Steep rise in pollution discharge fees

A total of 88 million yuan ($14.1 million) was collected from Beijing enterprises toward pollution discharge fees in the first quarter of 2014, a 900 percent increase from last year, said the Beijing Municipal Environmental Protection Bureau on Tuesday.

"The figure was 8.34 million yuan last year. All money collected will be used for improvement of Beijing's air quality," Zhong Chongwei, head of the environmental monitoring team of Beijing, said at a press conference Tuesday.

More than 18.47 million of the fees came from heavy emitters in the city, such as coal power plants and cement plants. A cement factory in Fangshan district has handed a huge bill of 658,000 yuan, while a research institute affiliated to the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation only had to pay 100. 83 yuan.

Zhang Zhanping, deputy head of the team, said that more than 7,000 bills have been issued this year, compared with 2,000 at the end of last year.

The pollution discharge fees in Beijing saw a steep increase in January, as the city pledged to fight pollution. The fees charged for per kilogram emission of pollutants, such as sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, chemical oxygen and ammonia nitrogen, has increased to 14 to 15 times of the original amount, which was less than 1 yuan.

Enterprises that discharge 50 percent fewer pollutants than the stipulated limit will be charged half of the benchmark rate. Those emitting within the limit will be charged at the original rate, whereas polluters exceeding the limit will see their fees doubled along with additional punishment.

Four main coal plants have set up purification systems to cut their emission, and coal consumption has dropped 200,000 tons to 2.6 million tons in the first quarter of this year. Meanwhile, some power plants have vowed to cut nitrogen oxide emission to 50 percent lower than the standard.

Huang Wei, climate and energy campaigner for Greenpeace, told the Global Times that the fees play a key role in combating pollution to some extent, but the amount of fines imposed should be higher so as to deter heavy polluters.

"In fact, some large-scale corporations are willing to pay the fine in exchange for the continuation of the emissions," Huang noted, adding that authorities must guarantee that all fee bills are paid in the end and those in charge must be held legally responsible for emission cuts.

Some 250 heavy emitters are under 24-hour monitoring by environmental departments, while others will see random checks on pollutant emission, according to Huang, who called for a thorough investigation on all factories, big and small, in the city.

Huang added that more public supervision is needed and third-party agencies could also contribute to the oversight of the polluters in the city.