| Abstract Title: | Improving Pollution Monitoring and Enforcement through the Star-Rating Program |
| Session Choice: | Industry Case studies on current monitoring solutions |
| Presenter Name: | Ms Munmun Biswas |
| Company/Organisation: | Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago Trust (EPIC India) |
| Country: | India |
Abstract Information :
The Star Rating Program aims to decrease air pollution by increasing transparency – transparency among industries spurs abatement by improving factory managers’ information about their own plant emissions, and transparency among the public spurs interest and discussion on the programs State Pollution Control Boards (SPCBs) in India adopting to decrease air pollution among the public. This program was implemented as a mandatory pollution disclosure initiative by three SPCBs – Maharashtra, Odisha and Jharkhand where industrial plants were mandatorily rated based on legally actionable government tests of pollution, or the data from Continuous Emissions Monitoring Systems (CEMS). It is a first-of-its-kind voluntary information disclosure scheme that focuses on particulate emissions and offers proof-of-concept of pro-active disclosure as a regulatory instrument. This is done by rating industries on a 5-star scale based on their particulate matter emissions. The stars assigned to the industries is public information on the website, which is updated regularly to reflect the most recent pollution data of industries. This program, developed in consultation with researchers from the EPIC India, Yale University and JPAL South Asia, has incorporated participation from over 500 industries and 11+ sectors alongside increasing public participation in the regulation of industrial pollution.
