Recent Environmental Law and Public Participation News

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Deputy Procurator General: Executive power should be subject to the constraints of law (Google translation)
In a March 7 interview with CCTV, Sun Qian, China’s Deputy Procurator General, argued that the close collaboration of local governments with enterprises that violated pollution laws posed a threat to China’s rule of law. The government must ultimately be able to represent the plaintiff and the public interest in such cases, he noted. Sun Qian said that one possible solution would be to establish a robust administrative prosecution system to restore oversight and end illegal collusion. (Source: CCTV)

Ministry of Environmental Protection updates laws and adds new ordinances (Google translation)
In time for the gathering of the National People’s Congress in Beijing , MEP instituted a bevy of new laws and regulations while revising and repealing several old measures. Among the measures are the “Measures for Environmental Administrative Punishment,” new implementation standards for record-keeping of discharge figures, clean production standards for the service industry, and pollution control technology standards for handling waste lead-acid batteries. (Source: China News Net)

Guangdong NPC delegation calls for whistleblower protection (Google translation)
Last week, NPC official Chen Shu Ti publically called for the establishment of a legal system to protect whistleblowers and encourage the reporting of violations. Whistleblowing would effectively supplement current efforts to bolster enforcement of laws, he pointed out, especially in support of other proposals calling for the establishment of a National People’s Procuratorate to handle the rising number of environmental public interest litigation cases. (Source: Shenzhen News Network)

Heavy metal pollution becomes Wuhan EPB’s focus (Google translation)
The Wuhan Environmental Protection Bureau intends to fully implement a bevy of heavy pollution programming this year, officials announced this week. In particular, the Wuhan EPB will focus on the prevention and control of lead, cadmium, chromium and arsenic by targeting the lead battery, electroplating, chemical materials and chemical products manufacturing industries. Heavy metal industries will face strict emissions standards and all investments in heavy metal projects will be closely examined, officials noted. The city also plans to release monitoring results on a “regular basis” to the public starting this June. (Source: Yangtze River Daily)

Sichuan factory halts production after 94 local residents display elevated blood lead levels (Google translation)
Nearly 100 residents in the county of Longchang tested positive for abnormally high blood lead levels, prompting environmental officials to initiate an investigation for the source of the heavy metal contamination. While monitoring data from a local metal alloys plant shows that the factory did not exceed the pollution standards set for hazardous waste incineration, officials have nevertheless ordered the factory to halt production until they can carry out a more thorough investigation. (Source: Beijing Youth Daily)