Lawmakers supported removal of clauses allowing local governments to restrict or ban vehicles from the draft amendment to the Air Pollution Control Law on Tuesday.
"I am glad to see that suggestions from lawmakers on the driving ban have been adopted," Gu Shengzu, an NPC Standing Committee member, told a group discussion at the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee' bi-monthly session, which began on Monday and will run through Saturday.
Economic incentives, rather than a direct ban on driving, should be applied to restrict car driving for the sake of air quality, Gu said.
Hao Ruyu, vice chairman of the NPC Financial and Economic Committee, supported the revision on the ground of protecting citizens' rights to property.
People pay to buy cars and pay taxes for the cars. Banning people from driving on certain days equates to deprivation of citizen' s rights to property, he said.
Moreover, he pointed out, the list of cities imposing driving bans has been growing fast, therefore the removal is quite necessary.
The first draft of the Air Pollution Control Law allowed local governments to restrict or ban vehicles in specified areas and during specified times. The second draft adds a clause that said restrictions should consider public opinion first.
The current version removed the clauses altogether, and according to a report from the NPC, it is up to local legislature to decide whether a driving ban will be adopted in their jurisdiction.
While deliberating the draft amendment to the Air Pollution Control Law, legislators also called attention to pollution from burning straw, a widespread agricultural practice and from aircraft, urging legislation against these pollution sources.
Lawmaker Fu Huating, a village Party chief in Qiqihar, northeast Heilongjiang province, and Wang Yuzhi, a chief executive of a construction company in Siping, Jilin province, both suggested the government offering subsidies to farmers to recycle straw, and writing it into the Air Pollution Control Law.
