Data tamperers face tough penalties

False readings are an open secret - but now perpetrators risk criminal charges

A new judicial interpretation from China's top court and procuratorate has been added to the country's list of environmental crimes. Now, anyone who falsifies data to avoid pollution regulation will be subject to prosecution.

The move is expected to help regulate behavior by companies, monitoring agencies and governments.

The interpretation, which took effect on Jan 1, is the third to deal with pollution since 1997 and represents a big step in the country's progress toward accurate and authentic environmental data.

The judicial interpretations specify actions to which Chinese Criminal Law applies, making the rules easier to enforce. The environmental data include what is collected from the monitoring equipment of companies that discharge water and airborne pollutants, and air, water and soil quality measurements from stations set up by governments.

As China has drawn attention over its environmental protection efforts, the data have come to play an increasingly important role in providing policymakers with an accurate picture as they frame public policy.

The newly released judicial interpretation says that any major pollutant emitters that tamper with or fabricate monitoring data, or that interfere with the normal operation of monitoring equipment, can be criminally prosecuted and face three to seven years imprisonment and fines in cases with severe consequences.

Other new stipulations target agencies that provide monitoring equipment and services, as well as government officials who falsify the record.

It's the first time that such acts have been made punishable as crimes. In the past, they were only punished by administrative penalties, such as 15-days of detention.

Currently, the falsification of data by some companies is an open secret, and a thorny problem in the environmental protection efforts of governments at all levels, because it hinders their ability to control pollution - a top priority for both leaders and the public.

Some companies may deliberately tamper with the monitoring data to reduce the cost of maintaining equipment or to avoid fines if the authorities were to discover excessive emissions.

Now, officials may be punished or barred from job promotions if they falsified data. Punishments also apply to environmental bureaus.

In the past, there was little risk in falsifying data to reflect better performance.

In March, equipment at an air quality monitoring station in Xi'an city of Shaanxi province was found covered with cotton yarn to filter the air and lower pollution readings to avoid punitive action. But no criminal penalty was attached to the act at that time.

Such violations will be punished strictly under the new judicial interpretation, to deter other officials from misbehavior.

Agencies providing monitoring equipment and services will be subject to regulation. Individual violators could face a penalty of more than five years in prison.

China has confronted many issues as it has enacted a range of environmental pollution controls, especially in efforts to reduce the number of smoggy days to satisfy public demand for clean air and a healthy life.

To make progress, the central government has already adopted a number of measures, including the issuance of new regulations and launching of national action plans targeting air, water and soil pollution.

But the legal step of adding criminal penalties may be be the most effective and powerful weapon to date.

Moreover, governments need to better utilize market rules to induce companies to upgrade their production equipment and technologies willingly, and to guide related service agencies to establish and maintain a good reputation by providing authentic and accurate data, which can only help them retain market share in a growing field.

Ma Yong is a researcher at the Environmental Theory Research Center under the Supreme People's Court, and deputy secretary-general of the China Biodiversity Conservation and Green Development Foundation. The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.

(China Daily European Weekly 01/06/2017 page8)