MANAGEMENT OF HAZARDOUS WASTE

In order to harmonize the legislation on hazardous waste management with the Indian commitments to the Basel Convention on control of transboundary improvements of hazardous waste, amendments to the existing regulations have been issued. This will facilitate environmentally sound management of the hazardous waste generated in the country as well regulate the import and export for the purpose of reuse or reprocessing as raw material.

To commemorate the silver jubilee year of Water (Prevention and Control) Act, 1974, CPCB had organized a workshop on Hazardous Waste Management at Chandigarh jointly with Punjab Pollution Control Board on November 20, 1999. The objective of the workshop was to elaborate the Hazardous Waste (Management and Handling) Rules, 1989 and Amendment Rules to the generators as well as regulatory agencies and also review the status of Hazardous Waste Management in Northern states. The participants in the workshop were State Pollution Control Boards/ Committee, Local Govt. offices, Industrial Associations and representatives of the industries from the northern states/Union Territories of India.

The recommendations of the workshop are summarized below:

• The existing financial incentives in terms of custom duty exemption, depreciation allowance in the income-tax etc. may be extended for the provisions of the facilities, treatment and disposal facilities for hazardous wastes management, MoEF may consider suitable recommendation to this effect for Ministry of Environment and Forests.
• Public Liability Insurance Act provides insurance cover in case of accident/emergency arising out of handling of hazardous chemicals, However, the accidents/emergencies involved due to the hazardous wastes should also be incorporated in the Public Liability Insurance. Funding mechanism for this purpose my be considered by Ministry of Environment and Forests.
• A consensus emerged during the workshop that it is preferable to go for lesser number of facilities with bigger capacities for treatment, storage and disposal of hazardous wastes in an environmentally sound manner. A general guiding principal to this effect may be considered by the Ministry of Environment and Forests for issuance to all SPCBs/State Governments.
• Considering the scientific and technical inputs required for implementation of regulations concerning hazardous waste management in the country, appropriate strengthening of SPCBs/PPCs may be considered by the State Government/Central Government on priority. State Board may formulate action plans for hazardous wastes management in the State/UT for its systematic implementation over a period of time with the support of Central and State Government.
• In view of the data on generation of hazardous wastes in the States of Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, J&K and UnionTerritory-Chandigarh, one common TSDF may be promoted at a suitable site so that the wastes from the above State/UT could be handled at one TSDF. The Central govt. in the MoEF was requested to consider this proposal and take up the mater with the respective State Governments/UT-Administration.
• Planning and implementation of the TSDF in a techno-economically feasible manner need not be over emphasized particularly in the wake of growing public awareness and the issues under consideration by the judiciary. In order to facilitate the implementation the State govt. may consider setting up of separate authority for implementation, of scheme on TSDF along the lines of Sewage Board.