Failing eco-protection bureaus in the firing line

Reforms aimed at boosting role of watchdogs

ZHENG JINRAN

China will strengthen environmental monitoring and law enforcement bureaus at the city and county levels this year to make them powerful, independent supervisory bodies, a top official said.

Although the process will be difficult, reform is essential if the country is to build a modern environmental administration system and improve efficiency, said Ren Yong, head of the personnel and administration systems division at the Ministry of Environmental Protection.

The ministry has set up a special team to lead the drafting process and supervise pilot programs in a number of provinces this year. The reforms will later be expanded to cover the whole country, with the program set to be completed by 2020.

Under the reforms, the monitoring and inspection bureaus at city and county levels, the main forces behind environmental monitoring and law enforcement, will become independent.

At the city level, the departments will be supervised and funded by provincial environmental protection bureaus, and the roles of city governments will be reduced. County-level monitoring and law enforcement departments will no longer be supervised by the civic environmental protection authorities and will no longer be classified as government departments.

The reforms have been listed as major programs in the 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-20), the national roadmap for development during the next five years.

At present, environmental protection authorities are government departments and are engaged in every aspect of protection, including monitoring pollution and formulating regulations, administration, inspection and law enforcement.

In November, when President Xi Jinping explained the core ideas underpinning the plan, he stressed the necessity of reforming the system, saying the close relationships between local governments and the environmental protection agencies had resulted in government interference that undermined the agencies' abilities to perform their duties independently.

In addition, Xi said the current administrative system has resulted in inefficient working practices. Many local environmental watchdogs have failed to use their powers to regulate local governments and related departments, and have also failed to resist local government interference in their activities.

The reforms will ensure greater independence for monitoring and inspection departments at the city and county levels, providing them with greater powers to supervise businesses and punish polluters, according to Ren. "But that doesn't mean city and county governments will shoulder fewer responsibilities in environmental protection," he said.