Adopted at the 11th Meeting of the Standing Committee of the Seventh National People's Congress on December 26, 1989
Promulgated by Order No. 22 of the President of the People's Republic of China on December 26, 1989
Chapter 1 General Provisions
Article 1 This Law is enacted for the purpose of protecting and improving the living environment and ecological environment, preventing and controlling pollution and other public hazards, safeguarding human health, and promoting the development of socialist modernization construction.
Article 2 The term "environment" as used in this Law refers to the totality of various natural and artificially modified natural factors that affect human survival and development, including the atmosphere, water, oceans, land, mineral resources, forests, grasslands, wildlife, natural relics, cultural relics, nature reserves, scenic spots, cities and villages, etc.
Article 3 This Law applies to the territory of the People's Republic of China and other sea areas under the jurisdiction of the People's Republic of China.
Article 4 National environmental protection plans must be incorporated into the national economic and social development plans. The state shall adopt economic and technological policies and measures conducive to environmental protection, so that environmental protection work is coordinated with economic construction and social development.
Article 5 The state encourages the development of environmental protection science and education, strengthens the research and development of environmental protection science and technology, improves the level of environmental protection science and technology, and popularizes scientific knowledge of environmental protection.
Article 6 All units and individuals have the obligation to protect the environment and have the right to report and accuse units and individuals that pollute and damage the environment.
Article 7 The environmental protection administrative department of the State Council shall exercise unified supervision and management over national environmental protection work.
The environmental protection administrative departments of the people's governments at or above the county level shall exercise unified supervision and management over environmental protection work within their respective jurisdictions.
The national marine administrative department, port supervision, fishery administration and port supervision, military environmental protection departments, and public security, transportation, railway, and civil aviation management departments at all levels shall, in accordance with relevant laws and regulations, supervise and manage the prevention and control of environmental pollution.
The land, mineral resources, forestry, agriculture, and water conservancy administrative departments of the people's governments at or above the county level shall, in accordance with relevant laws and regulations, supervise and manage the protection of resources.
Article 8 Units and individuals with outstanding achievements in protecting and improving the environment shall be awarded by the people's government.
Chapter 2 Environmental Supervision and Management
Article 9 The environmental protection administrative department of the State Council shall formulate national environmental quality standards.
The people's governments of provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government may formulate local environmental quality standards for items not specified in the national environmental quality standards, and report them to the environmental protection administrative department of the State Council for the record.
Article 10 The environmental protection administrative department of the State Council shall formulate national pollutant discharge standards based on national environmental quality standards and national economic and technological conditions.
The people's governments of provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government may formulate local pollutant discharge standards for items not specified in the national pollutant discharge standards; for items already specified in the national pollutant discharge standards, they may formulate local pollutant discharge standards that are stricter than the national pollutant discharge standards. Local pollutant discharge standards must be reported to the environmental protection administrative department of the State Council for the record.
Those who discharge pollutants into areas with existing local pollutant discharge standards shall comply with the local pollutant discharge standards.
Article 11 The environmental protection administrative department of the State Council shall establish a monitoring system, formulate monitoring specifications, and, together with relevant departments, organize a monitoring network to strengthen the management of environmental monitoring.
The environmental protection administrative departments of the State Council and the people's governments of provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government shall regularly publish environmental bulletins.
Article 12 The environmental protection administrative departments of the people's governments at or above the county level shall, together with relevant departments, conduct investigations and evaluations of the environmental conditions within their jurisdiction, formulate environmental protection plans, and after comprehensive balancing by the planning department, submit them to the people's government at the same level for approval and implementation.
Article 13 Projects that pollute the environment must comply with the relevant national regulations on environmental protection management of construction projects.
The environmental impact report for a construction project must evaluate the pollution generated by the construction project and its impact on the environment, specify pollution control measures, be pre-examined by the project management department, and be submitted to the environmental protection administrative department for approval in accordance with the prescribed procedures. After the environmental impact report is approved, the planning department may approve the design task book for the construction project.
Article 14 The environmental protection administrative departments of the people's governments at or above the county level or other departments that exercise environmental supervision and management powers in accordance with the law have the right to conduct on-site inspections of polluting units within their jurisdiction. The inspected units shall truthfully reflect the situation and provide necessary information. The inspection agency shall keep the technical secrets and business secrets of the inspected units confidential.
Article 15 The prevention and control of cross-administrative environmental pollution and environmental damage shall be resolved through consultation among the relevant local people's governments, or coordinated and decided by the higher-level people's government.
Chapter 3 Protection and Improvement of the Environment
Article 16 Local people's governments at all levels shall be responsible for the environmental quality of their respective jurisdictions and take measures to improve environmental quality.
