Water Pollution Prevention and Control Law of the People's Republic of China (2017 Revision)

Water Pollution Prevention and Control Law of the People's Republic of China (2017 Revision) Water Pollution Prevention and Control Law of the People's Republic of China (Adopted at the fifth session of the Standing Committee of the sixth National People's Congress on May 11th, 1984; revised for the first time according to the Decision on Revising the Water Pollution Prevention and Control Law of the People's Republic of China which was adopted at the 19th session of the Standing Committee of the eighth National People's Congress on May 15th, 1996, and revised at the 32nd session of the Standing Committee of the 10th National People's Congress on February 28th, 2008; revised as at the 32nd Session of the Standing Committee of the Tenth National People's Congress on Feb. 28, 2008; and amended for the second time according to the Decision on Amending the Water Pollution Prevention and Control Law of the People's Republic of China as adopted at the 28th Session of the Standing Committee of the Twelfth National People's Congress on June 27, 2017) Contents Chapter I General Provisions Chapter II Standards and Planning for the Prevention and Control of Water Pollution Chapter III Supervision and Administration of the Prevention and Control of Water Pollution Chapter IV Measures for the Prevention and Control of Water Pollution Section 1 General Rules Section 2 Prevention and Control of Industrial Water Pollution Section 3 Prevention and Control of Urban Water Pollution Section 4 Prevention and Control of Water Pollution in Agriculture and Rural Areas Section 5 Prevention and Control of Water Pollution from Vessels Chapter V Protection of Drinkable Water Sources and Other Special Waters Chapter VI Management of Water Pollution Accidents Chapter VII Legal Liability Chapter VIII Supplementary Provisions Chapter I General Provisions Article 1 This Law is developed for the purposes of protecting and improving the environment, preventing and controlling water pollution, protecting water ecology, guaranteeing the safety of drinking water, protecting the health of the public, promoting the construction of ecological civilization, and promoting the sustainable economic and social development. Article 2 This Law applies to the prevention and control of pollution of rivers, lakes, canals, irrigation channels, reservoirs and other surface waters and ground waters within the territory of the People's Republic of China. The prevention and control of marine pollution shall be governed by the Marine Environmental Protection Law of the People's Republic of China . Article 3 In the prevention and control of water pollution, we shall follow the principles of giving priority to prevention, combining prevention with control and preventing and controlling in an all-round way, protect drinking water sources first, rigorously control industrial pollution and urban domestic pollution, prevent and control agricultural non-point pollution, vigorously promote the construction of ecological management projects, and prevent, control and reduce water pollution and ecological damage. Article 4 The people's governments at or above the county level shall bring the protection of water environment into the national economic and social development planning. Local people's governments at all levels shall be responsible for the water environment quality of their respective administrative regions, and take measures in a timely manner to prevent and control water pollution. Article 5 A province, city, county or township shall establish a river chief system, and organize and lead such work as the water resource protection of rivers and lakes, administration of waters and bank lines, prevention and control of water pollution, and governance of water environment within its administrative region by degree and section. Article 6 The state practices the objective responsibility system and the evaluation system for the protection of water environment, and takes the accomplishment of the protection objectives of water environment as a content for evaluating and assessing the local people's governments and persons in charge of them. Article 7 The state encourages and supports the scientific and technological research on the prevention and control of water pollution, the application and promotion of advanced technologies as well as the publicity and education of water environment protection. Article 8 The state shall, in the mode of financial transfer payment or other, establish a compensation mechanism for the ecological protection of the water environment in drinking water source reserve areas and upper reaches of rivers, lakes and reservoirs. Article 9 The administrative departments of environmental protection under the people's governments at or above the county level shall exercise unified supervision and administration over the prevention and control of water pollution. The maritime administrative body under the administrative department of traffic shall exercise supervision and administration over the prevention and control of water pollution from vessels. The departments in charge of water administration, state land and resources, health, construction, agriculture and fishery under the people's governments at or above the county level as well as institutions in charge of protecting water resources in important rivers and lakes shall, within their respective scope of duties and functions, exercise supervision and administration over the prevention and control of water pollution. Article 10 Discharge of water pollutants shall be within the state or local standards for the discharge of water pollutants and indicators for the total discharge control of major water pollutants. Article 11 All entities and individuals have the obligation to protect water environment, and have the right to report to authorities acts polluting or damaging water environment. The people's governments at or above the county level and the relevant administrative departments thereunder shall honor and reward entities and individuals that have made great contributions to the prevention and control of water pollution. Chapter II Standards and Planning for the Prevention and Control of Water Pollution Article 12 The power to formulate the state quality standards of water environment shall remain with the administrative department of environmental protection under the State Council. The people's government of any province, autonomous region or municipality directly under the Central Government may, for issues not provided in the state quality standards of water environment, work out local standards and file such standards with the administrative department of environmental protection under the State Council for archival purpose. Article 13 The administrative department of environmental protection under the State Council may, together with the competent department of water administration under the State Council and the people's governments of the related provinces, autonomous regions or municipalities directly under the Central Government, in accordance with the use functions of the waters of important rivers and lakes as determined by the state as well as the relevant local conditions on economy and technology, determine the quality standards of water environment applicable to the waters of these important rivers and lakes at provincial boundary areas, and implement such standards after filing them with the State Council