On January 23, the two-day National Conference of Heads of Provincial-level Environmental Protection Bureaus ended with a great success. SEPA Minister Zhou Shengxian pointed out that environmental protection bureaus at all levels should carry out the guidelines of the 17th National Congress of CCCPC and the Central Economic Working Conference, stand at a new starting-point, have firm confidence, do work solidly and try to create a new phase for environmental protection.

At the conference, heads of provincial level environmental protection bureaus nationwide learned earnestly the guidelines of the 17th National Congress of CCCPC and the Central Economic Working Conference and summed up and exchanged the experience of the previous year. The participants of the conference agreed that the Minister's report had summarized the work of 2007 practically and inspiringly and arranged the work of 2008 with clear guidelines, specific goals and forceful measures. They said they had learned a lot from the conference, which aimed to unify their thoughts, raise their awareness, clarify their goals and enhance their confidence.

Mr. Zhou pointed out that the year 2008 is key to achieving the environmental goals set out in the 11th Five-Year Plan. The task of this year is arduous. The cadres and workers of the environmental system should adhere to the guidelines of the 17th CPC National Congress, thoroughly implement the scientific outlook on development, and earnestly carry out the tasks proposed by the 17th National Congress and the Central Economic Working Conference. They should lay the focus on the following aspects:

First, raising the awareness and unifying the thoughts. Environmental protection bureaus at all levels should unify the awareness of the cadres and workers to the guidelines of the 17th National Congress and to the work arrangements of this conference by thoroughly studying those guidelines. They should, by instructing the developments and tasks of environmental protection work, further intensify the awareness of the cadres and workers on hardship, sense of responsibility and sense of overall situation, enable them to deepen their awareness of the current developments, carry out measures more effectively, and act more conscientiously.

Second, clarifying the tasks and assuming the responsibility. They should make all-out efforts to lay a solid foundation and carry out three tasks closely around solving the prominent problems endangering the public health and sustainable development. The foundation means to provide a solid institutional guarantee for various tasks in the new era by seizing the historical opportunities of the administrative restructuring, trying to shift the government functions, straightening out the relations, optimizing the structures, improving the efficiency, and establishing an environmental protection system with unified purview and functions. The three tasks means to speed up the efforts to establish a resource-saving and environment-friendly society by focusing on the pollution reduction; to rehabilitate the heavy loaded rivers, lakes, and seas by focusing on guaranteeing the safety of drinking water; and to enhance the basic capacity building by relying on the implementation of the three basic projects. At the same time, they should further carry out the "five constructions" (that is, the ideological, organizational, work style, professional and institutional constructions) and try to build a rank of environmental cadres with high political quality, excellent professional backgrounds and intense spirits of dedication. Environmental protection bureaus at all levels should detail the goals and clarify the responsibility for the above tasks in order to press ahead with the major tasks proactively and orderly.

Third, improving the work and working down-to-earth. Environmental protection bureaus at all levels should take the initiative to adapt to the changing situation, improve the work style, make persistent efforts, ride on the up trends and try to achieve a sound and fast development of the environmental protection work. They should enhance the concept of overall situation and the strategic insights, and correctly grasp the internal connection between environmental protection and economic development and social progress. They should make plans for all the tasks and press ahead with them closely around establishing ecological civilization and building an environment-friendly society, which should be the guideline for solving problems, making decisions and doing work, try to change the concepts that are not adaptable, and solve the prominent problems that affect the implementation of the tasks. The local environmental protection bureaus should intensify their policy control, change indeed from relying solely on administrative approaches to relying on a combination of approaches, do more to study the environmental economic policies, carry out pilot projects, and implement the policies in an all-around way, actively explore the policies and measures that are consistent with local economic development level and environmental requirements, and create a new phase, which is distinctive and can bring out the best of each other for environmental protection work. Local environmental authorities should intensify their efforts for better work styles and forge a positive image in society by top professional qualities, normative career morality and staunch work styles. They should strengthen the basic work, actively seek for the supports of local Party committees and governments, make a major breakthrough in the environmental capacity building and lay a solid foundation for greeting the spring of the environmental cause.

Minister Zhou pointed out that a journey of a thousand miles begins with single step. At present, we should focus on the following tasks: first of all, we should speed up establishing the three major systems (a scientific indicator system, an accurate monitoring system and a strict assessment system) for pollution reduction, and by the methods approved and forwarded by the State Council for calculating, monitoring, and assessing the total amount of reduced major pollutants, earnestly and entirely promote the establishment of the three systems, constantly summarize the practical experience and improve the governance methods. Second, we should initiate the work to guarantee the water quality in drinking water sources. Local areas should pay close attention to grasping the protection of drinking water sources in major cities within the provincial jurisdiction, make and implement feasible work plans, carry out the policies and measures for rehabilitating the rivers, lakes, and seas, intensify the supervision of law enforcement, and severely crack down on various environmental irregularities that endanger the safety of drinking water sources in order to enable the public have access to clean water. Third, we should mobilize all the resources to conduct the surveys on pollutant sources. With collective resources we should make studies while conducting the surveys, and explore a set of dynamic mechanisms for managing the information on pollutant sources, in order to lay a solid foundation for effective management. Fourth, we should carry out more training programs and try to enhance the professional ability and law enforcement level of cadres and workers in the environmental system.

Minister Zhou stressed that heads of environmental authorities at all levels should try to successfully achieve the goals and tasks under the 11th Five-Year Plan with strong sense of responsibility for the State and for the people, and by strictly performing their functions, advancing despite difficulties and exploring with an enterprising spirit.