S.O. 593(E).- Whereas the draft of certain rules called the Hazardous Wastes (Management and Handling) Amendment Rules, 2002 was published under the notification of the Government of India in the Ministry of Environment and Forests number S.O. 553(E), dated 21st  May, 2002 in the Gazette of India, Part-II, Section 3, Sub-section (ii) of the same date  inviting objections and suggestions from all persons likely to be affected thereby, before the expiry of the period of sixty days from the date on which copies of the Gazette containing the said notification were made available to the public;And whereas copies of the said Gazette were made available to the public on the 5th day of June, 2002;

And whereas the objections and suggestions received within the said period from the public in respect of the said draft rules have been duly considered by the Central Government; Now, therefore, in exercise of the powers conferred by sections 6, 8 and 25 of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 (29 of 1986), the Central Government hereby makes the following rules further to amend the Hazardous Wastes (Management and Handling) Rules, 1989, namely:-

1. (1) These rules may be called the Hazardous Wastes (Management and Handling)  Amendment Rules, 2003.

    (2)   They shall come into force on the date of the ir publication in the Official   Gazette.

2. In the Hazardous Wastes (Management and Handling) Rules, 1989 (herein after referred to as the said rules), in rule 2, after clause (c), the following clauses shall be inserted,  namely:  -

“(d) bio-medical wastes covered under the Bio-Medical Wastes (Management and Handling) Rules, 1998 made under the Act;

 (e) wastes covered under the Municipal Solid Wastes (Management and Handling) Rules, 2000 made under the Act; and 

 (f) the lead acid batteries covered unde r the Batteries (Management and Handling) Rules, 2001 made under the Act.\"

3. For rule 3 of the said rules, the following rule shall be substituted, namely:-

\'3.  Definitions  - In these rules, unless the context otherwise requires, -

(1) “Act” means the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 (29 of 1986);(2) “applicant” means a person or an organisation that applies, in Form 1, for granting of authorisation to perform specific activities connected with handling of hazardous wastes;

(3) “auction” means bulk sale of wastes by invitation of tenders or auction, contract or negotiation by individual(s), companies or Government departments;

(4)   “auctioneer” means a person or an organisation that auctions wastes;

(5) “authorisation” means permission for collection, transport, treatment, reception, storage and disposal of hazardous wastes, granted by the competent authority in Form 2;

(6) “authorised person” means a person or an organisation authorised by the competent authority; 

(7) “Central Pollution Control Board” means the Central Board constituted under subsection (1) of section 3 of the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 (6 of 1974); 

(8) “disposal” means deposit, treatment, recycling and recovery of any hazardous wastes;

(9) “export” with its grammatical variations and cognate expressions, means taking out of India to a place outside India:

(10) “exporter” means any person under the jurisdiction of the exporting country who exports hazardous wastes and the exporting country itself, who exports hazardous wastes;

(11) “environmentally sound management of hazardous wastes” means taking all steps required to ensure that the hazardous wastes are managed in a manner which will protect health and the environment against the adverse effects which may result from such wastes;

(12) “facility” means any location wherein the processes incidental to the waste generation, collection, reception, treatment, storage and disposal are carried out;

(13) “form” means a Form appended to these rules;

(14) “hazardous waste” means any waste which by reason of any of its physical, chemical, reactive, toxic, flammable, explosive or corrosive characteristics  causes danger or is likely to cause danger to health or environment, whether alone or when in contact with other wastes or substances, and shall include-

(a) wastes listed in column (3) of Schedule-1;

(b) wastes having constituents listed in Schedule -2 if their concentration is equal to or more than the limit indicated in the said Schedule; and 

(c)  wastes listed in  Lists  ‘A’ and ‘B’ of Schedule -3 (Part-A) applicable only in case(s) of import or export of hazardous wastes in accordance with rules 12, 13 and 14 if they possess any of the hazardous characteristics listed in Part-B of  Schedule 3”.