and obtaining the approval thereof. Article 14 The administrative department of environmental protection under the State Council shall formulate the state standards for the discharge of water pollutants in accordance with the state quality standards of water environment and the national economic and technological conditions. For issues not provided in the state standards for the discharge of water pollutants, the people's government of any province, autonomous region or municipality directly under the Central Government may work out local standards for the discharge of water pollutants; for issues provided in the state standards for the discharge of water pollutants, it may also work out local standards stricter than the state standards. Such local standards must be filed with the administrative department of environmental protection under the State Council for archival purpose. Discharge of pollutants to waters under the governance of certain local standards for the discharge of water pollutants must strictly abide by the said local standards. Article 15 The administrative department of environmental protection under the State Council and the people's governments of provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government shall, in light of the requirements of water pollution prevention and control as well as the state or local economic and technological conditions, amend the quality standards of water environment and the standards for the discharge of water pollutants at time appropriate. Article 16 The prevention and control of water pollution must be under unified planning by drainage area or region. The planning for the prevention and control of water pollution of an important river or lake determined by the state must be prepared by the administrative department of environmental protection and departments of macroeconomic control and water administration under the State Council together with the people's government of the related province, autonomous region or municipality directly under the Central Government, and be submitted to the State Council for approval. The planning for the prevention and control of water pollution of a river or lake across more than one province, autonomous region or municipality directly under the Central Government, other than one prescribed in the preceding paragraph, shall be prepared by the administrative departments of environmental protection under the people's governments of the related provinces, autonomous regions or municipalities directly under the Central Government together with the competent departments of water administration at the same level and the related municipal or county people's governments in accordance with the planning for the prevention and control of water pollution of important rivers and lakes determined by the state and in light of the local situation, and be submitted to the State Council for approval after it is examined and approved by the people's governments of the related provinces, autonomous regions or municipalities directly under the Central Government. The planning for the prevention and control of water pollution of a river or lake across more than one county in a province, autonomous region or municipality directly under the Central Government shall be prepared by the administrative department of environmental protection under the people's government of the province, autonomous region or municipality directly under the Central Government together with the competent department of water administration at the same level in accordance with the planning for the prevention and control of water pollution of important rivers and lakes determined by the state and in light of the local situation, be submitted to the people's government of the province, autonomous region or municipality directly under the Central Government for approval and be filed with the State Council for archival purpose. The approved planning for the prevention and control of water pollution is the fundamental basis for the prevention and control of water pollution, and the amendments to such planning must be under the approval of the organ approving the planning. The local people's government at or above the county level shall organize the preparation of the planning for the prevention and control of water pollution in this administrative region in accordance with the legally approved planning for the prevention and control of water pollution of rivers and lakes. Article 17 The relevant city or county people's government shall, according to the requirements of the objective of improving water environment quality as determined in accordance with the plan for the prevention and control of water pollution, make a plan for reaching the objective within a prescribed time limit, and take measures to reach the objective on schedule. The relevant city or county people's government shall report the plan on reaching the objective within the prescribed time limit to the people's government at the next higher level for recordation, and release it to the public. Article 18 The city or county people's government shall, when reporting environmental conditions and the completion of the environmental protection objective to the people's congress at the same level or its standing committee each year, report the implementation of the plan for reaching the objective on water environment quality, and release it to the public. Chapter III Supervision and Administration of the Prevention and Control of Water Pollution Article 19 The building, renovation and enlargement of construction projects directly or indirectly discharging pollutants to waters and other water establishments shall be subject to environmental impact assessment. Before building, renovating or enlarging the outfall to a river or lake, the construction entity shall obtain the consent of the competent department of water administration or the governing authority of the drainage area concerned; where it involves water area for navigation or fishery, the administrative department of environmental protection shall, when examining and approving the environmental impact assessment document, ask for the opinion of the competent department of traffic and that of fishery. The facilities for the prevention and control of water pollution in a construction project shall be designed, constructed and put into use with the principal part of the project at the same time. The facilities for the prevention and control of water pollution shall comply with the requirements of the environmental impact assessment documents granted approval or recordation. Article 20 The state shall implement the rules for the control of total discharge of major water pollutants. The administrative department for environmental protection of the State Council shall, after soliciting the opinions of the relevant departments of the State Council and the people's governments of all provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government, report the indicators for controlling the total discharge of major water pollutants jointly with the economic comprehensive macro-control department of the State Council to the State Council for approval and assign the indicators for implementation. The people's government of a province, autonomous region, or municipality directly under the Central Government shall, in accordance with the provisions of the State Council, reduce and control the total discharge of major water pollutants of its administrative region. The specific measures