Environmental Policy and Governance in China

Environmental Policy and Governance in China

Hideki Kitagawa Editor Environmental Policy and Governance in China

Editor Hideki Kitagawa Faculty of Policy Science Ryukoku University Fushimi-ku, Kyoto Japan ISBN 978-4-431-56488-1 ISBN 978-4-431-56490-4 (ebook) DOI 10.1007/978-4-431-56490-4 Library of Congress Control Number: 2016962720 Springer Japan KK 2017 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. Printed on acid-free paper This Springer imprint is published by Springer Nature The registered company is Springer Japan KK The registered company address is: Chiyoda First Bldg. East, 3-8-1 Nishi-Kanda, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 101-0065, Japan

Preface Human-induced environmental pollution and destruction as a result of rapid economic growth has become an issue of serious concern affecting people s health in China. Although some improvements have been made since the Communist Party and the Central Government established and enacted various laws and policies, the present situation remains unpredictable and daunting. In the background of this paradoxical situation, the significant tendency toward rule by men in various environmental concerns still firmly remains, giving the impression that China is a nation of rule by law, not a nation of rule of law. 1 In the past, many obstacles against law and policy administration have been noted. These include local protectionism practiced by the local governments to protect polluter firms and corporations, regulatory issues such as lack of information disclosure, limited the amount of authority of the Ministry of Environmental Protection, penalties for activities that violate the ethical code or environmental law, and non-independence of judicial power from the administration. In my recent field investigations, I found these issues remained unchanged. At the same time, the general lack of environmental awareness among the Chinese citizens is also a major stumbling block to environmental improvement. In view of this, environmental education and the dissemination of environmental knowledge are essential. In short, circumventing the current environmental quagmire calls for a mix of policy instruments, as it would have been impossible to tackle all the problems and issues as mentioned with just one single instrument. With this view in mind, this book attempts to examine how stakeholders such as the legislators, administrators, corporations, citizens, and environmental NGOs cooperate to solve the difficult environmental issues confronting China from multiple perspectives. The main focus of examination is mainly related to the 1 China is not a country characterized by the rule of law, a concept developed in England on the premise of liberty and democracy. By contrast, China has a tendency to use rules as a tool for administration, better described as rule by law. v

vi Preface development and enforcement of environmental law and policy in China. Some of the major issues covered environmental protection law, soil pollution, the target responsibility system in pollution prevention policies, environmental resource tax, multilayered pollution problems, visits and letters in association with environmental management, public participation in EIA, and environmental NGOs, among others. In the first half, we review how these issues are approached from the aspect of government systems and policies, and in the latter half, we discuss approaches from the aspect of citizens. Chapter 1 introduces eco-civilization, Xi Jinping Government s environmental policies from the decision on the Third Plenary Session of the 18th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the amendment to the Environmental Protection Law enacted in January 2015. This chapter also examines issues for the improvement of environmental governance. In Chap. 2, the author, who participated in the amendment process of the Environmental Protection Law, introduces the detailed discussion on the constitutional process of the amendment law. More specifically, this chapter reveals that the principle of transition from the priority on the economy to environmental protection does not necessarily go hand in hand with environmental administrative transformation. Chapter 3 discusses soil contamination, an issue that, though previously suspected, has recently been made clear through actual environmental studies. Regulations related to soil contamination have been partly enacted, but they were not sufficient to solve the food safety issues, which affect the health of the citizens. In acknowledging the need for the establishment of effective mitigating schemes, this chapter discusses what constitutes an effective soil protection law system. Some of the issues discussed include mechanism for administrative improvement, an analysis of responsibility system, and financial support for environmental improvement. Because of rapid economic development in recent years, China has become a leading consuming country of fossil fuels. Currently, it is the world s largest carbon dioxide emitting country. It also confronts with acute PM2.5 air pollution problem. Chapter 4 discusses the background of the enactment of the target responsibility system (TRS) for environmental protection to overcome these issues, the process of allocating targets to local governments, its legal and political position, and other related issues. Chapter 5 takes up the coal resource tax issue, which serves as an effective means in reducing the consumption of fossil fuels as discussed in the previous chapter. This chapter also analyzes the impacts of the tax system on fiscal revenue, resource conservation, and energy savings for the period of 1994 2011. The goals and challenges of the 2011 coal resource tax reform, which changed the tax system from a volume-based system to a fixed-rate ad valorem system based on sales, are also the focus of this chapter. Chapter 6 focuses on the discussion of the limited relief available to pollution victims in environmental litigation. It clarifies the fact that decisions regarding an environmental dispute made by the local committee of the CPC could have substantial impact on the decisions of the local court, while the EPA of the upper level local government or the upper level local court could be disregarded by the local court.

