The Construction Of Soil Pollution Prevention And Control Fund System In China

China is one of the most soil polluted countries in the world.However,soil pollution has been ignored by the government and the public for a long time,and hasn’t reached the level of concern about air pollution,water pollution and other pollution problems.The law of the People’s Republic of China on Prevention and Control of Soil Pollution,which came into force in 2019,is Chinese first law on the prevention and control of soil pollution.From the aspect of law,it shows the urgency and determination of the country to control soil pollution.In the law,it is also proposed to establish the soil pollution prevention and control fund system for the first time.The soil pollution is also the first pollution type among existing environmental pollution to set up the fund system at the legal level.The system can effectively integrate funds which dedicate to the prevention and control of soil pollution,make use of the advantages of marketization,efficiently and fully compensate for the losses caused by soil pollution and carrying out soil pollution control.However,at present,the system is only determined at the legal level,so it is urgent to clarify its nature and build a specific internal system.On February 27,2020,ministry of finance,ministry of ecology and environment and ministry of agriculture and rural affairs jointly issued the "Regulations for the Administration of Soil Pollution Prevention and Control Fund".According to the regulation,the establishment of the fund is led by local government,the operation is led by the government,and the profits and losses are borne by the government.It has no independent legal personality.Funds that do not have legal personality are highly administrative,government-led and enforced by the state.But it doesn’t have the ability to independently exercise civil conduct,only has a single source of funds and are difficult to carry out market operation,and lack market incentives.The establishment of soil pollution prevention and control fund with independent legal personality in public law is the future trend of fund marketization.At the same time,classifying public jurist and private jurist under the condition of independent legal personality is important.Combined with the public nature of soil pollution prevention and control fund and the general nature of Chinese public welfare fund,it is concluded that China should establish a foundation of soil pollution prevention and control fund with independent legal personality and the nature of consortium corporation in public law,and then,build the internal system on this basis.For the construction of the internal organization of the fund,the principle of structure shall be followed and the internal organizational structure of the company shall be used for reference.The operating organ,supervision organ and audit organ shall be established.The board of directors shall be the decision-making body of the fund.At the same time,the government has the right to supervise it.As for the fund system,the current law on the allocation of rights between the central and local governments of the soil pollution prevention fund,and the distribution of the fund scope,that is,construction land and agricultural land should be analyzed and criticized.Suggestions for improvement should be put forward.Based on the actual situation of soil pollution in different regions and the respective governance strengths and weaknesses of the central and local governments,a new central and local allocation system of soil pollution prevention and control fund should be established,that is,national special funds should be used for agricultural land,and funds from other channels in provincial funds should be used for construction land,so as to build a sound fund system.The sources of funds should have the diversification of the attempt and be expanded widely.National financial input and environmental tax revenue are the main sources,supplemented by polluters’ burden and punitive damages,recovery from those responsible for soil pollution,fund income,social donation,and the issuance of ecological lottery.In order to expand the source of funds,more and more flexible sources should be adopted in soil pollution prevention and control fund to achieve the public purpose.For the use of the fund,the fund should clear the use of the scope,establish a strict use of the process,so that it’s procedural.The scope of use shall be limited,including expenses for monitoring and investigating soil pollution;expenses for soil remediation and reinvent;Compensation and subrogation costs;expenses for publicity and education.The procedures should be a routinization,from the application,audit to the release.For the supervision of the fund,multiple internal and external supervision bodies should be set up,and accountability mechanism should be established at the same time,so that the fund supervision can play a role and be implemented effectively.