Page 149 - DGH_Annual_Report

Environmental and Regulatory Oversight in India’s ream Oil & Gas Sector 149

• Forest Clearance Appraisal Committees schedules, operate under defined turnaround
times, and adopt prioritization protocols for
Project Screening Committees (PSCs): For projects of strategic importance such as those in
projects involving Forest Clearance (FC), the the energy, infrastructure, and defence sectors.
MoEF&CC has mandated the constitution The use of digital tools like PARIVESH 2.0 further
of multi-stakeholder Project Screening enables centralized calendar management,
Committees at the state and regional levels. documentation tracking, and decision
These committees typically include: monitoring.

Divisional Forest Officer (DFO). This structured framework ensures that

Nodal Officer (Forest Department). environmental governance is not only rigorous
and consultative but also responsive to the
State Government representatives. developmental needs of sectors like oil and gas,
where time-bound clearances are essential to
Project proponent. project viability.
Regional Office representative of 8.3.3 Delegation of Powers to States and
MoEF&CC. Integrated Regional Offices (IROs)
PSCs serve as a platform for concurrent In an effort to streamline environmental
discussion, early-stage gap identification, governance and enhance the efficiency of
and real-time resolution of inter- project appraisals, the Ministry of Environment,
departmental queries. This integrated Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) has
approach improves both appraisal quality delegated specific appraisal and approval
and proposal throughput, especially for powers to its Integrated Regional Offices (IROs)
linear and exploration projects in forest and, in certain cases, to State Governments. This
areas. decentralization initiative is a strategic reform
aimed at reducing procedural bottlenecks and
• Operational Efficiency and Prioritization ensuring faster decision-making for eligible

All these committees follow pre-notified project categories.