New China Environment Ministry "lacks local powers"

BEIJING, March 13 (Reuters) - China's new Environment Ministry will not have direct control over grassroots anti-pollution agencies, leaving them in the hands of local officials who are often focused on economic growth, a newspaper said on Thursday.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao this week unveiled a plan to recast central government, promoting the State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA) to a full ministry in a bid to give it more weight as Beijing struggles to curb pollution.

But Wen's announcement lacked specifics, and a deputy SEPA chief said one important power -- direct control of local environmental officials -- would not be given to the ministry.

"Vertical administration will not be implemented this year, and in the future that will be determined based on actual circumstances," the Beijing News quoted Wu Xiaoqing as saying.

The bureaucratic detail has bigger implications, for it means local governments will keep much control of the budgets and staffing for local watchdogs supposed to inspect their pollution standards and punish polluters.

Rapid industrialisation over the past three decades has battered China's air, water and land, sparking social unrest and dragging on economic growth. SEPA officials have openly lamented that central government directives are ignored by growth-hungry local officials.

But Wu said SEPA's promotion to a full ministry would give it more power, allowing it to developing environmental protection rules without seeking the approval of other bureaucracies focused on economic growth. (Reporting by Chris Buckley; Editing by Nick Macfie)