The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress has convened in Beijing, to discuss the most pressing legal issues in the country. High up on that list is environmental protection. As Hou Na reports, lawmakers are set to discuss an amendment to the air pollution law... aiming to boost both penalties and controls.

Getting tough on polluters.

A new draft amendment on air pollution prevention addresses the sources, total discharge and density of pollutants.

Environment Minister Zhou Shengxian explained why this draft is significant...

"The amended draft now specifies punishment for violations such as discharging pollutants without certificate, excess discharge and fabricating monitoring data," said Zhou Shengxian, Chinese Minister of Environment Protection.

The draft also has provisions on conducting controls of multiple pollutants... from coal burning to industries, automobiles, and dust... and taking coordinated actions in key areas.

The top target of these measures concentrate on Beijing... which has consistently suffered from high levels of smog.

The draft has set out a six-year timeline to tackle air pollution. The sale and use of coal is to be banned in two main districts next year, and in the whole city by 2020.

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