Paying for pollution

By Yan Shuang Source:Global Times Published: 2012-8-31 0:50:05

A tank used to process polluted water in Nantong, Jiangsu Province. The tank can process 50,000 tons of water per day. Photo: IC
A tank used to process polluted water in Nantong, Jiangsu Province. The tank can process 50,000 tons of water per day. Photo: IC



After four years of pollution leaks from an aluminum plant in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region which have rendered thousands of acres of farmland barren, environmental protection authorities earlier this month ordered the closure of the plant and a fine of 100,000 yuan ($15,746).

This kind of fine was a trivial cost for the aluminum plant, which according to a China Enterprise News report, is run by the Guangxi Huayin Aluminum Co. and boasts 8.5 billion in investment and an annual production of 1.6 million tons of alumina. The company started operation in May 2008 though its pollution control equipment had never passed examination requirements from environmental protection authorities.

The case has raised questions as to how polluters can pollute the environment for so long before facing any repercussions, as well as the small fines levied on polluters, who often regard them as minor inconveniences.

Fines easier than cleanups

In China it's cheaper to pay the fines than to limit pollution, leading to more companies with higher emissions, said officials with the National People's Congress (NPC) at an environmental conference on Monday. It seems strange that companies are willing to pay fines, but according to sources within the chemical industry, the most severe fines can often be avoided with well-placed bribes.

Hundred-thousand yuan fines are often a drop in the ocean compared to the massive profits that would be affected by cleanups.

"Our plant earns at least 650,000 yuan per day, while the fine for excess emissions is only 100,000 to 200,000 yuan each time," said an employee surnamed Cao, with a Beijing-based chemical plant.

The company Cao works for is one of the biggest polluters in Beijing. The government has ordered it to leave the capital by 2015 to reduce pollution in the city.

Currently, fines differ depending on the pollution and type of company, but experts have said that even the higher fines aren't usually a deterrent.

"Many polluting companies have friends or family working in the environmental bureaus, which makes it easier to evade fines or ensure lax inspections," Cao told the Global Times.

"Sometimes companies are forced to use environmental protection equipment produced by certain companies designated by environmental officials, or they will face fines. So many companies would rather just pay the fines to save trouble rather than buy costly equipment," said Zhang Yuanxun, a professor of resources and the environment at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

Zhang added that because the effects of certain pollutants such as heavy metals take a long time to become visible, companies might think it's not worth trying to curb pollution as there will be no obvious implications in the short term.

 "The enforcement of environmental laws in China has been not strict enough to regulate these problems and it's difficult for residents affected by pollution to win a lawsuit. That's why enterprises always choose fines over implementing pollution mitigation measures," said Ma Jun, director of the Institute of Public & Environmental Affairs (IPE), a non-government organization based in Beijing.

A lack of motivation, rather than technology or money, is the major reason for the problem, Ma told the Global Times.

Efforts to curb problems

In a bid to address these problems, the NPC has established a draft amendment to the current environmental protection law, which would require companies to pay fees even when their emissions are below a national standard.
Wang Guangtao, chairman with the Environment and Resources Protection Committee with the NPC, said at the meeting that the State Council will also establish rules on how the pollution discharge fees will be used, for example in pollution control efforts or environmental monitoring, given that in some places the money had been appropriated for the daily expenses of government agencies.

The IPE has been working on a "pollution map" since 2006, which maps out the most polluted areas and blacklists polluting factories based on the data collected from publicly available official information nationwide.

Among the some 70,000 companies blacklisted in the IPE map, many have been fined several times for emitting pollutants that exceed standards. Around 700 companies have come to the IPE to ask to "come clean," by promising to abide by rules and put more effort into pollution control, 120 have thus far succeeded, said Ma.

The draft amendment requires companies to take responsibility for the pollutants they emit as well as the influence the pollution has had on the public and the environment, according to Wang.

The State Administration of Taxation has recently submitted a plan on environmental protection taxes to the State Council, according to an Economic Observer report on August 22. The shift from charging fees among excessively polluting companies to all companies that pollute is a sign indicating that the tax will soon become reality, said Zhang.

"The new rule might reduce the chances of pollution but might also face difficulty in terms of enforcement, with no details mapped out as yet," Zhang said, adding that "the new tax would show fairness by charging everyone to pollute, but because it's not a punishment companies might feel free to pollute as long as the fees are just a small fraction of their profit. It might not really address the problem."

The new rules suggested in the draft require companies to apply to the local environmental authorities for approval to emit pollutants, and pay fees depending on the kinds of pollutants they are emitting. However, Cao said that it was possible some companies might mislead the authorities at this stage, or use bribery or connections to circumvent the new draft requirements.

According to the draft, polluters would also be required to install monitoring devices to collect data on their emissions, and this information would be included in national database for public supervision.

 



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