Businesses, please note: These changes are coming to environmental enforcement.

Release Date:

2021-01-18

　　On the 14th, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment released the “Guiding Opinions on Optimizing Law Enforcement Approaches for Ecological and Environmental Protection and Enhancing Enforcement Efficiency.” With the implementation of the measures outlined in this document, law enforcement inspections of enterprises by ecological and environmental authorities will undergo significant changes.
　　Cao Liping, Director of the Enforcement Bureau of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, stated on the same day that the guiding opinions have outlined the overall direction and roadmap for the national ecological and environmental enforcement system, while also sending a positive signal to businesses and society about the optimization of enforcement practices. Enterprises and industry associations are calling for a reduction and standardization of on-site inspections, as well as the effective implementation of incentive and support measures for businesses. The guiding opinions will reflect approaches such as differentiated, intelligent, and standardized regulation, along with strengthened enforcement‑based assistance.
　　Enterprises are particularly attentive to the evolving enforcement approaches of ecological and environmental authorities. The guiding opinions propose refining the “double-random, one-public” regulatory system, establishing and implementing a positive list for supervisory enforcement, and promoting non‑on‑site regulatory methods, among other measures.
　　Cao Liping stated that, through these systems, it is essential to effectively implement differentiated regulatory measures and allocate law enforcement resources with precision, thereby minimizing disruptions to businesses while enhancing the detection rate of violations.
　　The reporter noted that the guiding opinions specifically emphasize the vigorous expansion of non‑on‑site regulatory tools and their applications, positioning them as a key component of routine law enforcement inspections.
　　In this regard, Cao Liping explained that, under the current circumstances, optimizing the business environment, alleviating the burden on enterprises, and standardizing and reducing on-site inspections have become an overarching trend. However, ecological and environmental law enforcement must remain steadfast in its direction and maintain its rigor. Non‑on‑site supervision, as a regulatory approach that does not disrupt normal production activities and serves as an important complement to on-site inspections, will play an increasingly vital role and is set to become one of the primary methods for routine enforcement and inspection going forward.
　　According to the briefing, the primary tools for non‑site‑based supervision currently rely on automated monitoring, encompassing video surveillance and IoT‑enabled monitoring of water and electricity usage at environmental protection facilities, as well as advanced technological monitoring methods such as drones, unmanned vessels, mobile monitoring vehicles, and satellite remote sensing. The guiding opinions underscore the importance of leveraging these non‑site‑based approaches to detect and issue early warnings of potential violations, ultimately triggering on‑site inspections.
　　The guiding opinions also stipulate that, through cross‑regional inspections and a special‑case investigation system, streamlined enforcement resources will be pooled to ensure the efficient and timely completion of priority tasks and key cases.

Source: Xinhua News Agency Author: Xinhua News Agency

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