking good forest patches and keeping these out of bounds for coal mining. The policy ran into rough weather when several coal projects fell within the no-go forest zone. It was sent for review as the UPA continued clearing mining projects.
The review report was given to the environment ministry after the government diluted criteria by which forest quality would be judged, substantially shrinking areas out of bounds for miners. The report has not yet been accepted by the government.
"Once the report is accepted, we don't see it being applied retrospectively but let's first wait for it to be accepted," said an official, not wishing to be named.
The government also believes the transfer of clearances will not be hampered by judicial intervention. "Once the executive has passed the orders, we don't see a reason why the courts will intervene on the question of transfer," said another official Business Standard spoke to. He was responding to a query about recent decisions of the National Green Tribunal to annul hearings against clearances to coal projects.
The tribunal noted with the Supreme Court ruling, the rights of companies over the clearances stood annulled. Stating he had not reviewed the orders, the official said application of the new government decision would be legally above question.
