Government officials found to have had a part in incidents that
cause environmental damage can be held accountable and punished,
according to the State Environmental Protection Administration and
the Ministry of Supervision in a joint statement yesterday.
"The move is to enforce environment-related laws and remind
officials of their responsibility towards protecting the
environment," Li Yufu, vice minister of supervision, said at a
press conference.
A set of regulations, consisting of 16 articles, spells out a
series of penalties ranging from disciplinary warnings to expulsion
from public employment, and also applies to government-appointed
officials in enterprises.
China stepped up law enforcement in the environment sector in
the wake of the major Songhua River pollution in November last
year, which affected water supplies to millions of people in China
and neighboring Russia.
Soon after the disaster, Director of the State Environmental
Protection Administration (SEPA) Xie Zhenhua was
dismissed and a number of other officials punished.
"The environmental situation in China is still very severe, and
the human factor is a big contributor to that," said Li.
Many localities pursue economic growth at the cost of the
environment and even formulate "local regulations" to block the
enforcement of laws, he said.
Negligent and/or corrupt officials have previously escaped
punishment because of the lack of specific regulations targeting
them, he said.
According to the new regulations, officials who fail to enforce
the law against enterprises that are known to be causing
large-scale pollution will be disciplined or even dismissed.
Officials who fail to report or fabricate reports about major
environmental incidents will also be severely punished.
"The implementation of the regulations marks a turning point for
environment-related law enforcement in China," SEPA Deputy
Director, Zhu Guangyao, said.
Zhu said that SEPA and the Ministry of Supervision will soon
jointly publicize a list of heavy polluters and will directly
supervise the enforcement of law against these enterprises.
(Xinhua News Agency February 21, 2006)