where the rubber meets the road
DESCRIPTION
Where the rubber meets the road. (Some thoughts on) Local and regional environmental governance in China Scott Moore. David versus Goliath. Loose- Loose Situation. State Council. Environmental policy pressure. Development policy pressure. Ministry of Environmental Protection. - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
Where the rubber meets the road(Some thoughts on) Local and regional environmental governance in China
Scott Moore
David versus Goliath
Loose- Loose SituationState Council
Ministry of Environmental
Protection
Provincial EPB
Local EPB
Environmental policy pressure
Development policy
pressure
“The general [environmental] policy framework favoring development over the environment compromises the work of enforcement bodies at the sub-national level and results in widespread non-compliance with environmental requirements”– Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, 2006
Enterprises
Institutional Failure: the Yancheng acid leak
•2004: People’s Political Consultative Committee raises concern at water contamination in Yancheng•2005: Biaoxin Chemical Company fined for pollution discharge•2008: Yancheng city government says all chemical plants to be relocated away from river, all sewage drain outlets blocked•2009: Water supplies to 200,000 disrupted after Baoxin dumps carbolic acid into Mangshe River•2009: Investigation reveals that water quality detection in Yancheng relies on “sniffing and tasting” •“守法成本高,违法成本低” : Compliance is expensive, evasion is cheap
The fix: the Regional Supervision Centers
"The six [Regional Supervision] centers will…take on the task of supervision of local government and local departments of environmental protection, to prevent administrative inaction, corruption or dereliction of duty in the process of environmental management“ – Zhang Lijun, Vice-Minister, MEP
Ummm….some problems with that
•Uncertain legal basis (No official law or State Council regulation, only SEPA notice)•Confusing relationship with MEP•Information asymmetry (“At present, local environmental protection authorities seal off or conceal information of key pollution sources”– Wang Canfa)•Focus on supervision of enterprises, not local government enforcement (Wang Canfa)•Insufficient resources (RSCs should have 200 staff– Gunaratnam)
Towards a regional approach
MEP
Regional Planning Organization
Local EPB Local EPB Local EPB
Enterprises and regulated entities
NGOs Other civil society actors