ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY AND THE EMERGENCE OF THE INCINERATION INDUSTRY: A CASE STUDY OF BEIJING, CHINA, 1989-2012 A Dissertation by CHUNG-PEI PIEN Submitted to the Office of Graduate and Professional Studies of Texas A&M University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Chair of Committee, Harland Prechel Committee Members, Robert Mackin Ren Mu Nancy Plankey Videla Head of Department, Jane Sell December 2018 Major Subject: Sociology Copyright 2018 Chung-pei Pien ABSTRACT This research uses the emergence of the Chinese incineration industry as a case study to examine changes in environmental policies in China from 1989–2012. Three prevailing models have an unsolved question about which actors contribute to Chinese environmental policies. The citizenship awareness model suggests that environmental non-governmental organizations can promote environmental regulations. Environmental authoritarianism argues that the Chinese state maintains capacities to improve the environment. The industrial environmental management model points out that proliferation of private regulations can reduce pollution. However, the above models do not explain why these actors’ efforts of reducing pollution cannot prevent environmental deterioration produced by the rapid economic growth. Using the organizational-political economy perspective, this research argues that the ability of actors to influence policies are historical variations. I evaluate Chinese environmental policies in three periods. The first period from 1989–1997 passed the marketization reform of the environmental policy strategy. The second period 1997–2007 passed BOT public utilities and the renewable energy law. The third period from 2008– 2012 passed incinerator increasing rates and feed-in tariffs. There are four findings: (1) changes in political and economic stability affects the state managers and social actors to support state general agendas in crises or pursue their interests in economic growth; (2) the ability to access the state structures provides channels social actors to influence policies; (3) the ability to form political coalitions allows social actors to mitigate internal ii conflicts and exercise power; and (4) social actors who are able to evaluate the historical variations in neo-liberalism can define policies that align with the neo-liberal or alternative agendas. This research demonstrates that the state and society are embedded and cannot separated from one another during decision-making processes. Furthermore, this research illuminates that the Chinese incineration market could not be created and operated without politics. Incineration corporations’ involvement into environmental policies focused on market expansion policies and ignored to protect the environment. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I wish to thank my committee chair, Dr. Harland Prechel, for his guidance and contributions throughout the dissertation processes. His valuable insight provided crucial theoretical suggestions for this dissertation. I would like to thank my committee members, Dr. Robert Mackin, Dr. Ren Mu, and Dr. Nancy Plankey Videla. Each provided constructive comments to help me to promote my dissertation. Special thanks to Dr. Lu Zheng for being generous with his assistance during my fieldwork in Beijing. I also owe appreciation to my parents that have encouraged me in the completion of this dissertation. My wife, Hui-min Chen, has been a constant source of love, encouragement, and support. Without her, I cannot overcame many difficulties throughout the research. Thanks also go to my friends and colleagues and the department faculty and staff for making my time at Texas A&M University a great experience. iv CONTRIBUTORS AND FUNDING SOURCES This work was supported by a dissertation committee consisting of Professor Harland Prechel, Robert Mackin, and Nancy Plankey Videla of the Department of Sociology and Professor Ren Mu of the Bush School of Government and Public Service. All work for the dissertation was completed independently by the student. The fieldwork was supported by a grant from Department of Sociology of Texas A&M University and a dissertation research fellowship from Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation for International Scholarly Exchange. v NOMENCLATURE ACCA Administrative Center for China’s Agenda 21 BOT Build-Operate-Transfer BCSD Business Council for Sustainable Development CFBC Circulating Fluidized-Bed Combustion EIA Environmental Impact Assessment ENGO Environmental Non-governmental Organization GDP Gross Domestic Product IPP Independent Power Plant LULU Locally Unwanted Land Use MAFMPU Measures for the Administration on the Franchise of Municipal Public Utilities MNC Multinational Corporation NIMBY Not In My Back Yard OIMP Opinion for Increase in Marketization processes of Municipal Public Utilities PPP Public-private Partnership SOE State-owned Enterprise TMMPAC Trial Measures for the Management of Prices and Allocation of Costs for Electricity Generated from Renewable Energy UN United Nations UNCED United Nations Conference on Environment and Development vi WTO World Trade Organization vii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ABSTRACT .......................................................................................................................ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .............................................................................................. iv CONTRIBUTORS AND FUNDING SOURCES .............................................................. v NOMENCLATURE .......................................................................................................... vi TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................................................... viii LIST OF FIGURES ............................................................................................................ x LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................ xi CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................... 1 Introduction .................................................................................................................... 1 Literature Review ......................................................................................................... 12 An Alternative Formula: Organizational-political Economy Perspective ................... 20 Research Design ........................................................................................................... 29 Data .............................................................................................................................. 34 Chapter Design ............................................................................................................. 37 CHAPTER II POLICY PERIOD ONE: MARKETIZATION REFORM OF ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY STRATEGY, 1989–1997 .............................................. 40 Introduction .................................................................................................................. 40 Historical Background, 1976–1988.............................................................................. 43 Criticism of the UN and World Bank from 1970s–1980s, and the Rio UNCED of 1992 .............................................................................................................................. 48 Political and Economic Crisis: The Tiananmen Square Protests of 1989 .................... 56 Efforts towards the Marketization of the Environmental Policy Strategy during the Economic Growth Period, after 1992 ........................................................................... 62 Conclusions .................................................................................................................. 79 CHAPTER III POLICY PERIOD TWO: URBAN PUBLIC UTILITIES BUILD- OPERATE-TRANSFER POLICY AND RENEWABLE ENERGY LAW, 1997– 2007 .................................................................................................................................. 85 viii Introduction .................................................................................................................. 85 The Asian Financial Crisis and the State-dominated Agenda ...................................... 86 Efforts at BOT Promotion and the MAFMPU ............................................................. 90 The Renewable Energy Law ...................................................................................... 109 Conclusions ................................................................................................................ 117 CHAPTER IV POLICY PERIOD THREE: 12TH FIVE-YEAR PLAN AND NATIONWIDE FEED-IN TARIFF, 2008–2012 ........................................................... 121 Introduction ................................................................................................................ 121 The Previous Policies’ Deficiencies ........................................................................... 124 The Global Financial Crisis of 2008 and the Waning of Neo-liberalism................... 125 The Incineration Development Agenda ..................................................................... 128 Nationwide Feed-in Tariff .......................................................................................... 134 Beijing Incineration Development ............................................................................. 143 Anti-incinerator