Law changes give backing to Beijing’s ‘war on pollution’
Print Edition
POLLUTERS are set to face the toughest penalties yet after Chinese lawmakers agreed the most sweeping revisions to the Environmental Protection Law in 25 years.
Amendments agreed yesterday follow a two-year debate among scholars, the government and state-owned enterprises over changes to the law.
They enshrine environmental protection as the overriding priority of the government, but fall short of calls by non-governmental organizations to allow them to file lawsuits against polluters.
The amendments passed by the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress will take effect on January 1, 2015.
They include provisions to help the government impose rules on powerful industrial interests.
Xin Chunying, deputy director of the NPC’s Legislative Affairs Commission, told a news conference the law would deliver “a blow ... to our country’s harsh environmental realities.”
The amendments were adopted after four readings. It is rare in China for a law or amendment to go through three readings and not be passed, highlighting the importance of the legislation in the country’s pursuit of sustainable development.
Lawmakers said during their panel discussion that the phenomena in which the cost of observing environmental legislation is higher than breaking the law widely exist, causing environmental pollution.
Xin gave an example of an electricity generator complex with production capacity of 100,000 kilowatts needing to pay between 500,000 yuan (US$80,376) and 600,000 yuan in environmental protection fees to alleviate and control pollution.
But if the factory shuts its pollution processing equipment and does nothing to protect the environment, it might only face a 10,000 yuan fine, she said.
Handing out heavier punishments for environmental wrongdoing is an important principle of the new legislation, and will deter enterprises from violating the law.
The new law stipulates that enterprises will be named and shamed for breaking environmental protection laws.
It says persons in positions of responsibility will face up to 15 days’ detention if their enterprises dodge environmental impact assessments and refuse to suspend production after a banning order; fail to obtain a pollutant discharge permit but discharge pollutants, and refuse to suspend discharges after a ban is issued; or if they shirk supervision through means including forging monitoring data or improperly operating pollution prevention equipment.
The length of detention would depend on the impact of their wrongdoing.
Responsible persons would face the same punishments if their enterprises produce or use forbidden pesticides and refuse to make corrections.
The law also proposes that organizations in charge of environmental impact assessments and supervision would bear joint liability if found to have acted fraudulently.
Local officials may be demoted or sacked, if they are guilty of misconduct, including covering up environment-related wrongdoing, falsifying data or asking others to falsify data, failing to publicize environmental information which should be made public or failing to order enterprises which illegally discharge pollutants to close.
If offenders’ behavior constitutes crimes, they will be held criminally responsible.
The law says a daily-based fine system will be introduced to punish offenders.
If an enterprise illegally discharges pollutants and is fined and asked to correct its wrongdoing by authorities but refuses to make corrections, the enterprise may face a fine which accumulates daily. In the past, enterprises received a one-off fine.
The changes give legal backing to Beijing’s newly declared war on pollution and formalize a pledge made last year to abandon a decades-old growth-at-all-costs economic model that has spoiled much of China’s water, air and soil.
Although enforcement is likely to be patchy, the law will give the Ministry of Environmental Protection the authority to take stronger punitive action, including shutting down and confiscating the assets of polluters. It also would ensure that information on environmental monitoring and impact assessments is made public.
The rules also impose an “ecological red line” that will declare certain regions off-limits to polluting industry and formalizes a system by which local officials are assessed according to their record on pollution, including meeting targets.
The rules reflect growing concern about widespread degradation of the environment. News items about hazardous pollution in air, food, soil and water have become common in recent years and pollution has triggered protests on several occasions.
China has more than 30 environment-related laws and about 90 administrative regulations concerning environmental protection.
After the adoption of the revised Environmental Protection Law, other environmental laws may also face changes.
An air pollution prevention and control law is due to be revised this year.
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