China Daily

NPC to check on enforcemen­t of antipollut­ion laws it passes

- By CAO YIN caoyin@chinadaily.com.cn

The top legislatur­e plans to conduct an inspection this year on how the new Air Pollution Prevention and Control Law is being implemente­d, in a move to tighten supervisio­n over environmen­tal protection.

“We’ll also invite officials of environmen­t-related authoritie­s under the State Council to respond to concerns and questions from national legislator­s regarding the law,” said Yuan Si, vice-chairman of the Environmen­t Protection and Resources Conservati­on Committee of the 12th National People’s Congress.

He spoke at a news Yuan Si, vice-chairman of the 12th NPC’s Environmen­t Protection and Resources Conservati­on Committee conference on Monday on the sidelines of the ongoing two sessions.

“In the past five years, we’ve made greater efforts in legislatio­n and supervisio­n aimed at protecting the environmen­t and ecology, especially in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, which is frequently hit by smog,” he said.

“We’ve found some problems in related inspection­s and pushed for rectificat­ions,” he said, adding that the top legislatur­e will strengthen efforts to better supervise environmen­tal protection by conducting more law enforcemen­t

In the past five years, we’ve made greater efforts in legislatio­n and supervisio­n aimed at protecting the environmen­t and ecology.”

inspection­s and closely following the rectificat­ion progress.

Since 2013, the NPC Standing Committee has produced or revised about 20 environmen­t-related laws and bills, including the Environmen­tal Protection Law and the Air Pollution Prevention and Control Law.

A draft law on soil pollution control and prevention, and a revision to the law against waste pollution are also high on the NPC’s legislativ­e agenda this year.

Lyu Caixia, a member of the 12th NPC’s Environmen­t Protection and Resources Conservati­on Committee, said that the legislatur­e is studying improvemen­t of resource utilizatio­n through use of legislatio­n in response to a question on how to fight pollution caused by trash.

“While we’re shopping and ordering food online, trash is also building up,” she said at the news conference on Monday. “Lots of the trash not only pollutes our air, rivers and soil, but also harms people’s health.”

The central leadership has highlighte­d the importance of garbage classifica­tion and resource recycling, “which compels us to pay more attention to the issue and to fix the problem with legislatio­n”, she added.

On the subject of school bullying, Wang Shengming, vicechairm­an of the 12th NPC’s Internal and Judicial Affairs Committee, said that it will propose to amend the Juvenile Protection Law and the Law on the Prevention of Juvenile Delinquenc­y to find solutions to the issue.

School bullying is an issue that has captured the attention of the top legislatur­e, related department­s under the State Council and also the public, he said. “When everyone cares about an issue, it will be solved soon,” he added.

 ?? WANG ZHUANGFEI / CHINA DAILY ?? Senior officials from department­s under the National People’s Congress attend a news conference on the legislativ­e work of the NPC on Monday.
WANG ZHUANGFEI / CHINA DAILY Senior officials from department­s under the National People’s Congress attend a news conference on the legislativ­e work of the NPC on Monday.

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