7 “PARA LA INMENSA MINORÍA”
11. DEL LIBRO ELECTRÓNICO Y LA INTERNET
Environmental Protection Councils, Ministries and Departments for formulation of environmental policies, Acts etc. exist at both the Federal and Provincial levels in Pakistan. These oversee and facilitate their enforcement in the country. Prior to the establishment of EPAs, the functions of environmental protection/pollution control etc. were exercised by various
ministries/organisations since 1975, as a follow- up of Stockholm Declaration of 1972 (e.g. former Ministry of Environment in the Federal Area and Environmental Pollution Control Organisation in the Punjab Province).
Box 5.6: Sub-sectoral environmental guidelines and checklists by KPK-EPA
Source: Pak-EPA Website, 2013 (http://www.environment.gov.pk/info.htm)
1. Brick kiln units
2. Construction or expansion of bus terminal 3. Carpet manufacturing units
4. Canal cleaning 5. Flour mill
6. Forest harvesting operations 7. Forest road constructions 8. Housing schemes 9. Marble units
10. Petrol and CNG stations 11. Poultry farms
12. Rural schools and basic health units 13. Sanitation schemes
14. Solid waste management 15. Stone crushing units 16. Sound plantation
17. Tourist facilities in ecologically sensitive areas 18. Tube-well construction for agriculture and
irrigation purposes
19. Urban areas road construction 20. Watercourses construction and lining 21. Water reservoirs in arid zones 22. Water supply schemes
Afterwards, the EPAs established under the PEPO 1983, have been entrusted with the task of implementing several environmental protection, conservation and improvement measures including EIA related legal provisions following their respective Environmental Protection Acts, Regulations and Guidelines within their
jurisdictions.
The Pak-EPA (Federal) was established in 1984. It is attached to the Ministry of Climate Change. It is responsible for implementing the PEPA 1997 within the Islamabad Capital Territory and the areas not included in any province. It is also entrusted with the duty to coordinate with line departments/agencies of the Federal Government as well as the Provincial EPAs especially for those
Figure 5.1: A section of the environmental assessment checklist for stone crushing units
Source: Pak-EPA Website, 2013 (http://www.environment.gov.pk/info.htm) Stone Crushing Units
No: Version: B Date: 21 May 2004 Page 13 of 15
Section IV: Impact Assessment
Potential Negative Environmental Impacts
Tick, if relevant Mitigation Measures Tick, if proposed
Monitoring
Siting Station is not located within ___ m of any educational institution or health facility Traffic Plant is located such that ingress of heavy
vehicles does not block the traffic
Noise and Dust Dust containment enclosures will be provided for:
Primary Crusher discharge area
Vibratory screen
Product storage hoppers
Belt Conveyors
Dust suppression system will be installed for:
Spray on the stones while unloading from the truck/dumper
Spray at the primary crusher feeder chute
Spray at the secondary/tertiary crusher inlet chute/hoppers
Spray at the transfer points from one belt conveyor to another
Spray at crusher discharge points
Payload area of trucks will be covered by tarpaulins when transporting crush to prevent fall out of fines and emissions of dust
Noise wall will be built
d n a l a ir e t a m f o n o it a r e p o t h g i n e t a l d n a g n i n e v E
product trucks will be avoided
Wastewater Volume and strength reduction of the effluent is to be achieved by preventing mixing of waters from washing activities and processing activities
n o it a t n e m i d e s y b d e t a e rt e b o t s i t n e u lf f e d i u q i L
process meaning subjecting the effluent to flow through settling tanks
s i t a h t n o it a l u g a o c y b d e t a e rt e b o t s i t n e u lf f E
adding any coagulant to the settling tanks d n a n o it a l u g a o c y b d e t a e rt e b o t s i t n e u lf f E filtration
Occupational safety Workers will be provided with protective equipments
projects which extend within the jurisdiction of more than one EPA (e.g. National Highways). Its organisational set up mainly comprises
directorates of EIA/Monitoring, Lab/NEQS, and Legal/Enforcement as well as technical and other support staff etc. The Environment Section of Planning Commission is also responsible for ensuring that environment considerations are included in the national plans and public sector development projects.
The Punjab-EPA was created in July 1987. It was the first provincial EPA in the country. Both, the Sindh EPA (SEPA) and KPK-EPA were established in 1989. The third EPA was created in 1992 in Balochistan (BEPA). Azad Jammu and Kashmir Environmental Protection Agency (AJK-EPA) was established in July 1998. The most recent EPA that emerged during October, 2007, in the country belongs to Gilgit-Baltistan (GBEPA). The EPAs are attached with their respective
Environment Protection Department/Ministry and the names and combination of
departments/ministries vary from province to province. Hence, the country has seven EPAs. The EPAs have EIA responsibilities. The Federal EPA is responsible for implementing the IEE/EIA related requirements, grant IEE/EIA approval and carry out compliance monitoring of the conditions of approval. Environmental monitoring
equipment/laboratories are also provided but at a limited scale, together with technical staff.
However, most of the EPAs have their field offices at District level working in association with District/Local Governments. In addition, environment sections have been created in the Provincial Planning and Development
Departments to ensure environmental considerations in public sector development plans and projects (also See: Section 15.5.2).
5.6
Environmental Tribunals
The Federal and Provincial Environmental Protection Acts authorise governments to establish Environmental Tribunals (See: Box 5.1 and 5.4). These have the same powers as are vested in the Court of Session under the Code of
Criminal Procedure, 1898 (Act V of 1898). Their powers and functions include but not limited to: l trial all punishable offences under the
Environmental Protection Act; l entertain complaints of environmental
offences lodged by the environmental protection agency or any aggrieved person; l issue bail able warrant for the arrest of any
person against whom reasonable suspicion exists, of them having been involved in contraventions punishable under the law; l take action against a complainant upon
making a false complaint, if proven. The Tribunal may direct the complainant to pay to the person complained against compensatory costs up to one hundred thousand rupees; and
l entertain appeals of any person aggrieved by any order or direction of the concerned Provincial Agency (GoP, 1997a; GoPb, 2012; GoB, 2013).
As indicated in Box 5.1, an aggrieved person may file an appeal against the order of the
Environmental Tribunal to the concerned High Court within thirty days of the communication of such order or sentence.
Initially, the Environmental Tribunals’ Rules 1999 were notified for the appointment of a
Chairperson and two members with at least one technical member. The Punjab (Lahore) and Sindh (Karachi) Environmental Protection Tribunals were established in 1999, whereas, the KPK
(Peshawar) and Balochistan (Quetta) Environmental Protection Tribunals were
established in 2005. Earlier, the Punjab and Sindh Tribunals had been dealing with the cases of Islamabad, KPK and Balochistan respectively. Working of these Tribunals varied due to lack of financial resources and delayed appointment of Chairpersons, members and support staff (See: NIAP/IUCN, 2012). After the devolution of environmental pollution and ecology to the provinces, each province is now making its own rules (e.g. GoPb, 2012a). Under the respective Provincial Environmental Protection Acts, a
Government may establish as many
Environmental Tribunals as it considers necessary (GoPb, 2012; GoB, 2013).