On Legislation Of Strategic Environmental Assessment

The system of environmental impact assessment is one of the most basic legal systems in Environmental Protection Law. China is one of the earliest developing countries who have enforced the system of environmental impact assessment, whose scope of the system was confined to the specific construction projects, not including the strategies such as the laws, the policies and the plans. In October 2002, the Congress of China enacted the law of Environmental Impact Assessment, in which the environmental impact of plans of the governments are obligated to be assessed. The enforcement of the law, the author believes, will play an important role in preventing the harmful environmental impact resulted from the implement the plans of governments, attaining the sustainable development of the economy , the environment and the natural resources.The thesis is composed of three parts.Part One includes three views. First, the main distinguishing features of the strategic Environmental Assessment in China are generalized. Second, the necessity of legislation of the new system is expounded, which can be seen as the inevitable choice to protect the environment and the natural resources, the inherent demand for the synthetically policy-making and the basic safeguard for the sustainable development of economy and environment. At last, the feasibility of the legislation of the new system is also analyzed and demonstrated.Part Two: comment on the pattern of the system of the environmental impact assessment in America and the pattern of the system of the ecological appraisal in Russia. After generalization themain features from each system, the author concludes that China should mainly model on the pattern of Russia, which is the state-trientated pattern, at the same time. Using the pattern of America for reference, which is the society-orientated pattern.Part Three: Legislative amelioration of the system of strategic environmental impact assessment in China. At first, the author generalizes six basic principles such as independence, objectivity, being open and just, synthetically appraisal, which can lead the environmental impact assessment. Then the author advances feasible measures to improve the law. The assessment scope should be extended to such a degree that all the laws, policies of the government are obligated to be assess; A new mechanism should be established to exercise the assessment powers exclusively; Legal effects should be conferred to the assessment conclusions; Alternative schemes should be added to the content of assessment reports, too.