Necessary to plug environmental impact assessment holes

ENVIRONMENTAL impact assessments are the first line of defense to curb environmental pollution, and public participation is a key part of the EIA system. It is an important measure to protect the public's right to know and supervise the environment. If the public participation is not "real", the environmental impact assessment will be compromised. Beijing News comments:

The Ministry of Ecology and Environment recently issued Measures for Public Participation in Environmental Impact Assessments, which puts forward clearer requirements for the scope, form, disclosure content and supervision of public participation in an environmental impact assessment.

The previous regulation was issued in 2006 by the then General Administration on Environmental Protection. It vowed to protect the public's right to participate in environmental impact evaluations, but without any providing details. In practice, that left many loopholes that could be exploited.