New Delhi : The Supreme Court on Monday reserved its decision on setting up of an environment regulator for evaluating projects, enforcing environmental conditions for approv-als and imposition of penalties. A special green bench headed by Justice AK Patnaik while reserving its judgment on the issue said the government should set up an environment regulator till a new law is in place and also a regulatory mechansim to check irregularities. However, it clarified it did not intend to alter the Lafarge judgment that asked the ministry of environment and forests (MoEF) to set up a regulator. While permitting Lafarge of France to resume limestone mining in Meghalaya to feed its $255-million cement plant in Bangladesh, an apex court bench, headed by former Chief Justice SH Kapadia, on July 6, 2011, had issued guidelines, including asking the Centre to appoint a national regulator under Section 3(3) of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986. Assuring the court that it was making efforts to streamline the regulatory mechanism, Solicitor General Mohan Parasaran, on behalf of the MoEF, said there was no need for having one “super” environment regulator when the requisite regulatory mechanism was already in place. However, it has proposed to constitute an authority to monitor and facilitate implementation of the 1988 forest policy. However, amicus curie Harish Salve opposed any modification in the Lafarge judgment. He said “there is no overpowering reason in the MoEF's application to state that the ruling is unreasonable or wrong statement of law”. MoEF had submitted that regulation in the “field of governance, namely environment, need not necessarily be done through one Super Regulator. It can be equally effective to have a regulatory scheme in place so long as it is compliant with the principles laid down by the top court and of the National Forest Policy, 1988.” Instead, it has proposed to constitute an authority under the chairmanship of the director general of forests and special secretary, MoEF, at the Centre.