Law of the People's Republic of China on the Prevention and Control of Water Pollution (Amended in 2017)
Law of the People's Republic of China on the Prevention and Control of Water Pollution (Amended in 2017)
Law of the People's Republic of China on the Prevention and Control of Water Pollution (Amended in 2017)
Order of the President of the People's Republic of China No.70
June 27, 2017
(Adopted at the Fifth Meeting of the Standing Committee of the Sixth National People's Congress on May 11, 1984; amended for the first time in accordance with the Decision on Revising the Law of the People's Republic of China on Prevention and Control of Water Pollution at the 19th Meeting of the Standing Committee of the Eighth National People's Congress on May 15, 1996; revised at the 32nd Meeting of the Standing Committee of the Tenth National People's Congress on February 28, 2008; and amended for the second time at the 28th Meeting of the Standing Committee of the 12th National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China on June 27, 2017)
Contents
Chapter I General Provisions
Chapter II Standards and Planning for Prevention and Control of Water Pollution
Chapter III Supervision and Management of Prevention and Control of Water Pollution
Chapter IV Measures for 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 Agricultural and Rural Water Pollution
Section 5 Prevention and Control of Water Pollution Caused by Ships
Chapter V Protection of Drinking Water Sources and Other Special Water Bodies
Chapter VI Disposal of Water Pollution Accidents
Chapter VII Legal Liability
Chapter VIII Supplementary Provisions
Chapter I General Provisions
Article 1 This Law is enacted in order to protect and improve environment, prevent and control water pollution, protect water eco-system, ensure drinking water safety, safeguard the health of the general public, advance the construction of ecological civilization and promote the sustainable development of economy and society.
Article 2 This law applies to the prevention and control of pollution of rivers, lakes, canals, irrigation channels, reservoirs and other surface water bodies and of ground water bodies within the territory of the People's Republic of China.
The prevention and control of marine pollution is provided for by the Marine Environment Protection Law of the People's Republic of China.
Article 3 The principle of putting prevention first in environmental protection, together with both prevention and treatment and comprehensive control shall be adhered to and priority shall be given to the protection of drinking water sources. Industrial pollution and urban and town domestic pollution shall be controlled strictly, the agriculture non-point source pollution shall be prevented and controlled, and the construction of ecological treatment projects shall be accelerated so as to prevent, control and reduce water environmental pollution and ecological damages.
Article 4 The people's governments at or above the county level shall incorporate the water environmental protection into their national economic and social development plans.
The local people's governments at different levels shall be responsible for water environmental quality within their jurisdiction and timely take steps to prevent and control water pollution.
Article 5 Provinces, cities, counties and townships shall establish their river chief systems, under which the rive chiefs at different levels shall organize and lead the river and lake water resource protection, water shoreline management, water pollution prevention and control and water environment treatment and other work in different levels and sections within their jurisdiction.
Article 6 The State shall institute the target-related responsibility and the check and evaluation system for the protection of water environment and incorporate the goal completion conditions for protection of water environment into the contents of check and evaluation of the local people's governments and the persons in charge.
Article 7 The State encourages and supports the study and research on the science and technology concerning the prevention and control of water pollution, the promotion and application of advanced, applicable technology and the enhancement of publicity and education of water environmental protection.
Article 8 The State shall, by the means of financial transfer payment, establish and perfect the compensation mechanism for ecological protection of water environment in the sources protection zones of drinking water sources and the upper reaches of rivers, lakes and reservoirs.
Article 9 Competent environmental protection authorities of the local people's government at or above the county level shall exercise unified supervision and management of prevention and control of water pollution.
Navigation administrative offices of competent communications authorities of traffic shall exercise supervision and management of the prevention and control of the waters pollution from ships.
Departments of water conservancy administration, land and resources, public health administration, construction, agriculture and fishery under the people's government at or above the county level as well as the water resources protection agencies for major rivers and lakes shall, through performing their respective functions, implement supervision and management of prevention and control of water pollution.
Article 10 Discharged water pollutants shall not exceed the national or local standards for discharge of water pollutants and the indexes for control of the total discharge of major water pollutants.
Article 11 All units and individuals shall have the duty to protect the water environment and the right to supervise any act that pollutes or damages the water environment and to inform against the polluter.
