There’s a consensus that Chinese polluters don’t worry too much about fines. Now it looks as if things may change, starting in Jiangsu Province. Translated from Xinhua:
Eleven years after the introduction of the “Regulation on Prevention of Water Pollution in Jiangsu’s Taihu Lake” (ʱüËãèÁúŧ™ÊπñʵÅÂüüÊ∞¥Ê±°ÊüìÈò≤Ê≤ªÊù°‰æã), the provincial government now has to toughen its environmental laws in order to clean up the lake and prevent future ecological disasters.
Fines for polluters around Taihu Lake, according to the old regulation, were limited to 200,000 yuan. Major factories have thus been unconcerned. The new regulation has raised the stakes to as much as 1 million yuan, hoping to more effectively deter polluters.
According to the new law, Suzhou, Wuxi, Changzhou and other localities will also be held accountable for pollution originating within their borders that spills over to other areas. Pollution exporters will have to pay compensation to affected areas in transactions with provincial finance departments. [Full Text in Chinese]
