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Status of Establishment of Environment Compliance Assistance Centre, West Bengal

Consultation Meeting : June 15-17, 2009 Paribesh Bhawan, Salt lake. Status of Establishment of Environment Compliance Assistance Centre, West Bengal. Subrata Ghosh, Chief Engineer West Bengal Pollution Control Board. ECAC : Introduction. WBPCB proposed to set up the 1 st ECAC of India

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Status of Establishment of Environment Compliance Assistance Centre, West Bengal

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  1. Consultation Meeting : June 15-17, 2009 Paribesh Bhawan, Salt lake Status of Establishment of Environment Compliance Assistance Centre, West Bengal Subrata Ghosh, Chief Engineer West Bengal Pollution Control Board

  2. ECAC : Introduction • WBPCB proposed to set up the 1st ECAC of India • Actively supported by the Asian Environmental Compliance and Enforcement Network (AECEN) • In collaboration with international development agencies (World Bank, USEPA, USAID, OECD, ADB)

  3. ECAC : Purpose The primary purpose of ECAC is to assist industry in – • accessing information on environmental compliance, clean production policies, programs and practices • selecting appropriate clean technologies after evaluating a range of available options that meet the local needs • introducing clean technologies demonstrating cost efficiency and environmental benefits

  4. ECAC : Activities so far . . . • Steering Committee constitution in May 2008 for framing policy guidelines and for coordinating with AECEN, World Bank and other interested parties. • Series of meetings held with WBIDC & industry associations in Mar–Apr’08 • A brainstorming workshop was held in Kolkata on Apr 29, 2008 for deciding on major ECAC related issues. • A detailed draft Action Plan was prepared in May 2008 for the ECAC. Primary sectors identified – (1) Sponge Iron Industry (2) Chemicals & Petrochemicals • A teleconference was held with AECEN Secretariat, Bangkok on July 3, 2008 • The draft Action Plan was modified in June 2008 in line with the AECEN recommendations.

  5. ECAC : Activities so far . . . • The 1st Meeting of the Steering Committee for the ECAC was held on July 30, 2008 in Paribesh Bhawan involving all members of the Steering Committee. • The 1st Meeting of Strategic Partners for ECAC was held on Sept 23, 2008 at Paribesh Bhawan wherein all the partners (viz. IIPC, IISWBM, ICC, BCCI, FOSMI etc.) readily agreed to extend cooperation and support towards the ECAC.

  6. ECAC : Initial decisions . . . • WBPCB applied for AECEN Small Grant of USD 25000 through ECO – Asia • AECEN to provide Initial support of USD 25000 through its Small Grants Fund. • ECAC to be further strengthened under World Bank’s proposed CBIPM Project • WBPCB committed a matching grant of Rs.10 lacs as seed money towards initial ECAC expenses • A series of meetings & consultations were held with the World Bank team in last week of Sept 2008 during the Pre-Appraisal Mission as part of CBIMP Project • An extensive 5 year budget was formulated for the centre during these meetings • An estimate of approx. USD 4.54 Million for 5 years for the ECAC was prepared • Project cost contribution - 85 % World Bank + 15 % DoE, GoWB

  7. ECAC : Initial Activities . . . • ECO–Asia forwarded a “Letter of Agreement” in 1st week of Dec 2008 for disbursing the small grant of USD 25000 in two phases : • 1st payment of USD 17,500 – to be made upon (i) constitution of an Expert Technical Committee and (ii) development of ‘Scope of Work’ for ECAC Website Design • 2nd & final payment of USD 7,500 – to be made after database is developed, web site is launched and ECO – Asia’s approval of financial report for the first payment. • A draft Scope of Work for designing the ECAC website prepared in Feb 2008. • 3 member Expert Technical Committee was constituted comprising of : • Dr. Aloke Mookherjea, Chairman, Flakt India Ltd. • Prof. Dr. Siddhartha Datta, Pro Vice Chancellor, Jadavpur University. • Dr. Amitava Bandopadhyay, Dy. Director, National Metallurgical Laboratory.

  8. ECAC : Initial Setbacks . . . • World Bank CBIPM Project apparently stalled for the time being … • Revised ECAC budget prepared by curtailing some costs of CBIPM Project. • WBIDC Support not very forthcoming … • Decision to shift ECAC from WBIDC premises to WBPCB Office at Camac Street TEMPORARILY … • Decision to start ECAC on a very modest note with minimum investment • AECEN India representative requested to look for other funding alternatives in view of low response from WBIDC and bleak possibility of commencing of the World Bank Project in the near future

  9. ECAC : Current Activities . . . • 1st Phase payment of USD 17500 received in March 2009 from AECEN • 1st Stakeholders workshop held at Durgapur on March 26 2009 involving Sponge Iron Industries. Participation & involvement in the workshop was very encouraging • Nearly 80 (eighty) persons from various sponge iron industries attended the workshop. Important resource persons addressing the workshop included : • Dr. Amit Chatterjee, Personal Advisor to Sir Ratan Tata, MD, M/s.Tata Steel Ltd., • Mr. Amitava Bandopadhyay, Dy. Director, National Metallurgical Laboratory, • Mr. Prakash Tantia, Sr. VP (Mktg), M/s. Vikram Ispat, Aditya Birla Group. • Ms. Vinita Prasad, Great Eastern Energy Corporation Ltd., New Delhi • Workshop focused on : • Availability of coal based methane gas for manufacturing sponge iron in Durgapur and adjoining areas. • The proposed structure and content of the ECAC website with a virtual tour of the proposed website

  10. ECAC : Present Status . . . • A dedicated bank account made available exclusively for ECAC transactions • Eco-Asia Grant duration extended till Oct 31 2009 to accommodate delays due to General Election, shifting of ECAC Office to Camac Street etc. • Tender to be floated for ECAC Website Design & its regular maintenance. A Tender Committee has been formed. • One full-time IT personnel to be employed through walk-in interview for ECAC (Qualifications: Science Graduate with Diploma in Computer Applications OR Graduate in Computer Applications) • One PCB Official to coordinate day-to-day ECAC operations On-Site on part-time basis • Purchase of hardware for the ECAC. Expenses to be booked from initial seed money of Rs.10 lacs approved by the Board

  11. ECAC : Issues for the day. . . • Strategies to strengthen operation / management of ECAC • Strategies for making the ECAC self sustaining • Strategies for tapping other national / international funds • Strategy for cost recovery of ECAC services • Strategy for selection & accreditation of vendors • Vendor fees for enlistment in ECAC database • Industry fees for customized solution towards abatement of pollution • Scope of inclusion of SSI sector in ECAC • ECAC Future Plan / Route Map • Content & Scope of the ECAC Website

  12. Thank You

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