Environmental appraisal authority being set up

• The Union government is in the process of setting up a National Environmental Appraisal and Monitoring Authority (NEAMA) as part of efforts to bring in institutional reforms and improve environmental governance
• Mr. Ramesh said that as a professional, science-based and autonomous entity tasked with environmental appraisals and monitoring of compliance, NEAMA would mark a major improvement over the current system wherein the Ministry did appraisal and approval of projects.
• While NEAMA would be more effective in addressing conflict of interest issues through separation of the processes of appraisal and approval, the appraised projects would require his final approval to ensure the principle of executive accountability, he said.
• The Minister said a beginning was being made to move to a market-friendly system of regulation with the launch of a pilot project in Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and Maharashtra to implement regulations for air pollutants.