As we all know, the environmental problems left by polluting enterprises, especially the soil remediation of polluted sites, need huge funds. In order to protect people's personal health and safety, the government often has to bear this cost, which brings great pressure on finance. The Third Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee proposed to establish a diversified investment and financing mechanism to solve the problems of insufficient investment in environmental protection and low investment efficiency. As an economic means to solve environmental problems, the environmental fund system has played an important role in the United States and Japan and other foreign countries. However, the research and practice in this field have not been carried out in China. It is urgent to learn from international advanced experience and combine with China's reality to carry out relevant research on the establishment, funding sources, operation process, policy and regulation support of environmental funds, so as to provide practical ways and methods for China to solve the above environmental problems to a certain extent.
1 introduction to the international environmental fund system
The industrialization process in developed countries was earlier than that in China, and it also experienced a stage in which a large number of enterprises were shut down and relocated due to the adjustment of industrial structure and layout, and were deeply troubled by environmental problems left over. Therefore, there are rich experiences and lessons in the treatment of environmental problems left over, especially in the treatment and management of contaminated sites. Among them, the environmental fund system has played an important role as an economic means to solve environmental problems, such as the American super fund and various environmental funds in Japan.
United States: Superfund
In 1970s, the United States frequently left behind site pollution incidents, which caused soil pollution and water pollution, and caused serious adverse effects on the health of local residents. For example, the Love Canal in New York has been polluted by chemical waste. Therefore, in 1980, the United States Congress passed the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA, also known as the Superfund Act). The most important content of the bill is to create a "super fund" to deal with highly polluted and harmful abandoned land.
Superfund is established in the form of trust fund. There are two main sources of initial funds: one is the special tax levied on the production of oil and some inorganic chemicals, and the other is the federal finance. 1996 when the super fund law was revised, the total number of funds was expanded, including enterprise surcharge tax, federal general tax, fund interest and the money recovered by the undertaker. The operating mechanism of the super fund is "governance first, then accountability". According to the provisions of the Superfund Law, when the subject responsible for the remediation of contaminated sites cannot be determined, or the related expenses cannot be borne, the Superfund is used to pay the remediation expenses. After that, the super fund can recover the governance fee paid by the responsible subject by filing a lawsuit.
Although there are still some problems in the implementation of the Super Fund Law, its innovation and remarkable achievements in solving the remaining pollution problems have become an important reference for pollution control legislation in all countries of the world.
1.2 Japan: Multilateral Environmental Fund
The middle of last century was also a period when Japan suffered from environmental pollution disaster. For how to raise funds for environmental pollution control and ecological restoration, Japan has set up various environmental funds through legislation or litigation. Including: the environmental fund established according to the compensation for health victims of public hazards, which is mainly used to compensate patients who are considered as Minamata disease and asthma; The special compensation fund for air pollution established through the settlement of air pollution litigation in Tokyo, and so on.
There are many kinds of environmental funds in Japan. Although the compensation objects, sources of funds, ways of use and operating procedures are different, their similarities are very strict implementation norms and severe punishment measures. This is of great significance to ensure the normal and long-term operation of funds.
2 China residual environmental pollution problems to solve the status quo
After decades of industrialization, China has made great progress in social and economic development, but it has also paid a heavy price for resources and environment. Since the 1990s, due to the implementation of policies and measures such as industrial structure adjustment and urban layout adjustment, many enterprises have closed down and turned around, and a large number of small and medium-sized enterprises have gone bankrupt under the economic tide. With the closure and relocation of enterprises, the remaining environmental problems began to stand out. In particular, the environmental pollution problems such as soil pollution, water pollution and hazardous waste storage at the original enterprise site have seriously affected the personal health of the surrounding people. And with the process of urbanization, some polluted sites are classified as residential land or commercial land, which makes local residents suffer long-term potential threats. As residents know, the phenomenon of building residential quarters on the original polluted site has really happened, which has also seriously affected the reuse and redevelopment of polluted land.
2. 1 "Enterprises pollute, people suffer, and the government pays the bill" is widespread.
Although according to China's current environmental protection law, "all units and individuals have the obligation to protect the environment and have the right to report and accuse units and individuals that pollute and destroy the environment", enterprises and institutions must pay full attention to preventing environmental pollution and destruction in site selection, design, construction and production ... Units that cause environmental pollution and other public hazards should make plans and actively control them according to the principle that whoever pollutes will control them. However, there is no clear stipulation on who will bear the pollution problem after the bankruptcy and closure of enterprises, and there is no relevant judicial interpretation in the Supreme People's Court. Therefore, in the process of bankruptcy, closure and relocation of most enterprises, due to the lack of legal system, environmental standards, accountability mechanism and financial guarantee, after-care solutions often focus on personnel placement and asset and debt disposal, while paying insufficient attention to environmental governance and pollution compensation, let alone environmental restoration and governance in polluted areas. The responsibility of environmental pollution control, ecological restoration and compensation was finally transferred to local governments, resulting in the widespread phenomenon of "enterprises discharging pollutants, people suffering, and the government paying the bill", which not only caused great pressure on local governments' finances, but also had a certain impact on regional economic and social development.
