Hazardous substance
Also called: Handling of hazardous substance
Under Section 2(e) of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, any substance or preparation liable, by its chemical properties or handling, to harm humans, other living things, property or the environment.
Explained
Section 2(e) of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 defines a hazardous substance as any substance or preparation which, by reason of its chemical or physico-chemical properties or handling, is liable to cause harm to human beings, other living creatures, plants, micro-organism, property or the environment. The definition is functional: what matters is the capacity to cause harm through its properties or the way it is handled. "Handling" under Section 2(d) covers manufacture, processing, treatment, package, storage, transportation, use, collection, destruction, conversion, offering for sale and transfer. Section 8 provides that no person shall handle or cause to be handled any hazardous substance except in accordance with the prescribed procedure and safeguards.
Other statutes borrow the definition with a quantity threshold. Section 2(d) of the Public Liability Insurance Act, 1991 covers a substance defined as hazardous under the 1986 Act and exceeding the quantity notified by the Central Government, and Section 2(f) of the National Green Tribunal Act, 2010 adopts that position. Section 2(zb) of the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020 gives a separate workplace definition.
The Public Liability Insurance Act sets up a no fault scheme. Under Section 3, where death or injury to any person other than a workman, or damage to property, results from an accident while handling a hazardous substance, the owner must provide the prescribed relief, and Section 3(2) relieves the claimant from pleading or proving any wrongful act, neglect or default. Under Section 4 the owner must take out insurance before starting to handle the substance. An application lies to the Collector, and under Section 6(3) it must be made within five years of the accident. Workmen are left to their own compensation law.
The statutes sit alongside the absolute liability rule laid down in M.C. Mehta v. Union of India (1987), the oleum gas leak case, under which an enterprise engaged in a hazardous or inherently dangerous activity is absolutely liable for harm caused, without the exceptions allowed under Rylands v. Fletcher. Examiners test the definition, the exclusion of workmen, the no fault rule and the five year limit.
What the law says
Section 2, Environment Protection Act
(e) “hazardous substance” means any substance or preparation which, by reason of its chemical or physico-chemical properties or handling, is liable to cause harm to human beings, other living creatures, plants, micro-organism, property or the environment;
Sections 2(d) and 2(e): handling and hazardous substance
Section 8, Environment Protection Act
No person shall handle or cause to be handled any hazardous substance except in accordance with such procedure and after complying with such safeguards as may be prescribed.
Handling only with prescribed safeguards
Section 2, Public Liability Insurance Act
(d) “hazardous substance” means any substance or preparation which is defined as hazardous substance under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 (29 of 1986), and exceeding such quantity as may be specified, by notification, by the Central Government;
Section 2(d): hazardous substance with quantity threshold
Section 3, Public Liability Insurance Act
[(1) Where death or injury to any person (other than a workman) or damage to any property has resulted from an accident, the owner shall be liable to reimburse such amount, or provide such other relief as may be prescribed, for—
(a) death due to fatal accident;
(b) medical expenses incurred due to total or partial disability;
No fault liability for accidents
Section 6, Public Liability Insurance Act
[(1A) Where any damage has been caused to any public property or private property due to manufacture, processing, treatment, package, storage, transportation, use, collection, destruction, conversion, transfer or such other processes, of such hazardous substance, an application for claim for restoration of the property may be made by the owner of the property or such other person, as may be prescribed, to the Collector.]
(2) Every application under sub-section (1) shall be made to the Collector and shall be in such form, contain such particulars and shall be accompanied by such documents as may be prescribed.
(3) No application for relief shall be entertained unless it is made within five years of the occurrence of the accident.
Claim to Collector within five years
(f) “hazardous substance” means any substance or preparation which is defined as hazardous substance in the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 (29 of 1986), and exceeding such quantity as specified or may be specified by the Central Government under the Public Liability Insurance Act, 1991 (6 of 1991);
Section 2(f): adopts the definition
Example
For example, if a chlorine tanker overturns and a resident nearby is injured, he may claim relief from the owner under the Public Liability Insurance Act without proving that the driver was negligent.
For the exam
- Section 2(e) EPA defines hazardous substance by its properties or handling.
- Handling it is allowed only under prescribed procedure and safeguards (Section 8 EPA).
- PLIA relief is no fault; the claimant need not prove negligence (Section 3(2)).
- PLIA does not cover workmen; their claims lie under labour compensation law.
- PLIA claims must be filed with the Collector within five years of the accident (Section 6(3)).
13 questions in the Law Maker question bank use this term. Practise Environmental Law questions
Related terms
- EnvironmentIncludes water, air and land and the inter-relationship among them and human beings, other living creatures, plants, micro-organism and property. Section 2(a), Environment (Protection) Act, 1986.
- Public nuisanceAn act or illegal omission causing common injury, danger or annoyance to the public or people in the vicinity, or to persons using a public right. Section 270 of the BNS.
- Res ipsa loquiturThe thing speaks for itself. Where an accident is of a kind that does not ordinarily happen without negligence and the thing was under the defendant's control, negligence may be inferred.
- FactoryUnder Section 2(1)(w) of the OSH Code, 2020, premises where 20 or more workers work with a manufacturing process using power, or 40 or more without power.
- National ParkUnder Section 2(21) of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972, an area declared a National Park under Section 35 or 38, or deemed so under Section 66(3).
Further reading
Checked 6 November 2026. Statutory text is quoted from the Bare Acts library, taken from India Code. See the full glossary.