According to the Press Information Bureau, 218 mines of Coal India Limited (CIL) are operating in violation to the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Notification 2006. These are pre-1994 mines when the EIA notification was not in place.
Environment Impact Assessment or EIA can be defined as the study to predict the effect of a proposed activity/project on the environment. A decision making tool, EIA compares various alternatives for a project and seeks to identify the one which represents the best combination of economic and environmental costs and benefits.
In line with the discussion paper on NEPA dated May 25, 2010, theconsultative process has been taken forward.
Environmental Impact Assessment Notification, 2006 The Union Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF) notified the new EIA Notification in September 2006 after putting up the draft notification for public comment for a year.