India to regulate environment management in construction of buildings 
On February 28, 2022, the India’s Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) announced the draft Building Construction Environment Management Regulations, 2022, which regulate environment management in the construction of buildings, and is inviting comments for 60 days. The draft Regulations shall apply to projects involving construction of buildings with a construction area of 5,000 m2 or more (including new building projects, expansion/repair of old buildings). The draft Regulations impose environment management obligations on the project authority to manage and maintain drainage systems at construction sites, implement soil erosion control measures, adopt water conservation methods, reuse treated wastewater, manage solid waste, conduct tree planting, and manage air and noise pollution. Also, the project authority shall submit data and certificates to demonstrate compliance with these environmental regulations.
The main provisions of the draft Regulations are as follows (excerpts).
- Maintain natural drainage systems to ensure unrestricted flow of water and manage them in accordance with the CPHEEO Manual on Storm Water Drainage Systems, 2019.
- Soil erosion control measures should be taken as per the best management practices described in the National Building Code (NBC) of India, 2016.
- No ground water shall be used during construction without prior approval of the Central Ground Water Authority (CGWA).
- Achieve the specified daily rainwater storage rates in a manner that prevents possible contamination of ground water (see Table 1).
- At least one tree per 80 m2 should be planted and maintained so as to ensure at least 10% of the site area is covered by trees (existing trees may be included).
- Measures shall be taken to prevent dust, smoke, and other air pollution. Measures shall also be taken to reduce noise levels during the construction phase to conform to the noise standards set by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) or the State Pollution Control Board (SPCB).
- The self-declaration indicating compliance with the environmental regulations set forth in the Regulations and environmental management plan shall be submitted through the online portal. In addition, data and certificates demonstrating compliance with the environmental regulations shall be submitted annually during the construction phase and every two years during the operation phase (or every five years if the building has been certified as a green building in terms of GRIHA guidelines of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy).
Other laws and regulations relevant to the environmental regulations set forth in the draft Regulations are as follows.
- Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016
- Plastics Waste Management Rules, 2016
- Hazardous & Other Wastes (Management and Transboundary Movement) Rules, 2016
- Bio-Medical Waste Management Rules, 2016
- Noise Pollution (Regulation and Control) Rules, 2000
- Construction & Demolition Rules, 2016 & Dust Mitigation Measures for Construction and Demolition Activities
- National Building Code (NBC) of India 2016
The draft Regulations do not substitute approvals or consent required to be obtained under any other laws and regulations. In case of any inconsistency with any other laws and regulations, the provisions that are more stringent shall apply.
Contact information for submitting comments (send to the address below or submit via email)
Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Indira Paryavaran Bhawan, Jorbagh Road, Aliganj, New Delhi-110 003
ragavan.p@gov.in/gupta.dharmendra@gov.in
The draft Building Construction Environment Management Regulations, 2022 can be downloaded from the following URL (in Hindi and English).
https://egazette.nic.in/WriteReadData/2022/233768.pdf
