On China’s Environmental Protection Legal System Of Shale Gas Development And Utilization

Shale gas is a kind of new unconventional natural gas. In China, shale gas is regarded as an independent mineral. It has the characteristics of a long exploitation life, wide distribution and special way of gas reservoirs form, moreover there are abundant reserves in the world and in China. Shale gas development and utilization can lead to the waste of water resources, water pollution, air pollution and other environment pollutions and ecological damages. China currently is lack of effective legal regulation on shale gas development and utilization. Because of this reason, there are some problems in the environment protection legal system of shale gas exploitation and utilization.In terms of different functions, the environment protection legal system of shale gas exploitation and utilization can divided into risk prevention legal system, controlling and regulation legal system, and supporting and remedy legal system. Risk prevention legal system is one that in order to prevent the environment pollutions and ecological damages which induced by shale gas development and utilization. In the field of risk prevention legal system, environmental impact assessment(EIA) and information disclosure system are the typical legal system. On the aspect of environmental impact assessment, there are include some problems, such as lack of the special guideline, the principal part are unprofessional, incomplete EIA scopes, public participation is limit, etc. Therefore, we should extend the EIA scopes, establish the full-range dynamic assessment process, strengthen the public participation and improve the employee’s ability, etc. On the aspect of information disclosure system also have some problems, such as the scope of information disclosure system is fuzzy, applicants for information disclosure are too narrow, the responsibility of the enterprise information is incomplete and relief methods are unsound, etc. Therefore, the specific content of information disclosure should be explicated, strengthen the information disclosure responsibility of enterprises and reinforce the information disclosure relief.Controlling and regulation legal system refers to through supervision, regulation and control methods to avoid or reduce the negative environmental impact during the shale gas exploitation and utilization process. The typical controlling and regulation legal system includes environmental protection permit system and environmental standard system. The main problems for environmental protection permit system include the mining right property is unclear, less efficient supervision in advanced stage, lack of special shale gas emission trading procedure. Therefore, government should clear mining property right, practice effective dynamic permission supervision mechanism, construction shale gas emission trading system. The main problems for environmental standard system include lack of environmental standard and relevant laws and regulations, incomplete equipped measures for environmental standard. Therefore, we should set up shale gas environmental standard, strengthen the environmental standard supervise mechanism, improve the equipped measures, etc.Supporting and remedy legal system refers to providing remedy and help to the principal of environmental and property rights are violated. The typical supporting and remedy legal system includes fiscal system and ecological compensation system. The main problems of fiscal system include no special fiscal rules to stipulate environmental protection, lack of support to clean energy technologies, etc. Therefore, for shale gas development and utilization of environmental protection, government should institute feasible policies and increase financial input, etc. The main problems of ecological compensation system include lack of enough legal basis, mineral resources institution of taxation and fee is not sound, etc. Therefore, government should improve laws and regulations, sound ecological compensation system taxation and fee system, formula relevant matching measures, etc.