951 doi: 10.17265/1548-6605/2015.12.002 ENVIRONMENTAL STABILITY STILL IN DANGER, LOOPHOLES OF NEW ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION LAW (EPL) IN CHINA Azra Jabeen ∗ , Huang Xi Sheng ∗∗ & Muhammad Aamir ∗∗∗ Explosive economic and industrial growth in China has led to a significant environmental degradation and it is currently in the process of developing more stringent legal controls. Although new Environmental Protection Law (EPL) 2015, has very important provision like handing out heavier punishment for environmental wrongdoing, specific articles and provisions on tackling pollution, environmental and health monitoring survey and risk assessment mechanism, public participation in environmental protection and encouraging social organizations to initiate public law suits on behalf of citizens. Yet the environmental legal system is still incomplete, and implementation and enforcement of environmental laws have shown major shortcomings. Release of the draft revised EPL has triggered a flood of questions, comments and complaints. Present paper spotlights these very impotent questions and contains a thoughtful discussion about EPL. INTRODUCTION............................................................................................ 952 I. SOCIAL UNREST ....................................................................................... 954 II. REVISED ENVIRONMENTAL LAW ............................................................ 956 A. Litigation Powers of NGOs ...................................................... 958 B. Stiffer Punishments ................................................................... 958 C. Channel for Public Litigation ................................................... 959 D. Changes of Other Laws ............................................................ 960 E. Powerful Tools .......................................................................... 960 III. POLICY: LOOPHOLES IN CHINA’S NEW ENVIRONMENTAL LAW............. 960 CONCLUSION ............................................................................................... 963 ∗ Dr. Azra Jabeen, research fields: Environmental Protection Law, Air Water Pollution Control Laws and Policies. School of Law, Chongqing University, 400044 China. ∗∗ Prof. Dr. Huang Xi Sheng, research fields: Environmental Protection Law, Air Water Pollution Control Laws and Policies, Economics Laws and Policies. School of Law, Chongqing University, 400044 China. ∗∗∗ Asst. Prof. Dr. Muhammad Aamir, research field: Material Science and Engineering. Key Laboratories of Low-grade Energy Utilization Technologies and Systems, Chongqing University, Chongqing, 400044 China.