Law of the People's Republic of China on the Prevention and Control of Atmospheric Pollution (Revised in 2015)
Law of the People's Republic of China on the Prevention and Control of Atmospheric Pollution (Revised in 2015)
Law of the People's Republic of China on the Prevention and Control of Atmospheric Pollution (Revised in 2015)
Order of the President of the People's Republic of China No.31
August 29, 2015
The Law of the People's Republic of China on the Prevention and Control of Atmospheric Pollution, which was revised and adopted at the 16th session of the Standing Committee of the 12th National People's Congress on August 29, 2015, is hereby promulgated and shall take effect as of January 1, 2016.
Xi Jinping, President of the People's Republic of China
Law of the People's Republic of China on the Prevention and Control of Atmospheric Pollution
(Adopted at the 22nd session of the Standing Committee of the Sixth National People's Congress on September 5, 1987; amended in accordance with the Decision on Revising the Law of the People's Republic of China on the Prevention and Control of Atmospheric Pollution at the 15th session of the Standing Committee of the Eighth National People's Congress on August 29, 1995; revised for the first time at the 15th session of the Standing Committee of the Ninth National People's Congress on April 29, 2000; and revised for the second time at the 16th session of the Standing Committee of the 12th National People's Congress on August 29, 2015)
Contents
Chapter I General Provisions
Chapter II Standards for the Prevention and Control of Atmospheric Pollution and Planning for Compliance with the Standards within a Time Limit
Chapter III Supervision and Administration of the Prevention and Control of Atmospheric Pollution
Chapter IV Measures for the Prevention and Control of Atmospheric Pollution
Section 1 Prevention and Control of Pollution Caused by Coal and Other Types of Energy
Section 2 Prevention and Control of Industrial Pollution
Section 3 Prevention and Control of Pollutants Discharged by Motor Vehicles, Vessels and Other Vehicles
Section 4 Prevention and Control of Fugitive Dust Pollution
Section 5 Prevention and Control of Agricultural and Other Pollution
Chapter V Joint Prevention and Control of Atmospheric Pollution in Key Regions
Chapter VI Responses to Heavy Pollution Weather
Chapter VII Legal Liability
Chapter VIII Supplementary Provisions
Chapter I General Provisions
Article 1 The Law of the People's Republic of China on the Prevention and Control of Atmospheric Pollution (Revised in 2015) (hereinafter referred to as "this Law") is formulated in order to protect and improve the environment, prevent and control atmospheric pollution, safeguard public health, advance the progress of ecological civilization, and promote sustainable development of the economy and society.
Article 2 For the prevention and control of atmospheric pollution, improvement of atmospheric environment quality shall be taken as the objective; source control shall be adhered to; priority shall be given to planning; mode of economic development shall be transformed; industrial structure and layout shall be optimized; and energy structure shall be adjusted.
For the prevention and control of atmospheric pollution, integrated management shall be strengthened in respect of atmospheric pollution caused by coal, industry, motor vehicles and vessels, dust , agriculture and other pollutants; joint prevention and control shall be implemented for regional atmospheric pollution; and coordinated control shall be put in place for air pollutants and greenhouse gases including particulate matter, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, volatile organic compounds, and ammonia.
Article 3 The people's governments at and above the county level shall incorporate the prevention and control of atmospheric pollution into the national economic and social development plans and increase financial investment into the prevention and control of atmospheric pollution.
The local people's governments at various levels shall be responsible for the quality of the atmospheric environment within the areas under their jurisdiction, making plans and taking measures to control or gradually reduce the amount of discharge of air pollutants, so that the quality of the atmospheric environment within the said areas will meet the standards and get improved in due phases.
Article 4 The competent authority for environmental protection under the State Council shall, in concert with the relevant departments under the State Council and in accordance with the provisions of the State Council, assess the progress of provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government in accomplishing the objectives for improvement of atmospheric environment quality and major tasks of prevention and control of atmospheric pollution. The people's governments of provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government shall formulate assessment measures for assessing the progress within the areas under their jurisdiction in accomplishing the local objectives for improvement of atmospheric environment quality and major tasks of prevention and control of atmospheric pollution. The assessment results shall be disclosed to the public.
Article 5 The competent authorities for environmental protection under the people's governments at or above the county level shall exercise unified supervision and administration of the prevention and control of atmospheric pollution.
Other relevant departments under the people's governments at or above the county level shall, within the limits of their respective functions conduct supervision and administration of the prevention and control of atmospheric pollution.
