Annual Review of Chinese Environmental Law Developments: 2021

• Date: 01 June 2022
• Author: Haijing Wang and Mingqing You

52 ELR 10468 ENVIRONMENTAL LAW REPORTER 6-2022

ANNUAL REVIEW OF CHINESE

ENVIRONMENTAL LAW

DEVELOPMENTS: 2021

by Haijing Wang and Mingqing You

Haijing Wang is an assistant professor at Wenzhou University Law School and

a researcher with the Wenzhounese Economy Research Institute. Mingqing

You is a professor at Zhongnan University of Economics and Law.

In China, the year 2021 witnessed the fur ther evolu-

tion of environmental protection and development of

legislation and rulemak ing. is included revision of

the Law on the Prevention and Control of Noise Pollution

and adoption of the Wetland Protection Law, the Regula-

tions on Administration of Pollutant Discharge Permits,

Measures for Administration of Carbon Emissions Trad-

ing, judicial interpretations on environmental injunctive

orders, and some departmental rules. is Comment sum-

marizes some of the year’s major developments.

I. Law on the Prevention and Control

of Noise Pollution

e Standing Committee of the National People’s Con-

gress (NPC Standing Committee) revised the Law of the

People’s Republic of China on the Prevention and Con-

trol of Noise Pollution on December 24, 2021.1 is law

revises the denition of “noise pollution,” further species

the rights and duties of relevant actors, and make s better

use of some key regulatory tools.

A. Definition of “Noise Pollution”

e term “noise” is dened as sound generated from indus-

try, construction, transportation, and social life that inter-

feres with the surrounding living environment. e term

“noise pollution” is dened as the phenomenon of generat-

ing noise in violation of applicable standards on discharge

of noise pollution or without taking legally required pre-

1. Law of the People’s Republic of China on the Prevention and Control

of Noise Pollution (adopted by the NPC Standing Committee Dec. 24,

2021, eective June 5, 2022), NPC S C. G, Issue

1 of 2022, at 58-68 [hereinafter Law on the Prevention and Control of

Noise Pollution].

ventive measures, and interfering with others’ normal life,

work, or study.2

However, this law excludes certain situations from

its scope. e negative impact of worksite noise on an

employee is excluded from this law. If a person is aected

by worksite noise in the course of work, he or she may not

seek remedies from the Law on the Prevention and Control

of Noise Pollution and may only seek remedies in labor law

and other relevant laws .

B. Rights and Duties Related to Noise Pollution

is revision further species the duties of the local gov-

ernments and the rights of the public, and adds the role of

“grassroots autonomous org anizations.”

e revision further species t he duty of local govern-

ments to prevent and control noise pollution in line with

the general requirements of the Environmental Protection

Law of the People’s Republic of China, as revised in 2014.3

According to the revision, local governments at all levels

are responsible for the environmental quality standa rds of

their respective administrative regions. e State evaluates

the performance of local governments as to their eorts to

prevent and control noise pollution.4

Local governments at or above the county level shal l

specify the duties of various relevant departments in the

prevention and control of noise pollution, and establish

coordination mechanisms if necessary to promote inter-

departmental coordination and in formation-sharing.5 If a

county or districted city fa ils to meet the national environ-

mental quality standard on noise, the local government of

the county or districted city sha ll make timely plans to

2. Id. art. 2.

3. Environmental Protection Law of the People’s Republic of China (adopted by

the NPC Standing Committee Dec. 26, 1989, revised by the NPC Standing

Committee Apr. 24, 2014, eective Jan. 1, 2015), NPC S C.

G, Issue 3 of 2014, at 332-39, art. 6(2) [hereinafter Environmental

Protection Law]; see also Mingqing You & Yan Wang, Annual Review of

Chinese Environmental Law Developments: 2014, 45 ELR 10419, 10419-23

(May 2015).

4. Law on the Prevention and Control of Noise Pollution, supra note 1, art. 6.

5. Id. art. 7.

Authors’ Note: This Comment is an output of the au-

thors’ research project sponsored by the Chinese Fund

for the Humanities and Social Sciences (Project No.

20WFXA001). It is the result of independent academic

research and does not necessarily reflect the views of the

authors’ funders or affiliations.

Copyright © 2022 Environmental Law Institute®, Washington, DC. Reprinted with permission from ELR®, http://www.eli.org, 1-800-433-5120.