Recently, the State Oceanic Administration announced 13 specific measures to raise the control measures for reclamation to "the strictest in history". Among them, "the reclamation that is illegal and seriously damages the marine ecological environment will be dismantled in stages; Commercial real estate development through reclamation is prohibited. "
Article 13 Measures to strictly control reclamation
Specifically, the Oceanic Administration will focus on "ten unifications" and "three enhancements" to control reclamation projects. "Ten Uniforms" means: the reclamation that is illegal and seriously damages the marine ecological environment will be dismantled in stages and batches; Sewage outlets that are illegally set up and seriously damage the marine ecological environment will be closed in stages and batches; Long-term idle land formed by reclamation shall be nationalized according to law; Examination and approval of regulatory inaction, chaos, all accountability; All reclamation projects that are approved but not filled in and do not conform to the current sea use policy will be stopped; Commercial real estate development through reclamation is prohibited; Reclamation of construction projects that do not involve the national economy and people’s livelihood will not be approved; Reclamation of the Bohai Sea is prohibited; The power to examine and approve reclamation shall not be delegated; The annual reclamation plan indicators will no longer be issued by provinces.
"Three enhancements" means adhering to the principle of "whoever destroys will repair" and strengthening ecological restoration; Guided by coastal zone planning, strengthen the review of sea demand for the project; Strengthen the audit and supervision, and strengthen the daily supervision of reclamation.
On January 21, at the National Ocean Work Conference, in view of the work deployment in 2018, Wang Hong, Party Secretary and Director of the State Oceanic Administration, pointed out that the reform achievements such as reclamation control, coastline protection and paid use of sea islands will be consolidated, and the implementation plan and supporting policies will be improved. The control and protection objectives will be decomposed step by step, and local regulatory measures will be formulated in light of local conditions.
It is worth mentioning that the most stringent series of measures will be implemented in the control of reclamation. These include: canceling the planning system of regional construction sea and aquaculture sea, and stopping the implementation if it has been approved. Strengthen the hard constraints of the annual plan indicators for reclamation, and in principle, no longer approve general reclamation projects. The annual plan indicators are mainly used to ensure four types of sea use, such as major construction projects, public infrastructure, public welfare undertakings and national defense construction, and are no longer issued by provinces.
In addition, the implementation of reclamation "space" and "use" restrictions, strengthen the supervision of reclamation. Strictly implement the sea control standards for construction projects. Strict sea area use demonstration review. Coastal provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) should solve the problems left over from the history of reclamation in accordance with the law, classify policies, and solve them in a safe and orderly manner.
Unreasonable reclamation is prominent.
According to the relevant person in charge of the Oceanic Administration, reclamation has alleviated the shortage of coastal land to a certain extent, but at the same time, unreasonable reclamation and illegal reclamation have also brought a series of problems to the marine ecological environment and marine development order.
In 2017, the State Oceanic Administration set up the National Ocean Inspector Group, and carried out special inspections on reclamation in 11 coastal provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) in two batches, and simultaneously carried out routine inspections in Hebei, Fujian and Guangdong provinces. Judging from the first batch of inspectors, up to now, the governments of six provinces (regions) such as Liaoning, Hebei, Jiangsu, Fujian, Guangxi and Hainan have ordered 842 rectifications, filed 262 punishments, fined 1.247 billion yuan, detained one person, interviewed 110 people and held 22 people accountable.
The person in charge said that the common and prominent problems in the six provinces (regions) are mainly concentrated in three aspects: First, some areas are blindly reclaimed from the actual needs, and they are unused and vacant for a long time. Individual projects illegally change the use of reclamation for real estate development, wasting marine resources and damaging the ecological environment. The second is illegal examination and approval, and supervision is out of place. In some places, the responsibility is not implemented and the performance of duties is not in place. Violation of marine functional zoning approval projects, fragmentation, decentralized approval and other issues frequently occur; It is difficult for grass-roots law enforcement departments to stop, investigate and implement unapproved projects led by the government; The fines for illegal reclamation are remitted by local finance, or collected first and then returned to illegal enterprises, and administrative punishment is a mere formality. Third, the prevention and control of pollution in coastal waters is weak, the number of land-based sources of pollution into the sea is unclear, and the pollution in some sea areas is still serious; There is a huge gap between all kinds of land-based pollution sources identified by the inspector group and the number of sewage outlets submitted to the sea by coastal provinces.
Increase marine ecological restoration work
In response to the outstanding problems in reclamation activities, the Oceanic Administration said that it had conducted face-to-face communication and interviews with the governments of Liaoning, Zhejiang and Hainan provinces and the heads of relevant municipal governments. In 2017, the full coverage of special inspectors for reclamation in 11 coastal provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities was completed. Up to now, the first batch of inspectors’ opinions from six provinces (regions) have all been fed back. The work of marine inspectors in six provinces (regions) has entered the stage of rectification and accountability.
In the next step, the main responsibility of local governments in marine ecological restoration will be further compacted, and local governments will be encouraged to carry out restoration projects by means of awards and subsidies. It is planned that by 2020, no less than 66 bays will be renovated, no less than 50 ecological island reef projects will be completed, the coastline will be restored not less than 2,000 kilometers, and the coastal wetland area will be restored not less than 18,000 hectares. By 2025, the water environment quality in coastal waters will be significantly improved.
Lin Shanqing, deputy director of the State Oceanic Administration, pointed out that in recent years, in view of the impact of reclamation on the marine ecological environment, the central and local governments at all levels have stepped up the remediation and restoration of coastal areas and islands in the sea area, and made great efforts to promote the major marine ecological restoration projects of "Blue Bay", "South Red Willow" and "Ecological Island Reef". Since the Twelfth Five-Year Plan, more than 260 kilometers of coastline have been restored, and more than 4,100 hectares of coastal wetlands have been restored. The damaged marine ecosystem has been initially restored, and good social, economic and ecological effects have been achieved.
Lin Shanqing said that the next step is to take strict measures to strictly control reclamation; The second is to further compact the main responsibility of local governments in marine ecological restoration, and encourage and support local governments to carry out restoration projects. It is planned that by 2025, the water environment quality in coastal waters will be significantly improved, the ecological function and service value will be significantly improved, and the ecological environment remediation and restoration capacity will be comprehensively improved, basically achieving the goal of "clean water, green shore, clean beach and beautiful bay".