Home / Environment / News Tools: Save | Print | E-mail | Most Read | Comment
SEPA Blocks 12 Industrial Projects for Lack of Public Support
Adjust font size:

Twelve industrial projects are denied environmental protection approvals to operation on grounds that the public have not been invited to assess pollution control measures, China's environment watchdog announced on Thursday.

 

They are among the 43 projects, with a combined investment of 160 billion yuan (US$20.5 billion), that had been rejected construction by the State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA) in the past year.

 

Among the blocked projects, 29 were in the highly polluting industries such as coal-burning power stations and various chemical plants.

 

The other 31 had finally been granted the approval after they carried out public opinion consultation properly, said Pan Yue, deputy director of the SEPA.

 

"We refuse to hand out environmental protection approvals to these projects for they failed to pass public assessment. Some failed to properly inform the public on potential pollution and some collected the opinion that did not reflect the thoughts of the majority," he said.

 

In March last year, the SEPA issued provisional regulations to require industrial project managers to consult public opinion -- for example by conducting public survey and hearing -- on a project's potential impact on the environment before construction starts.

 

Public involvement must be carried out in "an open, equal, extensive and convenient way," said the regulations.

 

He said public opinion helped reduce many pollution threats including a chemical plant in central Wuhan city that emitted eroding gas and a coal-burning power station in southeastern Fuzhou city that caused floating dusts.

 

China first looked into a way of involving the public in 2005, when a construction project in Yuanmingyuan, a former imperial garden in the northwestern suburbs of Beijing, caused an uproar in the country.

 

The SEPA on Wednesday issued another document ordering environmental departments and polluters to publicize information regarding environmental degradation and pollution.

 

Companies or factories exceeding pollution levels and whose facilities are not up to environmental standards will have to report this information, the document says.

 

"Polluting companies have to publish information concerning the discharge of main pollutants in local media within 30 days after local environmental departments draw up company blacklists," according to the regulations.

 

The document came after the release of a decree on Tuesday by the State Council to boost official transparency by ordering government departments to be more open in reporting information.

 

(Xinhua News Agency April 27, 2007)

Tools: Save | Print | E-mail | Most Read
Comment
Pet Name
Anonymous

China Archives
Related >>
- SEPA Rules Controversial Dragon Project Illegal
- More Regular Bans for Big Polluters
- Pollution Figures to Be Made Public
Most Viewed >>
Air Quality 
Cities Major Pollutant Air Quality Level
Beijing particulate matter II
Shanghai particulate matter III1
Guangzhou sulfur dioxide II
Chongqing particulate matter III2
Xi'an particulate matter III1
Most Read
- White paper on energy
- Endangered monkeys grow in number
- Yangtze River's Three Gorges 2 mln years in the making
- The authorities sets sights on polluted soil
- China, US benefit from clean energy
NGO Events Calendar Tips
- Hand in hand to protect endangered animals and plants
- Changchun, Mini-marathon Aimed at Protecting Siberian Tiger
- Water Walk by Nature University
- Green Earth Documentary Salon
- Prof. Maria E. Fernandez to Give a Lecture on Climate Change
More
Archives
UN meets on climate change
The UN Climate Change Conference brought together representatives of over 180 countries and observers from various organizations.
Panda Facts
A record 28 panda cubs born via artificial insemination have survived in 2006.
South China Karst
Rich and unique karst landforms located in south China display exceptional natural beauty.
Saving the Tibetan Antelopes
The rare animals survive in the harsh natural environment of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.
More
Laws & Regulations
- Forestry Law of the People's Republic of China
- Meteorology Law of the People's Republic of China
- Fire Control Law of the People's Republic of China
- Law on Protecting Against and Mitigating Earthquake Disasters
- Law of the People's Republic of China on Conserving Energy
More
Links:
State Environmental Protection Administration
Ministry of Water Resources
Ministry of Land and Resources
China Environmental Industry Network
Chengdu Giant Panda Research Base