The Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change has appointed Sharad Singh Negi as the chairman of Uttarakhand State level Environment Impact Assessment Authority for a period of three years. Other members of the authority include Shailendra Singh Bisht and the chief conservator of forests, Garhwal region as ex-officio member secretary. According to official sources, this authority is empowered to grant environmental clearances in the State for category B projects. The term of the earlier authority had lapsed in 2015. It is pertinent to mention here that Negi is currently also the vice chairman of the Uttarakhand Rural Development and Migration Commission. In the past, he has worked on various important positions including that of the Director General of forests and special secretary to the Government of India, director of the Forest Research Institute (FRI), director of Environment in Himachal Pradesh and member secretary of the Himachal Pradesh pollution control board.