Why is the subject of environmental public interest litigation limited to China Environmental Protection Federation？

People’s Daily Online, Beijing, July 5 (Reporter Jia Yue) The Environmental Protection Law, which is being revised, intends to add a provision that "the China Environmental Protection Federation and the environmental protection federations established in provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government may bring a lawsuit to the people’s court for acts that pollute the environment, destroy the ecology and harm the public interests".

The original intention of this amendment is to link up with the new Civil Procedure Law which came into effect this year. Article 55 of the Xinmin Litigation Law stipulates that the organs and relevant organizations prescribed by law may bring a lawsuit to the people’s court for acts that pollute the environment and infringe upon the legitimate rights and interests of many consumers and harm the public interest. This is the first time that China has written the public interest litigation system into law.

However, some media have questioned that if the above-mentioned proposed additional clauses are passed, it means that the China Environmental Protection Federation with a semi-official background will become the only subject with the right to file environmental public interest litigation. This has not only attracted strong protests from non-governmental environmental organizations, but also surprised industry experts who are committed to the construction of public interest litigation system.

"It is objectively inappropriate to grant the right to environmental public interest litigation to one family." Chen Lihao, member of the Central Committee of the Jiu San Society and deputy director of the Population, Resources and Environment Committee, believes that the exclusive right to appeal of the China Environmental Protection Federation will lead to many adverse consequences, and letting an organization enjoy the right to appeal is to some extent "encouraging infringement".

The membership fee of China Environmental Protection Federation is 10,000 to 300,000.

According to the introduction of China Environmental Protection Federation in official website, this organization is a non-profit, national association organized by people, enterprises and institutions who are enthusiastic about environmental protection under the supervision of the Ministry of Environmental Protection. Under the item of "enterprise members", we can see that many enterprises in chemical, metallurgical, mining, electric power and other energy industries are among them.

Official website, China Environmental Protection Federation, provides the "Application Form for Enterprise Membership" for downloading, and can apply to become a chairman unit, vice-chairman unit, executive director unit, director unit and member unit in different categories. The membership fee standard ranges from 300,000 yuan per session to 10,000 yuan per session. It is also stated in the "Application Form" that the membership fee will be paid in one lump sum at the time of membership, and there is no limit to voluntary overpayment.

According to the reporter’s statistics, at present, China Environmental Protection Federation has one director unit, seven deputy directors, 25 executive directors, 100 directors and 157 member units. According to the membership fee standard, the income per session is at least 10.42 million yuan.

Chen Lihao pointed out that many members of these enterprises are big emitters and polluters. For example, in recent years, a paper-making enterprise, which is the vice chairman, has been reported to have been punished for discharging pollutants three times. When member enterprises are involved in environmental pollution cases, the relationship between China Environmental Protection Federation and its members will directly affect whether the case can be prosecuted and whether the prosecution strength can be guaranteed, which will seriously affect the credibility of the subjects of environmental public interest litigation.

The China Environmental Protection Federation, under the supervision of the Ministry of Environmental Protection, is considered to be semi-official and has received tens of millions of yuan in financial allocations. According to media reports, from 2006 to 2008, the Ministry of Environmental Protection applied for financial funds of 11.45 million yuan for the project of China Environmental Protection Federation, a non-financial budget unit. By the end of 2008, the total expenditure of the project had reached 11.3771 million yuan.

Xia Jun, a lawyer of Beijing Zhongzi Law Firm, believes that it is difficult for the organization to maintain a neutral position because of its identity characteristics. Polluted enterprises can exist for a long time, which is closely related to the dereliction of duty of the environmental protection department, including the inaction of the local government. Under such circumstances, it is doubtful whether the China Environmental Protection Federation can file a lawsuit against the government’s absence.

"The subordinate relationship between the China Environmental Protection Federation and the competent environmental protection department itself will affect the prosecution effect of such cases," Chen Lihao said. "In addition, there are hundreds of cadres at or above the deputy ministerial level in its organization, and there are four deputy national leaders. Giving the China Environmental Protection Federation the sole right to appeal environmental public interest litigation cases is, to some extent, endorsing the cases with the reputation of many politicians. A slight carelessness will damage the image of the government."

Regarding the voice of doubt, Zeng Xiaodong, vice chairman and secretary general of China Environmental Protection Federation, said in an interview with Xinhua News Agency a few days ago that the organization has not reported to any leaders, and they are not "a monopoly", but one of the representatives of non-governmental environmental protection organizations. He stressed that the China Environmental Protection Federation "will not have the power to rent and accept bribes", but will accept the supervision of the law, society, other non-governmental environmental protection organizations and the media.