China Environmental News: More open information, stronger rights protection
As we mentioned a few days ago, China’s Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP) posted an article on the Ministry website making a strong case for more open information as the way to attack pollution before it leads to accidents like those we have been seeing in recent months in Shaanxi, Hunan, Yunnan and elsewhere. We post a translation of that article here:
More open information, stronger rights protection信息越公开,维护权益越有力
Xu Qi徐琦 2009-08-17
After expansive media coverage of the Hunan Liuyang City cadmium accident, the problems were quickly handled. The factory involved Changsha Xianghe Chemical Factory was permanently closed. The responsible parties were punished. From the perspectives of cadmium pollution to the local environment and harms to the health, spirit and economic well-being of the public, one must say that this sort of “losing the sheep before mending the fence” (i.e., better late than never) approach is extremely regrettable – although it certainly prevented illegal pollution from continuing. 湖南省浏阳市镉污染事件经媒体充分报道后，有关问题迅速得到处理，涉案的长沙湘和化工厂被永久关闭，相关责任人受到惩处。这种“亡羊补牢”式的处理方式，虽然在客观上解决了违法排污企业继续作恶的问题，但是，考虑到镉污染给当地生态环境、群众身体健康、精神和经济上造成的既定损失，不能不说是一种莫大的遗憾。
Better late than never is too late. We should draw lessons from this painful experience! Why did it take years before this long-violating enterprise – that made it so that the locals could not grow on their land or eat the grain they produced – was brought to justice?亡羊补牢，为时已晚。痛定思痛，痛何如哉！为什么这样一个长期非法生产的企业，闹得当地老百姓“有地不能种，有粮不能吃”，竟然在数年后才得以“正法”？
A practical and urgent issue is that when pollution is causing major losses and serious harm to the health of citizens, we cannot only undertake a better late than never after-the-fact punishment, but we must “catch the wolf before the sheep flees.” That is to say, we need to start at the source of the problem, prevent possible trouble and prevent these sorts of tragedies from happening again. 一个现实而迫切的问题是，环境污染正在造成巨大的损失并严重伤害着老百姓的身心健康，我们无法再仅仅满足于亡羊补牢式的事后惩处，而必须赶在羊未亡前捕到狼。也就是说，要从问题的源头入手，防患于未然，避免悲剧再次发生。
Recent Environmental Law and Public Participation News
Lead-stricken town mayor’s apology fails to make up for lack of information disclosure (Google translation)
After Chinese media revealed on August 6 that hundreds of children in the Fengxiang area of Shaanxi Province had dangerous levels of lead in their blood, the mayor of Baoji City, a town in the affected area, did not make any public apologies or announcements until 12 days later. This op-ed in the Guangming Observer points out that such a delay is unacceptable, given the large numbers of people affected and the capacity for rumors to get out of control. Indeed, the writer argues, a subsequent riot by villagers on the 17th can be directly attributed to the local government’s failure to step in, provide information, and help calm tensions. (Source: Guangming Observer)
Hangzhou to explore environmental courts and green insurance (Google translation)
At a conference on designing Hangzhou’s future as a model ecological city, Hangzhou officials revealed that the city was exploring the implementation of several key programs in the coming years. Among the proposed environmental policies include an environmental public interest litigation system, environmental protection courts, and environmental pollution liability insurance. (Source: Hangzhou Daily)
From Xiamen PX to the Beijing Liulitun case, now is the time for the EIA law (Google translation)
In an interview with Chang Ji from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, China Environment News examines the current state of Environmental Impact Assessment Legislation and the crucial steps needed to ensure its effective implementation in the future. (Source: China Environment News)
What do Chinese high school sophomores know about NRDC?
More than we think as it turns out. We noted last week that NRDC’s naval sonar litigation in the US found its way into the “Annual Selected Readings for China’s High School Students” and ultimately onto a final exam question for high school sophomores in Zhangzhou Municipality, Fujian Province (at the Fifth Middle School in Zhangzhou漳州五中). This just happens to be the city where the controversial Xiamen paraxylene (PX) Plant was moved. Let’s hope the kids of Zhangzhou learn their environmental lessons well and work hard to keep Zhangzhou green!
Here is a translation of the NRDC final exam question. Take the exam and let us know how you do.
Recent Environmental Law and Public Participation News
Zhengzhou Open Government Information Work Report released (Google translation)
Henan Province officials announced the publication of Zhengzhou’s open government information work report last week. The city disclosed nearly 40,000 documents during the previous year. Of the 2998 information disclosure applications filed, the government fulfilled all but 6. (Source: Xinhua)
Yan Yiming: King of Litigation (Google translation)
Yan Yiming gives his first interview to Southern People Weekly in the aftermath of a surprise attack by three unidentified men that left him injured. The piece covers his history of taking on public interest cases often related to information disclosure and financial rights and his latest efforts at pursuing full disclosure of the government’s stimulus plan. (Source: Southern People’s Weekly)
Local Environmental Protection Bureaus demonstrate lackluster enforcement (Google translation)
While the open environmental information laws require disclosure of corporate emissions information should an enterprise exceed pollution standards, one year later this law remains unenforced in many parts of the country. According to environmental NGOs such as Ma Jun’s Institute for Public and Environmental Affairs, the crux of the problem involves the unwillingness of local officials to enforce existing laws. (Source: Legal Daily)
CCTV Interview: Environmental Authorities and Information Disclosure
Just before the open government information regulations turned one year old, the Heilongjiang Environmental Protection Bureau (EPB), accused of keeping confidential the illegal emissions of polluting enterprises, found itself the target of criticism from the public and the media. Whether or not the incident may have resulted from faulty communication between the EPB and the media, the national controversy generated by such an action shows that implementation of open environmental information continues to remain an important and sensitive issue in China.
