The Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) has notified the amendments to the Environment (Protection) Act for better monitoring and utilisation of fly ash by coal-based thermal power plants (TPPs) in the country. It was notified in the last week of December 2021.
Salient Features of Fly Ash Notification 2021
- The new fly ash notification has made provision for the ‘enforcement, monitoring, audit and reporting’ of the progress of fly ash utilisation and implementation of the clauses of the notification by coal thermal power plants and user agencies.
- It holds the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and State Pollution Control Boards (SPCB) / Pollution Control Committees (PCC) responsible for monitoring the effective implementation of mandates under it.
- It mandates the individual thermal power plant to upload monthly information regarding ash generation and utilisation on its web portal.
- Thermal power plants must utilise 100 per cent of their yearly fly ash output within a three-year cycle to avoid penalties and “at no point” should utilisation fall below 80 per cent.
- The plants that fail to have 100 per cent utilisation levels within this period will be forced to pay the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) Rs 1,000 per tonne of unutilised ash.
- “Legacy ash”, or the build-up of fly ash by thermal power plants over decades, must be utilised over a period of 10 years from the time the notification is applicable, from 1 April 2022 onwards.
- Legacy ash must be dealt with “over and above” the yearly ash output by power plants, the notification says.
- The compensation money collected by the CPCB for ash that hasn’t been utilised will be used “towards the safe disposal of the unutilised ash” as well as research on ash-based products.
What is Fly Ash?
- Fly ash is the residue of coal combustion, which, if disposed of improperly, is hazardous for health and the environment due to the concentrated presence of heavy metals.
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