Chapter I - Preliminary
1. Short title and commencement. -
(1) These rules may be called the Hazardous and Other Wastes (Management and Transboundary Movement) Rules, 2016.
(2) They shall come into force on the date of their publication in the Official Gazette.(04th April, 2016)
2. Application. - These rules shall apply to the management of hazardous and other wastes as specified in the Schedules to these rules but shall not apply to -
(a) waste-water and exhaust gases as covered under the provisions of the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 (6 of 1974) and the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981 (14 of 1981) and the rules made thereunder and as amended from time to time;
(b) wastes arising out of the operation from ships beyond five kilometres of the relevant baseline as covered under the provisions of the Merchant Shipping Act, 1958 (44 of 1958) and the rules made thereunder and as amended from time to time;
(c) radio-active wastes as covered under the provisions of the Atomic Energy Act, 1962 (33 of 1962) and the rules made thereunder and as amended from time to time;
(d) bio-medical wastes covered under the Bio-Medical Wastes (Management and Handling) Rules, 1998 made under the Act and as amended from time to time; and
(e) wastes covered under the Municipal Solid Wastes (Management and Handling) Rules, 2000 made under the Act and as amended from time to time.
3. Definitions. - (1) In these rules, unless the context otherwise requires,-
1. “Act” means the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 (29 of 1986);
2. “actual user” means an occupier who procures and processes hazardous and other waste for reuse, recycling, recovery, pre-processing, utilisation including co-processing;
3. “authorisation” means permission for generation, handling, collection, reception, treatment, transport, storage, reuse, recycling, recovery, pre-processing, utilisation including co-processing and disposal of hazardous wastes granted under sub-rule (2) of rule 6;
4. “Basel Convention” means the United Nations Environment Programme Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movement of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal;
5. “captive treatment, storage and disposal facility” means a facility developed within the premises of an occupier for treatment, storage and disposal of wastes generated during manufacture, processing, treatment, package, storage, transportation, use, collection, destruction, conversion, offering for sale, transfer or the like of hazardous and other wastes;
6. “Central Pollution Control Board” means the Central Pollution Control Board constituted under sub-section (1) of section 3 of the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 (6 of 1974);
7. “common treatment, storage and disposal facility” means a common facility identified and established individually or jointly or severally by the State Government, occupier, operator of a facility or any association of occupiers that shall be used as common facility by multiple occupiers or actual users for treatment, storage and disposal of the hazardous and other wastes;
8. “co-processing” means the use of waste materials in manufacturing processes for the purpose of energy or resource recovery or both and resultant reduction in the use of conventional fuels or raw materials or both through substitution;
9. “critical care medical equipment” means life saving equipment and includes such equipment as specified by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare from time to time;
10. “disposal” means any operation which does not lead to reuse, recycling, recovery, utilisation including co-processing and includes physico-chemical treatment, biological treatment, incineration and disposal in secured landfill;
11. “export”, with its grammatical variations and cognate expressions, means taking out of India to a place outside India;
12. “exporter” means any person or occupier under the jurisdiction of the exporting country who exports hazardous or other wastes, including the country which exports hazardous or other waste;
13. “environmentally sound management of hazardous and other wastes” means taking all steps required to ensure that the hazardous and other wastes are managed in a manner which shall protect health and the environment against the adverse effects which may result from such waste;
14. “environmentally sound technologies” means any technology approved by the Central Government from time to time;
15. “facility” means any establishment wherein the processes incidental to the generation, handling, collection, reception, treatment, storage, reuse, recycling, recovery, pre-processing, co-processing, utilisation and disposal of hazardous and, or, other wastes are carried out;
16. “Form” means a form appended to these rules;
17. “hazardous waste” means any waste which by reason of characteristics such as physical, chemical, biological, reactive, toxic, flammable, explosive or corrosive, causes danger or is likely to cause danger to health or environment, whether alone or in contact with other wastes or substances, and shall include -
(i) waste specified under column (3) of Schedule I;
(ii) waste having equal to or more than the concentration limits specified for the constituents in class A and class B of Schedule II or any of the characteristics as specified in class C of Schedule II; and
(iii) wastes specified in Part A of Schedule III in respect of import or export of such wastes or the wastes not specified in Part A but exhibit hazardous characteristics specified in Part C of Schedule III;
18. “import”, with its grammatical variations and cognate expressions, means bringing into India from a place outside India;
19. “importer” mean any person or occupier who imports hazardous or other waste;
20. “manifest” means transporting document prepared and signed by the sender authorised in accordance with the provisions of these rules;
21. “occupier” in relation to any factory or premises, means a person who has, control over the affairs of the factory or the premises and includes in relation to any hazardous and other wastes, the person in possession of the hazardous or other waste;
22. “operator of disposal facility” means a person who owns or operates a facility for collection, reception, treatment, storage and disposal of hazardous and other wastes;
23. “other wastes” means wastes specified in Part B and Part D of Schedule III for import or export and includes all such waste generated indigenously within the country;
24. “pre-processing” means the treatment of waste to make it suitable for co-processing or recycling or for any further processing;
25. “recycling” means reclamation and processing of hazardous or other wastes in an environmentally sound manner for the originally intended purpose or for other purposes;
26. “reuse” means use of hazardous or other waste for the purpose of its original use or other use;
27. “recovery” means any operation or activity wherein specific materials are recovered;
28. “Schedule” means a Schedule appended to these rules;
29. “State Government” in relation to a Union territory means, the Administrator thereof appointed under article 239 of the Constitution;
30. “State Pollution Control Board” means the State Pollution Control Board constituted under section 4 of the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 (6 of 1974) and includes, in relation to a Union territory, the Pollution Control Committee;
31. “storage” mean storing any hazardous or other waste for a temporary period, at the end of which such waste is processed or disposed of;
32. “transboundary movement” means any movement of hazardous or other wastes from an area under the jurisdiction of one country to or through an area under the jurisdiction of another country or to or through an area not under the jurisdiction of any country, provided that at least two countries are involved in the movement;
33. “transport” means off-site movement of hazardous or other wastes by air, rail, road or water;
34. “transporter” means a person engaged in the off-site transportation of hazardous or other waste by air, rail, road or water;
35. “treatment” means a method, technique or process, designed to modify the physical, chemical or biological characteristics or composition of any hazardous or other waste so as to reduce its potential to cause harm;
36. “used oil” means any oil-
(i) derived from crude oil or mixtures containing synthetic oil including spent oil, used engine oil, gear oil, hydraulic oil, turbine oil, compressor oil, industrial gear oil, heat transfer oil, transformer oil and their tank bottom sludges; and
(ii) suitable for reprocessing, if it meets the specification laid down in Part A of Schedule V but does not include waste oil;
37. “utilisation” means use of hazardous or other waste as a resource;
38. “waste” means materials that are not products or by-products, for which the generator has no further use for the purposes of production, transformation or consumption.
Explanation.- for the purposes of this clause,
(i) waste includes the materials that may be generated during, the extraction of raw materials, the processing of raw materials into intermediates and final products, the consumption of final products, and through other human activities and excludes residuals recycled or reused at the place of generation; and
(ii) by-product means a material that is not intended to be produced but gets produced in the production process of intended product and is used as such;
39. “waste oil” means any oil which includes spills of crude oil, emulsions, tank bottom sludge and slop oil generated from petroleum refineries, installations or ships and can be used as fuel in furnaces for energy recovery, if it meets the specifications laid down in Part-B of Schedule V either as such or after reprocessing.
(2) Words and expressions used in these rules and not defined but defined in the Act shall have the meanings respectively assigned to them in the Act.,