Article 6 The State encourages and supports scientific and technological research in prevention and control of atmospheric pollution; and will carry out analysis of the sources and variation trends of atmospheric pollution, popularize advanced and applicable technologies and equipment for prevention and control of atmospheric pollution, and facilitate the transformation of scientific and technological achievements, so as to give play to the supporting role of science and technology in the prevention and control of atmospheric pollution.
Article 7 Enterprises, institutions, and other producers or operators shall adopt effective measures to prevent or reduce atmospheric pollution, and take liability for the damage caused by them in accordance with the law.
Citizens shall enhance their awareness of protecting the atmospheric environment, taking a low-carbon and frugal lifestyle and consciously perform the obligations in relation to protection of atmospheric environment.
Chapter II Standards for the Prevention and Control of Atmospheric Pollution and Planning for Compliance with the Standards within a Time Limit
Article 8 The competent authority for environmental protection under the State Council or the people's governments of provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government shall, when formulating standards for atmospheric environment quality, follow the principle of protecting the public health and the ecological environment, comply with the social and economic development, and carry out the relevant work in a well-conceived and reasonable manner.
Article 9 When formulating the standards for discharge of air pollutants, the competent authority for environmental protection under the State Council or the people's governments of provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government shall take the standards for atmospheric environment quality and the national economic and technological conditions as the basis.
Article 10 For the formulation of the standards for atmospheric environment quality and the standards for discharge of air pollutants, experts shall be organized to conduct examination and demonstration, and comments shall be sought from the relevant departments, industry associations, enterprises and public institutions, as well as the public.
Article 11 The competent authorities for environmental protection under the people's governments at or above the provincial level shall publish on their websites the standards for atmospheric environment quality and the standards for discharge of air pollutants to provide free reference and downloading for the public
Article 12 The execution of the standards for atmospheric environment quality and the standards for discharge of air pollutants shall be assessed on a regular basis, and the said standards shall be modified in due time based on the assessment results.
Article 13 The quality standards for products including coal, petroleum coke, biomass fuel, paint and other products containing volatile organic compounds, fireworks and crackers, as well as boilers shall be formulated with the requirements for protection of atmospheric environment specified.
The formulation of quality standards for fuel oil shall comply with the state requirements on control of air pollutants, and be coordinated with the national standards for discharge of air pollutants by motor vehicles and vessels or non-road mobile machinery for synchronous implementation.
The non-road mobile machinery as mentioned in the preceding paragraph refers to mobile machinery equipped with engines and transportable industrial equipment.
Article 14 The people's government of a city failing to meet the national standards for atmospheric environment quality shall timely prepare the planning for compliance with the standards for atmospheric environment quality within a time limit, and take measures, so as to reach the standards for atmospheric environment quality within the time limit as specified by the State Council or the relevant people's government at the provincial level.
For the preparation of a city's planning for compliance with standards for atmospheric environment quality within a time limit, comments shall be sought from the relevant industry associations, enterprises and public institutions, experts and the public.
Article 15 A city's planning for compliance with standards for atmospheric environment quality within a time limit shall be disclosed to the public. The planning for compliance with standards for atmospheric environment quality within a time limit of municipalities and cities divided into districts shall be reported to the competent authority for environmental protection under the State Council for the record.
Article 16 The people's governments of cities shall, when reporting the environmental conditions and the progress on accomplishing the objectives for environmental protection to the people's congresses at the corresponding level or the standing committees thereof each year, report the execution of the planning for the compliance with the atmospheric environment quality within a time limit, and disclose the information to the public.
Article 17 A city's planning for compliance with standards for atmospheric environment quality within a time limit shall be evaluated and revised in due time in accordance with the requirements for the prevention and control of atmospheric pollution as well as the economic and technological conditions.
Chapter III Supervision and Administration of the Prevention and Control of Atmospheric Pollution
Article 18 Enterprises, public institutions and other producers and operators that build projects having impacts on the atmospheric environment shall conduct environmental impact assessment and disclose the environmental impact assessment documents in accordance with the law; where they build projects with discharge of pollutants into the atmosphere, they shall comply with the standards for discharge of air pollutants as well as the requirements on the total emission control of key air pollutants.
Article 19 Enterprises, public institution, producers and operators for the coal heating sources of central heating facilities discharging industrial waste gases or discharging toxic and hazardous air pollutants listed in the catalog specified in Article 78 hereof, as well as other entities subject to pollution discharge permit management in accordance with the law, shall obtain the pollution discharge permit. Specific measures and implementing procedures for pollution discharge permission shall be stipulated by the State Council.
