Administrative Regulations on Environmental Protection in Construction Projects (Revised in 2017)
Administrative Regulations on Environmental Protection in Construction Projects (Revised in 2017)
Administrative Regulations on Environmental Protection in Construction Projects (Revised in 2017)
Order of the State Council of the People's Republic of China No.682
July 16, 2017
(Promulgated by Order of the State Council of the People's Republic of China No.253 on November 29, 1998, and revised according to the Decision of the State Council on Revising the Administrative Regulations on Environmental Protection in Construction Projects dated July 16, 2017)
Chapter I General Provisions
Article 1 The Regulations are formulated with a view to preventing construction projects from generating new pollution and damaging the ecological environment.
Article 2 The Regulations shall be applicable to the building of construction projects having impacts on the environment within the territory of the People's Republic of China and other territorial sea areas under the jurisdiction of the People's Republic of China.
Article 3 State standards and local standards for the discharge of pollutants must be complied with in building construction projects that generate pollution; requirements for aggregate control of discharge of major pollutants must be met in areas under aggregate control of discharge of major pollutants.
Article 4 Industrial construction projects shall adopt clean production techniques with low energy consumption, low material consumption and low pollutant generation, and rationally exploit natural resources to prevent environmental pollution and ecological damage.
Article 5 Measures must be taken in reconstruction, expansion projects and technological transformation projects to treat original environmental pollution and ecological damage related to the said projects.
Chapter II Environmental Impact Evaluation
Article 6 The state practices the construction project environmental impact evaluation system.
Article 7 The state practices classified control over the environmental protection in construction projects based on the extent of environmental impact of construction projects in accordance with the following provisions:
(1) an environmental impact report shall be compiled for a construction project that may cause major impact on the environment, giving comprehensive and detailed evaluation of the pollution generated and environmental impact caused by the construction project;
(2) an environmental impact statement shall be compiled for a construction project that may cause light impact on the environment, giving analysis or special-purpose evaluation of the pollution generated and environmental impact caused by the construction project; and
(3) a registration form shall be filled out and submitted for a construction project that has a slight impact on the environment and necessitates no environmental impact evaluation.
The directory of classified administration of environmental impact evaluation of construction projects will be developed and announced by the competent administrative department of environmental protection under the State Council after organizing experts for demonstration and seeking opinions of the relevant departments, industry associations, enterprises and public institutions and the public.
Article 8 A construction project environmental impact report shall contain the following contents:
(1) an overview of the construction project;
(2) current state of the environment surrounding the construction project;
(3) analysis and predictions of impacts which may be caused by the construction project on the environment;
(4) measures for environmental protection and their financial and technical authentication;
(5) environmental impact economic loss-benefit analysis;
(6) proposals for environmental monitoring of the construction project; and
(7) conclusions of the environmental impact evaluation.
Contents and formats of the environmental impact statement and environmental impact registration form of a construction project shall be prescribed by the competent administrative department of environmental protection under the State Council.
Article 9 For a construction project for which an environmental impact report or environmental impact statement shall be prepared, the construction unit shall submit, before starting construction, the environmental impact report or environmental impact statement to the competent administrative department of environmental protection with the authority of examination and approval for approval; if the environmental impact evaluation document of the construction project fails to be examined by the examination and approval department in accordance with the law or is not approved after examination, the construction unit may not start construction.
When examining and approving an environmental impact report or environmental impact statement, the competent administrative department of environmental protection shall mainly examine the environmental feasibility, the reliability of environmental impact analysis, prediction and evaluation, the effectiveness of environmental protection measures, and the scientificity of environmental impact evaluation conclusions in respect of the construction project, and make an examination and approval decision within 60 days of receipt of the environmental impact report or within 30 days of receipt of the environmental impact statement.
The competent administrative department of environmental protection may organize a technical organization to make a technical evaluation of the environmental impact report or environmental impact statement of a construction project and bear the relevant costs; the technical organization shall be held liable for the technical evaluation opinions given by it and shall charge no fee from the construction unit and unit engaging in the work of environmental impact evaluation.
For a construction project for which an environmental impact registration form shall be filled in in accordance with the law, the construction unit shall submit the environmental impact registration form to the competent administrative department of environmental protection at the county level of the locality of the construction project for record-filing, according to the provisions of the competent administrative department of environmental protection under the State Council.
The competent administrative department of environmental protection shall carry out online examination and approval, record-filing and information disclosure of environmental impact evaluation documents.
Article 10 The competent administrative department of environmental protection under the State Council shall be responsible for the examination and approval of environmental impact reports or environmental impact statements of the following construction projects:
(1) special-nature construction projects such as nuclear facilities and top-secret projects;
(2) construction projects transcending the administrative areas of the provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government; and
(3) construction projects subject to the examination and approval of the State Council or the examination and approval of the departments concerned authorized by the State Council.
Limits of authority of examination and approval of environmental impact reports or environmental impact statements of construction projects other than those prescribed in the preceding paragraph shall be prescribed by people's governments of the provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government.
Where a construction project causes trans-administrative area environmental impact and a dispute arises between the relevant competent administrative departments of environmental protection over the conclusions of environmental impact evaluation, its environmental impact report or environmental impact statement shall be submitted to the joint competent administrative department of environmental protection at the next higher level for examination and approval.
Article 11 The competent administrative department of environmental protection shall make a decision on disapproval of an environmental impact report or environmental impact statement of a construction project if:
(1) the type, location, layout, or scale of the construction project is not in line with laws and regulations on environmental protection and the relevant statutory planning;
(2) the environmental equity of the area where the construction project is located fails to meet the national or local environmental quality standards and the measures to be taken for the construction project cannot meet the administrative requirements of regional environmental quality improvement targets;
(3) the pollution prevention and control measures adopted for the construction project cannot ensure that the pollutant discharge can meet the national and local discharge standards, or no necessary measures are taken to prevent and control ecological damage;
(4) in the case of a reconstruction or expansion project or technological transformation project, no effective measures are taken to prevent and control the original environmental pollution and ecological damage of the project;
(5) the basic materials and data in the environmental impact report or environmental impact statement of the construction project are obviously false with material defects or omissions, or the environmental impact evaluation conclusions are unclear and unreasonable.
Article 12 Where major changes take place in the nature, scale, location or production techniques adopted or the measures for prevention of pollution or ecological damage caused by a construction project upon approval of the environmental impact report or environmental impact statement of the construction project, the construction unit shall once again submit the environmental impact report or environmental impact statement of the construction project for approval.
Where a construction project starts construction on expiry of five years starting from the date of approval of its environmental impact report or environmental impact statement, the environmental impact report or environmental impact statement shall be submitted to the original examination and approval organ for re-examination and revivification.
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