[JURIST] In Monday's environmental law news, China's State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA) [official website] has approved the resumption of 26 of the 30 large construction projects that were halted last month for failing to complete environmental impact statements before beginning. The initial halting was seen as a show of power by SEPA and its authority to enforce environmental regulations. The remaining 4 projects will likely continue once their reports are completed. AFP has the full story.

In other news,

• The Japanese Iron and Steel Federation [official website, in Japanese] has adopted a plan that would provide emission control technology to China's steel industry. Japan hopes to use its assistance to China as a credit to its own emissions reduction target under the Kyoto Protocol. AP has the full story.
• The US Department of Justice [official website] has charged the now-former manager of the Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge [official website] in Arizona with illegally moving the Chiricahua leopard frog [species profile], a threatened species, into the refuge. In 2003, Wayne Shifflett [personal statement on the events, PDF], a 38 year veteran of the US Fish and Wildlife Service [official website], assisted and authorized the relocation of the frog from the control of a university researcher into two of the refuge's ponds and a captive breeding facility. The frog had been present at the refuge until severe droughts dried up their habitat. Shifflett, who retired last year, has said he will pay the $3,500 fine [DOJ citation, PDF] for moving the frogs. Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility has more.