China’s New ESA Law Tougher?

October 30, 2002

A far-reaching and controversial environmental impact assessment law will be introduced in the China next year. Under the law, environmental assessment reports for construction projects must be submitted to the State Environmental Protection Administration for review. The body can then reject any project that will cause significant environmental damage.

Applicants will also be required to hold public hearings before putting the impact assessment report up for expert scrutiny. Those who do not follow the procedures can be fined between US$ 8,000 and 25,000. The law was passed despite strong opposition from local governments that argued it gave the central government too much power.

The legislation also includes landmark regulations under which provincial and local government land-use plans and all proposed industrial, agricultural, water, energy, transportation, tourism, and natural resource exploration plans must include an environmental impact statement. This will be the first time that environmental impact assessments must be done for planning.

Another official said the changes would give more responsibility to government agencies, requiring them to investigate the legal aspects of a proposed project's environmental impact, as well as reviewing the applicant's own report.

China’s Environmental Information to be Made Public

October 12, 2002

The State Environmental Protection Administration (Sepa) has indicated that documents, such as; construction project proposals, inspections, and rulings at national, provincial and municipal environmental protection bureaus will be available to public. The move hopefully will raise and increase government efficiency, transparency and fairness. Only those documents considered secrets of the state or work units or a threat to social stability will not be made available.

The documents can be requested from bureaus or get them off the bureaus' Web sites. The decision was based on a successful trial run which started in July 2000 when Sepa allowed public disclosure in five counties and districts. The move was extended to 13 provinces last year. The public disclosure program appeared to promote the environmental protection system's reliance on law and enforcement and accelerated the bureaus' honesty and efficiency.

HK Green Groups Ask for Special Environmental Court

September 13, 2002

Environmentalists in HK have asked the government to consider establishing a specialist court to deal with land, conservation, planning and environmental issues and that could benefit developers and conservationists by providing a more consistent approach, as it would replace the numerous part-time appeal boards now dealing with land-related issues.

Often decisions made about cases affecting the environment were made behind closed doors leading to secret deals between developers and authorities. The court may help improve judicial expertise about complex environmental issues since some environmental cases are dismissed or penalties are very lenient because magistrates do not understand or are not supportive.

Chemical Plants Must Provide Free Health Checks: Opportunities for PPE and High Efficiency Ventilation/Control Systems

September 5, 2002

Beijing has ordered factory owners who use hazardous chemical materials to provide employees with free medical check-ups before November 1. A circular issued by the Ministry of Health recently demanded manufacturers of certain products - including shoes, bags and suitcases - organize the health procedures to pay for staff check-ups and for any treatment required.

Non-complying Factories will be fined or even shut down in accordance with the Occupational Disease Treatment and Prevention Law, which came into effect this May. Factories that have previously organized health checks for their workers are exempted. Still employers usually pay little attention to the laws and regulations.

Still some are concerned because a major cause of chemical poisoning was the lack of ventilation in factories. Also many workers were reluctant to demand protective clothing, such as gloves and masks, or complain to the authorities for fear of losing their jobs.

Several factories Guangdong are installing new ventilation systems and are using glue with no benzene.

There are about 1,000 Taiwanese-funded factories making products listed in the ministry's circular in Dongguan alone.

New Water Conservation Laws

August 31, 2002

The National Peoples' Congress announced new laws taking effect on October 1 that will require local governments and industries to employ water-efficient technology. The new laws emphasis for the first time the efficiency and conservation in water use and planning, project construction, flood prevention, water rights and fee collection in the urban, industrial and rural sectors.

Clause 51 requires industries to use new water-efficient technology. Clause 52 requires city governments to increase the efficiency of urban water consumption by promoting the use of water-saving appliances, increasing the rate of waste-water treatment and promoting the use of recycled water.

Experts also noted that the new laws contained clauses calling for an appropriate charging system, such as charging water fees by volume of use. For example, clause 49 requires users to pay penalties if their consumption exceeds water usage limits.

In rural areas, farmers' water fees are about US$ 0.02 per ton - were charged according to their land area and not based on the actual volume of water used. In urban areas, water fees were only about US$0.06 per ton. Water conservation experts believe the low price encouraged the wasting of water. Still as with other laws in China, the most critical issue remains law enforcement.

New Law to Require ESAs for all Construction Projects

August 27, 2002

Beijing is expected to pass a landmark regulation by the end of this year requiring all construction projects to go through environmental impact reviews to assess the projects' impact on land use, city planning and regional construction, as well as agriculture, energy, forestry, manufacturing, tourism, transport, water resources and natural resources.

