To fast-track stalled project approvals at the state and UT level, the Centre on Monday notified the constitution of two new standing authorities that will take charge of the approval process in case the state panels turn dysfunctional.The move follows evidence of State Environment Impact Assessment Authorities (SEIAA) and State Expert Appraisal Committees (SEAC) becoming non-functional due to the expiry of tenure or absence of the chairman or a member for more than a month, or stay imposed on the panel’s functioning by a court.The notification, accessed by The Tribune, says that the Centre has constituted a Standing Authority on Environment Impact Assessment (SAEIA) and a Standing Committee on Environment Impact Appraisal (SCEIA) for every state and UT to discharge the statutory functions of the SEIAA and the SEAC whenever these bodies are non-functional or have not been constituted.The Centre has also amended the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) Notification, 2006, extending the tenure of the SEIAAs and the SEACs from three years to four years, mandating advance reconstitution of these bodies and establishing a standing institutional mechanism to ensure continuity in the environmental clearance process whenever the statutory authorities become non-functional.“The amendments were needed due to repeated delays in the reconstitution of SEIAAs and SEACs, leading to complete halt in the environmental clearance process at the state level. In such cases, pending proposals were being transferred to the Centre, resulting in extended timelines for project appraisal and adversely affecting project implementation as well as investor confidence,” official sources said.The amended notification makes it mandatory for state governments to initiate the process of reconstituting SEIAAs and SEACs “at least six months before the expiry of their tenure”.Meanwhile, the new committees will function for not more than a year in case state committees are dysfunctional. A key new amendment increases the tenure of chairpersons and members of SEIAAs and SEACs from three years to four years.A member, including chairperson, can serve a maximum of two terms of four years each provided the individual is not more than 70 years of age at the time of appointment. In exceptional cases, where suitable experts are unavailable, the upper age limit will be relaxed to 75 years.The standing authorities will act in place of dysfunctional state committees in respect of Category B projects, which unlike Category A are cleared at the level of the SEIAAs on the recommendations of the SEACs.These projects have moderate environmental impact and need compulsory EIA report and a public hearing. These include projects such as medium-sized mining leases, industrial estates and building construction of 20,000 to 1,50,000 square metres, besides others that have minimal impact and are exempted from the EIA reporting (such as irrigation projects and small industries).