China's Air Pollution Rules: Compliance and Enforcement Lessons From Global Good Practices

• Date: 01 November 2016
• Author: Xiaopu Sun, Kenneth J. Markowitz, Durwood Zaelke, and Jin Wang

46 ELR 10958 ENVIRONMENTAL LAW REPORTER 11-2016

China’s Air Pollution

Rules: Compliance

and Enforcement

Lessons From

Global Good

Practices

by Xiaopu Sun, Kenneth J. Markowitz,

Durwood Zaelke, and Jin Wang

Xiaopu Sun is a Law Fellow at the Institute for Governance

and Sustainable Development in Washington, D.C.

Kenneth J. Markowitz, an attorney, is the President of Earthpace

LLC and the Senior Clean Energy and Environmental

Consultant with Akin Gump Strauss Hauer and Feld.

Durwood Zaelke is the founder and President of the Institute

for Governance and Sustainable Development in Washington,

D.C., and co-founder and co-director of the Program on

Governance for Sustainable Development at the Bren School

of Environmental Science & Management, University of

California, Santa Barbara . Jin Wang is a Professor at Peking

University Law School in Beijing, China.

Summary

In recent years, air pollution issues have received unprec-

edented public attention in China. Partly for this reason,

the Chinese government has made signicant eorts

toward reducing air pollution. However, compliance and

enforcement will be key to cleaning up the air in China

and around the globe. is Article discusses seven spe-

cic challenges to achieving eective compliance with

and enforcement of the air pollution rules in China. In

this regard, global good practices can be useful references

for the Chinese government and other stakeholders. Yet

such discussions and considerations are only truly use-

ful when viewed and considered within the context of

China’s unique rulemaking and governance systems, as

well as its cultural background.

In December 2015, the countries of the world success-

fully negotiated the Paris Agreement, which caught

up with the science of keeping global warming below

1.5º Celsius (C) above pre-industrial levels and recognized

the need for speed to achieve no net emissions by mid-

century.1 However, the great challenges and opportuni-

ties in front of u s are the fast mitigation actions required

to implement it before 2020, through multiple paths. In

particular, cutting short-lived super pollutants, including

hydrouorocarbons (HFCs), methane, and black carbon,

can avoid 0.6ºC of warming by 2050 and 1.5ºC by 2100.2

ese super pollutants will play a bigger role in the post-

Paris climate scheme.

In t his Article, we will discuss air pollution reduction

eorts through compliance and enforcement of national

laws and regulations in one of the world’s biggest emitters,

China. ese eorts can both mitigate climate change and

protect public health in the near future.

Like all countries, China has a unique system of gov-

ernance for managing and responding to environmental

problems, including air pollution. Air pollution is now

a severe environmental challenge in China, shortening

the life expectancy of millions of residents.3 Research by

Berkeley scientists found that air pollution is responsible

1. Adoption of the Paris Agreement, UNFCC Conference of the Parties, 21st

Sess., U.N. Doc. FCCC/CP/2015/10/Add.1 (Dec. 12, 2015), http://un-

fccc.int/les/home/application/pdf/paris_agreement.pdf.

2. Yangyang Xu, e Role of HFCs in Mitigating 21st Century Climate Change,

13 A. C. P. 6083-89 (2013).

3. See, e.g., Yuyu Chen et al., Evidence on the Impact of Sustained Exposure to Air

Pollution on Life Expectancy From China’s Huai River Policy, 110 P. N’

A. S. 12936-41 (2013) (“[T]otal suspended particulates (TSPs) air pol-

lution is causing the 500 million residents of Northern China to lose more

than 2.5 billion life years of life expectancy.”). Air pollution, in particular

ne particulate matter (PM2.5) pollution, has been the media hot spot in the

recent years. A documentary titled, “Under the Dome,” which was produced

by a former Chinese State Television reporter Chai Jing and released on Feb-

ruary 28, 2015, has raised unprecedented public awareness and discussion

on the PM2.5 pollution threshold and environmental policies in China. e

new Minister of Environmental Protection, Chen Jining, praised this docu-

mentary and commented that it reminded him of Rachel Carson’s “Silent

Spring.” Minister of Environmental Protection: I’ve Watched “Under the Dome”

and Texted Chai Jing to Express Gratitude, B N, Mar. 1, 2015, at

http://www.bjnews.com.cn/news/2015/03/01/354712.html. However, the

Authors’ Note: Kenneth J. Markowitz is the former Managing

Director of the International Network for Environmental Compliance

and Enforcement. Durwood Zaelke is the for mer Director of the

Secretariat for t he International Network for Environmenta l

Compliance & Enforcement. All authors are grateful for peer review

comments from: Meredith Reeves Koparova (Earthpace LLC), Dan

Guttman (New York University Shanghai, Tsinghua University U.S./

China Center and Johns Hopkins University Center for Advanced

Governmental Studies), Tad Ferris (Foley & Lardner LLP), Steve

Wolfson (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency), Houfu Yan

(Beijing Normal University Law School), and Yan Zhang (Beijing

Institute of Technology Law School).

Copyright © 2016 Environmental Law Institute®, Washington, DC. Reprinted with permission from ELR®, http://www.eli.org, 1-800-433-5120.