BEIJING -- The National People's Congress Standing Committee has convened its bimonthly session in Beijing where it will deliberate a series of draft laws, amendments and bills, including a much anticipated draft revision on environmental protection laws.

The NPC announced during its annual session in March that the amending laws regarding environmental protection would be at the top of its to-do list for 2014. Just a month later, the NPC followed through with its promise. The law makers are now deliberating the fourth draft amendment to the environmental protection law.

The new measures, once put in place, will see that companies and other organizations who knowingly pollute, face unprecedented and harsher punishments.

"According to the bill, governments of all levels should strictly publicize environmental information and facilitate the participation of and supervision by citizens and institutions in environmental protection." Zhang Mingqi, deputy director of Law Committee, Npc Standing Committee, said.

By improving laws and regulations, China will tighten oversight of pollutants that are discharged, and implement harsher punishments for illegal practices, stressing that polluters responsible for damaging the environment must be held accountable.

Meanwhile, it will also consider revising parts of the law relating to air pollution controls.

"The bill adds more items to set up a unified standard in monitoring key polluted areas, and we will encourage clean energy and the recycling of resources." Zhang said.

The NPC Standing Committee bi-monthly session will also include deliberation on a draft amendment to the budget law.

A bill submitted by the State Council on a draft law on shipping navigation channels and two others concerning the judicial interpretation of the Criminal Law and Criminal Procedure Law will also be deliberated.

Revising the environmental protection law, which took effect in 1989, has been deemed central to curbing pollution. For the first time last year, the NPC stipulated that environmental protection is the basic state policy. However, the past three attempts to amend the law didn't yield practical solutions, so lawmakers are calling for stricter measures and more government oversight.