In order to improve the environmental impact assessment, it is recommended to strengthen the comprehensiveness and accuracy of the preliminary assessment, establish the institutional arrangements and financial support mechanisms for the later evaluation, ensure that the necessary post-evaluation can be carried out after the completion of the project, and strengthen the scientificity and fairness of the environmental assessment.
As an important part of environmental management, environmental impact assessment is a science and technology developed on the basis of environmental monitoring technology, pollutant diffusion law, environmental quality on human health, and nature's self-purification ability. It is not only a description of the current state of the environment, but also a prediction and assessment of the future development trend of the environment. Now, 20 years have passed since the full implementation of the National Environmental Impact Assessment Law, and it is undeniable that some relevant laws and regulations have seriously lagged behind.
ObjectiveThrough continuous improvement of evaluation methods and strengthened social supervision, the environment can be better protected and sustainable development can be ensured. Photo by Ning Ying
How to do a good environmental impact assessment
Environmental impact assessment is divided into pre-construction and post-construction, however, it is very difficult to do a good job in environmental impact assessment, whether it is pre-construction or post-assessment. Zhou Jinfeng, vice chairman and secretary general of the China Biodiversity Conservation and Green Development Foundation (hereinafter referred to as the Green Society), said that firstly, the early evaluation often lacks comprehensiveness and accuracy, which makes it difficult to carry out the later work smoothly. Moreover, a large amount of evaluation is based on estimates and assumptions, and there is a lack of sufficient factual and actual data. Second, post-evaluation often does not receive enough attention and lacks the necessary institutional arrangements and financial support. As a result, many projects do not carry out the necessary post-evaluation after completion, and the existing problems cannot be identified and corrected in a timely manner.
Zhou Jinfeng pointed out that it is necessary to start from now and seriously and strictly carry out post-environmental impact assessment. The method of post-environmental impact assessment can not only make up for the shortcomings of the pre-evaluation of the project itself, but also reveal a large number of facts, data and results, which is of great value, and lays a foundation for guiding the environmental impact assessment work of other projects before and after construction in the future. Just like getting up after a fall and summing up experience, failure is the mother of success, and only through failure can we continue to grow. "A post-environmental assessment is not just an afterthought, it has a lot of possible remedial options. If we don't evaluate and summarize a job after completing it, it's like not checking exams or assignments, and it's hard to improve our performance. Therefore, for projects that have a significant impact on the environment, post-evaluation is crucial. Zhou Jinfeng told the reporter of "Xiaokang" magazine and China's Xiaokang Network.
In fact, post-evaluation of environmental impacts and subsequent accountability and improvement are essential. When conducting an environmental impact assessment, it is necessary to take into account the possible impacts, solutions and subsequent realities. This continuous evaluation and improvement is essential, as it is difficult for a large project to be completely environmentally sound. By constantly summarizing experience, we can improve our understanding of things and provide reference for future work. Environmental impact assessment is a complex and important work, and in the world, some countries have clear regulations on the post-assessment of environmental impact, and this institutional arrangement is more conducive to the fair evaluation of the impact of the project. Globally, social forces play a key role in driving post-evaluation. Through continuous improvement of evaluation methods and strengthened social supervision, the environment can be better protected and sustainable development ensured.
In China, there are few projects that do a relatively good job in post-environmental impact assessment, but there are also local governments and relevant institutions that are quietly working hard. In March this year, the Sand Mining Administration of Jiujiang City, Jiangxi Province issued the "First Information Publicity of the Environmental Impact Assessment Report of the Sand Mining Plan of Poyang Lake in Jiangxi Province (2024~2028)", and publicly solicited opinions from the public. The gravel layer at the bottom of the lake is an important part of the lake wetland ecosystem, which is not only related to the survival and migration of benthic organisms in the lake, but also related to the coastal plants and many migratory birds in Poyang Lake at different times of the annual wet and dry seasons. It is of great significance that the public or village committees, enterprises and institutions and other social organizations inside and outside the scope of the sand mining operation plan can participate in this EIA.
