Recently, the Regulations on Ecological Environment Monitoring were officially announced, which is China's first specialized administrative regulation for ecological environment monitoring and will come into effect on January 1, 2026. What are the highlights of the regulations? How to implement the relevant requirements of the regulations? The Ministry of Ecology and Environment held a briefing on November 18th to introduce relevant information. The regulations focus on addressing the pain points and difficulties that constrain the development of ecological environment monitoring, and have established a comprehensive, clear rights and responsibilities, and effective regulatory framework. ”Zhang Dawei, Director of the Ecological Environment Monitoring Department of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, said. Starting from clarifying the implementation subject of ecological environment monitoring, the regulation innovatively divides it into two categories: public monitoring and self-monitoring. Zhang Dawei stated that the implementation subject of public monitoring is the government and relevant departments, with the main purpose of fulfilling the responsibility of ecological environment protection; The implementation subject of self-monitoring is enterprises and institutions with legal monitoring obligations, and the focus of institutional design is to regulate monitoring behavior. In addition, the regulation clearly defines the responsibilities and obligations of all relevant parties in the organization and implementation of monitoring activities, data quality, supervision and management, and for the first time clarifies the legal obligation of enterprises and institutions to establish a self-monitoring data quality management system, and guides the monitoring industry from disorderly expansion to high-quality development. Technical service institutions that provide monitoring services are important forces in ecological environment monitoring. The regulations stipulate that technical service institutions engaged in inspection and testing activities shall obtain the qualification certification of inspection and testing institutions in accordance with the law. How to strengthen the qualification management of ecological environment monitoring institutions? Zhang Leizhu, Deputy Director of the Accreditation and Inspection Supervision and Management Department of the State Administration for Market Regulation, stated that in response to issues such as insufficient capacity requirements and "internal competition" among ecological environment monitoring institutions, the State Administration for Market Regulation, in conjunction with the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, has revised the "Supplementary Requirements for Qualification Recognition of Inspection and Testing Institutions and Evaluation of Ecological Environment Monitoring Institutions", which will be issued in the near future. Standardizing enterprise inspections and improving regulatory quality and efficiency are important measures to optimize the business environment and stimulate the vitality of business entities. The regulations clearly encourage the use of non-contact technologies such as non site inspections and remote sensing monitoring to promote more efficient and effective supervision. With the advancement of modern monitoring technology, we combine environmental quality monitoring and satellite remote sensing data to conduct supervision and monitoring through non-contact technologies such as drones and aerial vehicles, striving to achieve 'no entry into enterprises' and' zero disturbance 'as much as possible. ”Zhang Dawei said. Falsification of data is a persistent problem in the field of ecological environment monitoring. Starting from ensuring the quality of ecological environment monitoring data, the regulations focus on improving the institutional mechanisms for preventing and punishing monitoring data fraud, and stipulate strict and rigorous legal responsibilities for units and individuals involved in monitoring data fraud. Strengthen the punishment for technical service institutions. The regulation imposes fines and prohibitions on fraudulent behavior by technical service institutions, as well as revoking their qualifications to prevent them from evading sanctions by changing their vests. Implement 'double punishment' and build a complete chain of responsibility. Zhao Ke, Director of the Regulations and Standards Department of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, told reporters that the regulations respectively clarify the legal responsibilities of the "commissioning party" polluting units and the "entrusted party" technical service institutions, striving to break the hidden rules of polluting units shirking responsibility and technical service institutions "guaranteeing qualification". Punish both the unit and the responsible personnel, and eliminate the lucky practice of making specific staff members scapegoats. Departmental collaboration has clarified the responsibilities of monitoring equipment production units. Some manufacturers intentionally set up "backdoors" on monitoring equipment that facilitate tampering and forgery of monitoring data. According to the regulations, the ecological environment department can publicize the relevant information of the equipment and its producers and sellers to the society, and notify the market supervision and management department. Multiple departments will work together to crack down on fraud. It is necessary to conduct in-process and post event supervision of ecological environment monitoring institutions. Zhang Leizhu stated that he will cooperate with the ecological environment department to further strengthen the supervision and management of ecological environment monitoring institutions from the aspects of consolidating institutional main responsibilities, strengthening information communication and exchange, organizing joint supervision and inspection, and strengthening joint punishment for dishonesty. Next, we will conscientiously study and implement the spirit of the plenary session, take the introduction of the Ecological Environment Monitoring Regulations as an opportunity, continuously improve the ecological environment monitoring system, and provide more powerful monitoring support for the construction of a beautiful China. ”Zhang Dawei said. (New Society)