The people's governments at or above the county level and relevant competent authorities there under shall commend and award any unit or individual that has made marked results in prevention and control of water pollution.
Chapter II Standards and Planning for Prevention and Control of Water Pollution
Article 12 The competent environmental protection authorities of the State Council shall establish national water environment quality standards.
The people's governments of provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government may establish their own local standards for the items that are not specified in the national standards for water environment quality and report the same to the competent environmental protection authorities under the State Council for the record.
Article 13 The competent environmental protection authorities of the State Council may, together with the authorities of water conservancy administration of the State Council and the people's governments of relevant provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government and in light of the utilization functions determined by the State for water bodies of major river or lake basins as well as the economic and technological conditions of the related regions, establish water environment quality standards applicable to water bodies of such major river or lake basins within the provincial boundaries, and such standards shall be put into practice after being reported to and approved by the State Council.
Article 14 The competent environmental protection authorities under the State Council shall, in line with the national standards for water environment quality and the country's economic and technological conditions, establish the national standards for discharge of water pollutants.
The people's governments of provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government may establish their own local standards for the items that are not specified in the national standards for discharge of water pollutants. With regard to the items that are already specified in the national standards for discharge of water pollutants, they may establish more stringent local standards than the national standards. All local standards must be reported to the competent environmental protection authorities under the State Council for the record.
Those who discharge pollutants into any water body for which local water pollutants discharge standards have been established shall observe such local standards.
Article 15 The environmental protection authorities under the State Council and the people's governments of provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government shall, in line with the requirements of prevention and control of water pollution and the country's or local economic and technological conditions, amend in due time their standards for water environment quality and for discharge of water pollutants.
Article 16 To prevent and control water pollution, it is necessary to make unified plans on the basis of river basins or regions. Plans for preventing and controlling water pollution of basins of major rivers and lakes, designated as such by the State, shall be formulated by the competent environmental protection authorities under the State Council, together with the comprehensive macroeconomic macro-control department, department of water conservancy administration and other departments concerned under the State Council as well as the people's governments of relevant provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government, and shall be submitted to the State Council for approval.
Plans for preventing and controlling water pollution of basins of other rivers and lakes that run across provinces or autonomous regions or municipalities directly under the Central Government not mentioned in the preceding paragraph shall be formulated, in line with the plans for preventing and controlling water pollution of basins of major rivers and lakes, designated as such by the State, and in light of actual local conditions, by the competent environmental protection authorities of the people's governments of the provinces or autonomous regions or municipalities directly under the Central Government, together with the department of water conservancy administrations at the same level and the people's governments of the cities and counties concerned, and shall be submitted to the people's governments of the provinces or autonomous regions or municipalities directly under the Central Government for examination and to the State Council for approval.
Plans for preventing and controlling water pollution of basins of other rivers and lakes within the territory of a province or autonomous region or municipality directly under the Central Government shall be formulated, in line with the plans for preventing and controlling water pollution of basins of major rivers and lakes, designated as such by the State, and in light of actual local conditions, by the competent environmental protection departments of the people's governments of the province or autonomous region or municipality directly under the Central Government, together with departments of water conservancy administration at the same level and the people's governments of the cities and counties concerned, and shall be submitted to the people's government of the province or autonomous region or municipality directly under the Central Government for approval and to the State Council for record.
Plans for preventing and controlling water pollution, once approved, shall serve as the essential basis for prevention and control of water pollution, and any modification thereof shall be subject to approval of the original departments that approved such plans.
Local people's governments at or above the county level shall, in accordance with the approved plans for preventing and controlling water pollution of the basins of rivers and lakes, organize personnel to work out plans for preventing and controlling water pollution for their own administrative regions.
Article 17 The relevant people's governments at the city and county levels shall formulate their plans for reaching standards within a prescribed time limit according to the requirements of the water environmental quality improvement objectives as established in their water pollution prevention and control plans, and take steps to reach the standards within the prescribed time limit.
The relevant people's governments at the city and county levels shall submit their plans for reaching standards within a prescribed time limit to the people's governments at a higher level for record-filing and publicize the same to the society.
