地方政府环境质量责任的法理与制度完善

The Jurisprudence of Local Government Environmental Quality Responsibility and the Institutional Improvement

2014年《环境保护法》规定的地方政府环境质量责任是对我国《宪法》加给政权机关的环境保护职责的立法表达。因为《宪法》早已确定了保护环境的国家使命、基本国策,遵循宪法规定,我国其他一些单行环境法也有关于政权机关环境质量责任的规定。2014年《环境保护法》和其他法律规定的政府环境质量责任是“积极责任”或“建设性责任”,而非不利法律后果。地方政府环境质量责任的另一面就是保护环境的权力。宪法、法律在加给地方国家机关维护或提高环境质量责任的同时,也赋予它们保护环境的“建设性权力”。地方政府环境质量责任的责任主体实际上是地方各级国家政权机关。对于政府环境质量责任的履行来说,更急需做的不是设计出对政府“问责”的方案,而是加强推进地方政权机关履行保护环境“积极责任”的制度建设,包括建立经济社会发展与环境保护规划制度、环境质量目标主义指导下的总行为控制制度和以改善流域等空间环境单元环境质量为管理目标的区际环保合作制度。

The local government’s environmental quality responsibility stipulated in the Environmental Protection Law revised in 2014 is a legislative expression of the environmental protection duties of the Constitution of the People’s Republic of China.Because the Constitution has already established the national mission and basic national policy for protecting the environment,in accordance with the constitutional provisions,some other environmental laws in China have also made provisions on the environmental quality responsibility of the political organs.The government environmental quality responsibility stipulated in the Environmental Protection Law of 2014 and other laws is“positive responsibility”or“constructive responsibility”,not adverse legal consequences.The other side of local government environmental quality responsibility is the power to protect the environment.The Constitution and the law give them the“constructive power”to protect the environment while adding to the responsibility of local state organs to maintain or improve environmental quality.The main body responsible for the environmental quality responsibility of local governments is actually the local political organs at various levels.For the implementation of the government’s environmental quality responsibility,what is more urgently needed is not to design a program of“accountability”for the government,but to strengthen the system construction of local government organs to fulfill the“active responsibility”of protecting the environment,including the establishment of economic society,development and environmental protection planning system,total behavior control system under the guidance of environmental quality orientation,and inter-regional environmental cooperation system with the objective of improving the environmental quality of space environment units such as river basins.