China is set to double fees that companies must pay for pollution amid concerns that efforts to clean up the environment are not working well enough, state press said yesterday.
The move is aimed at forcing companies who do not care for the environment to improve their pollution habits through cost pressures, the China Daily said, citing National Development and Reform Commission Vice Minister Bi Jingquan (畢井泉).
"There is a desperate need for the country to instill the principle that those creating pollution must pay the costs," the newspaper quoted Bi as saying.
Charges on sewage and sulphur dioxide emissions are likely to double from the current levels of 0.67 yuan (US$0.09) per tonne and 0.63 yuan per tonne respectively, he said, without disclosing when the new rules would take effect.
He said companies who did not pay the fees would face a cut in electricity and water supply as the new discharge fees may be combined with utility bills.
The higher fees come amid warnings that the country might fail to meet central government targets this year of reducing energy consumption and emissions for a second year running.
"In the first half of this year, we have not met the set goal [for energy consumption reduction]," Bi said. "The release of major pollutants has also not significantly declined."
China set a target to reduce energy consumption per unit of GDP by 20 percent, or 4 percent each year, from last year to 2010. Sulphur dioxide emissions were also supposed to be cut by 10 percent over the same period. The targets were missed by a wide margin last year.
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