Ecological Environment Code of the PRC — Book I: General Provisions — Full English Translation (2026)

Adopted at the Fourth Session of the Fourteenth National People’s Congress on March 12, 2026

Effective: August 15, 2026

---

Table of Contents

---

Chapter I — Basic Provisions

Article 1 — This Law is enacted in accordance with the Constitution for the purposes of protecting the ecological environment, preventing and controlling pollution and other public hazards, safeguarding public health and the rights and interests in the ecological environment, maintaining ecological security, promoting green and low-carbon development, building an ecological civilization, comprehensively advancing the building of a Beautiful China, accelerating the modernization featuring harmonious coexistence between humanity and nature, and realizing the sustainable development of the Chinese nation.

Article 2 — For the purposes of this Law, “ecological environment” means the totality of natural and artificially modified natural spaces, natural elements, and their interconnections and interactions that affect human survival and development as well as ecosystem functions, including the atmosphere, water, oceans, land, mineral resources, forests, mountains, grasslands, wetlands, glaciers, plateaus, deserts, wild organisms, natural relics, cultural relics, protected natural areas, cities, and rural areas, among others.

Article 3 — This Law applies to pollution prevention and control, ecological protection, green and low-carbon development, and other activities related to ecological environment protection within the territory of the People’s Republic of China and other sea areas under the jurisdiction of the People’s Republic of China.

Where environmental pollution or ecological damage within the territory of the People’s Republic of China and other sea areas under its jurisdiction is caused or may be caused by activities outside such territory and sea areas, the relevant provisions of this Law apply.

Article 4 — Ecological environment protection shall uphold the leadership of the Communist Party of China, implement Xi Jinping’s thought on ecological civilization, establish the ecological civilization concept of respecting nature, conforming to nature, and protecting nature, uphold that a sound ecological environment is the most inclusive form of public well-being, improve and implement the institutions and mechanisms for the concept that lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets, and protect the ecological environment with the strictest institutions and the most rigorous rule of law.

Article 5 — Conserving resources and protecting the ecological environment are basic state policies of the country.

The state adopts economic, technological, and other policies and measures conducive to protecting the ecological environment and promoting harmonious coexistence between humanity and nature, coordinates industrial restructuring, pollution prevention and control, ecological protection, and climate change response, advances carbon reduction, pollution reduction, ecological expansion, and growth in a coordinated manner, and promotes ecological priority, conservation and intensive use, and green and low-carbon development.

Article 6 — Ecological environment protection shall adhere to the principles of giving priority to prevention, systematic governance, ecological priority, green development, public participation, and liability for damage.

Article 7 — All entities and individuals have the obligation to protect the ecological environment.

Article 8 — People’s governments at all levels shall strengthen ecological environment protection, correctly handle the relationship between high-quality development and high-level protection, and take effective measures to improve the quality of the ecological environment in accordance with the objectives and governance tasks of ecological environment protection.

Local people’s governments at all levels shall be responsible for the ecological environment protection and the quality of the ecological environment within their respective administrative areas and the sea areas under their administration.

Article 9 — Enterprises, public institutions, and other producers and operators shall take effective measures to prevent and reduce environmental pollution and ecological damage, conserve and intensively use resources, control greenhouse gas emissions, fulfill their obligations of green and low-carbon development, and assume liability in accordance with the law for the damage caused.

Article 10 — Citizens shall enhance their awareness of ecological environment protection, adopt simple, moderate, green, and low-carbon lifestyles, consciously fulfill their obligations of ecological environment protection, observe the laws and regulations on ecological environment, and cooperate in implementing ecological environment protection measures.

Article 11 — The state supports research, development, and application of science and technology for ecological environment protection, strengthens scientific and technological support and personnel training for ecological environment protection, and promotes, on the premise of ensuring safety, the application of information technology, digital technology, artificial intelligence technology, and other technologies, so as to improve the scientific and technological level of ecological environment protection.

Article 12 — People’s governments at all levels and their relevant departments shall strengthen the publicity and popularization of ecological environment protection, carry out publicity and education on the rule of law in the ecological environment, promote ecological culture, and enhance the public’s awareness of ecological environment protection and their legal literacy.

Educational administrative departments and schools shall incorporate the laws, regulations, and knowledge on ecological environment protection into school education, and cultivate students’ awareness of ecological environment protection and legal literacy.

News media shall publicize the laws, regulations, and knowledge on ecological environment protection and exercise public opinion supervision over illegal acts related to the ecological environment.

The state encourages primary-level self-governance organizations of the masses, social organizations, volunteers for ecological environment protection, and others to publicize the laws, regulations, and knowledge on ecological environment protection, and to foster a positive social atmosphere of protecting the ecological environment and building an ecological civilization.

Article 13 — Entities and individuals that have made outstanding achievements in ecological environment protection shall be commended and rewarded in accordance with state regulations.

Article 14 — The state strengthens international cooperation in the field of ecological environment, fulfills its obligations under the international treaties concluded or acceded to by the People’s Republic of China, supports international exchanges and cooperation on ecological environment protection, actively participates in the research and formulation of international rules on the ecological environment, actively elaborates the concepts, propositions, and successful practices of ecological environment rule of law with Chinese characteristics, and promotes the building of a fair, reasonable, cooperative, and win-win global environmental governance system.

