Environment Ministry wants more info on projects

The Ministry of Environmental Protection has told its provincial organizations to release more information on major projects and to seek a wide range of public opinion on them.

The request comes in a notice published on the ministry website on Tuesday. This urges provincial organizations to realize the importance of information disclosure, and to improve their work.

The notice says the organizations should enhance their work on disclosing information related to environmental examination and approval, and ensure that administrative procedures are more transparent.

Environmental information on major industries, listed companies and construction projects are given special mention in the notice.

In case of emergencies, local environmental protection authorities are told to deal with these in a timely and open way and keep the public informed of progress.

The notice says disclosure of information will be used as a major evaluation standard in assessing the work of local authorities.

A timeline for monitoring air quality was also set in the notice, with 74 cities, including municipalities and provincial capitals, asked to carry out air monitoring in 2012 and start disclosing the information by the end of this year.

Nationwide disclosure of air quality information in cities of prefecture level and above will be attained by the end of 2015, the notice says.