New Moves to Strengthen Enforcement of Environmental Laws and Regulations in China

How to further strengthen enforcement of environmental laws and regulation so that the environmental security and ecological integrity is well protected? This remains a critical question to be answered in China if you take a look at the situation along the Yangtze River watershed.

Ever since 2015, hundreds of environmental laws suits every year have been brought to Courts to be judged for violations. On one side, it is encouraging to see the increasing number of cases which shows that people are learning to use judiciary system to protect the environment and their health. On the other, they are overwhelming the capacity of the judiciary system. Very importantly, lack of clarity of division between the administrative measure sand judiciary charges further challenges the pace and effectiveness of law enforcement.

Five national government agencies came together today and announced a Memo of the Joint Meeting on Issues Related to Handling Environmental Pollution Criminal Cases (or the Memo). It provides more clarity and answers to some of the toughest questions in the enforcement of environmental laws, in particular around what are the rules to following for the judiciary departments when charging criminal cases, and how to best coordinate and connect administrative measures and criminal justice.

China amended its Law of Environmental Protection January 1, 2015. It was regarded the first piece of environmental legislation in China that has "teeth". It emphasizes the importance of criminal charges and penalties, besides administrative and financial liabilities. It states that "for those with severe violation, repeated violation and intentional violations, criminal charges shall be forced to hold legal representatives of companies and the director responsible person of the pollution accountable.

The Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate made clear rules on criminal charges against discharges of hazardous wastes and POPs. They also set quantity rules of discharged pollutants, such as 3 and more than 3 tons of hazardous waste, and 3 times that set level of hazardous heavy metals.

The Memo provides clear answers to five major matters:

• Air pollution and criminal charges: when heavy air pollution Alert is issues, emissions in excess of standard, such as SO2 and NOx, in particular those emitters who have already been penalized by administrative measures, can be forced to take criminal charges;
• Dumping of hazardous wastes: those discharge hazardous wastes intentionally which bears serious consequences, can be forced to take criminal charges;
• Verification of intentional discharges, dumping and disposal of hazardous wastes: according to government and industrial codes of conducts and the consequences caused by those actions;
• Verification of hazardous wastes: violations shall be reviewed from both subjective and objective perspective, including notorious behavior and consequences and impacts of the hazardous materials;
• Verification of hazardous waste: State Catalog of Hazardous Wastes is an important reference. For those not on the list, a written opinion from environmental agency and public security agency can be used to make criminal charges.

Chinese President Xi Jinping set his eyes on the protection of the Yangtze River Watershed. The Mother River was declared ecologically dead a few years ago by Chinese scientists. There is a sense of urgency to recover the ecological health in the country. A long-recognized inadequacy, enforcement is expected to gear up its power to drive through fundamental changes of environmental behavior in the country. A clear message is sent again. You better behave! If not, prison terms and criminal charges are waiting ahead.