Environment Protection Act.

The Act consists of 82 sections divided into 11 Parts: Preliminary (I); Administration (II); Environment Agencies (III); Environmental Impact Assessment (IV); Spill and Environmental Emergency (V); National Environmental Standards (VI); Coastal and Maritime Zone Management (VII); The Environment Adjudication Tribunal (VIII); The National Environment Fund (IX); Enforcement (X); Miscellaneous Provisions (XI).
A National Environment Commission, a policy forum consisting of Ministers and chaired by the Prime Minister, is established under section 3 and a Department of the Environment is established under section 7. Section 8 provides for the constitution of an Environmental Advisory Council. In addition to this, Part III provides for the establishment of an Environment coordination Committee under section 12 and section 11 declares all agencies as set out in the fourth Schedule to be enforcing agencies in respect of such environmental medium or such pollutant as is specified in the schedule. Section 13 of Part IV provides for Environment Impact Assessment Licences required for "all undertakings". Section 14 outlines the contents of an EIA for undertakings. There is established for the purposes of this Act an EIA Committee under section 17A. The Minister, to whom the responsibility of the environment is assigned, shall have the exclusive authority to issue national environmental standards (sect. 32). The Minister may make such rules as he thinks fit for the reduction and control of pollution in the coastal and maritime zones, as defined in section 42 (sect. 43). Section 45 provides for the establishment of the Environment Adjudication Tribunal. The Tribunal shall hear and adjudicate appeals against decisions from the Minister and other specified authorities (sect. 46). To complete the institutional framework, a National Environment Fund is established under section 51.