2.2 Environmental legacy evaluation standard system is not perfect.
The environmental problems left by the closure of enterprises are mainly solid waste storage, water pollution, soil pollution and ecological damage. However, due to the imperfect standard system of environmental assessment in China, it is still difficult to evaluate these environmental problems, which makes some environmental pollution and ecological damage problems, especially potential problems, not be scientifically recognized and valued, which leads to difficulties in law enforcement, delay in governance and restoration. For example, in view of the soil pollution after the relocation of chemical enterprises, the existing environmental quality evaluation standards in China can not meet the evaluation requirements because of the types of pollutants monitored and the scope of use. For example, the Soil Environmental Quality Standard (GB15618-1995) focuses on protecting soil functions and main properties, but lacks consideration of human health risks; The Guidelines for Site Environmental Assessment is mainly applicable to the investigation and evaluation of soil and groundwater pollution in contaminated sites, especially after the relocation of industrial polluting enterprises, the types of pollutants recommended by it are far from meeting the evaluation requirements of soil problems in chemical enterprises.
2.3 There are still some problems in the environmental pollution liability insurance system.
In order to solve the environmental pollution problem of enterprises, China has also gradually carried out relevant research and practice work. At present, the main means of pilot implementation and promotion is the environmental pollution liability insurance system. As early as the early 1990s, environmental pollution liability insurance was briefly piloted in China, but it ended in failure due to too few insured enterprises and limited application scope. In 2007, the former State Environmental Protection Administration and China Insurance Regulatory Commission launched a new round of pilot work on the basis of in-depth investigation and research, and made many important breakthroughs in local characteristics, policies and regulations, and achieved phased results. The Twelfth Five-Year Plan for National Environmental Protection clearly puts forward that "the liability insurance system for environmental pollution should be improved, and the compulsory insurance system for enterprises with high environmental risks such as heavy metal emission should be studied and established", which has been popularized throughout the country. However, due to the short implementation time, this system still inevitably has some problems, such as enterprises' insufficient understanding of insurance and low enthusiasm for insurance; The number of insured enterprises is small, so it is difficult to fully disperse and share environmental risks; The environmental technical support of insurance companies is not enough; Insufficient protection of laws and regulations, imperfect supporting policies, etc.
2.4 The environmental fund system is still in the stage of introducing and learning international experience.
Although the environmental fund system has been successful in foreign countries, there is still great controversy about the definition of the subject of governance responsibility and the source of funds. China's work in this area is still in the stage of introducing and learning international experience. Because any system has a certain social and economic background and scope of application, in the process of learning from international experience, we must scientifically analyze the problems existing in the implementation of the system, and make corresponding adjustments according to China's national conditions in the process of introduction, so as to foster strengths and avoid weaknesses, not blindly copy mechanically, and try our best to establish a system suitable for China's national conditions.
3 the significance of establishing the environmental risk fund left by closed enterprises in China
3. 1 effectively solved the environmental pollution problem left by the closure of enterprises.
According to the research report of the World Bank's 20 10 Analysis on the Status of Restoration and Redevelopment of Contaminated Sites in China, in recent years, nearly15 of the sites left by the relocation of industrial enterprises in China have been seriously polluted. This data only refers to the soil pollution caused by the relocation of industrial enterprises, excluding other types of environmental problems such as solid waste storage and water pollution. If these problems are not effectively solved, it will not only cause great damage to the ecological environment, but also cause great damage to the personal and property safety of local residents. Therefore, under the great pressure of resources, population and economy in China, it is of great significance to solve the environmental problems left by the closure of enterprises for building a two-oriented society and realizing sustainable development. The establishment of environmental risk fund left by closed enterprises can first provide financial support for pollution control and ecological restoration of the left-over environment, and then find the responsible subject through other measures or means to solve the environmental problems left by closed enterprises in a timely and effective manner.
3.2 Reduce the financial burden of the government to solve the remaining environmental problems.
The cost of environmental pollution control and ecological restoration left by closed enterprises is often huge, and closed enterprises in general, especially bankrupt enterprises, are simply unable to pay this cost. At present, in China, if there is no direct and urgent impact on the surrounding people, the reuse of polluted land is not sensitive to pollution, which is often ignored. If the health of the surrounding people is affected, or the land reuse is affected, the cost will be borne by the government, which will put great financial pressure on it. The establishment of environmental risk fund left by closed enterprises and multi-channel fund raising for environmental pollution control can effectively reduce the financial burden of local governments in this field.
