Recently, the General Office of the Ministry of Environmental Protection ("MEP") has issued the Standards for Discharge of Water Pollutants by Vessels (Draft for Comment) (the "Draft for Comment") to solicit comments from certain entities before November 4, 2016.
The Draft for Comment provides for the control and monitoring requirements with regard to the discharge of oily water, sanitary sewage, waste water that contains toxic liquids and substances, and ship garbage, as well as supervision and implementation of standards, and applies to any vessels sailing, berthing, and operating in the waters under China's jurisdiction. According to the Draft for Comment, the oily water discharged by vessels in coastal waters shall be meet the following discharge control standards: any vessel of 400 tonnage or above shall be governed by the MARPOL Convention and inspection rules applicable to domestic marine vessels; for a vessel of less than 400 tonnage, it is advisable to collect and discharge pollutants from fishery vessels into certain reception facilities before January 1, 2021, if such pollutants still fail to meet the control standards for discharge after treatment, while all such pollutants shall be collected and discharged into certain reception facilities after January 1, 2021; and pollutants discharged by other vessels that fail to meet the control standards for discharge after treatment shall be collected and discharged into reception facilities.