cover story
Water Pollution
All Bark, No Bite
Have China’s environmental protection departments really been given “teeth?” By Xie Ying
T
hree months ago, a video of a TED Talk-style lecture about China’s air pollution delivered by renowned Chinese journalist Chai Jing went viral on the Chinese Internet, not least for a segment in which Ding Yan, an official with the Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP) called his own department “toothless.” Since its establishment in 2008, the MEP and its local branches have faced constant criticism for what the public perceives as feeble efforts to combat pollution, with environmental officials often accused of turning a blind eye, or even colluding with polluters. With China’s pollution problem becom-
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ing increasingly intolerable for the public, the Chinese government has formulated a series of new laws and regulations over the past few years, aiming to “arm environmental protection departments with ‘sharp teeth.’” In June 2013, China’s State Council issued its Action Plan for Air Pollution Prevention and Control, pledging to curb emissions by shutting down heavy-polluting factories and forcing industrial adjustment. Ten months later, the government approved a new revision to the Environmental Protection Law, grabbing headlines nationwide by introducing harsher punishments for polluters, including unlimited per-day fines, and criminal
charges for serious violators. Tough measures continued with the release of the latest Action Plan for Water Pollution Prevention and Control issued in April, 2015, which not only mandates the closure of factories unable to install pollution control equipment, but also sets specific pollution control indices and tasks for each of the relevant departments. According to incomplete statistics from the MEP, within the first two months following the promulgation of the new Environmental Protection Law, the ministry had imposed per-day fines on at least 15 polluters, took control of around 136 factories, closed another 122, and handed over 107 criminal NEWSCHINA I July 2015