China’s Pollution Woes Trigger A New Environment For Manufacturers In China

China presents foreign manufacturers with many paradoxes.

The most modern of manufacturing operations can exist nearby the most backward. Thousands of quality assurance, hygiene, energy conservation and other regulatory standards are in place, but access to, enforcement and interpretation of these standards is inconsistent. Environmental pollution is worsening in a number of areas to the point of threatening life and growth, yet many manufacturers in China are implementing some of the most innovative and effective environmental, health and safety programs.

The grave pollution situation in China has certainly created a political situation favoring the issuance of numerous framework laws and decisions, which may eventually lead to a very different regulatory environment for manufacturers. These laws include the amendment of China's framework Environmental Protection Law, amended at the Eighth Meeting of the Standing Committee of the Twelfth National People's Congress April 24, 2014, and entering into effect on January 1, 2015.

The Environmental Protection Law amendment has been in the works for years and replaces a version enacted roughly 25 years ago. This is essentially a law setting out a new "framework" for China's environmental law and providing statutory language enabling more detailed regulatory action and guiding interpretation among China's numerous ministries, agencies and affiliated organizations undertaking environment-related activities. As such, this amendment is not where manufacturers will find details on how, for example, wastewater treatment plant discharges will be monitored and sampled. Rather, the amendment identifies fundamental shifts in how, at a national and statutory level, China is promoting citizen empowerment and litigation, information disclosure, heavier penalties for violations, and other measures to address environmental ills.

Shortly after the amendment to the Environmental Protection Law was released to the public in April 2014, China's Supreme People's Court issued an Opinion on the Comprehensive Enhancement of Environmental Resource Trial Work to Provide Vigorous Judicial Safeguards to Promote Construction of an Ecological Civilization (June 23, 2014). The Opinion reinforced, and provided further insights into, the national government's plans concerning citizen suits, information transparency and enhanced penalties and enforcement as tools for environmental governance.

Among the most noteworthy of the...

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