The establishment of preventive environmental civil public interest litigation reflects the trend of the guiding ideology for China’s environmental legislation gradually shifting from “post relief” to “pre-prevention”. Preventive environmental civil public interest litigation emphasizes risk prevention rather than damage relief. It not only supplements the preventive function of environmental public interest litigation but also meets the practical needs of preventing environmental damage risks at present, which renders it legitimate. Given its characteristics, the traditional civil litigation regulations that focus on relief functions cannot be directly applied, and the construction of the system should distinguish it from traditional remedial environmental civil public interest litigation in terms of constituent elements, evidentiary rules, and liability bearing methods. First, the particularity of the constituent elements of preventive environmental civil public interest litigation is mainly reflected in the determination of “significant risks”. The basic object of “major risks” should be limited to environmental public interests, and the determination of major risks should be mainly based on the court and supplemented by administrative agencies, taking into account factors such as the possibility, severity, and urgency of damage occurrence. Second, in terms of evidence rules, it should be distinguished from general environmental infringement litigation, with a reasonable allocation of the burden of proof and clear standards of proof. Third, the plaintiff provides preliminary evidence of the facts to be proved in the pre-trial stage, while the defendant needs to provide counter evidence of the presumption of causality in the trial stage. Fourth, in terms of the liability bearing methods, the extension of preventive responsibility can be achieved through flexible use of the prohibition order system and the addition of alternative responsibilities, aiming to effectively connect environmental justice with environmental administrative law enforcement.