Government brings Major Reform in Environmental Compliance in the form of Environment Audit Rules, 2025
Government brings Major Reform in Environmental Compliance in the form of Environment Audit Rules, 2025
In line with Government’s commitment to Ease of Doing Business and the principles of trust-based governance, Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) has introduced a major reform through the notification of the Environment Audit Rules, 2025 on 29th August 2025. Drawing upon international best practices, these rules have been conceptualized to address the existing gaps in environmental compliance monitoring.
Compliance with statutes such as the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980, the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, Green Credit Rules, 2023 and other related regulations is essential to safeguard the environment from degradation while promoting sustainable development.
The overall framework for monitoring and compliance within existing environmental framework is presently supported by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), the Regional Offices of the Ministry, and the State PCBs/Pollution Control Committees, which are facing significant constraints in terms of manpower, resources, capacity, and infrastructure. These limitations hamper their ability to comprehensively monitor and enforce environmental compliance across the vast number of projects and industries operating nationwide.
This scheme aims to bridge the manpower and infrastructure deficits faced by regulatory authorities, thereby strengthening the effective implementation of environmental compliance mechanisms. Furthermore, the scheme is designed to ensure greater transparency, accountability, and credibility in the compliance monitoring process, fostering trust among stakeholders and promoting sustainable environmental governance.
Main Features of Environment Audit Rules, 2025
Key Regulatory Stakeholders under the Rules:
Oversight Mechanism:
A Steering Committee, led by an Additional Secretary from MoEFCC, along with representatives from relevant divisions and regulatory bodies, monitors progress, addresses implementation challenges, and suggests reforms.
Expected Outcome from the Initiative:
- Auditors to be Certified and Registered by MoEFCC notified Environment Audit Designate Agency (EADA).
- EADA to be responsible for certification and registration of EAs, monitoring their performance, take disciplinary action, facilitating capacity building, maintaining online register.
- Certification of Environmental Auditors to be based on either scrutiny of their qualification and experience or by conducting an exam.
- Auditing to be undertaken only by Registered Environment Auditors.
- The assignment of REAs to specific project entities shall be done by a random assignment method.
- REAs responsible for compliance evaluation and related activities of sampling, analysis, compensation calculation, verification under Green Credit Rules, audit under waste management rules, and under various other environment and forest related legislations.
- REAs may also undertake auditing assignment by the PP including for verification of self compliance report.