Soil pollution life-long responsibility system established

China’s Ministry of Environmental Protection recently issued measures regarding polluted plot soil, requiring individuals or units causing pollution to the soil to be responsible for management and restoration of the soil throughout their life.

With China’s industrial restructuring, many industrial and mining enterprises have been gradually closed or moved to other places, leaving their original locations to undergo rezoning and development. According to a national soil pollution survey, the resulting environmental problem of polluted soil has become severe.

Some polluted plots which are transformed into residential lands or land for public facilities such as schools, hospitals and nursing homes may pose a serious threat to public health and the environment.

According to the measures, environmental protection departments must inform the land users of suspected or confirmed polluted plots. Then the departments should carry out soil environmental investigations and make reports that are open to the public. Their task is to implement risk control based on relevant evaluation and development and utilization planning.

Qiu Qiwen, chief of the soil environment department of the Ministry of Environmental Protection said that China’s present laws and regulations lack special provisions for polluted plots, and there is neither information about what to do when plot pollution is suspected nor any clear environmental protection procedure.

The measures stipulate the responsibility of land users, the people responsible for soil pollution, and professional third-party institutions, Qiu said.

Polluted plots destined for future public facilities require management and restoration by land users based on risk evaluation. Third-party agencies should evaluate conditions according to national environment standards and technical codes, and prepare appraisal reports open to the public for at least two months.

The measures also provide that if the polluted plots are not managed or restored or do not reach relevant official soil environmental quality standards after restoration, environmental protection departments should not issue an approving environmental evaluation report, an official document indicating final acceptance of restoration.