Consider the following statements:

The Environment Protection Act, 1986 empowers the Government of India to

1. state the requirement of public participation in the process of environmental protection, and the procedure and manner in which it is sought

2. lay down the standards for emission or discharge of environmental pollutants from various sources.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

The correct option is 2 only.

Step-by-step Explanation:

Analyzing Statement 1:

The Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 does not explicitly mention or empower the Government of India regarding public participation in the process of environmental protection, nor does it detail the procedure and manner in which public participation is to be sought. Public participation was later incorporated into environmental governance through specific rules and notifications under the Act, such as the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Notification of 1994 and 2006, rather than being an explicit statutory provision within the primary Act itself. Hence, statement 1 is incorrect.

Analyzing Statement 2:

Under Section 3(2)(iii) of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, the Central Government is empowered to take measures with respect to laying down standards for emission or discharge of environmental pollutants from various sources. Therefore, statement 2 is correct.

Thus, only statement 2 is correct.