INTRODUCTION

A "hazardous substance" is defined as "an element or preparation that, because of its synthetic or
physico-synthetic properties or managing, is a danger to cause harm to individuals, other existing
animals, flora, microorganisms, other belongings, or the earth" in Section 2(e) of the
Environmental Protection Act of 1986.

LAWS REGARDING HAZARDOUS SUBSTANCES -

The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) reports that India has recently had over
130 chemical mishaps. Over 560 individuals have suffered serious injuries from these accidents,
which have resulted in over 259 fatalities. Throughout 1861 Major Accident Hazard (MAH)
units are currently located all over India. In addition, there are many registered hazardous
factories and unorganised sectors that work with dangerous materials. These compounds provide
a significant risk that might develop into a catastrophe.

ENVIRONMENT PROTECTION ACT, 1986

Under EPA section 2(e), a hazardous substance's definition is provided. It defines a hazardous
material as any substance or preparation that, because of its chemical or physiochemical qualities
or handling, can harm people, plants, microbes, and other living things.

The Union Government is given the authority to take any actions it considers necessary to
safeguard and conserve the environment under Section 3 of the EPA. It gives the central
government the authority to establish safeguards and protocols for the management of dangerous
materials.

HAZARDOUS WASTE MANAGEMENT AND TRANSBOUNDARY

RULES, 2016

The Hazardous Waste (Management and Handling) Rules, 1989 were created by the Central
Government using the authority granted by Sections 6, 8, and 25 of the EPA. Let's get acquainted
with the definition of the term "hazardous waste". It refers to waste that has characteristics that
might make it hazardous and detrimental to the environment or human health. The hazardous
waste may be in the form of a solid, liquid, or gas. The Hazardous Waste (Management and
Transboundary) Rules, 2016, which took the place of the rules from 1989, specify them in
several categories. The administration in 2019 just introduced an amendment.

THE MANUFACTURE, STORAGE AND IMPORT OF HAZARDOUS

CHEMICAL RULES, 1989 -

Hazardous chemical usage and storage are the main concerns of these regulations. These
regulations specify the requirements for the production, storage, and import of chemicals and
other hazardous materials. They need the right support, extreme caution, and attentiveness.

THINGS WHICH GENERATE HAZARDOUS -

 Natural gas production and crude petroleum.

 Cleaning, emptying, and maintenance of ships and other large-scale oil storage tanks.
 Oil refinement, oil preparation in advance, or the reuse of waste oil
 Industrial processes that use mineral or synthetic oil to lubricate hydraulic systems or
other devices.
 Industrial use of zinc or secondary production of zinc.
 The main production of non-ferrous metals other than aluminium, such as zinc, lead,
copper, and others.
 Copper secondary manufacturing.
 Optional lead production.
 Cadmium, arsenic, and their derivatives are produced and used industrially.
 Aluminium production, both mandatory and voluntary.
 Treatments for metal surfaces include drawing, recoloring, cleaning, heating, cleaning,
degreasing, plating, and other processes.
 Creation of additional ferrous amalgams and steel, as well as iron (electric heater; steel
rolling and finishing mills; Coke broilers and by products of plant).
 Steel solidifying.
 Production of products containing or containing asbestos.
 Production of chlorine and caustic soda.
 Acid production from minerals.
  Creation of complex, nitrogenous composts.
 Manufacture of phenol.
 Creating new industrial solvents and using them more.
 Production or contemporary use of inks, lacquers, varnishes, and paints.
 Creating and using pastes, organic cement, cements, and tars nowadays.
 Creation of fabrics and canvas.
 Sterilization is used to handle dangerous substances and trash.
 According to the guidelines established by the Indian government, air/gases, water, and
wastewater from process and common effluent treatment plants (CEPTS) must be
appropriately refined and treated.
 Solvents and organic molecules must go through the purification procedure.
 A hazardous waste treatment procedure, Examples include preparing, burning, and
concentrating.
 Chemical processing is necessary for ore containing heavy metals such as chromium,
manganese, nickel, cadmium, etc.

