A Study On The Legalization Of The River And Lake Chief System

In the face of the defects with fragmented governance of basins,it is objectively necessary to establish an integrated governance mechanism of basins to integrate the main participants,means,and elements of governance,which is aimed at transformation from fragmentation to holistic governance.In this context,the river and lake chief system was born.Since 2016,the river and lake chief system has been promoted and implemented throughout China,with General Secretary Xi Jinping personally making plans and advancing this system.According to the requirements of legalization,the appointment,responsibility fulfillment,supervision,assessment,accountability,and other mechanisms in relation to river and lake chiefs should be institutionalized and standardized.The rule of law,which is standardized and compulsory,should be utilized to improve the governance efficacy of river and lake chiefs and boost the green development of rivers and lakes.Based on the above,the legalization of the river and lake chief system has become a topic that needs to be urgently studied.“The chief of lake and river” is the main person in charge of party committees or governments at all levels who assume the main responsibility for the management and protection of inland rivers and lakes in the administrative region.The “river and lake chief system” is a system,which is the general term for a series of institutional norms such as the appointment,operation,supervision,assessment,and accountability of the river and lake chiefs.In essence,the river and lake chief system is a responsibility system for Party and government leaders and officials in the field of environmental management of rivers and lakes.Covering the appointment,responsibility fulfillment,supervision,assessment,accountability,and other processes in relation to river and lake chiefs,it takes the sustainable development of the ecological environment of rivers and lakes as its purpose,overall planning and coordination of river and lake management as its functions,and pollution prevention and environmental protection of rivers and lakes as its responsibilities.Theories such as holistic governance of the ecological environments of rivers and lakes,responsibility of the government,and environmental accountability provide theoretical support for the innovative development of the river and lake chief system.And the new requirements for the legalization of this system under the theory of comprehensively advancing the rule of law make it more orderly and standardized.The river and lake chief system,when moving towards legalization,will move towards being more institutionalized,standardized,and proceduralised,and gradually develop into a sound legal system in this respect.Through years of practical exploration,a rules framework for the river and lake chief system that covers the appointment,responsibility fulfillment,supervision,assessment,accountability,and other processes of river and lake chiefs has been initially formed.This framework is based on policies such as the Opinions on the Full Implementation of the River Chief System and the Guiding Opinions on the Implementation of the Lake Chief System in Lakes,and takes the Water Pollution Prevention and Control Law and the Yangtze River Protection Law as its legal basis,including the pollution prevention and ecological protection of rivers and lakes.Over the past five years,positive achievements have been made in the implementation of the river and lake chief system,which still faces several challenges,which reflects to some extent the imperfect rule of law for the river and lake chief system in China.Firstly,unbalanced structure.The system heavily relies on policies,and there is a lack of special legislation at the central government level.Secondly,non-standard rules and regulations.More work should be done to ensure institutionalized systems and mechanisms,standardized working systems,and procedure-based assessment and accountability.Thirdly,insufficient legal guarantee.Mechanisms such as funding guarantee,technical guarantee,social supervision and participation,and joint collaboration should be urgently improved.As for the reasons for these challenges,firstly,the public has an insufficient understanding of the advent,formation,development,and improvement laws of the river and lake chief system,and lack of experience in system implementation,making it difficult it to form a good system framework within a short period of time.Secondly,the rule of law for the system essentially involves the system innovation of government supervision and relates to the power,supervision,assessment,accountability,and other aspects of main Party and political leaders.So,there are some difficulties in trying to regulate and coordinate this system through a law or a policy.In the future,our country should strengthen the path conception of the rule of law for the lake and river chief system.From the perspective of advancing special legislation for the system,a special legislation model,which should take the form of regulations,should be established in line with the work system of river and lake chiefs.Special legislation should adhere to the principles of legal power,and consist of general,organizational systems,job responsibilities,work mechanisms,assessment and accountability,and supplementary provisions.In terms of the improvement of relevant legislation,the Environmental Protection Law should clarify relevant systems bearing the word “chief” in the river and lake chief system,etc.in accordance with the law,and make the regulations on the environmental quality reprehensibility system for local governments stricter.And in terms of the improvement of core provisions of the river and lake chief system,it is necessary to closely focus on the operation and guarantee systems for this system,promote the standardized construction of mechanisms such as institution,work,assessment and accountability,and establish a legal system for river and lake chiefs that features legal authorization,orderly operation,objective assessment,and strict accountability.