Law of the People's Republic of China on the Prevention and Control of Atmospheric Pollution (Revised in 1995)

Law of the People's Republic of China on the Prevention and Control of Atmospheric Pollution (Revised in 1995)

Order of the President of the People's Republic of China No.54

August 29, 1995

The Decision of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress on Revising the Law of the People's Republic of China on the Prevention and Control of Atmospheric Pollution has been adopted at the 15th session of the Standing Committee of the Eighth National People's Congress on August 29, 1995, and is hereby promulgated with immediate effect.

President of the People's Republic of China, Jiang Zemin

Law of the People's Republic of China on the Prevention and Control of Atmospheric Pollution

Adopted at the 22nd Meeting of the Standing Committee of the Sixth National People's Congress on September 5, 1987, and amended according to the Decision of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress on Revising the Law of the People's Republic of China on the Prevention and Control of Atmonpheric Pollution promulgated on August 29, 1995

Chapter I General Provisions
　
Article 1 This Law is formulated for the purpose of preventing and controlling atmospheric pollution, protecting and improving people's environment and the ecological environment, safeguarding human health, and promoting the development of socialist modernization.
　
Article 2 The State Council and the local people's governments at various levels must incorporate the protection of the atmospheric environment into the national economic and social development plans, make rational plans for the distribution of industry, strengthen scientific research on the prevention and control of atmospheric pollution, adopt preventive and curative measures against atmospheric pollution, and protect and improve the atmospheric environment.
　
Article 3 The environmental protection departments of the people's governments at various levels shall be the organs conducting unified supervision and management of the prevention and control of atmospheric pollution.
The administrative departments of public security, transportation, railways and fishery at various levels shall, by performing their respective functions, conduct supervision and management of the atmospheric pollution caused by motorized vehicles and vessels.
　
Article 4 Units that discharge atmospheric pollutants must comply with the relevant state provisions and take measures to prevent and control pollution.
　
Article 5 All units and individuals shall have the obligation to protect the atmospheric environment and shall have the right to report on or file charges against units or individuals that cause pollution to the atmospheric environment.
　
Article 6 The environmental protection department under the State Council shall establish the national standards for atmospheric environment quality.
The people's governments of provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government may establish their local standards for items not specified in the national standards for atmospheric environment quality and report the same to the environmental protection department under the State Council for the record.
　
Article 7 The environmental protection department under the State Council shall, in accordance with the national standards for atmospheric environment quality and the country's economic and technological conditions, establish the national standards for the discharge of atmospheric pollutants. The people's governments of provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government may establish their local discharge standards for items not specified in the national standards for the discharge of atmospheric pollutants; with regard to items already specified in the national standards for the discharge of atmospheric pollutants, they may set local discharge standards which are more stringent than the national discharge standards and report the same to the environmental protection department under the State Council for the record.
Units that discharge atmospheric pollutants in areas where the local discharge standards have been established shall observe such local standards.
　
Article 8 The state shall adopt economic and technological policies and measures which are advantagious to the prevention and control of atmospheric pollution and to relevant comprehensive utilization activities.
Units or individuals that have made outstanding achievements in the prevention and control of atmospheric pollution or in the protection and improvement of the atmospheric environment shall be rewarded by the people's governments at various levels.
　
Article 9 The people's governments at various levels shall strengthen the work of tree planting and urban afforestation, and try to improve the quality of the atmospheric environment.

Chapter II Supervision and Management of the Prevention and Control of Atmopheric Pollution
　
Article 10 New construction projects, extensions or reconstruction projects which discharge atmospheric pollutants shall be governed by the state provisions concerning environmental protection for such projects.
The environmental impact statement on a construction project must assess the atmospheric pollution the project is likely to produce and its impact on the ecosystem and stipulate the preventive and curative measures; the statement shall be submitted, according to the specified procedure, to the environmental protection department concerned for examination and approval.
When a construction project is to be put into operation or to use, its facilities for the prevention of atmospheric pollution must be inspected by the environmental protection department; construction projects that do not fulfill the requirements specified in the state provisions concerning environmental protection for such construction projects shall not be permitted to be put into operation or to use.
　
Article 11 Units that discharge atmospheric pollutants must, pursuant to the provisions of the environmental protection department under the State Council, report to the local environmental protection department its existing discharge and treatment facilities for pollutants and the categories, quantities and concentrations of pollutants discharged under normal operation conditions and submit to the same department the relevant technical data concerning the prevention and control of atmospheric pollutants.
Units shall report in time on any substantial change in the categories, quantities or concentrations of the pollutants discharged.
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