In order to improve the environmental impact assessment work, Zhou Jinfeng suggested that there are many aspects to start. First of all, the comprehensiveness and accuracy of the preliminary evaluation should be strengthened, and various possible environmental impact factors should be fully considered. Secondly, the institutional arrangements and financial support mechanisms for post-evaluation should be established to ensure that the necessary post-evaluation can be carried out after the completion of the project. In addition, there is a need to strengthen the scientific and impartial nature of environmental assessment and avoid specious conclusions and absurd practices. When conducting environmental assessments, it is necessary for third parties to participate scientifically and impartially so that objective conclusions can be drawn. Science needs to be practical, openly argued and refuted, not aimless. A lack of scientific approach can lead to absurdity of understanding. Therefore, there is a need for a comprehensive assessment of environmental impacts in order to better plan for future work.
Post-Three Gorges Project Environmental Impact Assessment
As the country's most important instrument and the world's largest water conservancy project, the Three Gorges Project has been fully completed and operated for 15 years, and has formed practical problems with the implementation of the "Yangtze River Protection Law" at this stage.
The proposal pointed out that in the 15 years after the completion and commissioning of the Three Gorges Project, although there have been research summaries on its shipping value, power generation efficiency, and contribution to energy transition, it is not very systematic and comprehensive, and so far no relevant documents have been published for the completion and acceptance of the project, and no corresponding and complete environmental impact assessment of major construction projects has been carried out. This situation has caused practical problems to the protection and construction of the whole Yangtze River basin, as well as the subsequent construction of major construction projects. Taking the Poyang Lake Water Conservancy Project as an example, one of the most important reasons for Jiangxi Province's repeated proposals for the construction of the Poyang Lake Water Conservancy Project in recent years is that since the construction of the Three Gorges Project, the water coming from the main stream of the Yangtze River into Poyang Lake has been greatly reduced every autumn, and the autumn drought in Poyang Lake has intensified. The Three Gorges Project plays a pivotal role in the regulation of water and sediment in the entire Yangtze River basin. In the 15 years since the project was fully completed and put into operation, it is impossible to know the real situation of the change of water and sediment in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, whether corresponding measures have been taken to adjust the amount and intensity of water in the dry season, the proportion of ecological water retained, and the impact on aquatic organisms, because of the lack of comprehensive and objective evaluation. If the post-environmental impact assessment of the construction project is carried out, a relatively rational conclusion can be drawn, which can provide a scientific demonstration for whether the Poyang Lake should be built, and provide a more comprehensive and systematic solution for how to deal with or solve the autumn drought problem of Poyang Lake, so as to effectively promote the construction of ecological civilization in the Yangtze River Basin. Similarly, there is an urgent need to comprehensively assess and study the geological and biological impacts on the upper reaches of the Yangtze River.
The Green Society Research Office pointed out that the environmental impact assessment after the Three Gorges Project can be carried out as soon as possible to keep pace with the times, achieve effective docking and convergence with the national Environmental Impact Assessment Law, the Administrative Measures for Environmental Impact Assessment of Construction Projects (Trial) and the Yangtze River Protection Law implemented in 2021, and promote the improvement and implementation of a series of laws and regulations, provide an example and set an example for the sustainable development of the Yangtze River Basin, and promote the development of national ecological civilization. The General Provisions of the Yangtze River Protection Law require that "the protection of the Yangtze River shall adhere to overall coordination, scientific planning, innovation-driven, and systematic governance." At the same time, Article 31 stipulates: "The ecological flow of the main stream, important tributaries and important lakes of the Yangtze River shall be controlled, and the water conservancy, hydropower, shipping hubs and other projects in these key ecological areas shall be included in the daily operation and scheduling." "The Three Gorges Project is no exception. In the process of environmental impact assessment after the Three Gorges Project is launched, it is also necessary to consider the implementation of the daily operation and scheduling of ecological water use, which will have a far-reaching impact on Poyang Lake and even the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River.
Therefore, the Green Society recommends that the post-Three Gorges Project environmental impact assessment work be carried out as soon as possible, and that the construction of large-scale water conservancy projects in the middle and lower reaches of the important rivers and lakes affected by the Three Gorges Project should not be approved again before a comprehensive assessment of the post-project environmental impact of the Three Gorges Project has been made. Because the premise of the construction is not clear, it is likely to make wrong judgments, which will lead to the adoption of a solution that repeatedly patches historical mistakes, which will bring heavy losses, and the second is that it violates the principle of "overall coordination, scientific planning, innovation-driven, and systematic governance" and related requirements in the Yangtze River Protection Law.