Must land be allotted before a project proponent applies in Form 1 for environmental clearance?

Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 — s.8 — Bio-Medical Waste Management Rules, 2016 — EIA, 2006 — Revised Guidelines, 2016 — Publication of guidelines — Land requirement — Terms of Reference — Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 — s.8 — Publication of guidelines — Official Gazette not a sine qua non — Held: Guidelines issued under a statutory power do not lose their mandatory character for want of publication in the Official Gazette where neither the parent statute nor the rules prescribe a mode of publication. A reasonable mode, such as the official website, is sufficient. (¶50, 54) Revised Guidelines, 2016 — Clause 7 — Relaxation of land requirement — Held further: The one-acre land requirement for a common bio-medical waste treatment facility may be relaxed only for land within municipal limits of over 25 lakh population or in a rural area, and only in consultation with the CPCB with additional control measures. (¶57, 62) EIA, 2006 — Clause 6 — Form 1 application — Land allotment not a condition precedent — Held further: An application in Form 1 may be made after the identification of prospective site(s); land allotment is not a condition precedent either for that application or for the grant of a Consent to Establish. (¶70, 89) EIA, 2006 — Terms of Reference — Effect of an environmental clearance being set aside — Held further: Setting aside an environmental clearance does not, as a mechanical rule, invalidate the Terms of Reference on which it was granted. Appeal allowed; the impugned judgment set aside. (¶95, 108, 112)