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May 5, 2014

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Home » Opinion » Opinion Columns

Tough new pollution law wields big sticks

By Ni Tao | May 5, 2014, Monday | Print Edition

AFTER some twists and turns, China’s so-called “strictest” environmental protection law has finally been adopted.

The first amendment to the law in 25 years was recently approved by the National People’s Congress, the legislature, toughening the official line on punishment for polluters. It will go into effect next year.

The most remarkable change is that repeated polluters will be fined for the duration of their polluting act, rather than face a one-time penalty as usual.

That means, the days when polluters could get away with a fine of, say, a mere 50,000 yuan (US$8,065) and continue polluting will be history.

The new law is a response to widespread criticism of the incredibly low fines polluters have to pay compared with the hefty costs of compliance through system and equipment upgrades that contain the pollution or render it nontoxic.

In the past, factories that illegally discharge untreated waste might have been fined tens of thousands of yuan, but waste-processing equipment and operation commonly cost more than a million yuan, often much more.

In March, 88 businesses in northern China reportedly dumped industrial sewage directly underground through pipes. They each received an average penalty of 70,000 yuan, while the cost of processing equipment was around 3 million yuan, plus 1 million in annual operating costs.

“As things stand, who will take the initiative to fight pollution?” national political adviser Wang Xiaokang told Xinhuanet on March 9.

Take power plants, a major contributor to pollution. According to a report by web portal Tencent, operating a 100,000-kilowatt generator costs  500,000-600,000 yuan per day in environmental protection costs  — in other words, it creates half a million in pollution.

In contrast, the price for doing nothing to contain sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, coal dust and other pollutants, is only 10,000 yuan, according to the report. Clearly, power plants are reluctant to install expensive waste-processing facilities and use them.

In 2011, eight power plants were punished by the Ministry of Environmental Protection for halting their desulferization systems and doctoring the emissions statistics reported to authorities.

Once the new law takes effect, it may make polluters think twice before surreptitiously discharging waste. In the past, the law had only milk teeth, no real bite. With the heavier fines covering the duration of the offense, it is hoped that the law will be taken seriously as a deterrent.

However, the new law isn’t just about exacting penalties. It also grants tax breaks to companies with good environmental records and subsidizes the purchase of sewage filter and other waste treatment equipment. The law, if fully implemented, could have the added benefit of tamping down environmental protests and curbing the number of environment-related petitions, said People’s Daily in an editorial on April 29.

Outpouring of public anger

The outpouring of public anger at numerous pollution cases and plans to build polluting factories owes to official connivance with polluting businesses, as well as the fact that culprits are seldom punished to the letter of the law.

A good law is only half of what is needed to combat pollution. After all, it takes people to carry out the law, and a good law could go wrong if it is wielded by the wrong hands.

There are myriad news reports indicating that some environmental watchdogs colluded with polluters to turn a blind eye to their noxious activities.

Authorities also need to be alert to the possibility that watchdogs, vested with more power to act, may be tempted to extort businesses for their environmental lapses. But ultimately, for the law to be relevant, officials’ environmental record must be made a key part of the criteria on which they are evaluated and promoted.

“Green GDP has been a topic for years. But we haven’t done enough to realize it. Under pressure to develop the economy, local officials occasionally acquiesce to the illegal discharge of pollutants, in view of impressive GDP figures and tax income,” said Wang, the political adviser.

Notwithstanding its positive implications, the new, fully implemented law may have less desirable ramifications for the slowing Chinese economy.

As Tencent pointed out in its survey article, as costs rise, power plants may have less incentive to generate electricity, leading to potentially crippling power shortages, as we experienced in April 2011.

It is estimated that one day’s halt in treating toxic sulfur dioxide emitted by a 300,000-kilowatt generator unit saves as much as 220,000 yuan. Therefore, power plant operators might be inclined to cut production to reduce costs.

Since every Chinese citizen is affected to varying degrees by the smog and other forms of environmental degradation, it is in our best interest to welcome more stringent environmental laws. Its complications, however, should also be a concern for policymakers.

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