- Why did EPB keep the pollution data of enterprises confidential?
- How can the intertwined interests of enterprises and environmental authorities be severed?
With these questions in mind, CCTV’s “News 1+1” program interviewed Wang Xixin – a Peking University law professor – and Wang Canfa – director of the Center for Legal Assistance to Pollution Victims (CLAPV) and professor at the China University of Political Science and Law. They discussed the challenge of obtaining information disclosure of enterprises’ pollution data from environmental authorities.
The discussion starts with the Heilongjiang EPB case, and later moves on to the water pollution incident in Yancheng, Jiangsu Province, as well as the arsenic contamination of Yangzonghai Lake in Yunnan Province. For our English readers, we’ve assembled some of the key questions that arose during their interview and have translated a few of their most interesting points.
Read more…
One Year of Openness: Greenlaw and the First Anniversary of China’s Open Information Regulations
公开一年间:Greenlaw《环境信息公开办法（试行）》实施一周年回顾
NRDC’s revamped Greenlaw (www.greenlaw.org.cn) site officially debuted on October 5th, 2008. The overall positive response to the “Open Environmental Information Regulations (Trial)” since May 1st, 2008 has played an important role in the creation of the site. The update rate of the old Greenlaw site was not up to the task of quickly dealing with new environmental law and open information developments, so revisions to the site were made in addition to continuing the original news service. Since February, the amount of writing on the site has rapidly increased, and the site has switched from its original schedule of 2-3 weekly updates to daily updates. There have already been 118 news pieces about open environmental information and 108 environmental law-related blog posts, among which 21 are posts about open environmental information. Over 1000 foreign and Chinese now visit the site each week.
In addition to laying the foundations for information disclosure in the State Council’s “Regulations on Open Government Information,” which sets legal obligations on the Chinese government for open government information, the Ministry of Environmental Protection’s “Measures on Open Environmental Information (for Trial Implementation)” is not just the first time the State Council has issued an implementation regulation concerning a government bureau. By specifying further responsibilities for the enterprises, these regulations could closely integrate with other environmental regulations, such as clean production promotion laws. This regulation promises to be the proverbial hammer that will smash the wall between polluting enterprises and the public, turning China from a bureaucracy-oriented country to a science- and democracy-oriented one, from a country that singled-mindedly emphasizes economic growth to one that focuses on sustainable development. In addition to these optimistic feelings, there are still some unavoidable, unfavorable challenges to be confronted. Looking back at the developments of the past year reveals a developing legal regime where the circumstances remain quite complicated.
Recent Environmental Law and Public Participation News
MEP undertakes comprehensive investigation of drinking water safety (Google translation)
The Ministry of Environmental Protection has launched a comprehensive investigation of drinking water safety around the country after several major emergencies in the past few months have attracted national attention. In a report released in recent days, MEP stated that they directly dealt with 135 dangerous incidents of pollution in 2008, one-third of which involved contamination of drinking water sources. (Source: CRI Online)
Op-ed: Why is the environmental protection court left out in the cold? (Google translation)
A China Environment News opinion piece examines ongoing efforts to bolster the development of environmental protection courts. While the arrival of such courts does help the implementation of environmental litigation, the district courts ultimately have little power to influence the design of the system, creating a serious weakness in how the courts can evolve over the coming years. (Source: China Environment News)
Public participation drives environmental review of Gold East Paper
On March 2 2009, the website of Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP) posted the “Re-notification of Environmental Review for the Initial Public Offering of Gold East Paper (Jiangsu) Co.,Ltd.” The notification points out that last August, six environmental groups, including Greenpeace and Friends of Nature, reported the environmental problems of Gold East Paper, a member company of the Sinar Mas APP Group, which was planning to be listed on the A-Share market. Environmental offices in Hainan, Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces then verified the reported problems, so the issue was notified here again for ten days. This move was immediately applauded by several civil environmental groups which believed that “MEP’s serious attitude further promotes the positive interplay between the government and civil society and blazes a new trail for joint monitoring of enterprises’ pollution problems by government and civil society in a comprehensive and transparent manner.”
Recent Environmental Law and Public Participation News
Shanghai government website courts public comments, despite lingering flaws (Google translation)
While upgrades to the Shanghai government website allow for the public to leave comments and view government information on a variety of topics, a thorough evaluation of the website by reporters from the New People’s Daily found several flaws. Among the problems, noted the newspaper, were slow access and missing content for many links. (Source: New People’s Daily)
Wang Yongchen: “Looking Back on the PX Incident”
With news of the approval for the PX project in Zhangzhou this past week, it’s worth taking a look back on what happened in Xiamen. Wang Yongchen has written a piece that pulls together much of the media coverage of the time to tell the full story of the cancellation of the the Tenglong Aromatic PX (Xiamen) Co. Ltd. factory in Xiamen. Click here to read (Chinese).
Here are some links on the Xiamen PX incident in English:
“Xiamen Calls An Abrupt Halt to the PX Project to Deal with the Public Crisis,” Zhu Hongjun (朱红军), Southern Weekend, May 28, 2007 (translation courtesy of the EastSouthWestNorth blog).
“Official media on popular opinion in the Xiamen PX affair,” Danwei blog, June 18, 2007.