Research On The Administrative Litigation Of Environmental Impact Assessment Of Construction Projects In China

In 1979,China legalized Environmental Impact Assessment(EIA)in the Trial Implementation of the Environmental Protection Law.With Environmental Impact Assessment Law of China and its supporting laws and regulations being applied,EIA has played an active role in helping the government coordinate the relationship between environmental protection and economic development,and make legitimate decisions on environmental and resource development and utilization behaviors.However,there are still many EIA administrative litigations every year.EIA permit is a specific administrative action made by Environmental Protection Administrative Department.Under the general background of Rule of Law,how the court should establish an effective review mechanism to regulate administrative authority is a question.Firstly,this article analyzed 108 cases for EIA of construction projects in China from 2008 to 2018.The author explains the problems from these aspects: the perspective of the cause,the specific administrative actions of the defendant,the plaintiff and its claims,the burden of proof,the result of the judgment and the legal basis.Secondly,by studying relevant legislative regulations and the academic points and views of different scholars,the author concludes that there are still some problems.Issues include the following: incomplete judicial supervision,administrative discretion abuse,unexaminable scientific and technical standards,informal public participation,moreover,citizens’ demands cannot be effectively supported.Finally,suggestions for the administrative litigation of EIA of Construction Projects.First,the court should strengthen the review of the environmental impact assessment permits for construction projects,including: strictly regulating administrative discretion through the strict implementation of the risk prevention principle;strengthening the review of the environmental impact assessment license technical standards by improving the expert review system and training judges on specialized knowledge.;Strengthen judicial supervision through the review of strict environmental impact assessment licensing procedures.The second is to improve the public participation system in the EIA.At the same time,the court must strengthen judicial supervision over the public participation process in the EIA.