At the First China International Forum on Environmental Impact
Assessment, which opened Monday in Boao, Hainan
Province, a senior environment official listed 10 causes for
rejecting project applications or shutting down ongoing
projects.
The projects include those being phased out or banned by state
industrial policies, those located in such areas as drinking water
sources and nature reserves and those that do not match regional
development and environmental protection plans, as well as
energy-guzzling and high-pollution projects.
State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA) Vice Minister Pan
Yue called on environment authorities across the country to watch
closely and conduct environmental impact assessments strictly.
Severe penalties should be levied on those responsible for
projects that are launched without environmental impact
assessments, Pan said.
Environmental impact assessment for construction projects has
become a legal requirement in most countries. Assessments of
policies, plans and programs are required in an increasing number
of places so that environmental considerations can be integrated
with overall socioeconomic development planning.
However, China faces a number of challenges in implementing an
effective environmental impact assessment system.
Many local governments give approval to?projects without
regard to their potential for environmental harm because of the
immediate economic benefits the projects offer. Further
complicating the issue is the fact that a number of assessors are
operating illegally, often failing to use sound scientific methods
and even offering falsified reports.
Projects that have not been properly processed should be stopped
and officials who do not fulfill their responsibilities should be
punished, Pan said. Those who give false assessments will be
sacked.
Public participation and supervision in the decision-making
process will be strengthened to give the concerned citizens an
avenue to be heard.
Pan pointed out that foreign environmental impact assessment
bodies are welcome to enter the Chinese market.
Richard Fuggle, president of the US-based International
Association for Impact Assessment, said Pan's commitment to
strengthening environmental impact assessments in China is
impressive because it shows political will.
"In the West, we have lots of talk, but little political will,"
he said.
China's Law on Environmental Impact Assessment went into effect
on September 1 last year. It requires that plans for land use and
for the development of land, river and sea areas be assessed for
their potential impact on the environment.
The law also requires that the opinions of the public be sought,
through meetings or public hearings, on plans that could have a
negative impact on the environment.
The First China International Forum on Environmental Impact
Assessment is being held from December 13 through 15 in China's
southernmost province of Hainan. It provides an information
exchange platform for related management and technical personnel
from around the world.
Topics of discussion at the forum include processes,
legislation, methods, procedures and tools of environmental impact
assessment.
The forum is sponsored by SEPA and organized by SEPA's Appraisal
Center for Environment and Engineering, the Chinese Society for
Environmental Sciences and Hong Kong's Department of Environment,
Transport and Works.
(China Daily, China.org.cn December 14, 2004)