Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Notification, 2006

Under the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Notification, the construction of a new project or expansion of an existing project for oil and gas exploration, development, production or petroleum refining requires prior environmental clearance from the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MEFCC). There are three phases for the EIA: (1) scoping, whereby an expert committee determines the Terms of Reference (“TOR”) for preparation of an EIA report; (2) public consultation, whereby concerns of affected individuals are ascertained; and (3) appraisal, whereby the MEFCC scrutinises the project for grant of environmental clearance on stipulated terms and conditions.

Notably, certain standard TORs have been prepared by the MEFCC for offshore and onshore oil and gas projects, which require the operators to inter alia provide details on: 

1. the baseline air quality of immediately affected areas, with reference to gases including hydrocarbons and VOCs; and 
2. air emissions (including for hydrocarbons and VOCs) resulting from flaring, combustion, etc. during all project phases. 

Similarly, operators in the petroleum refining industry are required to provide details on: 

1. the ambient air quality including hydrocarbon (methane and non-methane) and VOCs; and
2. their flaring systems; and (c) VOC recovery devices in the storage tanks, etc. 

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