Decision of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress Regarding the Revision of the Law of the People's Republic of China on the Prevention and Control of Water Pollution

Decision of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress Regarding the Revision of the Law of the People's Republic of China on the Prevention and Control of Water Pollution

Order of the President No. 66

May 15, 1996

The Decision of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress Regarding the Revision of the Law of the People's Republic of China on the Prevention and Control of Water Pollution which has been adopted the 19th meeting of the Standing Committee of the Eighth National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China on May 15, 1996 is now promulgated, and shall enter into force as of the date of its promulgation.

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

Attachment: The 19th Meeting of the Standing Committee of the Eighth National People's Congress has decided to revise the Law of the People's Republic of China on the Prevention and Control of Water Pollution as follows:

I. The second paragraph of Article 7 is amended as: "The people's governments of provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government may establish its local standards for the discharge of water pollutants for items not specified in the national standards; with regard to items already specified in the national standards, it may set local standards which are more stringent than the national standards. The local standards for the discharge of water pollutants must be reported to the environmental protection department under the State Council for the record."

II. Add a new article as Article 10: "The prevention and control of water pollution shall be planned in a unified way on the basis of river basins or regions. Water pollution prevention and control plans for major river basins designated by the state shall be drawn up by the environmental protection department under the State Council in consultation with the competent planning department, the water conservancy administration department and other competent departments under the State Council, and the people's governments of involved provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities under the Central Government, and shall be reported to the State Council for approval.
"Water pollution prevention and control plans for other river basins covering two or more provinces or counties shall, in accordance with the plans for major river basins designated by the state and with the local practical situations, be drawn up by the environmental protection department in consultation with the water conservancy administration department and other competent departments of the people's government at or above the provincial level, and the local people's governments involved, and shall be reported to the State Council or the people's government at the provincial level for approval. Plans for other river basins involving two or more counties but not involving different provinces shall be reported by the people's government of the province to the State Council for the record.
"The approved plans shall serve as the bases for the prevention and control of water pollution. Any amendment to an approved plan must be approved by the original approving department.
"Local people's governments at or above the county level shall, in accordance with the water pollution prevention and control plans for river basins already approved according to law, organize to formulate plans for the prevention and control of water pollution within their respective administrative areas, and shall incorporate such plans into the medium- and long-term plans and annual plans for the national economy and social development of their respective administrative areas."

III. The third paragraph of Article 13 is amended as: "Facilities for the prevention and control of water pollution at a construction project must be designed, built and commissioned together with the principal part of the project.
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