企业破产清算中环境债权优先受偿的保护途径研究

企业破产清算中环境债权优先受偿的保护途径研究

卿喜佳

成都理工大学

摘要

随着社会发展，高质量发展已经成为主流，我国对环境保护力度的逐步加强。但是我国目前的《破产法》对环境损害赔偿、环境侵权赔偿等法律规定不完善，原有的破产债权清偿顺位已不能适应现实发展状况，这也导致了破产企业承担环境侵权的法律责任没有对应的程序，从而造成了我国破产企业承担环境侵权的司法问题。

关键词：破产 环境债权 优先受偿 保护途径

一、企业破产清算中的环境债权的界定

我国没有从法律上直接予以明确的定义；在研究学者们对于企业破产清算中的环境债权的界定以后，笔者认为破产清算中的环境债权，是指企业在破产清算过程中产生或破产之前存续期间产生的，没有及时处理而拖延到破产程清算中的，因债务人(企业)环境侵权行为引发的权利人请求债务人给付一定金钱或者履行特定行为的权利。[[1]]

二、我国破产企业清算中环境债权的保护现状

最能直观地感觉到中国知网中有关“破产”、“环境”“债权”、等关键词的文章不超过10条。学界对于破产环境债权的研究少之又少[[2]]。

基于此笔者争对企业破产清算中的环境债权优先受偿予以讨论，希望能够有利于解决长期以来的司法冲突和司法难的问题。

三、优先受偿途径研究

学者们提出了若干办法包括借鉴美国的超级基金法[[3]]、环境保护基金[[4]]、将环境债权纳入法定优先权[[5]]、构建环境债权保险制度[[6]]、将环境债权直接纳入担保债权或者作为公益债权以减少法律大规模修改；在此笔者着重探讨和研究超级基金法制度和环境保险制度的构建。

（一）超级基金法[[7]]

(1)超级基金法的含义

超级基金是对因破产企业造成开发利用该土地困难，而需进行整治，其主要由国家来承担由于污染造成的清理和补偿[[8]](p30-49)。在我国也建立了一些相关制度比如《船舶油污损害赔偿基金征收使用管理办法》[[9]]但是这些办法均是争对某一领域的基金制度而非系统全面的；

(2)超级基金法的运作模式[[10]](p30-49)

超级基金运作主要是三个程序:破产企业或者环境债权人、有关环保机构等申报环境债权，经过地方超级基金管理机构审查符合超级基金支付对象则启动程序；否则不予受理；超级基金进行筛选，列出优先治理名录，按照支付顺位依次进行；如前所述在研究环境债权分类和优先受偿正当性中，我们知道对于人权部分尤其重要，因此笔者认为大致参照如下顺序对环境债权中不同债权支付赔偿更为有效和符合法律立法精神：对于个人的人身损害赔偿>对此治理污染、清理排污费用较少、难度较小，此资源可以在短时间内迅速恢复和投入再生生产利用的项目>对个人的财产损害>治理难度大、恢复周期长，投入再使用可能性小的资源；

(3)超级基金支付的对象

第一以资金使用支付的对象：环境资金的使用，应当优先支持与《大气污染防治行动计划》、《水污染防治行动计划》、《突然污染防治行动计划》有关的破产企业环境债权[[11]]。

第二, 超级基金应致力于帮助破产企业的再生和复苏或者缓解破产企业的压力；从资金利用效率角度看，要使有限的环境基金更好地控制环境污染，必须对资金的投资方向进行规范。在污染治理项目的选择上，超级基金通常会优先考虑项目的经济效益，将重点放在经济效益高、易于回收的项目上。

