The Yangtze River Protection Law will be implemented on March 1st——
Special laws protect the special "you"
Our reporter Li Wanxiang
Starting at 0:00 on January 1 this year, a 10-year ban on fishing has been implemented in key waters of the Yangtze River Basin. The ban on fishing and retreating in the Yangtze River Basin has shifted from a tough battle to a protracted battle.
At the same time, there is another major issue worthy of attention, that is, the Yangtze River protection has a "special law", which provides a strong legal guarantee for protecting the Yangtze River.
On December 26, 2020, the 24th meeting of the Standing Committee of the 13th National People’s Congress voted to pass the "Yangtze River Protection Law of the People's Republic of China" (referred to as the "Yangtze River Protection Law"), which will come into effect on March 1 this year .
The Yangtze River Protection Law has adopted special institutional measures to promote the high-quality development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt and build a foundation for green development in response to the characteristics and outstanding problems of the Yangtze River. This marks the entry of the Yangtze River protection into a new stage of legal protection.
The first river basin law "cures" the Yangtze River
"Today's Yangtze River is sick." In December 2019, the draft Yangtze River Protection Law was submitted to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress for deliberation. Gao Hucheng, chairman of the National People's Congress Environment and Resources Committee, stated in a legislative statement that the Yangtze River is an important strategic water source in my country. Ecological treasure house and important golden waterways play a pivotal role in maintaining national ecological security.
But today's water pollution situation in the Yangtze River is severe. 30% of environmental risk companies are located within 5 kilometers of drinking water sources, and illegally dumping hazardous waste across regions is a frequent trend.
The Yangtze River Protection Law aims to treat diseases of the Yangtze River.
"This is my country's first river basin law." Sun Youhai, a member of the National Ecological Protection Expert Committee and vice chairman of the Environmental and Resource Law Research Association of the Chinese Law Society, pointed out that the Yangtze River Protection Law covers planning and control, resource protection, water pollution prevention, and ecological environment Systematic regulations on restoration, green development, guarantee and supervision, and legal responsibilities have not only laid a solid foundation for the rule of law for the protection of the Yangtze River Basin, but also provided good experience and reference for the legal governance of other river basins in my country.
"As a public interest litigation prosecutor, I pay special attention to the pain points and difficulties in the legal provisions concerning the ecological environment and resource protection of the Yangtze River." Hearing the news that the Yangtze River Protection Law was voted on at the first time, Director of the Fourth Division of the First Branch of the Chongqing Municipal People's Procuratorate Liu Changqiang couldn't hide his excitement.
The 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China has made overall arrangements for promoting the development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt. In recent years, the ecological environment protection of the Yangtze River Economic Belt has undergone turning changes, but the hard restraint mechanism of the Yangtze River ecological environment has not yet been established.
The Yangtze River Protection Law, which is based on the systematic and specific nature of the Yangtze River Basin, is a pertinent, specific and systematic law.
There are many “prohibition clauses” in the Yangtze River Protection Law: it is forbidden to build or expand chemical parks and chemical projects within one kilometer of the shoreline of the main and tributary rivers of the Yangtze River, and it is forbidden to dump, landfill, stack, dispose of, and dispose of within the river and lake management scope of the Yangtze River Basin. Solid waste, etc. occupy the shoreline of rivers and lakes in the Yangtze River Basin, illegal sand mining is strictly prohibited, and fishing activities that damage fishery resources and ecological environment such as electric fish, poisoned fish, and fried fish are strictly investigated...
"These clauses all involve the fragile nerves and weak links in the protection of the Yangtze River's ecological environment and resources for a long time. This legislation will regulate them as a key content, which fully reflects the resolute attitude of the party and the state to comprehensively strengthen river basin governance and effectively protect the Yangtze River. "Liu Changqiang said that the Yangtze River Protection Law provides procuratorial organs with clearer policy directions and a more adequate basis for the application of laws for handling cases involving the Yangtze River.
Promote full coverage of ecological compensation
When it comes to protecting the Yangtze River, everyone feels that "Jiang Fresh" is becoming less and less available.
To protect the ecological resources of the Yangtze River, one of the measures introduced by the state is to ban and retreat.
As a law that comprehensively protects the ecological environment of the Yangtze River basin, the Yangtze River Protection Law writes "to protect the environment and not to develop" into the law, that is, all economic activities involving the Yangtze River must be premised on not destroying the ecological environment.
Sun Youhai believes that the Yangtze River Protection Law takes into account the natural resources, ecological environment, economic construction and social development of the Yangtze River Basin as a whole and systematically, and seeks to achieve high-quality development on the basis of major protection.