One major issue that has not be discussed public is whether government or private environmental companies will be allowed to carry out the environmental impact assessments. Private environmental companies have complained that environmental work is inherently corrupt because much of the assessment and mitigation work is contracted to companies that are often part of the regulatory enforcement agency, resulting in biased assessment.

EU Offers $US 3 Million to Aid Legal System

August 1, 2002

The European Union has pledged US$3 million for projects to improve China's legal system and promote the rule of law. Both government agencies and non-government bodies can apply for funding for small-budget activities that will help judicial reform and legal awareness, under the program. Activities that may get support include conferences, training, publications and research.

The objective is to improve the understanding of the rule of law, to encourage networking among legal professionals. It is part of a legal co-operation program, the largest of its kind that China has entered into with a foreign partner.

Initial assessment of proposals will be undertaken by a group of Chinese legal officials, professionals and scholars, who will pick the projects by vote.

(Source: AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE)

New Regulations on Electrical Waste

July 9, 2002

China will issue a set of regulations banning the import of worn-out electrical appliances that cause pollution, according to a spokesman of the State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA). A detailed list of such products will be issued in the near future by SEPA, the General Administration of Customs and the State General Administration for Quality Supervision and Inspection and Quarantine.

Those developed countries, such as the United States and Japan, export thousands of tons of toxic computer waste to China every year according to SEPA.

Individuals including women and children melt down wiring and circuit boards over open fires or by dousing them with acid to extract precious metals like gold and platinum. Toxic chemicals are also released by stripping apart printers and lead-laden computer screens. The processes can release carcinogenic fumes and pollute nearby rivers and ground water with heavy metals and other contaminates.

Ineffective Environment Assessment Units Reprimanded

June 21, 2002

The Chinese government has revoked 18 institutions' credentials to perform environmental impact assessments of construction projects and handed out various levels of punishments to another 23 units. The 41 institutions failed to meet standards during checks and appraisals conducted by the State Environmental Protection Administration last November.

The assessments should provide information on the present situation and future trends of environmental resources and proposes alternative scenarios. There are more than 750 institutions across the country approved by the environmental protection administration to carry out, appraise, monitor and enforce environmental impact assessments.
The credentials of the China Institute of Geological Engineering Prospecting and 17 other units were revoked. The Beijing Academy of Coal Designing and 13 other units had demotion penalties imposed on their credentials.

The Chinese Academy of Forestry Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Meteorological Sciences were urged to undergo a three-month-long reform and consolidation to get up to standards, during which their credentials are to be suspended. The Chinese Academy of Environmental Sciences, as well as six other units, were criticized in an official dispatch.
And the credentials of four other institutes, including the Academy of Occupational Health under the Ministry of Labor and Social Security, were cancelled due to the reorganization or amalgamation of these institutions.

(Source: China Daily)

China’s Environment Report- Acid Rain, Computer Waste Major Problems

June 1, 2002

Acid rain, water pollution and computer waste are among the hazards highlighted in China's annual environment report.
Almost a third of the mainland was affected by acid rain, one out of three cities suffered severe air pollution, half of all rivers were seriously polluted and water levels were falling dramatically in waterways in northern China according to the China Environmental Protection Administration’s report.

Acid rain is a problem in about 60 per cent of the 274 cities studied and carbon-dioxide pollution had worsened in several cities, notably Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. Coastal pollution was worsening, with the number of poisonous red tide algal outbreaks more than doubling to 71 last year.
The report also highlighted ecological problems such as overgrazing and bad land management that are turning China's grasslands to desert at a rate of two million hectares per year.

Computer waste was a growing problem even though the 1989 Basel Convention, a United Nations treaty banning exports of used computer parts containing toxic chemicals such as lead was ratified by China in 1991. Dealers evade China's ban on importing computer waste through smuggling or by falsifying invoices. Inspectors were being ordered to crack down on such illegal imports. China is itself a growing producer of what is known as e-waste and is now drafting rules for the safe disposal of computer waste.

In villages throughout China, poor farmers melt down wiring and circuit boards over open fires or douse them with acid to extract precious metals like gold and platinum. Toxic chemicals are released by stripping apart printers and lead-laden computer screens. Other processes release carcinogenic fumes and pollutants into rivers and ground water.

Hong Kong Moving Towards Superfund Liability?

