Environmental Protection

A series of stories about how environmental law enforcers were obstructed or even illegally detained by the enterprises they were inspecting has alerted the government to the difficulties of enforcing the new environmental law which came into force on January 1, 2015. Although the new law increases penalties, many suspects prefer to violently resist the law than pay the fine – due to the lack of power among enforcement officials. The enforcers’ only recourse at present is the local courts, which leaves the polluters plenty of time to destroy evidence, or even escape punishment by shutting down their business and reopening under a new name. In response to the difficulties, many cities have now set up police teams to help them with enforcement. Many insiders are hoping for better cooperation between the government departments involved, since it should be the responsibility of all the authorities, not just the environmental protection department.