Guidelines for consideration of proposals for grant of environmental clearance Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Notification, 2006 and its amendments - regarding categorization of Category 'B' projects/activities into Category 'B1' & 'B2'
Veerappa Moily, the Union environment minister eases environmental clearance norms and exempts select industries & mining projects from either providing environmental impact assessment reports or holding public hearings when they are approved by the state government. The EIA Notification, 2006 mandates prior Environmental Clearance (EG) for new projects or activities including expansion, or modernization of existing projects listed in its Schedule. 
The Category 'A' projects shall obtain EC from the Central Government and Category 'B' projects from the concerned State Level Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA)/Union Territory Environment Impact Assessment Authority (UTEIAA). The EIA Notification, 2006 prescribes that Category 'B' projects, will be further categorized as category 'B1' and 'B2' (except for Township and Area Development Projects) for which the Ministry of Environment & Forests (MoEF) shall issue appropriate guidelines from time to time - provisions under '7.1 Stage(1)-Screening' of the Notification refer. The projects categorized as B1 will require EIA Report for appraisal and to undergo public consultation process (as applicable). Projects categorized as 'B2' will be appraised based on the application in Form-I accompanied with the Pre-feasibility Report and any other documents .