Developing an Appropriate Contaminated Land Regime in China: Lessons Learned from the US and UK

314 Pages·2013·2.35 MB·English

by  Xiaobo Zhao (auth.)

Developing an Appropriate Contaminated Land
Regime in China
.
Xiaobo Zhao
Developing an Appropriate
Contaminated Land Regime
in China
Lessons Learned from the US and UK
XiaoboZhao
SchoolofLaw
ShanghaiUniversityofFinanceandEconomics
Shanghai
China
ISBN978-3-642-31614-2 ISBN978-3-642-31615-9(eBook)
DOI10.1007/978-3-642-31615-9
SpringerHeidelbergNewYorkDordrechtLondon
LibraryofCongressControlNumber:2012951399
#Springer-VerlagBerlinHeidelberg2013
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To my beloved
Mother, Xianmin Jiang,
Father, Jiaguo Zhao
.
Acknowledgements
This book is completed in Australia at the University of Western Sydney (UWS)
with the financial support from the Chinese Scholarship Council (CSC). I wish to
express my gratitude to all those people who have given me their help and
encouragementduringthepreparationofthisbook.
Firstofall,Iowethegreatestthankstomyprincipalsupervisor,Prof.Michael
Jeffery,QC, andmyassociate supervisorProf. DonnaCraig.I’m proud ofhaving
sharedmorethan3years’timewiththesetwodistinguishedseniorenvironmental
lawexpertsonmywaytocompletethePhDdegree.Withouttheirtirelessguidance
andvaluablesupport,Iwouldnothavecompletedthisbookintime.Iwouldliketo
acknowledgetheEnvironmentalLawResearchInstitute(ELRI)ofWuhanUniver-
sity,whereIfirstundertookresearchonenvironmentallawandreceivedmymaster
degree.Also,IwishtoexpressmygratitudetoProf.ShuyiWang,Prof.QunDuand
Pro.TianbaoQinattheWuhanUniversity,theyprovidedstrongsupportformeto
competefortheCSCscholarship.
IamverythankfultomanycolleaguesatUWS.Firstofall,Iowemythanksto
Miss Lingling He, PhD candidate, for providing me unfailing support which
prevented my academic research from becoming a solitary endeavour. My thanks
alsogotoMissThillaRajaretnam andMr.BiplobKumarSaha, theyhavealways
beenofgreathelpduringmystudy.Further,specialthanksalsogotoDr.HaoWang
atMacquarieUniversity;discussionbetweenusshapedsomeideasofmyresearch.
IwouldalsoliketothankmyfriendsDr.HongbingDengandDr.ZhaochengMaat
theHuazhongAgriculturalUniversityinChina;theyarealwaysreadyforhelpand
distance makes no difference. In the meantime, I am deeply appreciative of the
efficientandskillfulhelpfromMs.AnkeSeyfriedandherteamatSpringer-Verlag.
Fortheworktheyhavedone,thisbookcouldbepublishedearlierthanIexpected.
Finally, I wish to express my heartfelt love and gratitude to my family: my
mother,XianminJiang,myfather,JiaguoZhao,mysister,HuarongZhaoandmy
nieceSiyiChang.Thisbookisdedicatedtothem.
Shanghai,2012 XiaoboZhao
vii
.
Preface
This book is based on my doctoral thesis completed at the University of Western
Sydneyandithasbeenslightlyrevisedandupdated.
Landcontaminationisregardedasa‘negativeheritage’oftheIndustrialRevo-
lution which began in England and subsequently spread to several developed
countries in Europe, the United States and some Asian countries during the eigh-
teenth and nineteenth centuries. Large-scale mining and inappropriate disposal of
chemicals are considered to be the primary reasons of large-scale land
contamination.
Likeallindustrializedcountries,Chinaisexperiencingincreasedlandcontami-
nation in recent years. Abandoned mining and manufacture sites and obsolete
industrial complexes, while also creating new polluting industrial enterprises, are
presentingimpendingenvironmentalthreats.Moreimportantly,anumberofsocial
andeconomicproblemshavedevelopedandmustbedealtwith,insomecases,asa
matterofurgencyinChina.
In response, contaminated land laws or regulations have been established and
have evolved in the US and UK and many other jurisdictions for decades. Regu-
latoryregimesforcontaminatedlandissuesarehighlysystemicandwelldeveloped
inthosecountries.Thoseregimeshavesubstantiallyinfluencedtherelevantlegis-
lation in the context of numerous Asian and European countries. In comparison,
legislation as a response to land contamination is a recent thing in China.
Regulations and relevant environmental standards for soil protection are under
developmentatboththecentralandlocalgovernmentlevels.However,considering
the difficulties facing the lawmakers in developing contaminated land regulatory
regimes gaps still broadly exist under China’s current legal system. This book
therefore considers what China can learn from the experiences of other
jurisdictions, particularly the complex legislation concerning contaminated land
inthe USandUK.These two countries have developed advancedsystemsfor the
controlandpreventionofcontaminatedlandproblems.Considerationoftheliabil-
ity issues, the commercial issues, the relevant science and other areas such as
insurance and valuation have, to some extent, also been adopted by numerous
countries.
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