4. The idea of setting up the environmental risk fund left by the closed enterprises
Drawing on the successful experience of foreign countries, the establishment of environmental risk funds left by closed enterprises in China focuses on the following four aspects:
4. 1 Form of fund establishment
At present, there are two main types of environmental funds: one is an independent legal person, and the other is affiliated to the government management department. The main difference between the two is that the former is for profit and the latter is purely administrative, with a certain administrative color and public welfare. It is suggested that the environmental protection department of the government should establish the environmental risk fund left by enterprises, supervise and guide the operation of the fund, and check the investment projects. The fund operation is entrusted to a professional institution, which is responsible for the management of fund raising and use, and supervises the identification, evaluation, investment analysis, implementation supervision and final evaluation of funded projects. The advantage of hosting the fund is that it can ensure that the fund operates in a more transparent and open way.
4.2 Sources of funds
There are four main sources of funds: 1) government grants, including financial funds allocated by the government from fiscal revenue according to a certain proportion or quota and included in the fiscal budget, excessive sewage charges levied, and national or local special funds for pollution prevention and control. 2) Charge the enterprise, that is, according to the pollution type and pollutant discharge of the enterprise, charge a certain margin for environmental pollution and ecological restoration to the sewage enterprises. The definition of polluting enterprises can be based on the conclusions of environmental impact assessment, enterprise sewage declaration, pollution source investigation and environmental statistics. 3) Social funds, that is, international funding, corporate and social donations, etc. 4) Bad interest of the fund.
4.3 Capital Use and Operation Process
The main purpose of the environmental risk fund left by the closure of enterprises is to control pollution, repair the ecological environment and pay compensation for losses. After the closure, bankruptcy and relocation of enterprises, they are unable to bear the social responsibility of environmental pollution control.
The operation of the fund can adopt the project life cycle management model, and the specific operation process includes: project identification, project evaluation, project implementation and supervision, project completion and performance evaluation, and fund recovery. The projects supported by the Fund are provided by the competent environmental department of the government. First, professional environmental monitoring and evaluation institutions identify and screen the projects according to specific evaluation criteria, and then sort them according to the urgency (such as causing personal injury to the surrounding people) to determine the order of project implementation. After that, the professional environmental protection and financial departments are entrusted to evaluate the implementation objectives, technical feasibility, social and environmental effects, financing scheme and capital budget of the project, and determine the implementation plan of the project. In the process of project implementation, the government manager and the fund custodian * * * share the supervision responsibility. After the completion of the project, it is necessary to comprehensively evaluate the objectives and social and environmental benefits of the project, sum up the experience and shortcomings in the process of project implementation, and provide improvement basis for the implementation of subsequent projects. After the completion of the project, the environmental protection department and the fund custody department should take further measures to find the responsible subject and recover the governance funds as much as possible to ensure the long-term operation of the fund.
4.4 Policies and regulations support
The establishment of any system can not be separated from the support of policies and regulations. Therefore, we should improve the relevant policies and regulations on environmental pollution control left by closed enterprises as soon as possible, and make it clear that the responsibility for environmental pollution should be borne by enterprises, and the local government as a regulatory department is responsible for coordination. Formulate and improve the evaluation standard system of environmental problems and their remediation, such as formulating corresponding environmental evaluation standards and remediation technical guidelines for the changes of original land properties after different types of polluting enterprises and enterprises are closed, providing technical support for environmental pollution remediation and providing scientific basis for project evaluation and investment analysis during the operation of environmental risk funds.
4.5 Pilot first
It is an important exploration to establish a diversified environmental investment and financing mechanism to establish an environmental risk fund left by closed enterprises. Therefore, we can choose individual areas to carry out pilot work, explore the process, system and policy of establishing environmental risk funds, sum up experiences and lessons in time, and then gradually promote them after achieving good results.
5 abstract
As one of the effective economic means to solve environmental problems, Environmental Fund has achieved remarkable results in the United States and Japan, providing valuable experience for China. In view of the increasingly prominent environmental problems left by the closure of enterprises in China, drawing lessons from international experience and establishing the environmental risk fund left by the closure of enterprises in China can effectively solve the environmental problems left by enterprises in time, reduce environmental risks, ensure the personal safety of local residents and promote the stable and healthy development of social economy. At the same time, we can raise governance funds through multiple channels, effectively reduce the financial burden of local governments, and avoid the phenomenon that "enterprises discharge pollutants, the people suffer, and the government pays the bill".
The environmental risk fund left by the closure of enterprises is set up by the government environmental management department in the form of trust fund, which is mainly used for pollution control, ecological environment restoration, compensation for losses and so on. When the enterprise is unable to bear the social responsibility of environmental pollution control after closure, bankruptcy and relocation. Sources of funds can include government grants, corporate fundraising, social donations, international funding and fund interest. The operation of the fund is entrusted to a professional organization, and it operates in the mode of project life cycle management. In order to ensure the long-term stable operation of the fund, relevant policies and regulations, evaluation standards and technical guidelines should be formulated and improved as soon as possible. In addition, the establishment of the fund is suggested to be piloted first, and then gradually promoted after achieving good results.
Is it worth the investment?