Chapter 2: Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981

CHAPTER II: CENTRAL AND STATE BOARDS FOR THE PREVENTION AND CONTROL OF AIR POLLUTION

This chapter explains how the main pollution control agencies (the “Boards”) are structured and how they operate.

Section 3: Central Pollution Control Board

Simple Translation: This section officially confirms that the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), which was created under the Water Act of 1974, will also be the main national board for controlling air pollution.
Real-world Example: This avoids creating two separate national agencies. The CPCB, which already monitors river quality, is also responsible for running the national air quality monitoring (NAQI) program.

Section 4: State Pollution Control Boards…

Simple Translation: Similar to Section 3, this confirms that any State Pollution Control Board (SPCB) already created under the Water Act will also serve as that state’s board for controlling air pollution.
Real-world Example: When this Act was passed in 1981, the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) already existed to manage water pollution. This section automatically gave the TNPCB the power and duty to manage air pollution in Tamil Nadu as well.

Section 5: Constitution of State Boards

Simple Translation: This section explains how to create a new State Board in a state that doesn’t already have one (e.g., if the Water Act wasn’t in force there).
(1) The State Government can officially create and name a new State Air Pollution Board.
(2) A new State Board must be made up of the following members, nominated by the State Government:
- (a) A Chairman: A person with special knowledge or experience in environmental protection.
  - Example: A retired environmental science professor or a senior environmental engineer.
- (b) Not more than 5 officials: To represent the State Government.
  - Example: The Health Secretary, the Industries Secretary, or the Transport Commissioner.
- (c) Not more than 5 persons: From local authorities (like city councils).
  - Example: The Mayor of a major city, the Commissioner of a Municipal Corporation, or a Zila Parishad (District Council) chief.
- (d) Not more than 3 non-officials: To represent interests like agriculture, industry, or labor.
  - Example: The head of a regional farmers’ association, the president of a local Chamber of Commerce, or a prominent trade union leader.
- (e) 2 persons: To represent state-owned companies.
  - Example: A director from the State Electricity Board or the managing director of the State Industrial Development Corporation.
- (f) A full-time member-secretary: A qualified person with scientific, engineering, or management experience in pollution control. This person is the chief administrative officer.
  - Example: A senior environmental scientist or engineer appointed to run the Board’s day-to-day operations, manage staff, and ensure decisions are implemented.
- Proviso (the “catch”): The government must ensure at least two members (besides the Chairman and member-secretary) have specific knowledge about air quality or air pollution control.
(3) This confirms that the new State Board is a “body corporate.”
- Simple Translation: The Board is a legal entity, like a company.
- Real-world Example: This means the State Board can own property (like its own office building and lab equipment), sign contracts (like hiring a company to conduct a pollution study), and can sue someone (e.g., sue a factory for non-payment of fees) or be sued itself.

Section 6: Central Board to exercise the powers… in the Union territories

Simple Translation: For Union Territories (UTs), no State Board is created. The national Central Board (CPCB) acts as the “State Board” for them.
Proviso: The Central Board can delegate its powers in a UT to any person or group it trusts.
Real-world Example: For the Andaman & Nicobar Islands (a UT), the CPCB in Delhi is the ultimate authority. However, the CPCB can delegate day-to-day tasks, like factory inspections, to a local committee or officer on the islands.

Section 7: Terms and conditions of service of members

This section lays out the HR rules for the State Board members (this doesn’t apply to the full-time member-secretary, who is a regular employee).

(1) A member serves for a 3-year term.
- Proviso: If their 3-year term ends, they must keep working until their replacement is officially appointed. This prevents the Board from having empty seats.
(2) If a member was appointed because they held a specific job (like Health Secretary or head of a state company), their term on the Board ends immediately if they leave that job.
- Real-world Example: If Mrs. Das is on the Board because she is the Industries Secretary, and she is then transferred to the Tourism Department, her seat on the Board becomes vacant that same day.
(3) How to resign:
- (a) The Chairman must send their resignation letter to the State Government.
- (b) Any other member must send their letter to the Chairman.
(4) A member is automatically considered to have vacated their seat if they miss three consecutive Board meetings without a good excuse (as judged by the Board).
- Real-world Example: Mr. Singh, representing local authorities, misses the January, April, and July meetings without sending a doctor’s note or a valid reason. The Board can declare his seat vacant, and the government must appoint someone new.
(5) If a seat becomes vacant mid-term (e.g., a member resigns), the new person appointed to replace them only serves for the remainder of the original 3-year term.
- Real-world Example: A member’s term is 2022-2025. They resign in 2023. The new member appointed to replace them only serves until 2025, not for a full 3 years.
(6) A member can be re-nominated for another term.
(7) Other details (like travel allowances) are defined in the separate “Rules.”