Article 18 The people's governments at the city and county levels shall simultaneously report the actual implementation of their plans for reaching water environmental quality standards within a prescribed time limit when reporting the environmental status and actual fulfillment of the environmental protection objectives to the people's congresses at the same level or the standing committees of the people's congresses at the same level, and publicize the same to the society.
Chapter III Supervision and Management of Prevention and Control of Water Pollution
Article 19 Environmental impact assessment must be carried out according to law for newly-formed projects and reconstruction, or extensions projects that directly or indirectly discharge pollutants to water bodies and other installations on water.
A construction unit, before constructing, reconstructing and expanding a sewage outlet in a river or lake shall obtain consent of the competent authorities of water conservancy administration or the basin management agency; if a basin for navigation or fishing is involved, competent environmental protection authorities shall, in the process of checking and approving the environmental impact assessment documents, solicit opinions from competent authorities of communications and competent fishing departments.
The water pollution prevention and control facilities of construction projects shall be simultaneously designed, constructed and put into use together with main buildings. The water pollution prevention and control facilities shall be subject to the requirements of environmental impact assessment documents approved or filed for the record.
Article 20 The state shall implement the total key water pollutant discharge control system.
Upon soliciting opinions from the relevant departments under the State Council and the people's governments of all provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government, the competent environmental protection department under the State Council shall work with the comprehensive economic macro-control department under the State Council to report the total key water pollutant discharge control indicators to the State Council for approval and implementation with the indicators assigned.
The people's governments of all provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government shall reduce or control total key water pollutant discharge within their jurisdiction in accordance with the provisions of the State Council. The competent environmental protection department under the State Council shall work with the relevant departments under the State Council to institute the concrete measures.
The people's governments of all provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government shall exert control over the total discharge of other water pollutants other than national key water pollutants according to the water environmental quality status and the requirements of the water pollution prevention and control work within their jurisdiction.
The competent environmental protection departments of the people's governments above the provincial level shall work with the relevant departments to interview the chief persons in charge of the people's governments and suspend approving the environmental impact assessment documents of construction projects with newly added total key water pollutant discharge in the regions where the total key water pollutant discharge control indicators are exceeded or the water environmental quality improvement objectives fail to be fulfilled.
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Order of the President of the People's Republic of China No.70
June 27, 2017
(Adopted at the Fifth Meeting of the Standing Committee of the Sixth National People's Congress on May 11, 1984; amended for the first time in accordance with the Decision on Revising the Law of the People's Republic of China on Prevention and Control of Water Pollution at the 19th Meeting of the Standing Committee of the Eighth National People's Congress on May 15, 1996; revised at the 32nd Meeting of the Standing Committee of the Tenth National People's Congress on February 28, 2008; and amended for the second time at the 28th Meeting of the Standing Committee of the 12th National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China on June 27, 2017)
Contents
Chapter I General Provisions
Chapter II Standards and Planning for Prevention and Control of Water Pollution
Chapter III Supervision and Management of Prevention and Control of Water Pollution
Chapter IV Measures for 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 Agricultural and Rural Water Pollution
Section 5 Prevention and Control of Water Pollution Caused by Ships
Chapter V Protection of Drinking Water Sources and Other Special Water Bodies
Chapter VI Disposal of Water Pollution Accidents
Chapter VII Legal Liability
Chapter VIII Supplementary Provisions
Chapter I General Provisions
Article 1 This Law is enacted in order to protect and improve environment, prevent and control water pollution, protect water eco-system, ensure drinking water safety, safeguard the health of the general public, advance the construction of ecological civilization and promote the sustainable development of economy and society.
Article 2 This law applies to the prevention and control of pollution of rivers, lakes, canals, irrigation channels, reservoirs and other surface water bodies and of ground water bodies within the territory of the People's Republic of China.
The prevention and control of marine pollution is provided for by the Marine Environment Protection Law of the People's Republic of China.
Article 3 The principle of putting prevention first in environmental protection, together with both prevention and treatment and comprehensive control shall be adhered to and priority shall be given to the protection of drinking water sources. Industrial pollution and urban and town domestic pollution shall be controlled strictly, the agriculture non-point source pollution shall be prevented and controlled, and the construction of ecological treatment projects shall be accelerated so as to prevent, control and reduce water environmental pollution and ecological damages.
