CENEWS-MEP released the 2016 annual work report on government information sharing recently. The report proposes that this year the Ministry will take further steps to share environmental information, continue to share more information on ambient air quality and in other key areas, start to rank the national cities by water environment quality, and release the lists of top 10 cities with the best/worst water quality. Also, a platform for disclosing the industry’s environmental information will be established to make public the environmental information of major polluters in a timely approach.
With regard to the sharing of environmental information in key areas, the Ministry disclosed all sorts of information, including, inter alia, on the central environmental protection inspection and the state of the environment in China.
Thirty-eight pieces of information were released in respect of the stationing of the central environmental protection inspection teams, the feedback of the inspection, and the rectifications made accordingly. Each of the inspection teams urged the target area to make public how the environmental problems reported by the public have been investigated and handled on the major news outlets and government website of the prefectural city concerned, as well as the provincial environmental protection department, in the specified form and with the specified content.
The annual Report on the State of the Environment in China, the Report on the Environmental Quality of Near-shore Sea Areas, the Bulletin on the Ecological and Environmental Monitoring Results of the Three Gorges Project were released, and the Report on the Environmental Quality in China was published, making full disclosure of the ecological and environmental conditions in China last year. More efforts were made to share information on specific areas including the air, water, and soil environment quality.
The Guidelines on Sharing Information on the Environmental Impact Assessment of Construction Projects (on trial) was implemented, making public the information on the environmental impact assessment of construction projects and the acceptance check upon their completion, as well as the accepting, reviewing, and granting of environmental impact assessment qualifications.
Also, based on the monitoring data released by the provinces (autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government) on pollution sources, the Ministry organized internet-based random checks and verified the released information.
Monthly plans were made for the implementation of the supplementary measures of the environment protection law, in addition to the monthly analysis of such implementation, and the information was made public. Twenty-one typical cases were circulated. Thirty-six cities were publicly criticized in three notices for inefficient implementation of the said measures.
The mechanisms for sharing the information on nuclear and radiation safety regulation were improved, and the Plan of MEP (NNSA) for Sharing Information on Nuclear and Radiation Safety Regulation was amended, in order to urge the nuclear-related companies to make public their environmental performance in a timely fashion.
More efforts were made to release information on the responses to and investigations on major and serious environmental emergencies, and an active attitude was taken to address the public concerns. The Ministry posted 13 notices in 2016 to disclose how the 802 problems reported by the public and 37 typical cases had been handled.
With regard to the developments on the information sharing platforms, the Ministry had its official website redesigned, and opened the “MEP release” microblog account and WeChat public account last year, in order to release information in a timely approach. As a result, the information was able to be released on the Ministry’s government website, microblog account, WeChat account, and client devices. Besides, a preliminary national platform for sharing information on key polluters was established.
With regard to expanding the scope and channels for voluntary sharing of government information, in 2016, MEP released the fiscal funds, policies, laws, and regulations and other government information, in addition to the information on the handling of NPC proposals and CPPCC recommendations, and the straightening-out of the department rules, regulations, and regulatory documents, on its official website, microblog account, WeChat account, client devices, CENEWS, and bulletins.
The Ministry received 499 requests for sharing government information last year, all of which were responded to in accordance with regulations, free of charge.
（Source：MEP）