Section 8: Disqualifications

This section lists the reasons why a person cannot be a member of the State Board.

(1) No person shall be a member who…
- (a) Is “adjudged insolvent” (declared legally bankrupt).
- (b) Is of “unsound mind” (declared by a court).
- (c) Has been convicted of a crime that the State Government thinks involves “moral turpitude.”
  - Real-world Example: A person convicted of fraud, bribery, or perjury.
- (d) Has ever been convicted of an offense under this Act.
  - Real-world Example: A factory owner who was previously convicted and jailed for illegal pollution cannot be appointed to the Board.
- (e) Has a direct or indirect financial interest in a business that makes, sells, or rents pollution control equipment.
  - Real-world Example: A person who owns a company that sells chimneys or air filters cannot be on the Board. This prevents a conflict of interest.
- (f) Is a director, manager, or salaried employee of a company that has a contract with the Board or government for air pollution control programs.
  - Real-world Example: A manager at a private firm hired by the government to build a smog tower cannot also be a member of the Board that oversees that contract.
- (g) Has abused their position as a member, making them unfit to continue.
  - Real-world Example: A member is found to be using their position to threaten factories or demand bribes. The State Government can remove them for this.
(2) The State Government must remove any member who fits any of the above descriptions.
- Proviso: Before removing them, the government must give the member a “reasonable opportunity” to explain themselves (i.e., they get to tell their side of the story).
(3) A member removed under this section is not eligible for re-nomination.

Section 9: Vacation of seats by members

Simple Translation: This section is the automatic follow-up to Section 8. It states that if a current member suddenly becomes disqualified (e.g., they are convicted of fraud, or their company takes a contract from the Board), their seat becomes vacant immediately.
Real-world Example: A Board member is convicted of bribery (an offense under 8(1)(c)). The moment the court’s judgment is final, their seat on the Board is automatically empty.

Section 10: Meetings of Board

(1) The Board must meet at least once every three months.
- Proviso: The Chairman can call an “urgent” meeting at any other time if needed.
- Real-world Example: The Board schedules regular meetings in March, June, September, and December. However, if a massive, unexpected pollution incident happens at a gas plant in August, the Chairman can call an emergency meeting to handle the crisis.
(2) Copies of the meeting minutes (a summary of what was discussed and decided) must be sent to the national Central Board and the State Government.
- Real-world Example: This keeps the national and state governments informed about the State Board’s activities and decisions.

Section 11: Constitution of committees

(1) A Board may constitute as many committees consisting wholly of members or partly of members and partly of other persons and for such purpose or purposes as it may think fit.
- Simple Translation: The Central or State Board can create smaller, specialized groups (committees) for specific tasks. These groups can include only Board members or a mix of members and outside experts.
- Real-world Example: The State Board might create a “Technical Review Committee” to evaluate new pollution control technology, including an engineer from the Board and two expert mechanical engineers from a local university (outsiders).
(2) A committee constituted under this section shall meet at such time and at such place, and shall observe such rules of procedure… as may be prescribed.
- Simple Translation: The way these small committees operate (when they meet, where they meet, and their procedures) will be officially set out in the rules.
- Real-world Example: The rules might state that the “Enforcement Committee” must meet monthly and require a quorum of three people to pass any resolution.
(3) The members of a committee other than the members of the Board shall be paid such fees and allowances, for attending its meetings… as may be prescribed.
- Simple Translation: Outside experts who are not full-time Board members will be paid a fee and/or travel expenses for the work they do on the committee.
- Real-world Example: The university professor serving on the Technical Review Committee (from the example above) will receive a fixed sitting fee and reimbursement for their travel from the university to the Board office.

