Study On The Application Of The Compensation System For Ecological And Environmental Damages

In recent years,in order to put into practice the ecological concept of "green water and green mountains are the silver mountain of gold",the country has adhered to and implemented the strictest ecological environmental protection system,which began to be piloted in some areas at the end of 2015 and was officially implemented nationwide from 1January 2018.After the in-depth promotion of the reform,the Ministry of Ecology and Environment,together with the Supreme Court,the Supreme Prosecutor,the Ministry of Justice,the Ministry of Public Security and other departments,issued the Regulations on the Administration of Compensation for Damage to the Ecological Environment this year,and an ecological and environmental damage compensation system with clear responsibilities,smooth access,technical specifications,strong protection,compensation in place and effective restoration was basically completed.Provincial and municipal governments are authorised by the State Council to act as compensation rights holders within their administrative regions,and their rights are based on the state’s ownership and management of the ecological environment and natural resources.The professional advantages that administrative organs have in dealing with ecological and environmental damage cases,the cost advantages that come from consultation as a preliminary procedure,and the effectiveness in actually repairing the consequences of ecological and environmental damage and promoting long-term ecological governance,are incomparable to legal systems with homogeneity,such as environmental public interest litigation.These comparative advantages are also very well reflected in typical cases.So,how to make the most of the ecological and environmental damage compensation system,with the relevant system for effective interface,is a problem that we must seriously face.The scope of application is the primary issue of the system.The national top-level design has always limited the scope of application to larger and higher environmental emergencies,environmental pollution and ecological damage incidents that occur in key ecological function zones and prohibited development zones delineated in the national and provincial main function zone plans,and other serious incidents affecting the ecological environment.An observation of the two batches of typical cases released by the Ministry of Ecology and Environment shows that they are basically cases of damage to multiple environmental elements,cases of joint pollution by multiple responsible entities,cases of cross-administrative pollution and cases where it is difficult to obtain evidence and to identify the actual damage,etc.The compensation costs involved are also relatively high,up to RMB 240 million.The actual application of these circumstances is in line with the design of the system,which is the interpretation and concretization of the "serious impact on the ecological environment".At the same time,local practice has expanded the scope of application to include cases with minor damage results and modest compensation costs,as well as general environmental emergencies and incidents of environmental pollution and ecological damage occurring outside specific regions,with good results.Therefore,from the perspective of giving full play to the comparative advantages of the system,the scope of application can be optimised so that all cases of environmental pollution and ecological damage that cause actual damage to the ecological environment can be included,and the restriction on specific regions can be removed.After expanding the scope of application,in the maintenance of environmental public interest as the fundamental purpose,inevitably there will be crossover with other procedures,such as administrative public interest litigation,civil public interest litigation,criminal incidental civil public interest litigation,etc.,in order to effectively protect the rights of other rights subjects,need to do a good job with the relevant procedures between the interface,to avoid causing a waste of judicial resources.After analysis at the theoretical level,as well as attention to the advantages of consultation in practice,it is believed that in principle the ecological and environmental damage compensation procedure takes precedence.At the same time,a strong guarantee can be provided for the articulation of relevant procedures by establishing a joint system of departments,bringing into play the legal supervision of the procuratorial authorities as well as strengthening the specific cooperation in individual cases.