EPA - China Environmental Law Initiative Home

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Description of Initiative

China has been working with great determination in recent years to develop, implement, and enforce a solid environmental law framework. Chinese officials face critical challenges in effectively implementing the laws, clarifying the roles of their national and provincial governments, and strengthening the operation of their legal system.

EPA Office of General Counsel launched the EPA – China Environmental Law Initiative in September, 2007, to encourage a continuing dialogue between the U.S. and China on environmental law. The goals of the initiative include:

Sharing EPA's legal experience and expertise to help improve China’s environmental health.
Sharing information useful to U.S. entities with business or other stakes in how China addresses environmental issues.
Fostering an ongoing dialogue on environmental law issues with China.

Many of these cooperative activities take place in collaboration with other EPA offices, including EPA Office of International Affairs, Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance, Office of Water, Office of Air and Radiation, and EPA Regional Offices.

We look forward to sharing information on these initiatives here.

Additional Information on international cooperation efforts on Chinese environmental law (including information on OGC's meetings with Chinese environmental officials) is available.

New Developments in Chinese Environmental Law

General

Joint Statement on the U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue Outcomes of the Strategic Track May 3-4, 2012 (U.S. Department of State Press Release, 5/4/12)
Environmental Regulations in Effect as of April. 1, 2012 (MEP News Release, 4/17/12)
Environmental Regulations and Standards in Effect as of March 1, 2012 (MEP News Release, 3/7/12)

Pollution Control

U.S. Consulate in Shanghai Starts Monitoring The Air (Wall Street Journal China RealTime Report, 5/14/12)
City's Air 'Good' or 'Unhealthy?' [Shanghai] (MEP News Release, 5/15/12)
Stricter water standards to be applied nationwide (China.org, 5/14/12)
Cities' Drinking Supply Failing to Meet Government Standards (MEP News Release, 5/11/12)
Report: Groundwater Falls Short (MEP News Release, 5/11/12)
Pollution in China To Increase, Says Chinese Study (Chinese Academy of Sciences, 5/2/12)
China's rare earth boom comes at grim cost (ChinaDaily.com, 4/23/12)
Beijing Municipal Government: Fashion Houses 'Need to Clean up Their Act' (ChinaDaily.com, 4/18/12)
National Standard for PM2.5 Monitoring Underway [Beijing] (MEP News Release, 4/10/12)
Chinese NGOs say big brands buy from polluting textile firms (Xinhua, 4/10/12)
Rural Chinese pollution to be monitored soon (Xinhua, 3/11/12)
ConocoPhillips China and CNOOC Reach Agreement with the State Oceanic Administration [Bohai Bay spill] (ConocoPhillips News Release, 3/27/12)
China demands greater supervision of tailing dams ( Xinhua, 3/21/12)
Johnson Controls' Shanghai plant ordered to shut on pollution (Reuters.com, 2/28/12)
China issues PCB industry environmental guidelines, by Mike Buetow (Printed Circuit Design & Fab, 2/13/12)

Public Participation

Living with Foxconn [Apple manufacturing plant], by Meng Si (China Dialogue, 5/10/12)
China Focus: Chinese citizens make more environmental protection efforts, by Xinhua writer Zhu Shaobin (ChinaDaily.com, 4/20/12)
Public opinion key to clearing the air (South China Morning Post, 3/12/12)

Climate Change / Energy

New nuclear spring for China?, by Feng Jie (China Dialogue, 3/29/12)
Winds of change blow through China as spending on renewable energy soars, by Jonathan Watts. (The Guardian, 3/19/12)

International Cooperation

EPA and China Ministry of Environmental Protection Workshop on practical policy tools for strengthening supervision of pollution and protection of the environment (11/17/11)
EPA Helps Chinese Officials Develop Legal Framework for Water Pollutant Permitting (July 2011)
EPA Participates in Water Pollutant Permitting Workshop with Chinese Experts (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 5/20/11)
OGC Discusses Rule of Law in Environmental Sector with Legal Experts in Asia (January 2011)
Renewed Cooperation with China: EPA Administrator Mission to China (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency)
Memorandum of Understanding reaffirming EPA and MEP’s historic alliance (PDF, 15pp, 2.3m)

New Reports and Articles

The Consequences of Industrialization: Evidence From Water Pollution and Digestive Cancers in China, by Avraham Ebenstein (Review of Economic & Statistics, February 2012, p. 186, subscribers only)
Fine Particulate Matter Constituents and Cardiopulmonary Mortality in a Heavily Polluted Chinese City, by Cao, Junji; Xu, Hongmei; Xu, Qun; Chen, Bingheng; Kan, Haidong (Environmental Health Perspectives, March 2012, p. 373)
Urbanisation and health in China, by Peng Gong, Prof PhD; Song Liang PhD; Elizabeth J Carlton PhD; Qingwu Jiang Prof MD; Jianyong Wu PhD; Lei Wang PhD; Justin V Remaisf, Dr PhD, (The Lancet, Vol. 379 No. 9818, March 3, 2012 - March 9, 2012, p. 843)
Articles from Vermont Journal of Environmental Law, vol. 13, no. 1, Fall, 2011
- Role of Judicial Review in Chinese and U.S. Energy and Climate Change Policy, by Patricia Ross McCubbin
- China's Procuratorate in Environmental Civil Enforcement: Practice, Challenges & Implications for China's Environmental Governance, by Jingjing Liu
- Taming the Dragon: How Corporations in China Can be Employed to Further Environmental Risk Management, by Kate Swartz & Guan Lin
- Keeping Up with Chinese Consumerism: Offsetting China's Individually Generated Gearbage with Reglatory and Social Mechanisms, by Brandon Gillin
Future of the City: "Green" As Spectacle Im China, by Ren, Xuefei (Journal of International Affairs, Vol. 65 No. 2, Spring 2012, p. 19)
Annual Review of Chinese Environmental Law: 2011, by Mingqing You (Environmental Law Reporter: News & Analysis, vol. 42 no. 5, pp. May 2012) Copyright© 2012 Environmental Law Institute®, Washington, DC. Reprinted with permission from ELR®
The People's Regulation: Citizens and Implementation of Law in China, (Inaugural Lecture) by Benjamin van Rooij, (University of Amsterdam, 2/24/11)
Current State of Environmental Law and Activism in China, Panel Discussion (Charles McElwee, Alex Wang, and others, sponsored by the Asia Society, 9/27/11)
Green Activism in China, 'The Grassroots Way', interview with Zhou Xiang (Asia Society, 8/23/11)

Legal Resources

Find links to information on Chinese environmental statutes, regulations, directives, treaties, and international cooperation documents.

Resource Documents By Topic

Find links to articles and reports dealing with Chinese environmental law and policy.

Disclaimer

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