Ministry of Ecology and Environment: Provide solid legal guarantees for pollution prevention and control and the construction of a beautiful China

On November 30, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment held a regular press conference in November, with the theme of "Strengthening the Rule of Law in the Ecological Environment and Ensuring the Construction of a Beautiful China". At the press conference, Zhao Ke, Director of the Department of Regulations and Standards of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, introduced the relevant situation.

Zhao Ke said that in the past year, we have benchmarked the spirit of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China and the decision-making and deployment of the National Conference on Ecology and Environmental Protection, and made great efforts in four aspects, providing a solid legal guarantee for the battle against pollution and the construction of a beautiful China. The four areas are:

First, we will continue to promote ecological and environmental legislation to effectively guarantee the construction of a beautiful China.

The first is to actively promote legislation in key areas, such as the work being done now, fully cooperate with the National People's Congress to do a good job in the compilation of the ecological and environmental code, complete the formulation and revision of the Marine Environmental Protection Law, the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau Ecological Protection Law and other laws, and issue and implement five departmental rules and regulations, including the "Measures for Administrative Punishment of the Ecological Environment" and the "Measures for the Management of the List of Key Units in Environmental Supervision".

The second is to actively promote legislation in emerging areas. For example, the Interim Regulations on the Administration of Carbon Emission Trading and the Administrative Measures for Voluntary Greenhouse Gas Emission Reduction Trading (Trial) have been promulgated and implemented to ensure a virtuous cycle of the carbon market.

Third, in response to the strict legal responsibility for outstanding problems, the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate revised the "Interpretation on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Law in the Handling of Criminal Cases of Environmental Pollution", adjusted the criteria for the characterization of environmental pollution crimes, and clarified the rules for dealing with data fraud, such as environmental impact assessment, monitoring, greenhouse gas emissions, and carbon markets, which involve fraud, and promoted the formation of a strong deterrent to environmental violations and crimes.

Second, the standard benchmark health work aspect. By continuing to promote the health work of ecological and environmental standards and benchmarks, it has effectively supported precise and scientific pollution control.

The first is to ensure high-quality development with standards. In the past year, a total of 58 standards have been issued, bringing the total number of currently effective ecological and environmental standards to 2,357. In the past year, 9 local standards have been recorded, so that the number of currently effective local standards has reached 249. Ecological and environmental standards have become a strong support for leading the green transformation of the economy and society, forcing the technological progress of the industry, and fighting the battle of pollution prevention and control.

The second is the pragmatic environmental benchmark management and technical foundation, the implementation of the "Environmental Benchmark Work Plan (2023-2025)", the implementation of the work objectives and work content, and the gradual establishment and improvement of the national environmental benchmark system. Started the construction of the national environmental benchmark database.

The third is to carry out pilot projects on environmental health management, explore the combination of health risk prevention and control and ecological environment management, and 26 localities and units have been arranged to do this work. The monitoring results show that residents' environmental health literacy is improving significantly, and the stage goals required by the "Healthy China Action (2019-2030)" have been achieved ahead of schedule.

Third, continue to use the rule of law thinking and methods to further advance the fight against pollution in accordance with the law.

The first is to strictly control the source, strictly implement the legality review system for administrative normative documents, and strictly implement the legal review system for major law enforcement decisions to ensure that red-headed documents and law enforcement decisions are legal and effective.

The second is to properly resolve administrative disputes, strictly implement meeting supervision, handle administrative reconsideration cases fairly and impartially, promote standardized law enforcement, promote the performance of duties in accordance with the law, and safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of the public and enterprises.

Third, it is necessary to conscientiously implement the responsibility system for popularizing the law, publicize and implement the newly revised laws and regulations such as the Yellow River Protection Law, the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau Ecological Environmental Protection Law, and the Marine Environmental Protection Law, so as to lay a mass foundation for the implementation of the law. Organize and carry out themed class meetings for primary and secondary school students, so that the rule of law grows together, organize and carry out rule of law training at different levels, on different themes, and for different targets, to increase the pertinence of training.

Fourth, we will continue to promote the reform of the compensation system for ecological and environmental damages, and make every effort to protect the "ecological green":

The first is to strengthen coordination and supervision. In conjunction with relevant state organs, the "Provisions on the Administration of Compensation for Ecological and Environmental Damages" are to be fully implemented through the convening of national promotion meetings and other forms, guiding local governments to revise relevant supporting systems, printing and distributing the fourth batch of clue lists, and selecting the third batch of typical cases.

The second is to improve the supporting standards. Research and formulate national standards, and pragmatic work foundation. For example, national standards for farmland ecosystems, restoration effect evaluation, and baseline investigation and determination of soil ecological environment.

The third is to restore the damaged ecological environment. From January to November this year (as of November 19), a total of about 7,000 cases of compensation for ecological and environmental damage were initiated across the country, involving a compensation amount of about 4 billion yuan, and about 48 million cubic meters of surface water, about 10 million square meters of groundwater, about 1.7 million square meters of soil, about 1.49 million square meters of wetland, about 1.7 million square meters of farmland, and about 10 million square meters of forest land. Through these restoration actions, we will make our ecological environment more beautiful.