(4)资金来源

该基金的经费可能来自企业、社会或国家。

首先，要以政府为主导和引导，确保基金的权威与稳定。其资金来源是环保财政的税收，也就是环保税，这一税收可以借鉴美国的“超级基金”模式，对污染企业实施强制征税。

其次，吸收民间资本。通过银行、投融资机构、商业贷款、股票融资等方式来筹措超级资金，拓宽融资渠道。通过这种方式，可以达到全民环保，从而推动环境保护的发展。

（二）环境保险制度

(1)保险类型

我国可以借鉴国际上已有的强制性和自愿性的联合的保险制度构建一种符合我国破产企业环境债权清偿的保险制度模型，“区别对待”不同的行业、企业的规模，实施“双轨制”，并根据不同的保险方式，确定承保单位的设立和承保范围。

(2)承保机构

由于我国的环境保险制度在理论与实务上都尚待优化，因此，单纯地依靠一家或数家保险公司来承保略有不妥。在我国由中国保监会和环境保护局共同选择有实力、有经验的保险公司共同投保的方式值得纳入[[12]]。

(3)索赔时限

此外由于环境债权自身潜在性、长期性的特点，即使在破产清算过程中产生或破产之前存续期间产生的，也有可能在破产清算完成之后甚至完成几十年之后才会显现出来，此问题被称之为“长尾问题”。为解决此问题，环境保险制度有了两方面的发展，一种是“日落条款”[[13]] [[14]]限制即如果环境侵权发生在破产企业购买的保险期之中，但是在企业破产清算完成之后，此行为引发的责任索赔发生在保险期后的，保险公司仅对某一时期的索赔负责。一种是索赔基础制度代替事故基础制度即即如果破产公司知道有可能承担环境责任，并通知了保险人，那么即便在此期间外发生了责任，保险人也应承担保险责任；或者，如果破产公司的侵权行为是在保险期间发生的，那么，在投保时，如果破产公司不知情，也不能了解责任索赔的可能性，则保险人也应承担保险责任。

(4)赔偿限额

环境保险的保险标的为被保险的已经破产的企业对环境造成的损害，其损害不能被评估，也不能估计其数额。另外，由于污染环境引起的第三人的人身损害、财产损害，以及污染治理所需的成本也是非常庞大的。在面临巨额赔偿风险的情况下，保险人必须严格限制环境责任保险的赔偿限额。以德国《德国环境责任法》为例，对相同的环境污染造成的人员或物体造成的损失，最高可赔付一亿六千万马克。笔者认为，在环境保险中，应考虑到不同的保险对象，并结合风险评价技术，合理设定环境保险限额条款                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            

结语

破产制度最大的目的就是保障债权人的正当权益。在面临着破产公司的环境问题时，环境债权人的保障就成了核心问题。国内目前还没有专门的破产案件审判机关，因此，在司法实践方面，面临正在清算的企业，加强对环境债权的保护，从环境债权的定义、怎样更好实现环境债权人的利益等方面实现与普通债权的区别，有利于解决长期以来环境保护法和破产法之间的立法隔阂，解决长期以来的司法冲突和司法难的问题。

参考文献：

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[[2]] 张钦昱在《企业破产中环境债权之保护》中谈到对于环境债权的研究现状，“这些成果以行政管理与对行政机关赋权为着力点,未能从责、权、利角度探讨规制破产企业、保护污染受害者的具体措施。随着《中华人民共和国企业破产法》(以下简称《企业破产法》)的实施,国内出现了一本理论专著(朱晓燕:《构建我国破产企业环境法律责任制度研究》,中国法制出版社2012年版),不过该专著涉及环境债权的内容较少,主要探讨的是破产企业的环境责任。”

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[[9]] 在1997年，“我国已经专门研究建立船舶油污损害赔偿基金相关问题”2，2003年1月，首次提议建立我国船舶油污损害赔偿基金，在经过一系列的调查研究之后，最终起草了《船舶油污损害赔偿基金征收使用管理办法》（以下简称“《办法》”）。32004年下发征求意见稿，经过反复探讨研究，《办法》终于正式出台，其与征求意见稿相比有了实质性的进展。

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