PROCEDURE FOR TREATMENT AND DISPOSAL -

Section 16 of the Hazardous and Other Wastes (Management and Transboundary Movement)
Rules, 2016 states that the following steps should be followed for the treatment, storage, and
removal of hazardous and other waste:

 The establishment of the location for the workplace for the treatment, storage, and
removal of hazardous and other waste shall be the exclusive responsibility of the State
government, the occupier, the facility's operator, or any association of occupiers.
 The operator of a regular office or occupant of a captive facility will plan and set up a
treatment, storing, and removal facility that will receive an endorsement from the State
Pollution Control Board for structure in accordance with the technical procedure issued
by the Central Pollution Control Board.
 Following the instructions provided by the State Pollution Control Board, monitoring and
setting up the captive treatment, storage, and removal facility is a regular duty.
  The State Pollution Control Board is responsible for overseeing setup, monitoring, and
operation of the common or captive treatment, storage, and removal facility.
 The occupant of a captive procedure or the operator of a normal facility will be
responsible for the facility's closure and post-closure phase, according to guidelines or
standard operating procedures published by the Central Pollution Control Board.
 According to Form 3, the operator of a common facility or the occupant of a captive
facility must keep records of the hazardous and other waste they deal with.
 The owner of a captive facility or the operator of a common facility must submit an
annual return under Form 4 in the format specified by the State Pollution Control Board
by the 30th day of June following the fiscal year to which the return relates.

CASE LAWS -

BHOPAL GAS TRAGEDY

One of India's most horrifying and tragic industrial catastrophes occurred in the year 1984. Due
to its accessibility and central location in Bhopal, an American company named Union Carbide
Corporation (UCC) built a pesticide facility there in 1970. The location was intended for light
industrial and commercial usage. Due to decreasing capacity, the firm produced Selvin at just
25% of its capacity in 1984. Due to its poor production, UCIL had planned to relocate it to a
foreign nation. The government was aware that the corporation was disregarding safety rules due
to poor revenues, which made them even more hesitant to establish stringent oversight.

On December 3, 1984, the city was completely covered with methyl isocyanides, which caused a
significant loss of life for both people and animals. This caused a significant number of deaths,
and the hospital was overflowing with dead corpses, confused patients, and doctors who had no
idea what had caused the deaths or what treatments the UCC group had withheld due to trade
confidentiality.

After the event, UCC cut ties with its Indian affiliate and tried to escape responsibility by placing
the blame elsewhere.
Numerous persons were impacted by the gas leak, which resulted in a number of neurological,
ophthalmic, pulmonary, gastrointestinal, and reproductive diseases. Pregnant women who had to
have abortions, early births, or newborns with foetal anomalies were the most impacted.

The environment also suffered because of the problem. Even after so many people died, the firm
refused to own responsibility and improve the environment for health. The corporation deposited
a sizable volume of hazardous garbage both within and outside the plant site during its
production year. The factory site still contains almost all of the pollutants. These wastes have
poisoned the land and groundwater because of their gradual degradation.

JUDGEMENT -

The Madhya Pradesh High Court reduced the Union of India's suit from Rs. 3.5 billion to Rs. 2.5
billion in the year 1986 after it was submitted to the Hon'ble District Court of Bhopal in
September. UCC appealed once more to the Supreme Court. In order to fully resolve all claims,
rights, and responsibilities relating to and deriving from the Bhopal gas disaster, the court
ordered UCC to pay 470 Million Dollars (about 750 Crore Rupees). In practise, all civil cases
have been resolved, and criminal cases have been concealed.

Seven former representatives—including the former UCIL director—were found guilty in

Bhopal of causing a death by carelessness in 2010 and given sentences of two years in jail and a
fine of $2,000 as punishment.

