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Cleaning Up Contaminated Sites in Urban China: Who Should Be Liable?

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International Yearbook of Soil Law and Policy 2018

Part of the book series: International Yearbook of Soil Law and Policy ((IYSLP,volume 2018))

Abstract

The management of contaminated sites in urban China, especially concerning the question ‘who is obliged to clean up the contamination’, has become the difficult focus of the legal system governing soil contamination. Based on the analysis of the main conflicting interests in the origins and management of contaminated sites in cities, this article identifies basic principles and main issues in finding responsible parties within the context of the Chinese legal system, land ownership regime, etc. Then the article attempts to identify which parties may be held liable for remediating contaminated land in urban areas and provides suggestions for national legislation regarding ongoing land contamination.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Xie and Li (2010), p. 3.

  2. 2.

    Xie and Li (2010), p. 3.

  3. 3.

    Since 2001, cities in China, starting from the wealthier ones, are attempting to redesign city planning from their former reliance on heavy industry into centres for tertiary sectors, including finance and technology. Thus, factories are required to relocate out of urban areas. For example, Beijing initiated movement of its factories through enforcement of the Measures on Relocation of Polluted Factories in 1995; however, the substantial movement was launched when Beijing won the privilege of hosting the 2008 Olympic Game. See Meng et al. (2007). Even though the overall statistics on contaminated land are still unavailable, the scale of land contamination is estimated to be high, e.g., 20–30% of the sites where polluting factories were formerly located could have soil contamination or underground water pollution at different levels. See, Yuan and Xie (2012).

  4. 4.

    The first landmark incident involving soil contamination in China was when three workers were poisoned during construction of the Songzhuang Subway Station in Beijing. The reason was that the site had formerly been an insecticide plant. Since then, land contamination in urban areas has gradually become a more noticeable issue.

  5. 5.

    Researchers in U.S. estimated that the average cost of a clean-up was 25–50 million US dollars. See Italiano et al. (1996).

  6. 6.

    In China, rural land belongs to the collective organisations of farmers. Farmers can possess land usufructuary rights through land contracts. Urban land belongs to the State. Enterprises, individuals and other organisations possess land usufructuary rights through transfer from the government or other usufructuary rights owners. See Qu et al. (1995).

  7. 7.

    One typical case is Friend of Nature, China Biodiversity and Green Development Foundation v. Changlong Agrochemical Co., Ltd and Changzhou Changyu Chemical Co. Ltd. The plaintiffs have appealed to the high court of Jiangsu Province.

  8. 8.

    Law on Prevention and Control of Soil Pollution in China is under the second round of legislative scrutiny by the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress. More information can be obtained via http://www.npc.gov.cn/npc/lfzt/rlyw/node_32834.htm.

  9. 9.

    For more information about the site remediation program, please refer to http://www.hjxf.net/case/2009/1201/article_27.html.

  10. 10.

    Zhao (2009).

  11. 11.

    Another remediation programme adopting a similar liability allocation patterns is the Beijing Dyeware Factory site remediation programme, for example. For more information about that, please see http://www.hjxf.net/case/2009/1201/article_28.html.

  12. 12.

    State Council No. 31, 2016.

  13. 13.

    Local protectionism is popular in balancing economic growth and environmental protection at local levels in China, although the severity varies across regions.

  14. 14.

    Van Rooij (2006).

  15. 15.

    Slattum (1997).

  16. 16.

    Judy and Probst (2009).

  17. 17.

    Hedeman et al. (1991).

  18. 18.

    Gergen (1994).

  19. 19.

    Kang (2006).

  20. 20.

    Danahy (2000).

  21. 21.

    Strict liability is applied to activities listed in Annex III of the Directive on Environmental Liability with Regard to The Prevention and Remedying of Environmental Damages.

  22. 22.

    In the Flemish region of Belgium, fault-based liability applies to historical contamination, whilst strict liability applies to new liability according to the Flemish Soil Remediation Decree.

  23. 23.

    Percival et al. (2011).

  24. 24.

    Munzer (1977).

  25. 25.

    Fuller (1964).

  26. 26.

    Fisch (1997).

  27. 27.

    According to estimations in the US context, the average cost of clean-up is $30 million per site. See Church and Nakamura (1993).

  28. 28.

    See Glicksman (1993).

  29. 29.

    See Roberts (1987).

  30. 30.

    Liu (2005).

  31. 31.

    Zhang (2006).

  32. 32.

    Zhao and Qiao (2000), pp. 176–177.

  33. 33.

    Zhao and Qiao (2000), pp. 190–192.

  34. 34.

    Chen (2004), p. 45.

  35. 35.

    Pu et al. (2012).

  36. 36.

    Percival et al. (2011).

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Acknowledgement

The author gratefully acknowledge funding from the National Social Science Foundation of China “Research on Land Contamination Liability” (Youth Program, Grant No. 16CFX053).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Law, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China

    Huanhuan Wang

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  1. Huanhuan Wang
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Correspondence to Huanhuan Wang .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. German Environment Agency, Dessau, Germany

    Harald Ginzky

  2. University of Exeter, Exeter, UK

    Elizabeth Dooley

  3. Specialist Group on Sustainable Soils and Desertification, IUCN World Commission on Environmental Law, Kleinmachnow, Germany

    Irene L. Heuser

  4. Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda

    Emmanuel Kasimbazi

  5. Research Centre for European Environmental Law, University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany

    Till Markus

  6. Research Institute of Environmental Law, Wuhan University, Wuhan, China

    Tianbao Qin

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Wang, H. (2019). Cleaning Up Contaminated Sites in Urban China: Who Should Be Liable?. In: Ginzky, H., Dooley, E., Heuser, I., Kasimbazi, E., Markus, T., Qin, T. (eds) International Yearbook of Soil Law and Policy 2018. International Yearbook of Soil Law and Policy, vol 2018. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-00758-4_8

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