Comics: Yan Qingxiong
An EIA report can be compiled by plagiarism in half an hour, and the EIA engineer goes to the site to investigate and pose, and some have never been to the site, and many report compilers sign on behalf of them...... So far in 2023, many provinces and cities in China have exposed typical cases of EIA fraud. A recent EIA fraud case heard by the Jiujiang Court in Jiangxi Province shows that in less than a year, the criminals involved in the case issued false EIA reports for 753 enterprises across the country with only one EIA technician, and basically passed the approval of the local ecological environment department. In this issue, we invite 3 guests to discuss this topic.
■ Moderator: Yin Chuangang
■ Guest: Zhang Jingwei (Scholar, Columnist)
Liu Guoqiang (Dean, Professor, Doctoral Supervisor, School of Journalism and Communication, Sichuan University of Foreign Chinese)
Wu Lichuan (Media Commentator)
Environmental impact assessment is the first line of defense to protect lucid waters and lush mountains in development. In recent years, environmental impact assessment fraud has been common. Why is this happening?
Wu Lichuan: In reality, some projects have damaged the natural ecology, and the consequences are serious and difficult to repair, and the lessons are very profound. A strict environmental impact assessment system is a must. Some newly started projects lack scientific research, and even are the result of "disease" on the road, and it is impossible to pass the environmental impact assessment according to the regulations. However, in order to pass smoothly, some units have started crooked tricks and deliberately choose "low-price" and "obedient" EIA agencies. In order to get business, some EIA agencies deliberately meet and give EIA to what EIA, and the quality of EIA is not guaranteed at all. Some EIA agencies often engage in vicious competition with each other, often "lowering their profile" in order to meet the requirements of "employers".
Liu Guoqiang: I think there are two main reasons. First, the tension between the strong professionalism of the EIA work and the standardization and simplicity of the EIA report. The EIA report should be based on an independent, in-depth on-site investigation by the EIA. However, the form of the EIA report itself is not complicated, if there is intentional fraud and plagiarism, you can quickly compile an EIA report, such a report is signed and approved by the EIA, and the environmental protection approval department can basically be approved; This provides an opportunity for EIA companies to build an EIA fraud industry chain as an intermediary. They can take on a lot of business by bribing EIAs who lack professional ethics and avoiding penalties for violations through multiple registered companies. The most important point is that the more such an EIA company, the more favored by the EIA party, and the more formal and serious the EIA agency, the less popular it may be.
Zhang Jingwei: The EIA is not to endorse the project construction unit, but to be responsible for the ecological environment and future development. There is a serious process for preparing an EIA report, and the on-site monitoring, ecological survey, and related data parameters should be realistic, and it takes at least a week to complete a compliant EIA report. However, there is now a formatted template for the EIA report, which only needs to be filled in with key parameters and conclusions according to the common format and presentation. Formatting the template saves the time and cost of preparing environmental protection reports, but it also leads to the formalism of the EIA report, and it becomes easier to falsify. In addition, there is also formalism in the approval process, many experts only look at the paper text and do not ask about the on-site situation, only look at the numerical parameters and do not ask whether they are true, and only check the box without verifying the facts. The EIA is not to endorse the project construction unit, but to be responsible for the ecological environment and future development.
What problems are exposed behind the rampant "EIA report traffickers"?
Wu Lichuan: Some experts hired by environmental protection departments are accustomed to doing things on paper and don't visit them on the spot, which gives the EIA a chance to be faked. In reality, some plagiarized EIA reports, although Zhang Guan Li Dai left obvious traces of fraud, can still pass the approval, behind this, there may also be benefits transferred. The EIA agencies are mixed, but there are always fish that slip through the net, indicating that the supervision is not in place and the expulsion mechanism is not perfect.
Zhang Jingwei: The assessment experts of the environmental department only conduct a "paper review" of the EIA report without on-site verification, which makes the environmental assessment a mere formality and superficial. In addition, the on-site questioning of the approval process is not in place or missing, making it easy for the fraudulent EIA report to pass. It is not excluded that there is a trick in the approval process, which has become a link in the improper interest chain of false EIA reports. Of course, due to the large volume of EIA approval business and the lack of assessment experts, it is impossible for the review experts to conduct a full-process risk check on each EIA report, resulting in a false report easily passing the test. False EIA reports, which can be repeatedly approved, show that there are loopholes in the existing assessment system. If the environmental impact assessment is "going through the motions", environmental protection will be "out of defense" at all levels.
Liu Guoqiang: First, some enterprises lack environmental awareness and social responsibility. The rampant "traffickers of false environmental impact assessment reports" is based on the fact that a large number of enterprises ignore their social responsibilities for environmental protection; The lack of regulatory management of the qualifications of EIA companies by the environmental protection authorities often fails to detect violations in a timely manner, and even if a "blacklist" of EIAs is established, these companies can still continue to conduct business through affiliated enterprises.
Quality is the lifeblood of the EIA report, and it is a great responsibility to protect this lifeline. How to control false EIA reports at the source?
Wu Lichuan: First of all, it is necessary to firmly establish the development and ecological concept that environmental impact assessment is the first line of defense for lucid waters and lush mountains. The role of EIA cannot be weakened. It is necessary to strengthen the main responsibility of local environmental protection departments and construction units in environmental impact assessment affairs.
Second, use the power of the rule of law to strengthen punishment. Severely punish the fraud of environmental impact assessment in accordance with the law, and show no mercy. The amendment to the Criminal Law amended in 2020 clarifies that if the assessment opinion is falsified, criminal liability will be borne. The law is very clear, and only by curbing chaos in accordance with the law can the deterrent effect be enhanced. EIA agencies that break the law and commit crimes must be severely punished, and a blacklist must be issued to expel "bad money" from the field.
Zhang Jingwei: It is necessary to raise the cost of violating the law, so that all parties involved in the false EIA report will pay a higher price, so that they will not dare to falsify. In a society governed by the rule of law, it is a proper duty to implement governance at the source through the rule of law. The sentencing of several defendants in the EIA fraud case heard by the Jiujiang Court highlights that EIA fraud will not only be subject to administrative penalties, but will also be convicted and sentenced for it. This is a wake-up call for "fake EIA report mongers" everywhere.
Liu Guoqiang: First, strengthen publicity and education. The second is to strengthen the supervision of the environmental impact assessment industry. Strengthen the supervision of EIA enterprises, pay attention to the linkage of environmental protection departments in multiple provinces, and prevent the occurrence of legal representatives and shareholders of EIA enterprises in different provinces at the same time to register multiple EIA companies; For example, if the EIA report sampling system is implemented, one or two important environmental indicators will be randomly selected for on-site verification by the evaluation experts, so as to avoid the phenomenon that the evaluation experts of the environmental protection department only focus on the "paper review" and are not clear about the on-site situation.
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