China's State Environment Protection Administration has refused to hand out environmental protection approvals to twelve industrial projects that have failed to invite the public to assess their pollution control measures.
According to Pan Yue, deputy director of SEPA, 43 projects, with a combined investment of RMB160 billion, have been halted by SEPA in the past year. Among them, 29 were in the highly polluting industries such as coal-burning power stations and various chemical plants. Until now, 31 of those 43 protects have been granted the necessary approval after they carried out public opinion consultations, but the remaining 12 are still paused until they have open forums with the public.
In March last year, SEPA issued provisional regulations to require industrial project managers to consult the public via surveys or hearings for their opinion on proposed projects' potential impact on the environment.