Article 17 All levels of people's governments shall take measures to protect representative areas of various types of natural ecosystems, natural distribution areas of rare and endangered wild animals and plants, important water conservation areas, geological structures, famous caves and fossil distribution areas, glaciers, volcanoes, hot springs and other natural relics of significant scientific and cultural value, as well as cultural relics and ancient trees, and strictly prohibit their destruction.
Article 18 Within scenic spots, nature reserves, and other areas requiring special protection designated by the State Council, relevant departments under the State Council, and the people's governments of provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government, no industrial production facilities that pollute the environment shall be constructed; for the construction of other facilities, pollutant emissions shall not exceed the prescribed emission standards. For facilities that have already been built and whose pollutant emissions exceed the prescribed emission standards, they shall be treated within a time limit.
Article 19 The development and utilization of natural resources must take measures to protect the ecological environment.
Article 20 All levels of people's governments shall strengthen the protection of the agricultural environment, prevent and control soil pollution, land desertification, salinization, impoverishment, swampification, ground subsidence, and prevent and control vegetation destruction, soil and water loss, water source depletion, extinction of germplasm resources, and other ecological imbalances, promote integrated pest management, and rationally use chemical fertilizers, pesticides, and plant growth hormones.
Article 21 The State Council and coastal local people's governments at all levels shall strengthen the protection of the marine environment. The discharge of pollutants into the ocean, the dumping of waste, and the construction of coastal engineering and the exploration and development of marine oil must be carried out in accordance with the provisions of the law to prevent pollution and damage to the marine environment.
Article 22 The formulation of urban plans shall determine the goals and tasks for protecting and improving the environment.
Article 23: Urban and rural construction shall be combined with the characteristics of the local natural environment, protecting vegetation, water bodies, and natural landscapes, and strengthening the construction of urban gardens, green spaces, and scenic areas.
Chapter 4: Prevention and Control of Environmental Pollution and Other Public Hazards
Article 24: Units that generate environmental pollution and other public hazards must incorporate environmental protection into their plans, establish environmental protection responsibility systems; and adopt effective measures to prevent and control pollution and hazards to the environment caused by production, construction, or other activities, including waste gas, wastewater, waste residue, dust, malodorous gases, radioactive substances, as well as noise, vibration, electromagnetic radiation, etc.
Article 25: New industrial enterprises and technological transformation of existing industrial enterprises shall adopt equipment and processes with high resource utilization rates and low pollutant emissions, and adopt economically reasonable comprehensive utilization technologies for waste and pollutant treatment technologies.
Article 26: Pollution control facilities in construction projects must be designed, constructed, and put into operation simultaneously with the main project. Pollution control facilities must be accepted and approved by the environmental protection administrative department that originally approved the environmental impact report before the construction project can be put into production or use.
Pollution control facilities shall not be dismantled or left idle without authorization. If there is a need to dismantle or leave them idle, the consent of the local environmental protection administrative department must be obtained.
Article 27: Enterprises and institutions that discharge pollutants must register according to the regulations of the State Council's environmental protection administrative department.
Article 28: Enterprises and institutions that discharge pollutants exceeding the national or local pollutant discharge standards shall pay excess emission fees according to national regulations and be responsible for remediation. If the Water Pollution Prevention Law has other provisions, they shall be implemented according to the provisions of the Water Pollution Prevention Law.
The collected excess emission fees must be used for pollution prevention and control and shall not be used for other purposes. The specific implementation methods shall be stipulated by the State Council.
Article 29: Enterprises and institutions that cause serious environmental pollution shall be subject to a time-limited remediation. The time-limited remediation of enterprises and institutions directly under the central government or the people's governments of provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government shall be decided by the people's governments of provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government. The time-limited remediation of enterprises and institutions under the jurisdiction of the municipal, county, or below-county level people's governments shall be decided by the municipal and county people's governments. Enterprises and institutions that are subject to time-limited remediation must complete the remediation tasks on schedule.
Article 30: It is prohibited to introduce technologies and equipment that do not meet the requirements of China's environmental protection regulations.
Article 31: Units that cause or may cause pollution accidents due to accidents or other sudden events must immediately take measures to deal with them, promptly notify units and residents that may be subject to pollution hazards, and report to the local environmental protection administrative department and relevant departments for investigation and handling.
Enterprises and institutions that may cause major pollution accidents should take measures to strengthen prevention.
Article 32: The environmental protection administrative departments of the people's governments at or above the county level must immediately report to the local people's government when the environment is seriously polluted and threatens the life and property safety of residents, and the people's government shall take effective measures to eliminate or mitigate the hazards.
