Revised Water Pollution Prevention & Control Law in Effect Soon

In the face of the pervasive water pollution and growing public concern of environmental issues, China’s top legislature recently passed the third Amendment of the Water Pollution Prevention and Control Law (the “Revised Law”) to go into effect on January 1, 2018. The Revised Law strengthens government responsibility and increases the punishment for violations.

We set out a few highlights of the Revised Law as below:

01

" River Chief " Mechanism

Local government heads will be appointed as river chiefs at provincial, city, county and township levels for specific segments of rivers and lakes, assuming responsibility for addressing water pollution and water resources protection. The Revised Law brings this carrot-and-stick policy into being and seeks to further confirm and fulfill its implementation. Officials will be rewarded for achieving their goals and fined and deprived of promotion opportunities for failing to fulfill their responsibilities.

02

Sewage Discharge Permit

The Revised Law simplifies and integrates the sewage discharge approval and registration requirements into the management system of Sewage Discharge Permit (the “Permit”), which means the sewage-discharging companies will only need to apply for one administrative license, instead of two.

03

Anti-Seepage Measures

The Revised Law specifies the targeted entities who are required to take anti-seepage measures to include petrol-chemical manufacturers, industrial complexes, mining areas, hazardous waste disposal sites, and landfills, etc. In particular, underground oil tanks for gas stations are required to install double-layer tanks to better prevent oil leakage.

04

Drinking Water Management

The government above the county level shall investigate the conditions of the drinking water resources, assess the risk of contamination, and shall disclose the information on the safety and quality of drinking water to the public at least quarterly. For cities with a single water source, emergency and back-up water resources should be set up.

05

Sewage Disposal

Sewage treatment facilities shall be built in the industrial complexes, and industrial sewage shall be collected, classified and treated accordingly. In addition, companies are required to conduct a pre-treatment of their sewage before discharging them into the facilities. In rural areas, garbage disposal facilities are also encouraged to be built, and standards shall be set on fertilizer and pesticide use. Discharging industrial or medical sewage into irrigation area of farmland is strictly prohibited.

06

 Fines and Penalties Raised

The Revised Law not only stipulates punishment for each newly added type of violation, but also raises the maximum amount of fines to one million RMB. The “penalty per day” policy for continuing violations, which was first formulated into the Environmental Protection Law, was also enacted into the Revised Law.

Besides the Revised Law, “People’s Procuratotate is entitled to file environmental public interest litigations” was also officially introduced into the Civil Procedural Law and Administrative Procedural Law recently. Soil Pollution Prevention and Control Law and Implementing Regulations of Environmental Tax Law are currently being reviewed by the Chinese legislature and are expected to come into effect soon. 

Translated and edited by  Yanjing Yang.