An effective legal guarantee is badly needed to promote
environmental protection, says a commentary in Beijing Youth
Daily. An excerpt follows:
Shortly after Zhou Shengxian took office as head of the State
Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA), a fresh round of
environmental protection "windstorms" was launched nationwide.
It was soon followed by a guideline document issued by the State
Council on adopting the concept of scientific development and
strengthening environmental protection.
The SEPA "windstorm" is expected to work more effectively with
support from the country's top administrative body.
The SEPA chief told the public through the media that the time
of the most serious environmental pollution is upon us, and will
continue for the next 15 years. It is high time the Chinese
Government became more determined to solve the problem.
SEPA has been authorized to assess environment effects, draft
standards on pollutant emissions, and hold relevant government
officials accountable for violations. If all these measures can be
put into practice, the momentum of environmental pollution would be
effectively slowed.
While administrative measures become more and more binding, the
legal system remains weak for environmental protection.
The revised 1997 Criminal Law defines serious sabotage of
natural resources like water, land and forests as criminal
activities and stipulates penalties. However, the legislation has
not achieved expected results due to the lack of corresponding
judicial explanations and local protectionism. Over the past eight
years, only a few have been extended criminal punishments on the
charge of serious environmental damage.
The latest "windstorm" from the country's top administrative and
environment authorities has brought to people some hope for an
improved environment. However, the loopholes in the law still make
people worry about the prospects.
Only with a close combination of legal and administrative
measures can environmental pollution be more effectively
curbed.
(China Daily February 21, 2006)