China's Revision to the Environmental Protection Law: Challenges to Public Interest Litigation and Solutions for Increasing Public Participation and Transparency
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China's Revision to the Environmental
Protection Law: Challenges to
Public Interest Litigation and
Solutions for Increasing Public
Participation and Transparency
Tyler Liu*
I. Introduction
Headlines that read China's toxic air pollution resembles
nuclear winter paint a terrifying but accurate picture of the
extent of China's current environmental catastrophe.1 A 2011
study from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology indi-
cated that air pollution would cost China up to $112 billion
in labor and healthcare costs.2 Coal production is the main
cause of China's air pollution problems and has made China
the largest emitter of greenhouse gases since 2007.3 In addi-
tion, based on a 2012 Asian Development Bank report, less
than 1% of China's 500 largest cities met the World Health
Organization's air quality standards.'
Water depletion and pollution are considered by some to
be the nation's worst environmental hazards.' Overuse, con-
tamination, and waste have caused severe water shortages and
industry pollution; lack of waste removal and proper process-
ing have also exacerbated the already limited water supply.'
Even China's Vice Minister of Environmental Protection Wu
Xiaoqing has warned that water quality in five of China's
nine bays was extremely poor.7 However, China currently
* Tyler Liu received his JD., The George Washington University Law
School (2015); B.A., University of California, Berkeley. I would like to
thank Professor Donald C Clarke for his comments and Cynthia Liu
for her guidance and support.
1. Jonathan Kaiman, Chinal Toxic Air Pollution Resembles Nuclear Winter, Say
Scientists, THE GUARDIAN (Feb. 25, 2014), http://www.theguardian.com/
world/2014/feb/25/china-toxic-air-pollution-nuclear-winter-scientists.
2. Kira Matus et al., Health Damages from Air Pollution in China, 22 GLOBAL
ENVTL. CHANGE 55, 61 (2012).
3. BEINA XU, COUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS, CHINA's ENVIRONMENTAL CRI-
sis (Apr. 25, 2014).
4. ASIAN DEV. BANK, TOWARD AN ENVIRONMENTALLY SUSTAINABLE FUTURE:
COUNTRY ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS OF THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA 55
(May 28, 2012).
5. Xu, supra note 3.
6.
7.
Id.
Pollution Alarm for China' Rivers, Seas, CHINA DAILY (June 5, 2012), http://
europe.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2012-06/05/content_15476526.htm.
only spends a meager 1.3% of its gross domestic product on
environmental protection when experts say as much as 2.2%
is needed to combat the effects of environmental degrada-
tion.' There has also been a wide array of public health prob-
lems associated with China's pollution problems, including
over 1.2 million premature deaths in China in 2010, a pro-
liferation of respiratory, cardiovascular, and cerebrovascular
diseases, and a steep rise in other acute and chronic condi-
tions.' In fact, environmental protests could fall within the
sphere of concern over threats to China's domestic security.10
As a result of lax environmental regulation, China is quickly
losing control of an ever-worsening problem.
Fearful of the potential consequences, China's lead-
ers promised to respond positively to public concerns on
environmental issues and revised China's Environmental
Protection Law (EP) as a means of confronting these
problems.12 China's EPL, formally enacted in 1989, outlines
the main environmental legislative framework that governs
the nation.13 Numerous other environmental laws and regu-
lations have also been passed as a result of the enactment of
8. Elizabeth Economy, China Wakes Up to Its Environmental Catastrophe, BUSINESS-
WEEK (Mar. 13, 2014), http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-03-13/
china-wakes-up-to-its-environmental-catastrophe#pl.
9. Xu, supra note 3.
10. Id.
11. See Zhonghua Renmin Gongheguo Huanjing Baohufa (1 SARAflD
WXTN% (iJt ### JL)) [Environmental Protection Law of the Peo-
ple's Republic of China] (promulgated by the Standing Comm. Nat'l People's
Cong., Apr. 24, 2014, effective Jan. 1, 2015) (P.R.C.), available athttp://www.
gov.cn/zhengce/2014-04/25/content_2666434.htm; see also Zhonghua Ren-
min Gongheguo Huanjing Baohufa ( SA AfD W @##Y ) [Envi-
ronmental Protection Law of the People's Republic of China] (promulgated
by the Standing Comm. Nat'l People's Cong., Dec. 26, 1989, effective Dec.
26, 1989) (P.R.C.), available at http://www.gov.cn/ziliao/flfg/2005-08/05/
content 20923.htm.
12. China to Enhance Environmental Protection Legislation, XINHUANET (Mar. 4,
2013), http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/china/2013-03/04/c_132206837.
htm.
13. Guizhen He et al., Revising Chinal Environmental Law, 341 SCIENCE 133
(2013).
JOURNAL OF ENERGY & ENVIRONMENTAL LAW
60
Spring 2015](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/gwjeel6&div=13&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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