Red Star News:

The action plan dedicates a special section to environmental rights with rich content. According to the plan, China will improve the eco-environmental damage compensation system. Has there been any progress in this respect? Are there any problems standing in the way? And what are the plans for the future? Thank you.

Bie Tao:

I will answer this question. I have mentioned several judgments during the introduction. I would like to reiterate one of them: the comprehensive improvement on human rights requires the comprehensive improvement on environmental rights as well. For further expounding, any damage, infringement, or sabotage to the environment should be effectively restored, managed, and claimed for compensation in accordance with the law. A strict system of accountability must be well established. As such, your question coincidently involves aspects of environmental rights. 

As part of the efforts to address the issues of damage to both environment and public interests, the CPC Central Committee has launched the eco-environmental damage compensation reform. This reform started its trial implementation in seven cities at the beginning of 2016. After two years of practice, the pilot reform was expanded nationwide in 2018, including 31 provinces, autonomous regions, municipalities, and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps. The reform was officially implemented in 2020. I would like to take this opportunity to introduce the progress we have made since the trial implementation of the reform.

Over the past five years, all localities and departments have earnestly implemented the arrangement of the eco-environmental damage compensation reform made by the CPC Central Committee. Through our tireless efforts, an eco-environmental damage compensation institutional framework featuring clear lines of responsibility, smooth flow of procedures, standard technologies,  strong guarantees, compensation in place, and effective restoration has taken shape, achieving noticeable progress in promoting national and local legislative work, standardizing the rules of litigation, reinforcing technological and financial supports, carrying out cases in practice, and restoring the damaged ecological environment. We have completely achieved the phased reform goal, which manifested in the following four aspects.

First, we have made noticeable progress in the construction of legal systems. The Civil Code, which was adopted last year, has set up a special provision for punitive compensation for eco-environmental damage, including substantive and procedural rules. It has made it a clear requirement that state organs, including administrative organs and procuratorial organs or any legitimate social organizations, also known as environmental NGOs, are entitled to lodge claims for eco-environmental damages through negotiations or litigation. Adopting the results of the pilot reform into basic national law represented by the Civil Code is a substantive move to establish the legal status of an eco-environmental damage compensation system. At the same time, a series of special laws, such as the Water Pollution Prevention and Control Law, Soil Pollution Prevention and Control Law, and Law on the Prevention and Control of Environmental Pollution by Solid Wastes have made special provisions for eco-environmental damage compensation. Noticeably, the Yangtze River Protection Law, which was adopted last year, has introduced the eco-environmental damage compensation system as well. Other relevant laws on resources protection represented by the Forest Law have adopted this system as well. Moreover, many local legislatures have made provisions for eco-environmental damage compensation. As far as we know, a total of 19 provinces have rolled out local laws and regulations on eco-environmental damage compensation.

Secondly, the management system has been increasingly refined. The Ministry of Ecology and Environment, together with public security organs, procuratorial organs, people's courts, departments of justice, natural resources, agriculture, forestry and water resources, jointly issued the opinions on promoting the eco-environmental damage compensation system reform, which has helped to provide explicit guidance on the specific issues exposed during the pilot reform, including clue screening, compensation negotiation, and judicial confirmation of consultative agreement. China's Supreme People's Court has released provisions on handling cases of eco-environmental damage compensation, consultative agreement, and judicial confirmation. Working collectively with nine other departments, the Ministry of Finance has issued measures on management of compensation funds for ecological and environmental damage through consultation and litigation in a bid to standardize rules on the compensation payment, use, and supervision. At the same time, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment has conducted investigation and supervision over the assessment and consultative agreement of eco-environmental damages in major cases with nationwide impact, such as the Tengger Desert pollution case, the Muli coalfield pollution case, and so on. We have selected several representative cases and provided references for the rest of the country in a bid to promote the reforms across China.

Third, the technological system has been increasingly standardized. The eco-environmental damage compensation is highly technical, with quantitative assessment as its foundation. Only when the damages can be well quantified can we have access to negotiate, lodge complaints, demand restoration, or claim for compensation. Therefore, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment has rolled out an array of technical guidance covering nine aspects of recommended method of damage assessment, general principle, damage survey, and so on, providing compelling technical support for the pilot reform and the national trial implementation. Last December, under the joint efforts of the State Administration for Market Regulation and the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, a total of six national standards have been released, including the general principle of eco-environmental damage assessment, damage survey, virtual treatment cost laws on soil and groundwater, surface water and sediments, and water pollution and air pollution. A technical standard system for eco-environmental damage assessment has taken initial shape, basically covering all key steps and basic types of environmental factors involved in eco-environmental damage assessments.

Fourth, the reform practice of various regions has been vigorously promoted. All provinces, autonomous regions, municipalities and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (XPCC) have formulated implementation plans at the provincial level. More than 380 prefecture-level cities across the country, including districts and counties of municipalities directly under the central government, have all issued implementation plans, confirming local reform goals, advancement paths, and the division of labor among departments. Local governments have also formulated 327 supporting documents based on specific issues such as consultation, investigation, appraisal and evaluation, and the management of compensation funds. All localities and departments are actively handling eco-environmental damage compensation cases, and organizing the timely restoration of damaged ecological environments. According to statistics, as of the end of last year, more than 4,300 cases of eco-environmental damage compensation were handled nationwide, involving more than 7.8 billion yuan. A large number of damaged soils, forest land, basic farmland, surface water, groundwater and solid waste have so far been treated, restored and cleaned up.

At present, the central government is also conducting inspections. Our analysis has concluded that there exist several basic problems. First, the progress of reform is uneven across various regions. Some provinces handle hundreds or even thousands of cases, while some provincial-level administrations only handle several or tens of cases. The difference is very large and too unbalanced. Second, the technical method system has yet to be improved. Our department has issued six standards, but they have not yet covered all aspects. Third, from the perspective of procedural law, the relevant legal provisions and management rules are still imperfect.

Next, we will further summarize the progress, problems and cause analysis of the pilot in accordance with the unified deployment of the central government on the reform of eco-environmental damage compensation, and propose solutions to deepen the reform of eco-environmental damage compensation. At the same time, we will actively work with the relevant departments of the central and state organs to focus on four areas of work. First, we will study and draft a unified normative document on eco-environmental damage compensation. The current basis of this work is still based on the reform plan, and the transition to normal implementation should require legal and regulatory documents. We must promote this reform onto the track of rule of law. Second, we will continue to increase the selection, evaluation, release, and recommendation guidance for major typical cases. Third, we will strengthen the basic research of eco-environmental damage identification and assessment, and unify technical specifications. Fourth, we will further strengthen coordination and cooperation among departments, form a joint effort among the departments, and promote the implementation of the reform of eco-environmental damage compensation for practical results. Thank you.