北京努力解决空气污染问题

The Beijing Municipal Environmental Protection Bureau said on Wednesday that it fined local polluters 183 million yuan, or roughly 28 million US dollars last year, witnessing a drastic increase from 2014.

Captain of the bureau's environmental supervision team Zhong Chonglei says the increase signaled authorities' commitment in tackling air pollution.

"The growth in the amount of fines and number of cases does not mean there were more polluters in Beijing. It means that we have intensified our legal supervision. Some illegal behaviors may have slipped through the cracks before, but now we are putting an end to them."

The bureau said a major focus of its operations last year was to supervise and regulate pollution sources, especially during the winter months when indoor heating creates more challenges to maintaining air quality. Common problems also included dust created by industrial and construction sites, as well as burning of straws on farmlands and burning of garbage or other materials elsewhere.

Deputy Captain of the supervision team Zhao Zhiwei says in Beijing, the number of domestic pollution sources far exceeds that of industrial sources.

"Industrial air pollution has relatively lessened, as the number of polluters has been cut down. About 90% of the cases we processed involved domestic sources or smaller polluters, such as small furniture makers, auto repair shops, restaurants and such." 

On January 1 this year, China's amended Air Pollution Control Laws took effect. The amendments established regional mechanisms in fighting air pollution, strengthened governmental responsibilities in regulating air quality, in addition to making information about air pollution and regulation more transparent to the public.

Researcher with the Beijing bureau Mu Liang said the amended laws differed from the previous version in their focus and approach.

"The previous version of the laws focused on the end of the polluting chain, only requiring companies to regulate their emissions. But the new version focuses on the end goal of improving air quality. If local governments can't meet air quality goals, then they need to make timed plans, which then need to be approved by their supervising governments. They need to aim for continual improvement in local air quality. This is a fundamental change from the previous version.

The new laws have been in effect for a week. Beijing authorities have already processed 11 cases of illegal emissions. Captain Zhong of the supervision team says they have laid out quarterly plans this year to respond to seasonally specific pollution issues, in an attempt to fully implement the new laws.

For CRI, I'm Victor Ning.