Section 12: Temporary association of persons with Board for particular purpose

(1) A Board may associate with itself in such manner, and for such purposes, as may be prescribed, any person whose assistance or advice it may desire to obtain…
- Simple Translation: The Board can temporarily bring in any person (an expert) to help or advise them on a specific issue.
- Real-world Example: The Board is reviewing noise pollution from a new airport runway. They temporarily hire a specialist acoustic engineer to advise them on global best practices for noise mapping.
(2) A person associated with the Board under sub-section (1)… shall have a right to take part in the discussions… but shall not have a right to vote…
- Simple Translation: The invited expert can talk, offer opinions, and participate in discussions relevant to their expertise, but they cannot cast a vote on any final decision the Board makes.
- Real-world Example: The acoustic engineer advises the Board on four options for noise mitigation. He participates in the debate, but only the official Board members can vote on which option to adopt.
(3) A person associated with a Board under sub-section (1) shall be entitled to receive such fees and allowances as may be prescribed.
- Simple Translation: The temporary expert will be compensated for their time and effort, as determined by the rules.
- Real-world Example: The acoustic engineer is paid an agreed-upon consultancy fee for the three months he spent working with the Board.

Section 13: Vacancy in Board not to invalidate acts or proceedings

Simple Translation: If the Board makes a decision or takes action, that decision is still legally valid, even if it is later discovered that there was a vacant seat, or a small error was made in the appointment process of one of its members.
Real-world Example: The State Board issues an order to close an illegally polluting factory. Later, the factory owner argues in court that the order is invalid because one Board member’s term had technically expired a week earlier. This section prevents that argument from succeeding; the Board’s decision stands.

Section 14: Member-secretary and officers and other employees of State Boards

(1) The terms and conditions of service of the member-secretary of a State Board… shall be such as may be prescribed.
- Simple Translation: The job rules, salary, and service conditions for the chief administrative officer (the Member-Secretary) will be set by specific official rules.
(2) The member-secretary of a State Board… shall exercise such powers and perform such duties as may be prescribed, or as may, from time to time, be delegated to him by the State Board or its Chairman.
- Simple Translation: The Member-Secretary’s job includes duties set in the official rules, plus any additional tasks or powers given to them by the full Board or the Chairman.
- Real-world Example: The rules require the Member-Secretary to sign all official permits. The Chairman may additionally delegate the power to him to approve travel expenses for the inspection teams up to a limit of ₹50,000.
(3) Subject to such rules as may be made by the State Government in this behalf, a State Board… may appoint such officers and other employees as it considers necessary for the efficient performance of its functions…
- Simple Translation: The Board can hire the necessary staff (like clerks, lab technicians, and field inspectors) to do its job effectively, following the general hiring rules set by the State Government.
- Real-world Example: The Board needs to conduct 500 factory inspections a year, so it hires five new Environmental Field Officers and ten new lab assistants.
(4) The method of appointment, the conditions of service and the scales of pay of the officers (other than the member-secretary) and other employees… shall be such as may be determined by regulations made by the State Board under this Act.
- Simple Translation: While the State Government sets the overall hiring framework (Sub-section 3), the Board itself defines the specific job rules, recruitment process, and salary levels for its general staff.
- Real-world Example: The Board decides that Environmental Field Officers must have a Master’s degree and sets their salary scale, which is formalized in the Board’s internal regulations.
(5) Subject to such conditions as may be prescribed, a State Board… may from time to time appoint any qualified person to be a consultant to the Board and pay him such salary and allowances or fees, as it thinks fit.
- Simple Translation: The Board can hire expert consultants whenever it needs specialized, temporary help, paying them an appropriate fee.
- Real-world Example: The Board hires a legal consultant specializing in environmental litigation to advise them on a complicated court case involving a major corporation.

Section 15: Delegation of powers

Simple Translation: The State Board can officially hand over some of its authority and duties to the Chairman, the Member-Secretary, or any other officer it chooses, provided they specify any limits on that power.
Real-world Example: The Board delegates the power to the Member-Secretary to issue temporary, 30-day closure notices to polluting small-scale industries without waiting for a full Board meeting. This speeds up enforcement, but the Board may limit this power by saying it only applies to industries below a certain size.