VIEWS -

The company's basic carelessness was demonstrated by the fact that neither the workers nor they
received any safety equipment or any training. They weren't regularly monitoring the job being
done or the equipment that was being used. The corporation was trying to ignore problems that
were a safety risk for everyone due to low sales. It was discovered during the internal
investigation that the majority of the safety systems were not functioning correctly. This
demonstrated that UCC was only concerned with its diminishing earnings and had no regard for
the safety of its employees or the community around the facility, all of whom were ruthlessly
slaughtered as a result of an accident and carelessness on the side of the company.
Because of this incident, the Indian government decided to create environmental laws in order to
save animals from the evils of humans. In 1987, the government also gave us regulations on
hazardous and other trash.

Even many years after the tragedy, garbage is still laying about the site, contaminating the soil
and groundwater and posing a threat to the local population and ecosystem. The government was
unable to fully cleanse the area in the past because they lacked the necessary procedures and
tools, and the firm hid behind the law by refusing to provide information about the facility since
it violated their trade confidentially.

AMENDMENTS -

There have been several advances in the industry over the years, and these innovations may have
increased the number of new types of hazardous and other waste released into the market or
employed in the production of new goods. Here are a few of the significant amendments made to
safeguard the environment. The 2016 Amendment is as follows:

 The addition of "Other Waste" broadens the scope of the Rules.

 Prioritization of prevention, minimization, reuse, recycling, recovery, co-processing, and
safe disposal has been introduced into the waste management grading process.
 The severe approach for the management of such dangerous and other wastes has been
demonstrated while at the same time streamlining all the procedures under the laws for
authorization, import/export, filing of yearly returns, transportation, etc.
 Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), specific to the type of waste, have been
recommended as the fundamental framework to protect human health and the
environment from the waste handling industry. These SOPs must be followed by the
stakeholders and supported by SPCB/PCC in order to grant such authorization.
 The process has been streamlined to combine all permissions as freedom to establish
hazardous waste disposal facilities and import various wastes.
 The following provides an introduction to the State Government's responsibilities for
monitoring hazardous and other waste in an environmentally sound manner:
 Establishing/designating a designated area or shed for the use of hazardous waste
recycling, pre-processing, and other uses
  To promote the development of industrial skills while ensuring the health and safety of
employees
 To engage the employees in pre-processing, recycling, and other usage activities.
 To assemble employees to assist in constructing such structures.
 The following items have had their import blocked:
 Household garbage, basic care medical equipment, edible fats and oils waste from either
vegetable or animal sources;
 Tyres for purposes of immediate reuse;
 Solid plastic wastes, such as pet bottle trash, scrap electrical and electronic equipment,
and other chemicals, particularly solvent-based wastes.

IN THE YEAR 2019 FOLLOWING AMMENDMENTS WERE MADE -

 Solid plastic garbage has been prohibited from entering the nation, even by Export
Oriented Units and Special Economic Zones (SEZ) (EOU).
 Exporters of waste from the silk industry are no longer need to obtain permission from
the Ministry of Environment, Forestry, and Climate Change.
 Within a year of export, defective electrical and electronic assemblies and segments made
in India may now be brought back into the country without the Ministry of Environment,
Forest, and Climate Change's permission.

LEGISLATION FOR ENVIRONMENT PROTECTION -

The Ministry of Economic Environment was founded in 1985 and serves as the supreme
authority for laws and regulations pertaining to environmental protection. It has established a
number of statutory regulations to safeguard the environment, including:

 The National Green Tribunal Act, 2010

 The Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981
 The Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974
 The Environment Protection Act, 1986
 Hazardous Waste Management Regulations
 E-Waste (Management and Handling) Rules, 2011
 Batteries (Management & Handling) Rules, 2001
 The Wildlife Protection Act, 1972
 The Forest Conservation Act, 1980
 Public Liability Insurance Act, 1991
 The Biological Diversity Act, 2002
 Coastal Regulation Zone Notification.