Forty Years of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986: Achievements and Shortcomings

AbstractThe Environment (Protection) Act of 1986 (EPA) has stood for four decades as the cornerstoneof India’s environmental legal framework. This paper suggests that viewing the EPA merely as atool for pollution management or a secondary addition to the Water and Air Acts is anoversimplification. Instead, its primary significance is its role as a "framework statute" thatempowered the Union executive to oversee environmental risks across various industries andtechnologies. This structure facilitated the creation of extensive delegated legislation, coveringareas like waste management, coastal protection, and climate change regulations. Consequently,the EPA provided India’s environmental governance with necessary scale, agility, and reach.However, the Act’s broad design is also its primary flaw. While it grants vast authority, it lacksinternal checks and balances. Today, most environmental regulations exist within executive ordersand notifications rather than the original legislative text. This article argues that while the EPA hasbuilt administrative capacity, it has struggled with administrative accountability. This gap isevident in numerous judicial interventions—from the Vellore Citizens case to Sterlite1—where theSupreme Court had to step in to provide constitutional grounding and procedural integrity. Thepaper concludes that the EPA’s future depends on a shift toward structured governance, includingmore robust sanctions, transparent procedures, and enhanced public involvement.