Red Star News:
What progress has been made in regard to the rule of law on the environment? What measures will be taken in the future? Thank you.
Zhao Yingmin:
Thank you for your question. In the 13th Five-Year Plan period, remarkable achievements have been made in terms of applying the rule of law, which is a very important aspect [when it comes to the protection of ecological environment]. In order to improve environmental quality and prevent water, air, soil and solid waste contamination, we have promoted a sound legal framework in regard to protection of the ecological environment; integrated the rule of law with various reforms; formulated and revised the ecological environment standards; promoted the reform of the compensation system on ecological environmental damage, and set up a sound legal framework to serve the cause of pollution prevention and control. The achievements can be seen in three aspects:
First, we have ramped up efforts to formulate and revise the laws regarding the ecological environment. Many laws and regulations on the protection of the ecological environment have been formulated and revised over the past five years, among them the Environmental Protection Tax Law, the Law on the Prevention and Control of Water Pollution, the Nuclear Safety Law, the Law on the Prevention and Control of Environmental Pollution by Solid Waste and the Biosecurity Law. Revisions to the Law on Prevention and Control of Pollution from Environmental Noise, the Marine Environment Protection Law and the Environmental Impact Assessment Law are still ongoing. The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC) is deliberating the draft law on Yangtze River conservation.
Second, we have been improving the environmental standards and policy systems. We have formulated, revised and promulgated 551 national standards for ecological environment, including four environmental quality standards, 37 standards for pollutant discharge, eight basic environmental standards, 305 environmental monitoring standards and 197 technical regulations for environmental management. As many as 122 standards have been promulgated to serve the implementation of the "ten measures for air," 107 to serve the "ten measures of water," as well as 89 to serve the "ten measures of soil" (49 ones concerning soil and 40 concerning solid waste).
Third, achievements have been made in the reform of the compensation system on ecological environment damage. At the end of 2017, the General Office of the CPC Central Committee and the General Office of the State Council issued a reform plan for the ecological environment damage compensation system, to further reform the ecological environment damage compensation system in the pilots nationwide, with the environmental protection inspection being the new measure. Last year, the Supreme People's Court issued the Provisions on the Trial of Cases on Compensation for Damage to the Ecological Environment, and liability for damaging the ecological environment has also been codified in the Civil Code, which is an initial success for the ecological environment damage compensation system. A total of 1,674 cases related to environment damage compensation had been dealt with as of September.
Next, we will continue to improve the legal framework for the protection of ecological environment by following the principle of coping with pollution in a targeted, scientific and law-based manner. We will establish a sound environmental standard system and an environmental technical management system. Moreover, we will also strictly implement the laws and regulations concerning environmental protection, so as to build new effective services and to ensure meeting new demands of ecological environmental protection. Thank you.
