Recently, the Guangdong Provincial Department of Environmental Protection issued a stop order for the Boshen Expressway, which has not yet undergone environmental inspection in the past two years. According to relevant laws, the environmental protection department has the right to suspend projects that have not been approved for construction or put into operation before acceptance. However, due to the close relationship between highways and the transportation of ordinary people, few such projects have been suspended. Therefore, the suspension of highways by the Guangdong Provincial Environmental Protection Department is thought-provoking. It is worth mentioning that the newly revised environmental protection law, which is known as the "strictest in history" by the industry, is about to be implemented. Will there be more cases of similar heavy blows to environmental issues in the future?
Currently, there is a public questioning why China's environmental legal system is becoming more and more perfect, but the environmental quality is deteriorating? The author believes that behind such a binary paradox lies a lack of responsibility among government departments.
The new environmental protection law specifies 8 behaviors for responsible persons to resign, among which "decisions that should be ordered to suspend business or close down but have not been made in accordance with the law.". It is precisely this "mountain pressure" that has led environmental protection agencies from being passive and inactive in the past to being proactive and showing their strength. Strict and clear legal provisions block the chain of interest collusion between public power and polluters, and constrain rent-seeking corruption, dereliction of duty, and economic demands of polluters.
Although environmental protection agencies can follow the mandatory provisions of the Environmental Protection Law to wield a long sword, if the cost of violating the law still exceeds the cost of complying, polluters will weigh the pros and cons and still choose to continue polluting. In the past, environmental protection departments could only impose a one-time fine of up to 100000 yuan on polluting enterprises. The daily penalty of the new environmental protection law means that as long as the polluting enterprises required to be shut down continue to act independently, the environmental protection authorities can impose a fine of 100000 yuan on them every day. Punishing on a daily basis increases the cost of environmental violations for polluting enterprises, effectively curbs the recurrence of pollution behavior, and also to some extent deters potential environmental violators, making it an effective means of punishment. However, in order to reduce rent-seeking space, it is necessary to clarify the deadline and conditions for correcting illegal behavior, as well as the specific starting points for the uncorrected start date, suspension date, and stop date.
The environment is a typical public good. Under modern governance concepts, diverse governance is an effective way to overcome the dual failures of the market and government. However, it cannot be denied that environmental protection is still the main responsibility of the government as a public sector. As the saying goes, "environmental protection depends on the government." However, a good system is the foundation and condition for the government to smoothly carry out environmental protection supervision work. Due to the lack of enforcement power by environmental protection agencies, the decision to "shut down" highways ultimately requires "applying to the people's court for compulsory enforcement in accordance with the law.".
To achieve a magnificent transformation from "law in text" to "law in action" in a "good" environmental protection law, it is necessary for administrative agencies as law enforcement agencies and courts as judicial agencies to work together in a timely and appropriate manner under the guidance of the concept of ecological civilization. Otherwise, it will only be enshrined in a high shrine for people to admire. Of course, in addition to independently and impartially exercising judicial power in non litigation enforcement of the environment, courts should also correct administrative failures such as government failure to comply with laws, and safeguard the environmental rights of the public and individual citizens.
The report of the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China has raised the construction of ecological civilization to an unprecedented height, but how should we start and where should we break through this grand and complex system project? The ancients once said, "Small wisdom governs affairs, medium wisdom employs people, and great wisdom legislates." As the new Environmental Basic Law is about to be promulgated and single laws such as the Air Pollution Prevention and Control Law are being discussed and revised, how to transform "textual law" into "action law" from law enforcement, judiciary, and compliance is an urgent issue that we need to consider.