As the Communist Party of China (CPC) is the leading political party of China and in effect determines the policies of the Chinese government, this Comment reviews the change in top CPC leadership during late 2012, and what that change means for environmental protection and environmental law. This Comment then examines developments in water protection, revision of the Clean Production Promotion Law, revision of the Civil Procedure Law, public participation in environmental protection, and some important implementation plans of the Twelvth Five-Year Plan, along with other government plans.