Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, January 14th (Reporter Liu Shiping) With the approval of the State Council, the National Ocean Inspectorate gave feedback to the Liaoning Provincial Government on the special inspection of reclamation. The inspection found that there are five main problems in marine ecological protection and reclamation control in Liaoning Province: the national laws, regulations and policies and measures on reclamation management are not implemented effectively; The approval of reclamation projects is not standardized and the supervision is not in place; The problem of filling in without approval is outstanding; The law enforcement supervision of reclamation is weak; The prevention and control of land-based pollution in coastal waters has not been promoted effectively
Breaking the whole into parts, the problem of decentralized approval is outstanding, and the problem of filling in before approval is outstanding.
The inspector pointed out that the approval of reclamation projects in Liaoning Province is not standardized, the supervision is not in place, and the problem of filling in before approval is outstanding.
— — The problem of dividing reclamation projects into parts and decentralized approval is outstanding. Some projects that should be reported to the State Council for examination and approval according to law, but are split into several single projects with an area of no more than 50 hectares, are examined and approved by the provincial government. In 2009, Jinzhou Niangnianggong Lingang Industrial Zone Management Committee established a company, which divided 806 hectares of sea area into 18 projects with a single sea use of no more than 50 hectares, applied for approval at the same time, and renewed land certificates at the same time, all of which were included in the land reserve; In 2010, the management committee of Dalian Changxing Island Lingang Industrial Zone arranged to register 10 companies, set up projects in two batches and applied for 10 sea areas simultaneously, totaling 452 hectares. After reclamation, the land was collected and sold to the same company.
— — The planning departments of coastal cities and counties have changed the use of the land formed by 32 reclamation projects, including changing the sea for tourism infrastructure into urban residential land, changing the sea for port into urban residential land and changing the sea for industry into commercial and residential land.
— — There is a lot of vacancy in reclamation. Of the 15,150 hectares of land reclaimed from the sea for regional construction, 9,441 hectares are vacant, accounting for 62% of the filled area.
— — The problem of filling in without approval is outstanding. The illegal reclamation area is large, and the problems in some areas are outstanding. Since 2008, the illegal reclamation area in Liaoning Province is relatively large, especially in Dalian, Jinzhou and Panjin, accounting for 94% of the illegal reclamation in the province. After 2013, the newly emerged illegal reclamation area decreased significantly, and Jinzhou, Dalian and Panjin still accounted for 83% of the illegal reclamation in the province.
— — Administrative punishment is a mere formality. From 2010 to 2015, the former Puwan New District Management Committee of Dalian illegally carried out reclamation, and the marine department made a penalty decision of 314 million yuan, but all the fines were directly allocated by the former Puwan New District Finance Bureau. The subordinate units of Panjin Liaobin Coastal Economic Zone Management Committee organized the implementation of reclamation, and the marine department imposed a total penalty of 6.4 billion yuan, part of which was paid into the finance at the same level, and part of which was paid by the finance department of the area and the reclamation unit in the form of loan slips.
Failing to go through the examination and approval procedures for sea use as required.
The inspector pointed out that Liaoning province failed to implement the national laws, regulations and policies and measures on reclamation management. There are inconsistencies between local laws and regulations and relevant national policies and regulations.
— — The concept of protection priority has not been implemented enough. Dalian Spotted Seal National Nature Reserve and Yalu River Mouth Wetland National Nature Reserve have applied for adjustment due to engineering construction. Large-scale land reclamation permanently changes the natural properties of the sea area and destroys the coastline, and the situation facing the goal of achieving the national natural coastline retention rate is grim.
— — Jinzhou, Dalian, Panjin and Huludao directly handle land-use related procedures for sea-use projects in the sea area, covering a total area of 8,091 hectares, without going through the formalities for examination and approval of sea-use according to the regulations on sea-use management. Among them, Jinzhou Mayor’s Office made arrangements twice in 2009, and the government organized 4512 hectares of reclamation and issued land use certificates.
— — Some projects for the renovation and restoration of sea islands are not in place. In the sea island renovation and restoration projects supported by the central financial funds, there are cases where the sea area and environmental assessment procedures have not been obtained to build structures.
Inadequate law enforcement and supervision, ineffective prevention and control of land-based pollution
The inspector pointed out that the law enforcement supervision of reclamation in Liaoning Province was weak, and the prevention and control of land-based pollution in coastal waters was weak.
— — Administrative law enforcement is not in place. A fine of 24.83 billion yuan has been imposed, and 13.96 billion yuan has not been paid, and no court enforcement has been applied according to law. Baishawan Fishing Port Co., Ltd. illegally reclaimed 16 hectares without approval and has not been investigated since 2012.
— — The management of fine collection is not standardized. In violation of relevant regulations, the marine department of zhuanghe city deposited a fine of 1.28 billion yuan in the financial transition account of non-tax revenue of the unit and failed to turn it over to the state treasury in time. The marine department and financial department of Dalian Hi-tech Industrial Park issued a receipt for the violation of regulations for Dalongwangtang Industrial Corporation without receiving the fine, and a fine of 33.6 million yuan was still not collected during the inspection period.
— — The prevention and control of land-based pollution in coastal waters has not been promoted effectively Some sewage outlets into the sea were examined and approved in violation of regulations, and the supervision was lax. Of the 211 sewage outlets into the sea provided by the environmental protection department of Liaoning Province, 68 did not strictly follow the legal procedures to approve the establishment. Long-term supervision of some sewage outlets into the sea is not in place.
Further investigation and rectification of the problems found will be made public in a timely manner.
Inspectors demanded that governments at all levels in Liaoning Province should strictly implement the relevant laws, regulations and policies and systems of national sea area management, implement the strictest control system of reclamation pipes, strengthen the management of reclamation within the scope of regulation, and effectively solve marine resources and environmental problems such as reclamation. Seriously investigate the responsibility according to the law and regulations, further investigate the problems found in the inspectors, clarify the responsibilities, and deal with them seriously according to relevant regulations.
The inspector stressed that the Liaoning provincial government should study and formulate a rectification plan according to the requirements of the Marine Inspector Program and combined with the opinions and suggestions put forward by the inspector group, and submit it to the State Oceanic Administration within 30 working days, and submit the rectification situation within 6 months. The rectification plan and the implementation of rectification shall be disclosed to the public through the major central and provincial news media in a timely manner in accordance with the requirements of the Marine Supervision Plan.
From August 22 to September 21, 2017, the National Ocean Inspector Group carried out special inspections on reclamation in Liaoning Province.
The inspector group sorted out the outstanding problems found by the inspectors and formed a list of problems, which have been handed over to the Liaoning provincial government according to procedures.