On The Priority Principle Of Environmental Protection

With the increasingly serious environmental problems, environmental protection work has attracted attention from all circles of the society, how to effectively implement the concept of environmental protection and environmental laws and policies have been of great concern. On April 24,2014, the Standing Committee of the NPC presented the priority principle of environmental protection in the revised Environmental Protection Law,which was established in the principle of environmental law the firstly. This paper analyzed the connotation of the principle and discussed the relationship between the principle and concepts of sustainable development as well as the principle of coordinated development. And then it demonstrated that the legitimacy of establishing the principle lies in meeting human needs to improve the living environment and the requirements of environmental justice idea. The necessity of establishing the principle lies in intensifying the conflict between environmental interests and economic interests and increasing of public awareness of environmental protection. The feasibility of establishing the principle lies in supporting practical experience and related policies. This principle is reflected by the relevant environmental legislation, and put into practice mainly by the planning system of environmental protection, the environment impact assessment and the compensation system of ecological protection. Finally, it put forward that there exists many difficulties to implement the principle by relevant systems, and then it came up with effective carrying out the principle through the analysis of existing problems. At last, it has put forward the related legal advice to build environmental planning act, optimize the environment impact assessment and formulate the compensation rules of ecological protection.