The new environmental protection law, known as the strictest in history and "tooth growth", has been implemented since January 1, 2015, and is about to celebrate its tenth anniversary. At the press conference held by the Ministry of Ecology and Environment on the 24th, Zhao Qunying, the director of the Ecological Environment Law Enforcement Bureau, presented a series of data and detailed the relevant situation of using ecological environment law enforcement to promote continuous improvement of ecological environment quality. Decreased by 66% and 79%: Ecological and environmental punishment cases are showing a downward trend. Zhao Qunying said that in the past decade, the ecological and environmental departments have fully utilized the five supporting measures of the new environmental protection law to investigate and handle more than 190000 cases of daily continuous punishment, seizure and detention, production and production restrictions, administrative detention, and suspected environmental pollution crimes. They have investigated and handled 1.295 million environmental administrative punishment cases, with a total fine amount of 86.02 billion yuan. Since 2018, with the deepening implementation of the new environmental protection law, the awareness of environmental compliance in the whole society has significantly improved, and the efforts of corporate environmental governance have continued to increase. The number of ecological environment punishment cases has shown a downward trend. In 2023, more than 80000 punishment cases were handled, with 8300 cases in the five categories mentioned above, a decrease of 66% and 79% respectively from the peak period in 2017. He said, 'We will resolutely curb the high incidence of ecological environment violations through law enforcement.' At the same time, the ecological environment department continues to innovate and optimize new models of ecological environment law enforcement. On the one hand, we will strengthen technological empowerment, intelligent supervision, and digital law enforcement, improve our ability to identify problems, and accurately crack down on illegal activities. Scientifically allocate law enforcement resources and strengthen differentiated supervision and law enforcement through classification. On the other hand, continuously standardizing administrative penalty behavior, continuously regulating the exercise of discretionary power, improving the quality of law enforcement, and maintaining the authority and credibility of law enforcement. Strengthen law-abiding services, enhance positive guidance, and improve the endogenous motivation of enterprises to consciously abide by the law. 480000 questions: Precise scientific implementation of atmospheric supervision and assistance Zhao Qunying said that since the beginning of this year, the overall air quality in China has shown an improvement trend, but due to multiple factors, some areas have experienced a rebound in air quality. The Ministry of Ecology and Environment has carried out precise and scientific atmospheric supervision and assistance, organizing 11 rounds of on-site supervision and assistance and 14 rounds of remote guidance and assistance. According to technical unit calculations, it can promote pollution reduction of 204000 tons. He introduced that the current implementation of atmospheric supervision and assistance organizations is more scientific, scientifically determining key time periods and locations, and scientifically allocating forces; The work content is more focused, with a focus on responding to heavy pollution weather and strictly controlling mobile source pollution emissions; More precise assistance targets, screening and determining key industry enterprises and industrial clusters, and accurately identifying problem clues; The handling of problems is more differentiated. For cities with obvious rebound in air quality and prominent environmental problems, illegal enterprises that commit crimes against the wind during heavy pollution periods will be dealt with seriously in accordance with the law and regulations. For general issues, encourage local governments to use measures such as no punishment for first-time offenders and minor exemptions to guide enterprises in improving their environmental management level. Since 2017, the ecological environment department has organized and invested 115000 people, accumulated 2.29 million inspection points, and helped localities discover and promote the rectification of 480000 problems, becoming a key move to promote the continuous improvement of atmospheric environment quality. Punishing 1968 households: "Zero tolerance" for monitoring data fraud Zhao Qunying introduced that in the monitoring activities of pollution sources entrusted by polluting units to third-party monitoring agencies, the phenomenon of fraud is more prominent. The Ministry of Ecology and Environment maintains a "zero tolerance" attitude towards monitoring data fraud and resolutely crack down on it. Since October 2022, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, in conjunction with several departments, has carried out a special rectification campaign, investigating and punishing 1968 third-party environmental monitoring agencies that engaged in fraud, transferring 167 criminal cases, and publicly exposing 62 typical cases, playing a strong deterrent role. To address the issue of monitoring data fraud at its root, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment will strengthen departmental collaboration and enhance technical prevention and control through the application of technologies such as video surveillance, Beidou positioning, and direct data and parameter collection, achieving "on-site visibility, equipment traceability, monitoring controllability, and sample trajectory traceability". At present, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment is cooperating with relevant departments to accelerate the formulation of the "Regulations on Ecological Environment Monitoring", promote the granting of anti-counterfeiting and punishment authority to ecological environment departments, further strengthen the main responsibility of data quality of polluting units, ensure the authenticity and accuracy of data, and increase the cost of illegal activities. Reducing emissions by 500000 tons: The special rectification of third-party organizations in the field of motor vehicle emission inspection has become an important aspect of air pollution control, especially for the treatment of exhaust emissions from heavy-duty trucks. Third party organizations in the field of motor vehicle emission inspection, mainly including motor vehicle inspection agencies and maintenance agencies, are important links in the environmental compliance supervision of heavy trucks. Zhao Qunying introduced that since September this year, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment and other departments have organized a special rectification action against third-party organizations in the field of motor vehicle emission inspection. At present, 650 institutions have been subjected to disciplinary measures such as internet disconnection, 580 have had their qualifications revoked, and 110 institutions with malicious nature have had their responsible persons held criminally accountable. He introduced that this special rectification has effectively curbed the frequent occurrence of problems such as fraud and excessive emissions: the number of unqualified vehicle repairs has increased. According to the dispatch data of the transportation department, the environmental protection maintenance of motor vehicles increased in November, and 151000 unqualified heavy trucks achieved exhaust gas treatment standards through environmental protection maintenance. The proportion of heavy truck problems has decreased, and spot checks show that the proportion of heavy truck problems in key areas has significantly decreased, with a decrease of more than 30 percentage points compared to the first half of this year. Effective reduction of pollutants has been achieved, and after evaluation by technical units, a special rectification has been carried out to reduce nitrogen oxide emissions by approximately 500000 tons. (New Society)