Change "corporate pollution, government pays", environmental damage compensation system will be implemented nationwide
Author: First Financial Correspondent Zhang Ke
By 2020, strive to initially establish a nationwide clear responsibility, unimpeded path, technical specifications, strong guarantees, adequate compensation, and an effective ecological environment damage compensation system.
Illegal dumping of hazardous waste, seepage and electroplating wastewater, tailings reservoir water damage disasters, traffic accidents and safety accidents have caused secondary environmental events. Those responsible for the destruction of the ecological environment will not only be punished by the environmental department, but also subject to ecological Environmental damage compensation.
The move aims to resolve the long-standing dilemma of "corporate pollution, mass victimization, and government bills".
The General Office of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment recently announced the ten typical cases of consultation on compensation for ecological environment damage. These cases involve illegal dumping, excessive discharge, traffic accidents, and secondary environmental events such as safety accidents, covering the atmosphere, surface water, Environmental factors such as soil and groundwater provide a good practical reference for exploring the ecological and environmental damage compensation mechanism.
In December 2017, the China Office and the State Council issued the "Reform Plan for the Compensation System for Eco-Environmental Damages" to make a comprehensive deployment of the national trial system for compensation for eco-environmental damages. This reform authorizes provincial and municipal prefecture-level governments to be the right holders of compensation, demanding that they be held liable for damages to those responsible for ecological and environmental damage, strengthen the liability of illegal subjects, and increase the cost of illegal activities.
This reform plan makes it clear that from January 1, 2018, the national ecological environment damage compensation system will be piloted. By 2020, strive to initially establish a nationwide clear responsibility, unimpeded path, technical specifications, strong guarantees, adequate compensation, and an effective ecological environment damage compensation system.
According to the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, as of January 2020, a total of 945 compensation cases have been handled, and 586 cases have been closed, of which more than two-thirds have been closed through consultation.
At 2 a.m. on October 21, 2015, a major illegal dumping of hazardous waste occurred in the abandoned No. 3 coal well in Shanggao Village, Puji Town, Zhangqiu District, Jinan City, Shandong Province. The waste acid and waste alkaline liquid were dumped into the abandoned coal well. After mixing, toxic gas was produced, causing 4 deaths on the spot. The incident was a major environmental incident that caused soil and groundwater pollution.
After investigation, appraisal and evaluation, the case involved six companies illegally disposing of hazardous wastes, causing ecological environmental pollution to three streets in Zhangqiu District, Jinan City, and the amount of ecological environmental damage was about 240 million yuan.
The original Shandong Provincial Department of Environmental Protection carried out four rounds of consultations with 6 companies involved in the compensation obligor. During the consultation process, the original Shandong Provincial Department of Environmental Protection reached agreement with the four companies involved and signed four ecological and environmental damage compensation agreements totaling more than 13.575 million yuan. Three of the companies have actually performed, and one company repented after performing the first phase of 1 million yuan in accordance with the compensation agreement. The original Shandong Provincial Environmental Protection Department sued it to the court, and the court ruled that the company continued to perform the contract. The other 2 companies could not reach a consensus on the time, type and quantity of pollutants discharged, and the original Shandong Provincial Environmental Protection Department filed a lawsuit for compensation for damage to the ecological environment. The court ruled that one of the companies bears 20% of the compensation liability and the other company bears 80% of the compensation liability.
Yu Fang, a researcher at the Institute of Environmental Planning of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, said that the case is a case of higher damage since the reform of the eco-environmental damage compensation system in the country. This case has made a beneficial exploration on the connection between the consultation of ecological environmental damage compensation cases and the judicial trial, and provided a good reference for the formation of subsequent related systems.
On April 11, 2017, the former Zhuji Environmental Protection Bureau and the local public security bureau jointly conducted a surprise inspection of a building material company in Zhejiang Province, and found that the company put a tube on the sampling tube of the online monitoring equipment and sprayed the neutralized gas to remove nitrogen. The oxide concentration decreased from about 400 mg / m3 to about 250 mg / m3 displayed by the online monitoring equipment, which interfered with the on-line monitoring equipment to achieve the goal of "compliance" discharge.
This case is the first case of fraudulent online monitoring of air pollutants investigated and dealt with by Zhejiang Province after the implementation of the 2017 Interpretation of the Supreme People ’s Court and the Supreme People ’s Procuratorate on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Laws in Handling Environmental Pollution Criminal Cases. After appraisal and evaluation, the amount of ecological and environmental damage caused by the case was 1.104 million yuan.
