"China Court to hear 30m yuan air pollution lawsuit", 25th March 2015

An environmental group has filed a 30 million yuan (US$4.8 million) lawsuit to seek compensation from a Shandong chemical company...first public interest litigation for air pollution under China’s new environmental law...the Intermediate People’s Court in the Shandong city of Dezhou accepted to hear a lawsuit requesting compensation for air pollution from Dezhou Jinghua, which makes chemicals for use in the glass industry...

The All-China Environmental Federation (ACEF), which brought the lawsuit, is basing the potential amount of damages on am offending company’s operating costs...[J]udicial interpretation of the new public interest litigation law, which came into effect in January...[stipulates that] when the environmental damages cannot be calculated, damages can be assessed in line with the company’s operating costs...