Lawmakers propose banning arbitrary environmental monitoring

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China lacks a special law or regulation on the management of environmental monitoring, which has led to a chaotic² state in which various government departments, public institutions and individuals are monitoring China's environment and releasing different data, lawmakers said in a report adopted by the top legislature on Friday.

A law should be in place to protect and regulate governments' or individuals' environmental monitoring activities, and to provide a legal basis for the act, lawmakers said in the report.

Lawmakers said a nationally-unified monitoring network is imperative³ to ensuring the authority of environmental monitoring results and avoiding negative social effects created by disordered and confusing data.

They suggested the central government establish the monitoring network and database and uniformly lay out monitoring sites.

They also said the heads of the monitoring agencies should be responsible for the authenticity⁴ and accuracy of the monitoring data, adding that such data must be published in a timely manner.

Environmental monitoring, especially air quality monitoring, has become a hot issue in China in the past year.

Fierce public debate has stirred since 2011 over the U.S. Embassy in Beijing and the U.S. Consulate⁵ General in Shanghai monitoring the local air quality and publishing the results online.

The results released by Beijing's weather forecasting station and the U.S. Embassy and Consulate General often differ -- the latter generally report worse conditions -- due to different standards for PM2.5, which measures finer particles in the air that are considered more hazardous⁶ to health.

The Chinese government has said the data issued by the foreign entities⁷ is inaccurate⁸ and unfair, as they gather data from only one point in their respective cities and measure the air quality using U.S. PM2.5 standards.

China did not include indices for ozone⁹ and PM2.5 in the revised air quality standards until late February this year.

It stipulated¹⁰ that the standards must be implemented¹¹ nationwide by Jan. 1, 2016 and promised to lift PM2.5 standards step by step.

Starting Jan. 1, 2013, the government will issue real-time air quality monitoring data in 74 major cities, the Ministry¹² of Environmental Protection (MEP) said Friday.

According to the report, a regulation, not a law, on environmental monitoring management has been drafted by the MEP and delivered to the State Council, China's Cabinet, for review.

Lawmakers said they hope the regulation will come out soon.

Also in the report, lawmakers proposed revising the Law on the Prevention and Control of Atmospheric¹³ Pollution to curb¹⁴ emissions¹⁵ and treat atmospheric pollution.

The law was issued in September 1987, and was revised in 1995 and 2000.

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