Decision of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress on Revising the Water Pollution Prevention and Control Law of the People's Republic of China
Decision of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress on Revising the Water Pollution Prevention and Control Law of the People's Republic of China
Decision of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress on Revising the Water Pollution Prevention and Control Law of the People's Republic of China
Order of the President of the People's Republic of China No.70
June 27, 2017
The Decision of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress on Revising the Water Pollution Prevention and Control Law of the People's Republic of China, adopted at the 28th session of the Standing Committee of the 12th National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China on June 27, 2017 is hereby promulgated and shall come into force as of January 1, 2018.
Xi Jinping, President of the People's Republic of China
Decision of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress on Revising the Water Pollution Prevention and Control Law of the People's Republic of China
(Adopted at the 28th session of the Standing Committee of the 12th National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China)
The decision was made at the 28th session of the Standing Committee of the 12th National People's Congress in an attempt to revise the Water Pollution Prevention and Control Law of the People's Republic of China:
I. Article 1 shall be revised to read: "This Law is enacted in order to protect and improve environment, prevent and control water pollution, protect water eco-system, ensure drinking water safety, safeguard the health of the general public, advance the construction of ecological civilization and promote the sustainable development of economy and society."
II. Paragraph 2 of Article 4 shall be revised to read: "The local people's governments at different levels shall be responsible for water environmental quality within their jurisdiction and timely take steps to prevent and control water pollution."
III. One article shall be added as Article 5, which reads: "Provinces, cities, counties and townships shall establish their river chief systems, under which the rive chiefs at different levels shall organize and lead the river and lake water resource protection, water shoreline management, water pollution prevention and control and water environment treatment and other work in different levels and sections within their jurisdiction."
IV. One article shall be added as Article 17, which reads: "The relevant people's governments at the city and county levels shall formulate their plans for reaching standards within a prescribed time limit according to the requirements of the water environmental quality improvement objectives as established in their water pollution prevention and control plans, and take steps to reach the standards within the prescribed time limit."
"The relevant people's governments at the city and county levels shall submit their plans for reaching standards within a prescribed time limit to the people's governments at a higher level for record-filing and publicize the same to the society."
V. One article shall be added to Chapter II as Article 18, which reads: "The people's governments at the city and county levels shall simultaneously report the actual implementation of their plans for reaching water environmental quality standards within a prescribed time limit when reporting the environmental status and actual fulfillment of the environmental protection objectives to the people's congresses at the same level or the standing committees of the people's congresses at the same level, and publicize the same to the society."
VI. Article 16 shall be revised as Article 27, which reads: "Where the relevant departments under the State Council and the local people's governments above the county level exploit, utilize, adjust and allocate water resources, they shall take overall consideration, remain reasonable river discharge and reasonable water level in lakes, reservoirs and ground water bodies, guarantee basic ecological water, and maintain the eco-functions of water bodies."
VII. Article 17 shall be revised as Article 19 and Paragraph 3 thereof shall be revised to read: "The water pollution prevention and control facilities of construction projects shall be simultaneously designed, constructed and put into use together with main buildings. The water pollution prevention and control facilities shall be subject to the requirements of environmental impact assessment documents approved or filed for the record."
VIII. Article 18 shall be revised as Article 20, which reads: "The state shall implement the total key water pollutant discharge control system.
"Upon soliciting opinions from the relevant departments under the State Council and the people's governments of all provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government, the competent environmental protection department under the State Council shall work with the comprehensive economic macro-control department under the State Council to report the total key water pollutant discharge control indicators to the State Council for approval and implementation with the indicators assigned.
"The people's governments of all provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government shall reduce or control total key water pollutant discharge within their jurisdiction in accordance with the provisions of the State Council. The competent environmental protection department under the State Council shall work with the relevant departments under the State Council to institute the concrete measures.
"The people's governments of all provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government shall exert control over the total discharge of other water pollutants other than national key water pollutants according to the water environmental quality status and the requirements of the water pollution prevention and control work within their jurisdiction.
"The competent environmental protection departments of the people's governments above the provincial level shall work with the relevant departments to interview the chief persons in charge of the people's governments and suspend approving the environmental impact assessment documents of construction projects with newly added total key water pollutant discharge in the regions where the total key water pollutant discharge control indicators are exceeded or the water environmental quality improvement objectives fail to be fulfilled. The interview results shall be publicized to the society. "
IX. Article 19 shall be deleted.
X. Article 20 shall be revised as Article 21, which reads: "The enterprises, public institutions or other manufacturers and operators which are permitted to directly or indirectly discharge industrial effluent, medical sewage and other waste water or sewage to water bodies provided that a pollutant discharge license is obtained as required shall secure a pollutant discharge license; the operators of urban sewage centralized treatment facilities shall also obtain a pollutant discharge license. The pollutant discharge license shall specify the varieties, concentration, total discharge and discharge whereabouts of water pollutants. The State Council shall be responsible for instituting the concrete measures for issuing a pollutant discharge license.
"Enterprises, public institutions and other manufacturers and operators shall be prohibited from discharging the foregoing waste water and sewage as specified in the preceding paragraph to water bodies without a pollutant discharge license or in violation of the provisions of the pollutant discharge license."
XI. Article 21 shall be deleted.
XII. Article 22 shall be revised to read: "Enterprises, public institutions and other manufacturers and operators discharging pollutants to water bodies shall construct an outfall in accordance with the provisions of the relevant laws, administrative regulations and the competent environmental protection department under the State Council; they shall construct an outfall for discharging pollutants to rivers or lakes in compliance with the relevant provisions of the competent water administration department under the State Council."
XIII.
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