China reveals violation cases of illegally falsified EIA reports 
On Aug. 6, 2022, China’s Ministry of Ecology and Environment published an article on three cases of environmental impact assessment (EIA) report falsification, which took place in Jiangsu, Sichuan and Hainan province, respectively. Here is an overview.
NOTE: The English corporate names in this article are unofficial translations of the original names.
Nanjing Redsun Biochemistry Co., Ltd.
In April 2021, Jiangsu-based Nanjing Redsun BioChemistry Co., Ltd. (南京红太阳生物化学有限责任公司) paid 4,000 yuan ($572) to Nanjing Ruihua Survey and Design Co., Ltd. (南京睿华勘察设计有限公司) to prepare EIA reports for its project of 80-tons/day biochemical wastewater processing and project of 500-m2 hazardous waste storehouse operation. Nanjing Redsun BioChemistry then submitted the EIA reports to the authority and passed administrative EIA reviews.
However, the EIA reports didn’t describe the modification of the process properly. Moreover, the exhaust monitoring data on the reports was inconsistent with actual emissions. In July 2021, the Nanjing Ecological Environment Bureau conducted an on-site inspection of the company and found the falsifications.
The bureau ordered the company to correct the issues and pay a fine of 500,000 yuan. Two people, namely the legal representative of the company and the person in charge of the projects, were punished with a fine of 52,000 yuan each. Nanjing Ruihua Survey and Design, the firm that prepared the falsified EIA reports, received a 12,000-yuan fine.
Sichuan Tongyao New Material Technology Co., Ltd.
Sichuan Tongyao New Material Technology Co., Ltd. (四川通垚新材料科技有限公司) commissioned Mianyang Qingxing Environmental Protection Technology Development Co., Ltd. (绵阳青兴环保科技开发有限公司) to prepare an EIA report for its project of a production line where high-performance powder materials are produced 100,000 tons annually.
When the Beichuan Ecological Environment Bureau, Mianyang city, Sichuan province, received this EIA report and published it in February 2020, residents living near the production site reported falsification of the EIA report to the bureau. The bureau started an investigation immediately and found that fabricated building lease agreements were attached to the EIA report.
Sichuan Tongyao New Material Technology and its legal representative were punished with a fine of 500,000 yuan and 50,000 yuan, respectively. Mianyang Qingxing Environmental Protection Technology Development, the firm that prepared the falsified EIA report, was ordered to pay a 100,000-yuan fine.
Hainan Wisdom and Creation Recycling Co., Ltd.
In February 2022, when the Comprehensive Law-Enforcing Bureau of Qionghai city, Hainan province, reviewed a project of Hainan Wisdom and Creation Recycling Co., Ltd. (海南智创再生资源回收有限公司) for recycling and temporary storage of waste lead-acid batteries, the bureau found that the EIA report submitted by the company contained details copied from an EIA report of another company. The fabricated EIA report was prepared by Guangxi Taisheng Environmental Protection Technology Co., Ltd. (广西泰胜环保科技有限公司) for Hainan Wisdom and Creation Recycling.
A fine of 600,000 yuan and 86,000 yuan were imposed on Hainan Wisdom and Creation Recycling and its legal representative, respectively. An investigation into Guangxi Taisheng Environmental Protection Technology is also underway.
The full text of the ministry’s report (in Chinese) is available at
https://www.mee.gov.cn/ywdt/xwfb/202208/t20220826_992561.shtml
