Who is drafting?
The draft notification to amend the rules was signed by R K Vaish, Joint Secretary, Hazardous Substances Management Division, Ministry of Environment and Forests. The proposed rules are being promoted by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government, according to minutes of Parliamentary Consultative Committee meetings on environmental policy. The CCEA is guiding the Ministry of Environment and Forests, and the latter draws its mandate from the former. The attempt to modify the hazardous waste management rules forms part of an ongoing process of re-engineering various provisions of the Environment Protection Act (EPA), in keeping with the recommendations made by the Govindarajan Committee on Investment Reforms. Commerce Ministry working in tandem with Environment Ministry In the meanwhile, also last year, the Ministry of Commerce abandoned its decision to have a registration scheme for overseas suppliers of scrap as applicable in China. A