The big protection is "full protection".
The Yangtze River Protection Law stipulates that the economic and social development of the Yangtze River Basin shall adhere to ecological priority and green development, and shall focus on major protection and not engage in major development; the protection of the Yangtze River shall adhere to overall coordination, scientific planning, innovation-driven, and systematic governance.
The big protection is "strict protection."
Starting from January 1 this year, the Yangtze River has entered a new stage of a comprehensive ban on fishing. The "catching ban" regulations are mainly to solve the dilemma that the Yangtze River is "no fish" and rare and endangered species are seriously threatened.
The Chishui River in Bijie City, Guizhou Province is located in the experimental area of the National Nature Reserve for Rare and Endemic Fish in the Upper Yangtze River. Zeng Mofei and three others used electric shocks to catch wild fish here, and 205 river fish were caught.
After the incident, Zeng Moufei and other three people reached an ecological compensation agreement with the procuratorate and the local agricultural and rural bureau to voluntarily post apologize and restore the damaged ecology.
Time limit performance, compensation for labor services, replenishment and release, deduction for technological transformation, alternative restoration, etc. These measures are commonly used methods in the judicial practice of public interest litigation. The purpose is to promote the implementation of ecological protection and restoration in key water areas of the Yangtze River Basin.
"Focusing on the sustainable development of the Chinese nation, the Yangtze River Protection Law puts the ecological protection and restoration of the Yangtze River Basin in an overwhelming position." Sun Youhai analyzed that the law is clear that the state has established a compensation system for ecological protection in the Yangtze River Basin and the state has increased fiscal transfers. The intensity of payment shall be compensated for the important ecological function areas such as the source of the Yangtze River and its important tributaries and the water conservation areas in the upper reaches.
The Yangtze River Protection Law also further improves the horizontal compensation system, promotes the full coverage, standardization, and systemization of horizontal ecological compensation mechanisms, and encourages the development of horizontal ecological protection compensation among local people's governments on the upper and lower reaches, left and right banks, and main and tributary branches of the Yangtze River, while encouraging social funds Establish a market-oriented operation of the Yangtze River Basin ecological protection compensation fund; encourage relevant entities to adopt voluntary consultations and other methods to carry out ecological protection compensation.
Establish a coordination mechanism for the Yangtze River Basin
The total length of the Yangtze River is more than 6,300 kilometers, the entire basin involves 19 provinces, and the basin covers an area of 1.8 million square kilometers. There has been a long-standing problem of "Jowloon Water Control".
How to solve?
The Yangtze River Protection Law has made institutional innovations and established a sub-sectoral management system under the Yangtze River Basin Coordination Mechanism.
The construction of the Yangtze River Basin coordination mechanism with the State Council as the core is a major change in my country’s river basin management mechanism and a highlight of the Yangtze River Protection Law. It strengthens the administrative regional coordination in the protection of the Yangtze River and breaks the previous administrative boundaries in the protection of the Yangtze River. To prevent and control pollution from the source, it also further clarified the operation mode, management and supervision methods, responsibilities, and powers of the coordination mechanism in the Yangtze River Basin, and refined the specific design to prevent inter-departmental excuses and lack of supervision in the joint management.
The Yangtze River Protection Law starts from the systemicity and particularity of the Yangtze River Basin, and establishes and improves the rigid restraint mechanism of the Yangtze River's ecological environment.
On the one hand, implement a responsibility system and assessment system for the ecological environment protection of the Yangtze River Basin, establish a Yangtze River protection interview system, and require the State Council to report to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress on the protection of the Yangtze River.
On the other hand, in response to key issues such as the ban on fishing in the Yangtze River, shoreline protection, and illegal sand mining, increase penalties, increase fines, and effectively strengthen law enforcement.
"This is a good law to promote high-quality development in the Yangtze River Basin. In the future, we must emphasize law-abiding by all people, strict law enforcement, and fair justice." Sun Youhai suggested that relevant departments should strictly implement legal obligations, earnestly take responsibility, deal with them seriously, and formulate timely The relevant supporting laws and regulations have created favorable conditions and environment for the full implementation of the Yangtze River Protection Law.
"It is necessary to increase the performance of duties in accordance with the provisions of the Yangtze River Protection Law, strictly enforce the law, and make full use of the policy basis and legal application basis for the protection of the ecological environment and resources of the Yangtze River." Liu Changqiang said that this law will provide for the protection of the ecological environment and resources of the Yangtze River. Stronger judicial protection.