China has passed long-delayed revisions to an environmental law that allow much heavier penalties for polluters, removing a big barrier to cleaning up the country’s poisoned air, water and soil.
The revised draft of the 25-year-old environmental protection law, passed by a legislature committee yesterday, sets no limit on fines. Previous caps were so low that it was often cheaper to pay the fines than install or operate emissions-reducing equipment.
The revised law, to take effect on January 1 2015, is among measures adopted in recent months that indicate the leadership is finally taking seriously the threat posed by decades of breakneck growth and environmental contamination.