Analysis of the Legal Governance Status and Improvement Measures of Smog Pollution Control in China

摘要

Exacerbating smog weather has been considered a major environmental problem threatening China’ssustainable development. As such, the Chinese government has initiated environmental efforts to solve thisproblem. Smog pollution can be legally managed by improving environmental protection standards, increasingenvironmental illegal costs, and enhancing the construction of environmental responsibility mechanisms.This paper focuses on the legislation status of smog pollution control at national and regional levels andanalyses the limitations of the current legal measures. Legal strategies on smog pollution control are proposedon the basis of governance standards, pollution detection, legal liability, and public participation. Resultsindicate that many laws in China have recognized smog pollution and provided legal governance actionplans and local regulations corresponding to national guidelines. Nevertheless, smog pollution control isassociated with several problems, including outdated legislative philosophy, inefficient prevention and treatmentpolicy planning, and enterprises’ insufficient social responsibility. Therefore, relevant policy suggestions areproposed in this study on the basis of four aspects: enhancing the evaluation system conforming to ecologicalcivilization construction requirements; comprehensive promotion of emission trading system; improving publicparticipation system; and building smog monitoring and early warning mechanisms. This study provides abasis for the proper determination of legal regulation status and smog-related problems in China and for thedevelopment of updated legal governance measures.