By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: February 9, 2010

China Releases First National Pollution Census

BEIJING (AP)—China said Tuesday that its first national pollution census has mapped more than 5 million sources of industrial, residential and agricultural waste throughout the country, but that the results won’t be publicly available for now.

The world’s largest polluter now has a year to use the results to shape its next five-year environmental plan. Ministries are also studying the possibility of an environmental tax, China’s vice minister of environmental protection, Zhang Lijun, told a news conference.

Detailed data from the first pollution census will be released to the public ‘‘in the future,’’ Zhang said.

In the meantime, the results remain out of the view of an increasingly vocal Chinese public. Only the government and officials at relevant ministries have access to it.

‘‘This is an incredibly ambitious source survey of pollutants,’’ said Deborah Seligsohn, principal adviser for the World Resources Institute on China’s climate and energy issues. ‘‘In terms of giving them an excellent basis for being able to manage and track what they’re doing, it’s a huge step forward.’‘

The survey puts China ahead of other developing countries in having a detailed map of who is polluting and where.

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