Update: Environmental Impact Assessors Avoid Beijing Project After Public Hearing

Beijing Normal University's (BNU) environmental impact assessment (EIA) department recently declined to conduct an assessment of a controversial construction project at the Old Summer Palace in Beijing. The decision highlights continuing problems within the community of Chinese organizations that can conduct EIAs.

After the State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA) held its first public hearing in April on the renovation of the Old Summer Palace, the management of the Old Summer Palace park was ordered to halt construction and find an EIA organization to conduct the assessment. The park management initially chose the EIA department at BNU, but the university's EIA department delayed the assessment for weeks, causing the project to lose money, according to Chinese news media reports. By May 9, SEPA had stepped in and ordered that the EIA be completed within 40 days, or not later than June 18, according to a Beijing News report.

In mid-May, after the university's EIA department continued to refuse to complete the assessment, SEPA officials publicly criticized the department, indicating its refusal stemmed from conflicting financial and personal interests, according to reports. SEPA then announced that Qinghua University will conduct the EIA, according to a Beijing News article. A June 20 article on the SEPA Web site says that Qinghua assessors will submit the EIA report at the end of June, and that its conclusions may support the construction project. The environmental NGO Friends of Nature has not ruled out calling for another public hearing, and is urging high-level officials from the cultural heritage, water, and parks departments to get involved and support SEPA, according to the article.

Recent articles revealed additional construction projects were underway that deviated from original plans, people living in the park are polluting the grounds, and park management has been renting a villa in the center of the lake (1, 2, 3, 4, 5). As a result of the controversy over the EIA report Pan Yue has stated that SEPA is working towards nationwide EIA system reforms, addressing local protectionism, gaps in the laws, and a lack of effective regulation of assessor qualifications.

SEPA officials are revising the "Management of Construction Project Environmental Impact Assessment Credentials" to tighten rules governing issuance of EIA credentials and to hold assessors responsible for investigations, according to reports (1, 2, 3). In addition, SEPA is establishing an assessor qualifications system. SEPA first discussed a qualifications test in December 2004, and began giving it in May 2005, according to several reports (1, 2). The reform of the EIA organizations is a positive step toward a healthier Chinese environment. At the same time, the lack of serious penalties in the law for individual violators continues to hinder effective protection of the environment in China.