Preface vii Chapter 7 discusses the effectiveness of China s traditional environmental complaint letters and visits system. In the current situation with courts taking cognizance of three percent of all environmental litigations in China, this chapter examines the importance of the administration body that handles environmental complaints and alternative dispute resolution (ADR). The establishment of an organization with authority to work out solutions to environmental disputes is suggested. Chapter 8 introduces public participation in the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). It is pointed out that the EIA system introduced in the late 1970s did not include public participation. Although public participation in EIA was introduced in the late 1990s, it was extremely vague and hence defeating its very purpose of participatory improvement. In 2006, the Interim Measures on Public Participation in EIA were enacted. However, issues such as the lack of effectiveness and the absence of trust in public participation in recent years constitute new obstacles to participatory enhancement. China s initial legislative amendment shows an intention to improve important issues such as the scope of legal rules and implementation, and greater consideration for public opinion in environmental issues. Chapter 9 covers the case of chromium pollution by vitamin K manufacturers in Yunnan province. More specifically, it exposes the actual situation of multitiered pollution of the industry concerned. This chapter also touches on the role of NGOs in helping to solve this environmental pollution issue based on actual case studies in Yunan and Hunan provinces. The last chapter, Chap. 10, discusses the history and the roles of environmental NGOs in China. Twenty years has passed since grassroots NGOs were born in China. They have dedicated themselves to solving environmental problems through the development of NGO networks, environmental prosecution and the enhancement of cooperation and communication with pollution victims and supporters in Japan. Overall, the book provides extensive analysis on various important environmental issues confronting China and suggests mitigating measures to contain the problems concerned. We hope this book will prove useful to not only scholars who study environmental governance in China but also readers who are interested in environmental issues in China. Faculty of Policy science at Ryukoku university Kyoto, Japan Hideki Kitagawa References Kitagawa, Hideki Environmental Law and Policy and its Implementation of China (from Environmental Law and Policy and Governance of China Introduction) Koyoshobo, January 2012.

viii Preface Kitagawa, Hideki Effects and Issues of Chinese Environmental Law s Implementation for 30 years-mainly on the Amendment to the Environmental Protection Law and the Environmental Dispute Institution (from chapter 12 of Hideki Kitagawa et al. edition Development and Change of Modern Chinese Law, Seibundou) July 2013. Wang, Jing, Zhang, An, Yan, Houfu, Environmental Law Administration is Difficult. Where Difficulty lies?-a report of Questionnaire to staffs of Environmental Protection Department in China, Environmental Law in China, Law Press China, 2009.

Contents 1 Environmental Policy Under President Xi Jinping Leadership: The Changing Environmental Norms... 1 Hideki Kitagawa 2 Evolution of Environmental Thought and Enforcement of Environmental Protection Legislation in China: The Status Quo... 17 Jin Wang 3 Land Contamination Legislation in China: The Emerging Challenges... 47 Xiaobo Zhao 4 Environmental Management System in China: The Target Achieving Process... 69 Zhen Jin 5 An Analysis of China Coal Resource Tax Reform and Its Implications on Resource Saving... 89 Yanmin He 6 Environmental Litigation and External Influence from Outside the Court in the PRC: A Case Study of Zhang Changjian et al. v. Rongping Chemical Plant... 109 Jiro Sakurai 7 The Non-litigation Approach to Environmental Disputes in China: The Environmental Complaint Letters and Visits System An Analysis... 127 Shijun Zhang 8 Review of the Legislation on Public Participation in EIA in China: From Disorder to Normalization... 145 Shekun Wang ix

x Contents 9 Multi-tiered Nature of Environmental Pollution Problems and the Pollution Control Governance in China: The Role of Environmental NGOs... 159 Akihiro Chiashi 10 Environmental NGOs and Environmental Pollution in China... 177 Yasushi Aikawa Index... 195

Contributors Akihiro Chiashi is researcher at the Kyoto University Asian Studies Unit, Japan. His research interests are in environmental politics and economics, environment and development, environmental governance, and policies in China and Asian countries. His current research focuses on the political economy and governance of the environmental pollution in China. Hideki Kitagawa is professor in the Faculty of Policy Science and head of the Research Institute for Social Sciences, Ryukoku University, Kyoto, Japan, researches environmental law and policy of Japan and China. His current research focuses on Chinese environmental governance, particularly how to solve difficult environmental issues in cooperation with corporations, NGOs, citizens, etc. Jiro Sakurai is associate professor of Chinese studies at Kobe City University of Foreign Studies. He wrote mainly about Chinese environmental law and policy, mostly focusing on litigations as one of some measures to relieve the victims of environmental damages. He wrote only in Japanese, so the main challenge for him to tackle with is to write papers in English. Jin Wang is professor at Peking University Law School and the director of Resources, Energy and Environmental Law Institute, Beijing, China. His current research focuses on environmental law and policy and nuclear policy and law. Shekun Wang is associate professor at Peking University Law School, as well as research fellow of Resources, Energy, and Environmental Law Institute (REELI) at the same university. His current research focuses on the enforcement of environmental protection law in China and the allocation of the rights to natural resources. Shijun Zhang is professor at the Law School of Shandong University and the director of the Research Institute of Economic Law. He is standing director of China s Society of Environment and Resources Law. His current research focuses xi

xii Contributors on environmental lawsuit, environmental dispute resolution, climate change, environmental governance, etc. Xiaobo Zhao is lecturer at the School of Law and Justice, University of Southern Queensland, Australia. His research interest focuses on Chinese environmental law, comparative contaminated land law, and torts. His monograph titled Developing an Appropriate Contaminated Land Regime in China: Lessons Learned from the US and UK was published by Springer in 2013. He is also the author and coauthor of a couple of peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters. Yanmin He is a postdoctoral fellow of the Institute of Economic Research at Kyoto University, Japan. She completed her PhD at Kyoto University (2014) with a study of China s resources taxation. Her current research interests include Chinese economy and Chinese environmental governance and focus especially on the energy and environmental fiscal reform for a sustainable society. Yasushi Aikawa is associate professor in the Faculty of Business Administration at Tottori University of Environmental Studies, Tottori, Japan. His research interests are in the relationship between environmental pollution and society in China and Japan. His current research focuses on the way of Chinese environmental NGOs solving environmental pollution and their cooperation with Japanese environmental NGOs. Zhen Jin is a fellow with the China Research and Communication Center (CRCC) at Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST). His research interests cover various aspects of low-carbon city policies, especially energy-saving policies and air pollution control policies in China. His areas of specialization are administrative law and environmental law, and he obtained his doctorate from the Law Department of Kyoto University in March 2009.