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Pollution control
Pollution is a distinctive problem which is changeable and has controlling
regularities. Generally, the fact of whether or not a government can successfully
resolve environmental problems is a critical standard in judging the environmental
capability of that government. Shenyang City controls pollution according
to the following laws: (a) laws and regulations for controlling pollution
by the State; and (b) laws and regulations for controlling pollution by
Shenyang.
Pollution control includes protecting atmospheric and water quality,
controlling noise pollution etc. Pollutant discharges must be strictly
controlled. The concrete measures adopted by Shenyang are: (a) the integration
of atmospheric and water quality and noise pollution
control indexes into the plans of national economic and social development,
and the integration of total pollutant discharge control indexes into environmental
plans; and (b) the combining of laws and regulations on pollution control
with environmental administration systems. For example, the laws and regulations
on pollution control clearly stipulate that EIA must be executed for new,
expanding or reconstructed projects to strictly control new pollution.
The laws and regulations such as the Law
on Prevention and Control of Water Pollution in the People's Republic of
China, the Law on Prevention and Control of Atmospheric Pollution in the
People's Republic of China and the Environmental
Protection Law of the People's Republic of China clearly stipulate the
system of reporting and registering pollutant discharges, so the system
of pollutant discharge permits is integrated into the legal system. Moreover,
the Regulations
on Prevention and Control of Water Pollution in Shenyang and the Regulations
on Prevention and Control of Atmospheric Pollution in Shenyang stipulate
that "projects over and above a pollutant discharge standard must pay fees
for exceeding that standard in accordance with the regulations concerned,
and (must) control them within a prescribed time". Thus the laws and regulations
on pollution control are combined with the system of pollutant discharge
charges and pollution control within a prescribed time. That enhances the
flexibility of the laws and regulations concerned.
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Land-use control
In one area, land use critically affects ecological environmental
quality. Land use is linked closely with problems of resources and environment.
Land-use layout and planning exert important influences on urban and regional
environmental quality. Environmental planning involves environmental decision-making
within a certain time. Thus, it must be linked with land-use planning (including
city planning). According to the Environmental Protection Law of the People's
Republic of China and the Regulations on Environmental Protection of Liaoning
Province, "the objectives of environmental protection must be defined before
drawing up the city planning". In the other words, city planning must be
combined with environmental planning. The Land Administration Law of the
People's Republic of China stipulates that "government at all levels must
draw up overall planning for land use" and "land-use planning must be in
accord with city planning in the urban planning area". Because the overall
planning of land use is an tempo-spatial arrangement concerning all types
of land use, the legal basis for such planning also includes the contents
of the following laws:
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Law on Water and Soil Conservation in the People's
Republic of China
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Forestry Law of the People's Republic of China
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Regulations on Nature
Reserve Protection in the People's Republic of China
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Law on Cultural Relics Protection
in the People's Republic of China
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Water Law of
the People's Republic of China
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Law of City Planning in the People?s
Republic of China
The above laws provide sufficient legal basis for land-use control. However.
it should be noted that city planning and overall planning of land use
often become mere exercises in formality without any flexibilty because
of the lack of well-trained technicians and specialists. Hence, the implementation
of the two types of plans discussed above are not all-encompassing, and
the effectiveness of land-use control is inadequate, especially in rural
areas.
