Report on soil pollution prevention law submitted to top legislature for deliberation

BEIJING -- A report on the enforcement of the law for the prevention and control of soil pollution was submitted Thursday to the ongoing session of China's top legislature for deliberation.

The report, prepared by an inspection team under the National People's Congress Standing Committee, suggested stricter management of access to land for construction purposes, to ensure the safety of people's living environment.

A mechanism for inter-department joint supervision should be established and improved, and access management should also be improved with a focus on enhancing oversight of the purpose change and use right transfer of land for production and business purposes of key entities subject to soil pollution supervision, according to the report.

Risk control of construction land needs to be urgently strengthened, the report said, noting that some enterprises have rushed to develop and utilize certain construction land plots that did not meet the requirements of soil pollution risk management and control as well as remediation objectives.

The report also said that since the law went into effect on Jan 1, 2019, all regions and departments have taken a raft of effective measures that prevented pollution from worsening and ensured the overall stability of soil quality.