Antipollution
law gets a performance review
By Zheng Jinran (China Daily)
|
Inspectors check a construction site that had been asked to halt
operations on a smoggy day in Beijing's Tongzhou
district in November. LIU CHANG/FOR CHINA DAILY |
The
revised Environmental Protection Law has performed well in reducing pollution
since taking effect on Jan 1, 2015, by providing new enforcement tools,
including higher fines and other legal sanctions, according to an assessment
released on May 23.
The
revised law, regarded as the strongest version ever in China, allows
environmental authorities to levy fines on polluters on a daily basis with no
cap, which has brought swift corrective action, the assessment said.
At
least 85 percent of the companies surveyed after being fined said they had
stopped their excessive emissions. In some regions, 95 percent said they had.
In
2015, environmental authorities fined 715 companies a total of 569 million yuan ($86.9 million), the Ministry of Environmental
Protection said.
The
assessment was co-conducted by researchers from the Institute of Environmental
and Resource Law at China University of Political Science and Law,
environmental groups and experts at other law schools.
More
than 2,600 complaints of excessive discharges were made in 2014 against the 100
companies surveyed. That number dropped dramatically to 205 complaints in 2015
after the revised law took effect, the assessment said.
Experts
conducted a series of surveys looking at 100 major companies that were being
closely monitored by State or provincial environmental watchdogs from December
to March, said Wang Canfa, the team leader and a
professor at the institute.
"The
survey found that the majority of respondents, especially the State-owned
companies, have increased their awareness of pollution reduction, and have
installed special equipment," said Tong Guangfa,
a participant and professor of law at Beijing University of Agriculture.
In
addition to the daily fines, the revised law also give stronger tools to the
authorities - for example, tougher legal sanctions under which polluting
companies' managers can be detained or transferred to legal organs quickly, and
the forced suspension of production. These "were the big achievements in
the implementation", the assessment said.
"However,
the revised Environmental Protection Law still faces difficulties, especially
at the grassroots level, because of limited funds and other resources,"
said Zhang Shijun, a professor at Shandong University
Law School, who was in charge of drafting the chapter on problems in the
implementation.
Minister
of Environmental Protection Chen Jining said he, too,
has seen weak implementation at the grassroots level because of such things as
a lack of vehicles in some areas. The ministry will take measures to resolve
such issues and continue to push forward the implementation, he said.