Chinanews.com, Beijing, December 26 (Li Jingze and Liang Xiaohui) After three deliberations, the 24th meeting of the 13th NPC Standing Committee voted on the 26th to pass the Yangtze River Protection Law, which will be implemented on March 1, 2021.
The Yangtze River Protection Law includes 9 chapters, including general principles, planning and control, resource protection, water pollution prevention, ecological environment restoration, green development, guarantee and supervision, legal responsibilities and supplementary provisions, with a total of 96 articles.
Wang Ruihe, Director of the Economic Law Office of the Legislative Affairs Committee of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, said in response to reporters that as China’s first river basin law, the Yangtze River Protection Law needs to coordinate the upper, middle and lower reaches, between the central and local governments, and between different industries. There is no precedent to refer to the relationship between different laws, making it difficult to legislate.
Based on in-depth research and fully grasping the characteristics of river basin legislation and the characteristics of the Yangtze River, the Yangtze River Protection Law was promulgated.
The Yangtze River Basin involves 19 provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government, spanning the three major plates of China's east, middle and west.
In order to form a joint protection force, the law stipulates that the state establishes a coordination mechanism for the Yangtze River Basin, which provides unified guidance and coordination of the protection of the Yangtze River, review of major policies and major plans for protection of the Yangtze River, coordinate major issues across regions and departments, and supervise and inspect the implementation of important work on protection of the Yangtze River.
At the same time, the Yangtze River Protection Law insists on protecting and restoring the ecological environment of the Yangtze River Basin in an overwhelming position.
By stipulating higher protection standards and stricter protection measures, the overall protection and systematic restoration of landscapes, forests, fields, lakes and grasses will be strengthened.
The law grasps the dialectical and unified relationship between ecological environmental protection and economic development, and incorporates "total protection and no development".
It is stipulated that the economic and social development of the Yangtze River Basin should adhere to ecological priority and green development, and should focus on major protection and not engage in major development; the protection of the Yangtze River should adhere to overall coordination, scientific planning, innovation-driven, and systematic governance.
In order to protect the ecological environment of the Yangtze River Basin, the Yangtze River Protection Law strengthens assessment, evaluation and supervision, implements a responsibility system and assessment and evaluation system for the Yangtze River Basin ecological environment protection, establishes a Yangtze River protection interview system, and requires the State Council to report to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress on Yangtze River protection work.
In response to key issues such as the Yangtze River’s ban on fishing, shoreline protection, and illegal sand mining, Wang Ruihe said that the Yangtze River Protection Law supplements and refines relevant regulations on the basis of existing relevant laws, and greatly increases the amount of fines, increases penalties, and complements the current situation. There are legal shortcomings and deficiencies.
In addition, the Yangtze River Protection Law also covers resources investigation and monitoring and early warning of the Yangtze River Basin, disaster prevention and mitigation and emergency management, information sharing and public participation, protection of the source of the Yangtze River, protection of aquatic organisms, integrated urban and rural development, construction of a comprehensive three-dimensional transportation system, and port and ship upgrades. Provisions were made in the areas of reconstruction, compensation for ecological protection of the Yangtze River Basin, construction of judicial service guarantees, and protection of Yangtze River culture. (Finish)