Article 33: The production, storage, transportation, sale, and use of toxic chemicals and radioactive materials must comply with relevant national regulations to prevent environmental pollution.
Article 34: No unit shall transfer production equipment that generates serious pollution to units without pollution control capabilities for use.
Chapter 5: Legal Liability
Article 35: For violations of the provisions of this Law, those who commit any of the following acts, the environmental protection administrative department or other departments that exercise environmental supervision and management powers in accordance with the law may, according to different circumstances, give warnings or impose fines;
(1) Refusal to accept on-site inspections by the environmental protection administrative department or other departments that exercise environmental supervision and management powers in accordance with the law, or falsification during inspections.
(2) Failure to report or false reporting of matters related to pollutant discharge reporting as stipulated by the State Council's environmental protection administrative department.
(3) Failure to pay excess emission fees according to national regulations.
(4) Introduction of technologies and equipment that do not meet the requirements of China's environmental protection regulations.
(5) Transferring production equipment that generates serious pollution to units without pollution control capabilities for use.
Article 36: If the pollution control facilities of a construction project have not been completed or have not met the national requirements, and are put into production or use, the environmental protection administrative department that approved the environmental impact report of the construction project shall order the cessation of production or use, and may impose a fine.
Article 37: If pollution control facilities are dismantled or left idle without the consent of the environmental protection administrative department, and pollutant emissions exceed the prescribed emission standards, the environmental protection administrative department shall order the reinstallation and use, and impose a fine.
Article 38: For enterprises and institutions that violate the provisions of this Law and cause environmental pollution accidents, the environmental protection administrative department or other departments that exercise environmental supervision and management powers in accordance with the law shall impose a fine according to the consequences of the harm caused; for serious cases, the relevant responsible personnel shall be given administrative sanctions by their units or government authorities.
Article 39: For enterprises and institutions that have not completed the remediation tasks within the time limit, in addition to collecting excess emission fees according to national regulations, a fine may be imposed according to the consequences of the harm caused, or the enterprise may be ordered to suspend operations or close down.
The fines stipulated in the preceding paragraph shall be decided by the environmental protection administrative department. The order to suspend operations or close down shall be decided by the people's government that made the decision on time-limited remediation; the order to suspend operations or close down centrally administered enterprises and institutions shall be submitted to the State Council for approval.
Article 40: If a party is dissatisfied with the administrative penalty decision, it may apply for reconsideration to the superior authority of the authority that made the penalty decision within fifteen days from the date of receipt of the penalty notice; if it is dissatisfied with the reconsideration decision, it may sue the people's court within fifteen days from the date of receipt of the reconsideration decision. The party may also directly sue the people's court within fifteen days from the date of receipt of the penalty notice. If the party fails to apply for reconsideration or sue the people's court within the time limit, or fails to execute the penalty decision, the authority that made the penalty decision shall apply to the people's court for compulsory execution.
Article 41: If environmental pollution hazards are caused, there is a responsibility to eliminate the hazards and compensate units or individuals who have suffered direct losses.
Disputes over compensation liability and amount can be handled by the environmental protection administrative department or other departments that exercise environmental supervision and management powers in accordance with the law at the request of the parties; if the parties are dissatisfied with the handling decision, they may sue the people's court. The parties may also directly sue the people's court.
If environmental pollution damage is caused entirely due to irresistible natural disasters, and the damage cannot be avoided even after timely and reasonable measures are taken, no liability shall be assumed.
Article 42: The statute of limitations for lawsuits for environmental pollution damage compensation is three years, calculated from the time when the party knows or should have known that it has suffered pollution damage.
Article 43: For violations of this Law that cause major environmental pollution accidents resulting in serious consequences such as major losses of public or private property or casualties, the persons directly responsible shall be investigated for criminal liability according to law.
Article 44: For violations of the provisions of this Law that cause damage to resources such as land, forests, grasslands, water, minerals, fisheries, and wildlife, legal liabilities shall be borne in accordance with relevant laws and regulations.
Article 45: Environmental protection supervision and management personnel who abuse their power, neglect their duties, or engage in favoritism and malpractice shall be given administrative sanctions by their units or superior authorities; if a crime is constituted, criminal liability shall be investigated according to law.
Chapter VI Supplementary Provisions
Article 46: In the case of inconsistencies between international treaties concluded or acceded to by the People's Republic of China concerning environmental protection and the laws of the People's Republic of China, the provisions of the international treaties shall apply, except for clauses to which the People's Republic of China has declared reservations.
Article 47: This Law shall come into force upon its promulgation. The "Environmental Protection Law of the People's Republic of China (Trial Implementation)" shall be repealed simultaneously.