Article 4 The people's governments at or above the county level shall incorporate the water environmental protection into their national economic and social development plans.
The local people's governments at different levels shall be responsible for water environmental quality within their jurisdiction and timely take steps to prevent and control water pollution.
Article 5 Provinces, cities, counties and townships shall establish their river chief systems, under which the rive chiefs at different levels shall organize and lead the river and lake water resource protection, water shoreline management, water pollution prevention and control and water environment treatment and other work in different levels and sections within their jurisdiction.
Article 6 The State shall institute the target-related responsibility and the check and evaluation system for the protection of water environment and incorporate the goal completion conditions for protection of water environment into the contents of check and evaluation of the local people's governments and the persons in charge.
Article 7 The State encourages and supports the study and research on the science and technology concerning the prevention and control of water pollution, the promotion and application of advanced, applicable technology and the enhancement of publicity and education of water environmental protection.
Article 8 The State shall, by the means of financial transfer payment, establish and perfect the compensation mechanism for ecological protection of water environment in the sources protection zones of drinking water sources and the upper reaches of rivers, lakes and reservoirs.
Article 9 Competent environmental protection authorities of the local people's government at or above the county level shall exercise unified supervision and management of prevention and control of water pollution.
Navigation administrative offices of competent communications authorities of traffic shall exercise supervision and management of the prevention and control of the waters pollution from ships.
Departments of water conservancy administration, land and resources, public health administration, construction, agriculture and fishery under the people's government at or above the county level as well as the water resources protection agencies for major rivers and lakes shall, through performing their respective functions, implement supervision and management of prevention and control of water pollution.
Article 10 Discharged water pollutants shall not exceed the national or local standards for discharge of water pollutants and the indexes for control of the total discharge of major water pollutants.
Article 11 All units and individuals shall have the duty to protect the water environment and the right to supervise any act that pollutes or damages the water environment and to inform against the polluter.
The people's governments at or above the county level and relevant competent authorities there under shall commend and award any unit or individual that has made marked results in prevention and control of water pollution.
Chapter II Standards and Planning for Prevention and Control of Water Pollution
Article 12 The competent environmental protection authorities of the State Council shall establish national water environment quality standards.
The people's governments of provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government may establish their own local standards for the items that are not specified in the national standards for water environment quality and report the same to the competent environmental protection authorities under the State Council for the record.
Article 13 The competent environmental protection authorities of the State Council may, together with the authorities of water conservancy administration of the State Council and the people's governments of relevant provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government and in light of the utilization functions determined by the State for water bodies of major river or lake basins as well as the economic and technological conditions of the related regions, establish water environment quality standards applicable to water bodies of such major river or lake basins within the provincial boundaries, and such standards shall be put into practice after being reported to and approved by the State Council.
Article 14 The competent environmental protection authorities under the State Council shall, in line with the national standards for water environment quality and the country's economic and technological conditions, establish the national standards for discharge of water pollutants.
The people's governments of provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government may establish their own local standards for the items that are not specified in the national standards for discharge of water pollutants. With regard to the items that are already specified in the national standards for discharge of water pollutants, they may establish more stringent local standards than the national standards. All local standards must be reported to the competent environmental protection authorities under the State Council for the record.
Those who discharge pollutants into any water body for which local water pollutants discharge standards have been established shall observe such local standards.
Article 15 The environmental protection authorities under the State Council and the people's governments of provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government shall, in line with the requirements of prevention and control of water pollution and the country's or local economic and technological conditions, amend in due time their standards for water environment quality and for discharge of water pollutants.
Article 16 To prevent and control water pollution, it is necessary to make unified plans on the basis of river basins or regions. Plans for preventing and controlling water pollution of basins of major rivers and lakes, designated as such by the State, shall be formulated by the competent environmental protection authorities under the State Council, together with the comprehensive macroeconomic macro-control department, department of water conservancy administration and other departments concerned under the State Council as well as the people's governments of relevant provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government, and shall be submitted to the State Council for approval.
