Friends of Nature (FON), the oldest environmental NGO in China, recently urged the government to keep a close environmental eye on projects springing from the 4 trillion yuan stimulus package.

"They should guarantee proper use of the money, and not just monitoring quality and official corruption, but also watch out for high energy demand and high emissions," said Yang Dongping, director of FON.

It is important to curb the economic slowdown but new projects should not be rush jobs, especially at the cost of environmental damage, he said.

Any project without a strict environmental evaluation and regulation will result in terrible consequences, he added.

Factories with outdated facilities could be revived as part of stimulus plan, Minister of Environmental Protection Ministry Zhou Shengxian, warned in January.

The government needs to guard against the possible return of energy-intensive and heavy-polluting firms during the stimulus drive, he added.

Some local governments may pressure environmental assessment agencies to give the green light to stimulus-related projects that might otherwise not pass, said Qie Jianrong, an environmental reporter for 22 years with Legal Daily, and a FON member.

Reassurance is needed from the national legislature session, or the National People's Congress (NPC) and the Chinese People's Consultative Conference (CPPCC), she said.

The central government should establish a supervision mechanism for environmental assessment agencies, especially those that review projects with the potential for high levels of pollution and should release assessment information to the public, she said.

The Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP) has shortened the time for environmental evaluation process and pushed forward evaluation approvals.

The MEP held environmental evaluation meetings and approved 93 projects between Nov 26th and 28th, 2008, but didn't disclose crucial information such as when these projects were sent for assessment and how long each assessment takes, she said. The press release on the MEP website didn't even name the approved projects.

The MEP has become silent over the last two years, she said. The Ministry releases information by simply posting it online instead of holding a press conference.

On the rare occasions that the Ministry does hold a press conference, only a few members of the media are invited, she added.

"My concern is that media supervision is difficult and there are no transparent sources from official channels disclosing how the 4 trillion yuan is being spent," she said.

But the NPC says saving energy and protecting the environment is high on the government's agenda.

The 4 trillion yuan stimulus package includes a 210 billion yuan investment in environmental protection and energy conservation, said Zhangping, minister of the National Development and Reform Commission during the NPC session.

Premier Wen Jiabao said China is facing severe environmental problems and that government policies would not neglect these issues.

Wen said China will improve its energy conservation and reduce emissions while curbing the economic slowdown.

The country has issued a series of support packages for 10 industries since January, including the steel and auto sectors.

"These packages are not only intended to offset the current economic slowdown but will promote industrial restructuring and upgrading. The plans reflect public concerns about efficiency and environmental protection," said NDRC Vice Minister Liu Tienan at a February press conference.

"The stimulus package presents a good opportunity for the government to balance growth with industrial restructuring and upgrading and develop a green, low carbon economy," said Li Dun, professor of China Academy of Social Science.

"There are concerns about some large infrastructure projects that might be constructed at local levels," said Li.

We rarely hear of large-scale projects not passing local environmental evaluation," said Li. "We should establish an accountability system. If an project passes the environmental assessment process but is later exposed as not being up to standard, the person who approved the evaluation should take responsibility and be exposed on the MEP website."

He also said the public should be involved in the monitoring system.

(China Daily March 16, 2009)