On August 6, 2018, the original Shaoxing Environmental Protection Bureau, together with the relevant units, and the compensatory obligor involved in the business to carry out consultations, reached an agreement to undertake alternative repairs to undertake ecological environmental damage compensation liability, the compensation obligor to carry out alternative repairs in its place, Construct an ecological environment warning park covering an area of 6372 square meters.
The total investment of the project is 2.86 million yuan, of which the obligor of compensation has voluntarily added 1.756 million yuan in compensation for park construction. Rehabilitation projects are organized, supervised and managed, and financial accounts are audited by the local government. On December 18, 2018, the Intermediate People's Court of Shaoxing City issued a "Civil Ruling" to judicially confirm the compensation agreement. On January 16, 2019, the replacement restoration project passed the assessment and acceptance.
This case is the first air pollution damage compensation case in Zhejiang Province since the reform of the ecological environment damage compensation system was initiated. Yu Fang said that due to the difficulty of repairing atmospheric environmental damage, the obligor of compensation shall bear the responsibility for compensation for ecological environmental damage in an alternative way of constructing an ecological park locally, and local villagers became the direct beneficiaries of the construction of the ecological park, highlighting the ecological environment damage compensation system The good social effects of reforms to improve people's livelihood. Enterprises voluntarily add 1 times compensation to carry out ecological environment governance actions, which also reflects the positive role of the reform of the damage compensation system in promoting enterprises to actively assume social responsibility.
On September 20, 2017, the former Tianjin Economic and Technological Development Zone Environmental Protection Bureau conducted an on-site inspection of an enterprise in the area and found an irregularly shaped oily ground on the grassland on the northwest side of its plant area. Investigation and evidence collection confirmed the fact that the enterprise dumped waste cutting fluid and waste mineral oil on the grassland in the plant area. After appraisal and evaluation, the area of the soil to be renovated beyond the land use risk screening value is about 240 square meters, the volume is about 360 cubic meters, and the total amount of compensation for ecological and environmental damages is 1.147 million yuan.
On July 11, 2019, the Environmental Protection Bureau of the former Economic Development Zone negotiated with the enterprise involved in the compensation obligor and reached a compensation agreement. The two parties agreed to use oxidation technology for in-situ remediation. The compensation liability for ecological environment damage shall be borne by the obligor, including the amount of ecological environment damage specified in the appraisal and evaluation report, the appraisal assessment fee corresponding to the case, and the restoration effect assessment fee.
According to the compensation agreement, the enterprise involved entrusted a third-party organization to rehabilitate the soil that needs to be rehabilitated, and paid 475,000 yuan for the ecological and environmental losses of soil and groundwater that were affected by the pollution but did not exceed the land use risk screening value to the Binhai New Area ’s special non-tax revenue Account. At present, the soil remediation work has been basically completed and the remediation effect assessment is being carried out.
Sun Youhai, Dean of the Law School of Tianjin University and a member of the National Eco-Environmental Expert Committee, said that the Tianjin Eco-Development Zone illegally dumped waste cutting fluid and waste mineral oil in an ecological environment damage compensation case, which not only repaired the damaged ecological environment, but also compensated The loss of the ecological and environmental losses of soil and groundwater that do not need to be repaired but cause damage is a typical case of the implementation of the "Compensation for Compensation" in the "Ecological and Environmental Damage Compensation System Reform Program."
According to Bie Tao, director of the Department of Regulations and Standards of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, companies that cause environmental pollution and ecological damage, according to existing laws, are responsible for two types of civil compensation: if they cause personal injury, they must bear liability for personal injury according to law; if they cause Property damages shall be liable for compensation for property damages in accordance with regulations.
Both the Law on the Prevention and Control of Environmental Pollution by Solid Wastes amended on April 29 and the Law on the Prevention and Control of Soil Pollution that have been implemented have relevant provisions for compensation for ecological and environmental damage. Article 122 of the "Law on the Prevention and Control of Environmental Pollution by Solid Wastes" stipulates that if solid waste pollutes the environment and destroys the ecology and causes great losses to the country, the local people's government at or above the municipal level or its designated department or agency shall organize Units that cause environmental pollution and ecological damage and other producers and operators conduct consultations and require them to bear the liability for damage compensation; if the consultation fails to reach an agreement, they may file a lawsuit in the people's court.
Article 45 of the "Law on Prevention and Control of Soil Pollution" stipulates that the person responsible for soil pollution shall have the obligation to implement control and remediation of soil pollution risks. Article 47 stipulates that if the person responsible for soil pollution is changed, the unit or individual that inherits its creditor's rights and debts after the change shall perform the related soil pollution risk management and repair obligations and bear the relevant costs.