Plans for preventing and controlling water pollution of basins of other rivers and lakes that run across provinces or autonomous regions or municipalities directly under the Central Government not mentioned in the preceding paragraph shall be formulated, in line with the plans for preventing and controlling water pollution of basins of major rivers and lakes, designated as such by the State, and in light of actual local conditions, by the competent environmental protection authorities of the people's governments of the provinces or autonomous regions or municipalities directly under the Central Government, together with the department of water conservancy administrations at the same level and the people's governments of the cities and counties concerned, and shall be submitted to the people's governments of the provinces or autonomous regions or municipalities directly under the Central Government for examination and to the State Council for approval.
Plans for preventing and controlling water pollution of basins of other rivers and lakes within the territory of a province or autonomous region or municipality directly under the Central Government shall be formulated, in line with the plans for preventing and controlling water pollution of basins of major rivers and lakes, designated as such by the State, and in light of actual local conditions, by the competent environmental protection departments of the people's governments of the province or autonomous region or municipality directly under the Central Government, together with departments of water conservancy administration at the same level and the people's governments of the cities and counties concerned, and shall be submitted to the people's government of the province or autonomous region or municipality directly under the Central Government for approval and to the State Council for record.
Plans for preventing and controlling water pollution, once approved, shall serve as the essential basis for prevention and control of water pollution, and any modification thereof shall be subject to approval of the original departments that approved such plans.
Local people's governments at or above the county level shall, in accordance with the approved plans for preventing and controlling water pollution of the basins of rivers and lakes, organize personnel to work out plans for preventing and controlling water pollution for their own administrative regions.
Article 17 The relevant people's governments at the city and county levels shall formulate their plans for reaching standards within a prescribed time limit according to the requirements of the water environmental quality improvement objectives as established in their water pollution prevention and control plans, and take steps to reach the standards within the prescribed time limit.
The relevant people's governments at the city and county levels shall submit their plans for reaching standards within a prescribed time limit to the people's governments at a higher level for record-filing and publicize the same to the society.
Article 18 The people's governments at the city and county levels shall simultaneously report the actual implementation of their plans for reaching water environmental quality standards within a prescribed time limit when reporting the environmental status and actual fulfillment of the environmental protection objectives to the people's congresses at the same level or the standing committees of the people's congresses at the same level, and publicize the same to the society.
Chapter III Supervision and Management of Prevention and Control of Water Pollution
Article 19 Environmental impact assessment must be carried out according to law for newly-formed projects and reconstruction, or extensions projects that directly or indirectly discharge pollutants to water bodies and other installations on water.
A construction unit, before constructing, reconstructing and expanding a sewage outlet in a river or lake shall obtain consent of the competent authorities of water conservancy administration or the basin management agency; if a basin for navigation or fishing is involved, competent environmental protection authorities shall, in the process of checking and approving the environmental impact assessment documents, solicit opinions from competent authorities of communications and competent fishing departments.
The water pollution prevention and control facilities of construction projects shall be simultaneously designed, constructed and put into use together with main buildings. The water pollution prevention and control facilities shall be subject to the requirements of environmental impact assessment documents approved or filed for the record.
Article 20 The state shall implement the total key water pollutant discharge control system.
Upon soliciting opinions from the relevant departments under the State Council and the people's governments of all provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government, the competent environmental protection department under the State Council shall work with the comprehensive economic macro-control department under the State Council to report the total key water pollutant discharge control indicators to the State Council for approval and implementation with the indicators assigned.
The people's governments of all provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government shall reduce or control total key water pollutant discharge within their jurisdiction in accordance with the provisions of the State Council. The competent environmental protection department under the State Council shall work with the relevant departments under the State Council to institute the concrete measures.
The people's governments of all provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government shall exert control over the total discharge of other water pollutants other than national key water pollutants according to the water environmental quality status and the requirements of the water pollution prevention and control work within their jurisdiction.
The competent environmental protection departments of the people's governments above the provincial level shall work with the relevant departments to interview the chief persons in charge of the people's governments and suspend approving the environmental impact assessment documents of construction projects with newly added total key water pollutant discharge in the regions where the total key water pollutant discharge control indicators are exceeded or the water environmental quality improvement objectives fail to be fulfilled.
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