City Report and Action Plan of Weihai

Mr. Pingyi Sun
Vice Director,
Weihai Environmental Protection Agency,
Weihai Municipal Government, China

CONTENTS

1. City Report

1.1. Administration of Environmental Protection

The Environmental Protection Bureau is directly responsible to the Mayor. There are 10 organizations under the bureau.

• General office
• Plan & finance division
• Pollution control division
• Education division
• Ecology conservation division
• Environmental monitoring station
• Environmental supervision team
• Huancui district branch
• High tech zone branch
• Economic & technical zone branch

The responsibilities of the Environmental Protection Bureau are to:

1. Develop an environmental protection plan;
2. Carry out the environmental laws, policies and regulations that are issued by the national and provincial government;
3. Issue environmental regulations on behalf of the city government;
4. Issue environmental permits for new projects;
5. Supervise the environmental performance of the enterprises and other organizations
6. Collect discharge fees from the enterprises that cannot meet the national pollutant discharge standard;
7. Monitor environmental quality
8. Respond to environmental claims from the public.

1.2. Environment in Urban Policy Making

Weihai, as a newly developing coastal city, enjoys many preferential policies and a unique location. With these advantages a rapid development of the city and economy was inevitable. Weihai has paid great attention to environmental protection, discovered a sustainable development path for the economy and society, and created an eco-city. Weihai has successfully explored its options in this regard, by asking two reputable universities, Tongji and Tsinghua, to cooperate in developing the general plan of Weihai, concerning issues such as landscape, resources, transportations, weather, and economic and social development. In the last 18 years Weihai has rejected more than 300 medium and large scale projects with a total investment about USD 800 million because these projects did not fit the developmental plans of Weihai to maintain a clean environment. Nonetheless the economic growth of the City has remained vigorous and sustainable.

1.3. Current Status and Challenges of Environmental Administration

At present, the national economy of China is developing rapidly. With the increasing tension and rhythm of social and economical activities, the possibility of environmentally polluting accidents increases greatly. Environmentally polluting accidents are very harmful to human health, to the ecological environment and to economic development. The government of China pays increasing attention to the issue of environmental emergencies, but because of the lack of advanced technology and limited funds, the capacity for responding to environmental accidents is behind that of the developed counties.

After China opened up to the outside world, Weihai developed rapidly. With its developed harbors, airport, railway station and highway net, Weihai became a cargo distribution center for national and international trade. The cargos would contain such things as a large quantity of oil, and dangerous chemical substances that have a potential for a serious polluting accident. Should a polluting accident occur, it would not only cause damage to the cargos and influence national and international trade, but would also cause serious environmental pollution affecting human health in the region. It could even bring harmful impacts to the environment of Japan and other neighboring countries. Therefore, capacity building on environmental emergency in Weihai is very important both for the environmental and social, national and international reasons. Weihai City has already achieved its recognition as a "National Environmental Protection Model City" and also has been awarded many titles as an environmentally friendly city. The next goal of Weihai is to construct an eco-city.

To TOP

2. Action Plan

2.1. Goal

Construct an eco-city. Capacity building for an environmental emergency is on the top of priorities.

2.2. Target Area and Population

The targeted area is the land and sea area under Weihai city's jurisdiction. The population is 2.5 million.

2.3. Activities

1. Establish an efficient response organization. The organization must consist of Police, Environment Protection, Medical Treatment, Rescue, Safe Surveillance, Epidemic Prevention, Traffic, Communication and other departments, headed by the mayor or vice mayor.
2. Conduct training. Invite experts from developed countries to give lectures on environmental emergencies. Send technicians to developed countries to work with their counterparts for technical training to improve staff skills.
3. Establish an environmental emergency database. Investigate the harmful substances that are produced and used in Weihai; identify the substances, their locations and amounts; identify the types of accidents that could occur and what responses should be taken.
4. Upgrade the environmental emergency response equipment that includes monitoring, communication, transportation, and rescue materials.
5. Educate the public. Use TV, radio, newspapers, workshops and other methods to publicize the knowledge of the environment, enhance public awareness on the environmental emergency, to ensure that the public can take correct countermeasures for environmental emergencies.

2.4. Action Plan by Quarters

2.5. Monitoring System

The monitoring process should be carried out by the Environmental Protection Bureau. The indicators should include the creation of the steering committee, establishment of the environmental emergency data base, the hardware and software preparation at the local community level, the trained staff, the acquisition of proper environmental equipment and the improvement of public awareness on environmental emergency.