Article 20 Enterprises, public institutions, and other producers and operators discharging pollutants into the atmosphere shall set an air pollutant emission outlet respectively in accordance with the laws, regulations and provisions of the competent authority for environmental protection under the State Council.
It is prohibited to discharge pollutants without permission, forge or manipulate monitoring data, temporally suspend production for the purpose of evading onsite investigation, discharge air pollutants by means of opening an emergency emission outlet in a non-emergency situation, and not operate control facilities properly to evade supervision.
Article 21 The State conducts total emission control of key air pollutants.
The competent authority for environmental protection under the State Council shall, in concert with the comprehensive economic department under the State Council, submit the total emission control targets for key air pollutants to the State Council for approval and then issue and implement the same after consulting the relevant departments under the State Council and people's governments of provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government.
The people's governments of provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the central government shall cut down and control the total emission of key air pollutants within their respective jurisdictions according to the total emission control targets issued by the State Council.
Specific measures for determining and breaking down total emission control targets shall be provided by the competent authority for environmental protection under the State Council in concert with the relevant departments under the State Council. The people's governments of provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government may, in accordance with the needs for the prevention and control of atmospheric pollution within their respective jurisdictions, implement total emission control of air pollutants other than those key air pollutants specified by the State.
The State shall progressively implement air pollutants emission trading policy.
Article 22 For any region that exceeds the national total emission targets of key air pollutants or could not achieve improvement objectives of atmospheric environment quality set by the State, the competent authority for environmental protection under the people's government at or above the provincial level shall, in concert with the relevant departments, talk with the principal of the people's government of the aforesaid region, and suspend the examination and approval of any environmental impact assessment document of construction project that would increase the total emission of key air pollutants in the region, The information on the talk shall be disclosed to the public.
Article 23 The competent authority for environmental protection under the State Council shall formulate monitoring and evaluation regulations on atmospheric environment quality and atmospheric pollution sources, organize the construction and management of the national atmospheric environment quality and the atmospheric pollution sources monitoring networks, organize the monitoring of atmospheric environment quality and atmospheric pollution sources, and uniformly release information on national atmospheric environment quality.
The competent authorities for environmental protection under the local people's governments at or above the county level shall organized the construction and management of atmospheric environment quality and atmospheric pollution sources monitoring networks within their respective jurisdictions, conduct the monitoring of atmospheric environment quality and atmospheric pollution sources, and uniformly release the information on atmospheric environment quality conditions within their respective jurisdictions.
Article 24 Enterprises, public institutions, and other producers and operators shall, in accordance with the relevant provisions and monitoring guidance of the State, monitor the industrial waste gases or toxic and hazardous air pollutants listed in the catalog specified in Article 78 hereof discharged by them, and keep original monitoring records. The key pollutant discharging entities shall install and use automatic air pollutant emission monitoring equipment that shall be connected with the surveillance network of the competent authorities for environmental protection, and ensure the normal operation of the monitoring equipment, and the emission data shall be disclosed to the public in accordance with the law. Specific monitoring measures and criteria for key pollutant discharge entities shall be formulated by the competent authority for environmental protection under the State Council.
The list of key pollutant discharging entities shall be determined by the competent authorities for environmental protection under local people's governments at or above the level of cities divided into districts upon consultation with the relevant departments according to the atmospheric environmental capacity, requirements of the total emission control targets of key air pollutants as well as the types, amounts, concentrations and other factors of air pollutants discharged by discharging entities, and shall be disclosed to the public.
Article 25 Key pollutant discharging entities shall be responsible for the authenticity and accuracy of the automatic monitoring data. The competent authorities for environmental protection shall, upon discovery of abnormal transmission data from the automatic air pollutant emission monitoring equipment of key pollutant discharging entities, carry out investigation in a timely manner.
Article 26 It is prohibited to occupy, damage, or move or change without permission, the monitoring facilities for atmospheric environment quality and the automatic air pollutant emission monitoring equipment.
Article 27 The State practices an elimination system for the techniques, equipment and products which cause serious pollution to the atmospheric environment.
The comprehensive economic department under the State Council shall, in concert with the relevant departments under the State Council, determine the time limits for the elimination of techniques, equipment and products that cause serious atmospheric pollution, and incorporate them into national comprehensive directory of industrial policy.
Producers, sellers, importers or users shall, within the time limit discontinue the production, sale, importation or use of the equipment or products listed in the directory as mentioned in the preceding paragraph.
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