Legislators take a green path
27/8/2007 10:22
China's top legislators yesterday began deliberating a draft law that covers
recycling, energy saving and emission reduction.
The draft law was
submitted to the 29th session of the Standing Committee of the National People's
Congress for a first reading.
It stipulates that governments at all
levels should control energy use and emissions, strengthen management of
resource-intensive companies and divert capital into environmentally friendly
industries.
The draft also introduces reward and punishment systems for
companies, encouraging them to develop a recycling mindset and making them
responsible for the recycling of their products.
Officials guilty of
dereliction of duty will receive administrative punishment or even be subject to
criminal prosecution, the draft says.
Companies which violate the import
ban on equipment, materials or products that cause high energy consumption and
pollution will be fined from 100,000 yuan (US$13,333) to one million yuan,
according to the draft. It says companies which use fuel generators or fuel
boilers that fail to meet national standards will be fined from 10,000 yuan to
500,000 yuan.
"China has been facing serious environmental and resources
problems during its economic development since the 1980s, which were mainly
caused by the low resources efficiency," Feng Zhijun, vice chairman of the NPC
Environmental Protection and Resources Conservation Committee, said at the
legislative session.
Law makers were also deliberating a draft amendment
to the Water Pollution Prevention and Control Act, intended to mete out harsher
punishments to enterprises and officials who fail to implement
controls.
The draft stipulates that offenders will be fined 100,000 yuan
to one million yuan if factories discharge into water more than a set level of
pollutants.
Those who discharge pollutants to drinking water sources will
be fined 100,000 yuan to 500,000 yuan, according to the draft amendment.
Xinhua
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