4. Air Pollution Law | Preventing and Controlling Air Pollution in India

This is the 4th post in Environmental Law, Unit III — Legal Framework for Environment Protection (the previous post covered water pollution law). This post covers the law relating to prevention and control of air pollution.

The Problem This Topic Solves

Unlike water, "air" is not listed anywhere in the Constitution's Union, State, or Concurrent Lists at all — it simply was not contemplated as a distinct legislative subject in 1950. India's participation in the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment, Stockholm, 1972 gave Parliament a different constitutional route to legislate uniformly: Article 253 permits Parliament to make any law for implementing an international agreement, irrespective of the legislative-list division of powers between Centre and States.

The Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981

Enacted under Article 253 to give effect to decisions taken at the Stockholm Conference, the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981 is deliberately modelled on the structure of the Water Act, 1974 — the same permission-based regulatory scheme, applied to a different medium. This is the single most commonly tested distinction between the two statutes: the Water Act rests on Article 252 (State-consent-based), while the Air Act rests on Article 253 (treaty-implementation power) — a difference of constitutional foundation, even though the two Acts otherwise run on nearly parallel institutional machinery.

Shared Boards, Additional Functions

Sections 3 to 5 of the Air Act do not create new Boards; instead, the very same CPCB and SPCBs constituted under the Water Act, 1974 are given additional functions and powers to also plan and execute programmes for the prevention, control, and abatement of air pollution. This dual-function design means a single State Pollution Control Board is simultaneously the water regulator and the air regulator for its state, avoiding duplicate bureaucracy.

Air Pollution Control Areas and the Consent Mechanism

Section 19 empowers the State Government, after consulting the State Board, to declare any area within the state as an Air Pollution Control Area, and to restrict or prohibit the use of specified fuels or appliances within it. Once such an area is declared, Section 21 requires prior consent of the State Board before any person can establish or operate any industrial plant likely to emit an air pollutant listed under the Act's Schedule — the same Consent-to-Establish / Consent-to-Operate structure as under the Water Act. Section 22 separately prohibits any person operating an industrial plant in a control area from emitting any air pollutant in excess of the standards laid down by the State Board.

Powers of the Board

• Section 22A — where emission of an air pollutant in excess of standards is apprehended, the Board may apply to a court for an order restraining the person concerned from emitting it.
• Section 31A (inserted 1987, mirroring Section 33A of the Water Act) — the Board itself may issue written directions, including for the closure, prohibition, or regulation of any industry, or the stoppage/regulation of electricity, water, or any other service, without needing to approach a court first.
• Section 24 — power of entry and inspection for Board officials, to examine records, take samples, and check compliance.

Recent Decriminalisation Under the Jan Vishwas Act, 2023

As with the Water Act and the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, the Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Act, 2023 substantially reduced and rationalised the Air Act's monetary penalties and converted several offences from criminal to civil in nature, adjudicated by an appointed Adjudicating Officer rather than a criminal court. For several categories of contravention, the minimum penalty was cut from Rs. 1 lakh to Rs. 10,000 (a 90% reduction) and the maximum from Rs. 1 crore to Rs. 15 lakh (an 85% reduction) — a deliberate ease-of-doing-business trade-off that critics label "quasi-decriminalisation," since it removes the deterrent threat of imprisonment for many contraventions without necessarily strengthening the civil-penalty deterrent by an equivalent amount.

Water Act and Air Act Compared

• Governing Act: Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981, enacted under Article 253 (Stockholm Conference, 1972) — NOT Article 252, unlike the Water Act.
• No new Board created — the same CPCB/SPCB from the Water Act, 1974 perform air-pollution functions too.
• Section 19: State Government can declare Air Pollution Control Areas and restrict fuels/appliances there.
• Section 21: prior State Board consent required to establish/operate an industry emitting scheduled air pollutants in a control area.
• Section 31A mirrors Section 33A of the Water Act — the Board's own direct closure/regulation power without prior court approach.
• Jan Vishwas Act, 2023 decriminalised several Air Act offences and cut monetary penalties substantially.

A Practical Example

Company X fails to comply with the emission-standard conditions attached to its Consent to Operate under the Air Act, 1981, discharging particulate matter well above the limit fixed by the State Pollution Control Board within a declared Air Pollution Control Area. The Board can act under Section 31A and directly order the unit's polluting process to be closed or regulated, and separately apply under Section 22A for a restraining court order — the fact that the company originally held a valid consent does not excuse ongoing non-compliance with the emission standards attached to it, and, post-2023, the accompanying monetary penalty would be assessed by an Adjudicating Officer rather than through a criminal prosecution for many such contraventions.

Quick Revision Points

• Governing Act: Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981 — Article 253, Stockholm Conference implementation.
• Same CPCB/SPCB as the Water Act perform air-pollution functions; no separate Air Board.
• Section 19: Air Pollution Control Areas; Section 21: consent to establish/operate; Section 22: emission-standard compliance.
• Section 22A: court-ordered restraint; Section 31A: Board's own direct closure/regulation power (parallel to Water Act's Section 33A).
• Jan Vishwas Act, 2023: penalties cut sharply (minimum -90%, maximum -85% for several offences), many offences decriminalised.
• Key exam distinction: Water Act = Article 252; Air Act = Article 253.
• Next post: the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986.