In a significant step towards addressing India’s long-standing environmental legacy issues, the Union ministry of environment, forest and climate change (MoEFCC) has officially notified the Environment (Protection) Rules for Management of Contaminated Sites, 2025 under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986. Issued on 24 July 2025, the rules create the country’s first dedicated legal framework for identifying, remediating and monitoring contaminated sites that pose serious risks to human health and ecosystems.
The newly-introduced rules aim to tackle contamination in soil, sediment, and water caused by industrial discharge, hazardous waste dumping, and past neglect. The objective is to prevent further environmental degradation while ensuring polluters are held accountable through a structured process involving scientific investigation, risk assessment and mandatory clean-up actions.
The framework mandates the identification and classification of sites as either suspected, potentially contaminated or confirmed based on evidence from industrial activity, community complaints or historical waste records. Once a site is flagged, a centralised online portal, to be developed by the central pollution control board (CPCB), will track its status, enabling transparent public access to information and regulatory oversight.
For confirmed sites exceeding acceptable risk thresholds, the regulations provide for mandatory remediation under the oversight of state pollution control boards (SPCBs) and central authorities. These agencies are empowered to conduct screening, initiate detailed assessments and where contamination is verified, formally declare sites as 'contaminated', triggering clean-up obligations.
A critical feature of the rules is the creation of a 'responsible person' mechanism, holding individuals, companies, or entities accountable for environmental damage. Such responsible parties must bear the full cost of remediation and are barred from transferring ownership or altering land use without prior approval during or after the clean-up.
Where a responsible party cannot be identified, commonly referred to as 'orphan sites', the government may step in with financial support drawn from multiple sources, including the environment relief fund, penalties from environmental violations and central or state allocations.
To ensure consistency and technical soundness, the rules call for the formation of monitoring committees at both state and central levels, comprising experts, ministry officials and regulators. These committees are tasked with supervising implementation, recommending additional actions where necessary, and submitting annual compliance reports to the central government.
The regulatory scope specifically excludes sites already covered under laws dealing with radioactive contamination, mining operations, and marine oil spills, unless such sites involve mixed or excessive hazardous pollutants. In such scenarios, the new rules may still be invoked to address the contamination.
Another important provision in the 2025 rules is public participation. State boards must seek comments from affected stakeholders within 60 days of listing a site as contaminated and must publish the final list in regional newspapers. This mechanism is intended to inform local communities and encourage civic engagement.
The rules also introduce provisions for voluntary clean-up, allowing private entities to remediate sites if they demonstrate technical expertise, financial capability and consent from landowners. Such proposals must align fully with the environmental safeguards laid down in the rules.
In terms of financial sharing, the rules adopt a tiered model: for Himalayan and Northeastern states, the Union government will bear 90% of the clean-up costs, with the states contributing 10%. For other states, the Union government-state ratio will be 60:40, while in Union Territories (UTs), the entire cost will be borne by the Union government.
The gazette notification no.GSR 3401(E) officially brings the rules into effect and signals the government’s intention to proactively manage environmental risks tied to industrial legacy pollution. Experts view the move as a much-needed boost to India’s environmental enforcement architecture, bridging a long-standing gap in regulations surrounding land and water contamination.
By introducing a legal, technical, and participatory framework, the Environment (Protection) Rules for Management of Contaminated Sites, 2025 mark a watershed moment in India’s journey towards environmental justice and sustainable development.