May 3, 2002

The potential bill for cleaning up dioxin contamination at the Disney site on Lantau has rocketed to more than 10 times the original estimate of $30 million. It was not until after the Government had paid $1.5 billion for the site that cancer-causing dioxin was detected.

To relieve the burden on taxpayers, government lawyers are investigating the possibility of sharing the decontamination costs with the former owner. In the US, a superfund,supported by a special tax on the petroleum and chemical industries, gives the Government environment protection agency the power and money to deal with contamination. The US Government finances a clean-up in one of two ways: either out of the pockets of companies identified as having owned or operated sites which they have polluted or out of the superfund coffers.

Common law remedies associated with allocating liability for contaminated land (such as nuisance and trespass) are equally unlikely to provide a remedy either for the Government or taxpayers.

Clean Production Legislation

April 27, 2002

China will legislate to encourage clean production and control pollution brought about by its rapid economic expansion. During the second plenum of the ongoing 27th session of the Standing Committee of the Ninth National People's Congress Li Meng, vice-chairman of the NPC Environment and Resources Protection Committee, explained the clean production law aims to control pollution during the whole production process, from design, energy and raw materials selection, and processing technology, to equipment maintenance and service.

The draft law, tabled to the NPC Standing Committee for its first deliberation, announces three types of requirements, namely, directive requirements, compulsory requirements and voluntary requirements. The compulsory requirements include recycling of some specified products and packaging, and for polluters to make regular reports on emissions.
The draft law also advocates some preferential measures for those who adopt the clean production model, such as preferential loans and tax cuts or exemptions.

China to Produce and Regulate Organic Foods

April 2, 2002

Increasingly formidable non-tariff barriers by import countries have put pressure on China's farm produce exports despite the lowering of tariffs after China's entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO) last year.

China's tea exports to the European Union (EU) dropped by 37 per cent last year on an annual basis, due to intensified import criteria. Some developed countries have multiplied import examination items and heightened the requirements set for imports from China.
According to United Nations (UN) statistics, US$7.4 billion of exports from China covering agriculture and other industries have been stifled each year by environmental barriers. Exports have been increasing at an annual rate of 50 per cent to US$300 million last year. China aims to raise the output of its environmentally friendly food to 45 million tons by 2005 from 10 million tons last year.

China has created a nationwide system of providing authentication monitoring, technical services and quality inspection of organic food producers, whose products are specifically regulated by 80 clauses in State requirements.

(Source: China Daily)

Polluters Pay in China

February 1, 2002

Nearly 100 peasant families in Eastern Coastal Province of Jiangsu Province lost their only form on income after toxic chemicals were discharged in the Shiliang river upstream from the reservoir were they raised their fish.

The farmers decided to sue the factory that discharged the toxins. The court found in favor of the farmers who were represented by Centre for Legal Assistance to Pollution Victims. Last December the court awarded the farmers damages of US$ 678,000 but they have yet to receive any of it. The factory has been allegedly shutdown permanently.

The Legal Center has received thousands of phone calls and has taken 22 cases to court over the past three years. Environmental awareness is increasing in China and is starting to challenge the polluter’s non-compliance methods.

(Source: Reuters)

China's 10th Five-Year Plan Objectives for Environmental Development

January 27, 2002

China's 10th Five-Year Plan (2001-2005) for environmental issues focuses on comprehensive policies for improving the environment mainly through pollution control, biological/ecological protection, and the development of the environmental industry.

The following are key studies to be conducted under the plan:

Conduct environmental studies on ecological quality standards; pollution discharge standards; clean processing standards; hazardous wastes and chemical handling processes. The purpose of these studies is to provide technical support for environmental law enforcement.

Conduct studies on chemical pollutants' affect on humans.

Conduct studies on pollutant discharge and waste minimization for cleaner processing in order to provide guidance to companies on pollution control.

Evaluate the use of satellite technologies applicable to environmental management.

Development of on-line monitoring instruments for environmental monitoring information systems.

Conduct studies on the use of advanced technologies to be used in air pollution control, water pollution control, solid waste control, and protection of ground water resources.

Conduct studies on setting up an evaluation system and methods for city, river basin, and rural ecological quality controls to promote advanced agricultural environmental products and technologies.

Conduct studies and revaluations of China's nuclear plants to establish large-scale nuclear radiation monitoring and analysis and support systems for emergencies.

Conduct studies on more efficient biological, environmental, agricultural techniques

Expediting environmental system reforms under market economy conditions.

(Source: China Environmental News - June 18, 2001)