India, Oct. 14 -- Summary Environment ministry proposes exempting Common Municipal Solid Waste Management Facilities from environmental impact assessment process.

This move could undermine environmental planning by replacing proactive assessments with reactive compliance checks.

It can result in erosion of public participation and accountability, and potentially ignore high-risk components like landfills.

The draft notification from the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC), published on October 6, 2025, proposes a significant policy revision: The removal of item 7 (i) from the Schedule of the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) Notification, 2006. This omission would exempt Common Municipal Solid Waste Management...