shall be prescribed by the administrative department of environmental protection of the State Council jointly with other relevant departments of the State Council. The people's government of the province, autonomous region, or municipality directly under the Central Government may, in light of the water environment quality of its administrative region and the requirements for the prevention and control of water pollution, control the total discharge of the water pollutants other than the major water pollutants of the state. In the areas where the indicators for the control of total discharge of major water pollutants are exceeded or the objective for the improvement of water environment quality is not completed, the administrative department for environmental protection of the people's government at or above the provincial level shall, jointly with other relevant departments, hold an interview with the principal person in charge of the people's government of the region, suspend the approval of environmental impact assessment documents of construction projects of total discharge of new major water pollutants. The interview shall be released to the public. Article 21 An enterprise or public institution which directly or indirectly discharges industrial waste water or medical sewage to waters or waste water or sewage that may be discharged after a pollutant discharge license is obtained as required shall obtain a pollutant discharge license. An entity operating facilities for the centralized treatment of urban sewage shall also obtain a pollutant discharge license. The pollutant discharge license shall specify the types, concentration, total discharge and discharge direction of water pollutants, etc. The specific measures for the pollutant discharge license shall be prescribed by the State Council. All enterprises and public institutions and other producers and dealers are prohibited from discharging the waste water and sewage as prescribed in the preceding paragraph to waters without a pollutant discharge license or in violation of the provisions of the pollutant discharge license. Article 22 Enterprises, public institutions and individual industrial and commercial households which discharge water pollutants to waters shall set up pollutant discharge outlets in accordance with the laws, administrative regulations and the provisions of the administrative department for environmental protection of the State Council; if such outlets lead to rivers or lakes, they shall also abide by the provisions of the water administrative department of the State Council. Article 23 An enterprise or public institution that conducts licensed management of pollutant discharge or any other producer or dealer shall, according to the relevant provisions and monitoring rules of the state, monitor the discharged water pollutants, and retain original monitoring records. Major pollutant discharge entities shall also install equipment for the automatic monitoring of discharge of water pollutants, link to the monitoring equipment of the administrative department for environmental protection, and guarantee the normal operation of monitoring equipment. The specific measures shall be prescribed by the administrative department for environmental protection of the State Council. The list of major pollutant-discharging entities required to install automatic monitoring equipment on the discharge of water pollutants shall be determined by the administrative department of environmental protection of the local people's government at the level of municipality divided into districts or above by consulting with the related departments at the same level in light of the environmental capacity of the administrative region, the requirements of the indicators on total discharge control of important water pollutants as well as the category, quantity and concentration of water pollutants discharged by pollutant-discharging entities. Article 24 Enterprises and public institutions that conduct licensed management of pollutant discharge and other producers and dealers shall be responsible for the truthfulness and accuracy of the monitoring data. Where the administrative department for environmental protection finds that any major pollutant discharge entity's equipment for the automatic monitoring of discharge of water pollutants has abnormal data transmission, it shall conduct an investigation in a timely manner. Article 25 The state shall establish rules for the monitoring of water environment quality and monitoring of water pollutant discharge. The administrative department of environmental protection of the State Council shall be responsible for working out water environment monitoring standards, releasing the state's water environment situation in a uniform manner and organizing a monitoring network with the water administrative department and other departments of the State Council, make uniform planning on the setup of stations (outlets) for the monitoring of water quality environment of the state, establish a monitoring data sharing mechanism, and strengthen the administration of water environment monitoring. Article 26 The work institutions of protection of water resources of important rivers and lakes determined by the state shall be in charge of monitoring the water environment quality of provincial boundary waters where they are located, report the monitoring results to the administrative department of environmental protection and the competent department of water administration under the State Council; and report the monitoring results to the leading institution of protection of water resources of drainage areas established upon the approval of the State Council, if any. Article 27 When developing, utilizing, adjusting or transferring water resources, the relevant departments of the State Council and local people's governments at or above the county level shall make overall plans, maintain the rational water flow of rivers and the water level of lakes, reservoirs and groundwater at a reasonable place, guarantee the basic water use for ecological purpose, and protect the ecological functions of waters. Article 28 The administrative department for environmental protection of the State Council shall, jointly with the water administrative and other departments of the State Council and people's governments of relevant provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government, establish a mechanism for the joint coordination of water environmental protection of valleys of important rivers and lakes, and make uniform planning, adopt uniform standards, conduct uniform monitoring, and take uniform prevention and control measures. Article 29 The administrative department for environmental protection of the State Council and the administrative department for environmental protection of the people's government of a province, autonomous region or municipality directly under the Central Government shall, jointly with the relevant department at the same level, specify the requirements for the protection of ecological environment in valleys, organize the monitoring and evaluation of tolerance of environmental resources in valleys, and give early warnings on the tolerance of environmental resources in valleys according to the requirements for ecological environment functions of valleys. The local people's government at or above the county level shall, according to the requirements for the ecological environment functions of valleys, organize the protection and recovery of ......