According to new judicial interpretations on environmental crimes that are formed by the top court and procuratorate, falsifying environmental data to avoid pollution regulations is a criminal offense. Punishment is said to be no longer only administrative.
The new judicial interpretations were released on Monday, and it is said to take effect on Jan. 1. It will help strengthen judicial punishments over environment-related crimes. This will affect environmental protection workers, company workers as well as any third party that are entrusted with monitoring environmental data.
Those that will be caught fabricating/tampering the monitored data as well as interfering with the operation of the monitoring equipment will be qualified for criminal prosecution. Violators are said to face three- to seven-year imprisonment along with fines that they need to pay in case there are severe consequences.
Yan Maokun, director of the research department of the Supreme People's Court, said: "It's the first time that falsifying monitoring data is considered a crime, which could lead to more effective deterrence and punishment of such violations. But it's hard to gather evidence since polluted air moves quickly, so the new interpretations have listed stipulations to make the rules more usable."
Air pollution has become a major issue in China, as it has been frequently hit by severe smog with pollution levels off the charts. The falsification of monitoring data regarding pollution is still a big problem. An air quality monitoring station equipment was found covered with cotton yarn to lower pollution readings in Xi'an, Shaanxi province in March. There are a total of five environmental officials involved in the said falsification who were all detained
Besides violators that falsify monitoring data, companies that turn off their pollution reduction equipment will also be considered to have committed environmental pollution crimes.
It is said that there are about 4,636 cases that are handled by courts in China between July 2013 and October 2016. These are cases that involve pollution, illegal treatment of solid waste as well as misbehavior by environmental officials. The new judicial interpretations clarify punishments, solve problems with the criteria of sentencing and do more to deter polluters.