MoEFCC NOTIFIES THE DRAFT BUILDING CONSTRUCTION ENVIRONMENT MANAGEMENT REGULATIONS, 2022
The Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change (MoEFCC) issued the Draft Building Construction Environment Management Regulations, 2022[i] on 25th February 2005 to be applicable to new building projects and expansion/renovation/repair of old /existing buildings, having built-up area more than or equal to 5000 sq. meters.
Highlights:
·????????Objections or suggestions to the proposal can be sent for consideration within 60 days of notification in writing to the Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change or send it to the e-mail address of the Ministry at [email protected] or [email protected]
·????????The draft regulations are issued in pursuance to an expert committee report which was set up to examine and recommend regulations regarding the building construction and townships projects. The purpose of these regulations is to achieve transparency and ease of doing business and to set standardized and quantitative regulations for effective environmental protection and management.
·????????The regulations define “Black Water” as Greywater, mixed with fecal and urinal contamination, “Building” as a structure constructed with any material whatsoever for the purpose of being used for human habitation, professional use, etc. but excludes industrial building and hazardous building, “Grey Water” as wastewater generated in households or office buildings from streams without fecal and urinal contamination, “Wastewater” as used water from any combination of domestic, commercial, industrial or agricultural activities, surface runoff or stormwater & any sewer inflow or sewer infiltration & includes greywater & black water. The Regulations also define hazardous and industrial buildings for clarity of the ambit of Building under the regulations. The regulations also specify that in case of any inconsistency with any other regulations, bye-laws, etc., the provisions that are more stringent shall apply.
·????????Subject to the project authority remaining accountable for the compliance of regulation, the projects are authorized to leverage on the existing or common infrastructure available for select purposes. However, if such an arrangement fails or results in a breach of any regulations, the project authority shall be considered liable for breach of the regulations.
·????????For the treatment of wastewater, the project authority may enter a contractual agreement to avail services of the sewage treatment plant (STP). This is subject to the putting in place of recycling system of treated wastewater back to respective buildings for reuse along with the necessary infrastructure of sewerage network (trunk sewer, pumping station, etc.) for transporting wastewater to STP. Regarding solid waste management, subject to the applicability of the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016, the project authority may hand over the segregated solid waste to the concerned local body if the municipality has a garbage pick-up mechanism in place.
·????????The project authority shall ensure that the prescribed environment regulations are complied with during constructions which include provisions regarding topography and natural drainage, adoption of water conservation methods by rainwater harvesting or groundwater recharge, management of sewage or wastewater, solid waste management, green cover, management of dust or air and noise pollution during construction, power supply, issue of occupancy or possession certificate or handing over possession, project environment management cell within project authority and other relevant regulations or rules.
·????????Furthermore, a self-declaration undertaking to comply with the environmental regulations’ conditions along with the project details, in the prescribed format and the Environment Management Plan shall be submitted online by the project proponent on the designated website of the Central Government (www.parivesh.nic.in). Thereafter, an acknowledgment shall be issued to the project proponent confirming receipt of the declaration made. The project proponent shall submit Performance Data and Certificate of Compliance of the project for the environmental regulations and the parameters applicable, every year during the period of construction and every two years during the operational phase (5 years in case the building has been certified as Green building in terms of GRIHA guidelines of MNRE) to the Government. ?