垂改背景下县级生态环境部门的法制困境与法典回应

Legal Dilemma and Code Response of County-level Ecological and Environmental Departments under the Background of Vertical Reform

环保垂直管理改革更新了生态环境监管体制的事权配置,县级生态环境部门作为上级主管机关的派出机构,不再具有独立的执法权限。现行环境立法尚未及时回应体制改革的进展,导致县级生态环境部门立法定位之抵牾、监管主体上下级之间事权配置同质化、县级生态环境部门法律地位不明等法制困境。在环境法典编纂尚未完成之前,可以采取委托执法的过渡方案为县级生态环境部门的执法提供法律依据,但这仅为权宜之计,编纂环境法典是回应县级生态环境部门法制困境的法治路径:应当在《生态环境法典》“总则编”的“生态环境治理体系”一章之“公权力主体与监管体制”一节中专门规定“生态环境监管体制”条款,明确规定国家级、省级、地市级三级“法定的监管主体”,明晰各层级生态环境部门的法律地位与事权配置,并规定地方性法规等下位法可以授予县级生态环境部门在一定范围内独立的执法权限。

The vertical management reform of environmental protection has updated the configuration of ecological and environmental regulatory system,with county-level departments no longer having independent enforcement authority as agencies dispatched by higher authorities.The current environmental legislation has not yet responded in a timely manner to the progress of the institutional reform,resulting in legal dilemma such as the contradictory legislative positioning of county-level ecological and environmental departments,the homogeneous allocation of powers between the upper and lower levels of regulatory bodies,and the unclear legal status of the departments.Before the codification is completed,the transitional scheme of entrusting law enforcement to county-level eco-environmental departments can be adopted to provide a legal basis for law enforcement,but this is only a short-term stopgap measure.The codification is the law solution to the legal dilemma:a specific provision on the"Ecological and Environmental Regulatory System"should be included in the chapter on"Ecological and Environmental Governance System"of the"General Provisions"under the section on"Subjects of Public Authority and Regulatory System",clearly specifying"statutory regulatory subjects"at the national,provincial and municipal levels,and clarifying the legal status and allocation of powers among eco-environmental departments at each level.It also provides that subordinate laws such as local regulations may authorize county-level ecological and environmental departments to have independent enforcement authority within certain limits.