Article 15 — August 15 of each year is National Ecology Day. The state carries out publicity and education activities on ecological civilization through various forms.

Chapter II — Supervision and Administration

Section 1 — Supervision and Administration Systems and Working Mechanisms

Article 16 — People’s governments at or above the county level shall organize, coordinate, and urge the relevant departments to perform their duties of supervision and administration of ecological environment protection in accordance with the law.

Article 17 — The ecological environment department under the State Council shall, within the scope of its duties, exercise unified supervision and administration over ecological environment protection nationwide, unify the formulation of policies, plans, and standards, unify monitoring and evaluation, unify supervision and law enforcement, and unify inspection and accountability. The ecological environment departments of local people’s governments shall, within the scope of their duties, exercise unified supervision and administration over ecological environment protection within their respective administrative areas.

The natural resources department under the State Council shall, within the scope of its duties, exercise supervision and administration over the development, utilization, and protection of natural resources nationwide, uniformly perform the duties of the owner of state-owned natural resource assets as authorized by the State Council, and uniformly perform the duties of control over the use of all territorial space and the protection and restoration of ecology. The natural resources departments of local people’s governments shall, within the scope of their duties, exercise supervision and administration over the development, utilization, and protection of natural resources within their respective administrative areas and over the development and protection of territorial space.

The development and reform, industry and information technology, housing and urban-rural development, transport, water administration, agriculture and rural affairs, forestry and grassland departments of people’s governments at or above the county level, and other relevant departments, as well as the ecological environment protection departments of the military, shall exercise supervision and administration over ecological environment protection within their respective scopes of duties.

Article 18 — The state establishes and improves the system of lists of responsibilities for ecological environment protection, and clarifies the duties of supervision and administration of ecological environment protection of the relevant departments of the State Council and the relevant departments of local people’s governments.

Article 19 — Provinces, cities, counties, and townships shall establish and improve the systems of river and lake chiefs and forest chiefs in accordance with the law. River and lake chiefs at all levels shall be responsible for the management and protection of rivers, lakes, and related work within their respective administrative areas; forest chiefs at all levels shall be responsible for the protection and development of forest and grassland resources within their respective administrative areas.

Article 20 — Local people’s governments at or above the county level shall, as needed, establish coordination and linkage mechanisms for ecological environment protection, strengthen coordination and cooperation among departments, and advance ecological environment protection within their respective administrative areas.

Article 21 — The state establishes and improves coordination mechanisms for joint protection of the ecological environment of key areas, river basins, and sea areas across administrative regions, and implements unified planning, unified standards, unified monitoring, and unified protection measures.

For ecological environment protection across administrative regions other than those specified in the preceding paragraph, the matter shall be resolved through coordination by the people’s government at a higher level or through consultation by the relevant local people’s governments.

Article 22 — The state improves the coordination mechanism for ecological security, adopts effective measures to enhance the capabilities of research, assessment, monitoring and early warning, emergency response, and disposal of ecological security risks, forms an ecological security protection system that is linked across the whole region and efficient in multiple dimensions, and advances ecological security work in a coordinated manner.

Article 23 — The state establishes and improves the mechanism for sharing ecological environment information, enhances the capacity for information sharing, and strengthens the sharing of ecological environment information.

People’s governments at or above the county level shall promote the building of platforms for sharing ecological environment information, and the relevant departments shall promptly organize the uploading and dynamic updating of ecological environment information.

Section 2 — Supervision and Administration Systems

Article 24 — The state adheres to regionalized, differentiated, and precise control, implements a supervision and administration system for the ecological environment that integrates above-ground and underground, coordinates land and sea, and links regions, and strengthens the connection and coordination of supervision and administration systems such as planning, standards, and monitoring.

Article 25 — People’s governments at all levels and their relevant departments shall strengthen the capacity building for supervision and administration of ecological environment protection, and improve the level of informatization, digitalization, and intellectualization of supervision and administration of ecological environment protection.

Article 26 — When the relevant departments of the State Council and local people’s governments at or above the county level organize the formulation of economic and technological policies and measures, they shall fully consider the impact on the ecological environment and listen to the opinions of relevant parties and experts.

Article 27 — The state implements the target responsibility system and the assessment and evaluation system for ecological environment protection, and incorporates the completion of ecological environment protection targets into the assessment and evaluation. The assessment and evaluation shall be more targeted and effective, and formalism shall be resolutely avoided. The assessment results shall be made public.

Article 28 — The state establishes and improves the system of inspection of ecological environment protection, and organizes comprehensive inspections of the performance by the relevant parties of their responsibilities for building an ecological civilization and protecting the ecological environment. The inspection of ecological environment protection implements a two-level inspection system at the central level and at the level of provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government.

Article 29 — The entities subject to inspection shall consciously accept the inspection of ecological environment protection and actively cooperate with the inspection work.

After receiving the feedback of the inspection, the entities subject to inspection shall organize the formulation of rectification plans, and specify, item by item, the implementing entities, rectification objectives, rectification time limits, key measures, and acceptance units for the issues raised in the inspection feedback.

For important ecological environment issues and dereliction of duty discovered during the inspection and rectification, accountability shall be pursued in accordance with state regulations.

Article 30 — People’s governments at or above the county level shall report annually to the people’s congress at the corresponding level or its standing committee on the state of the ecological environment and the completion of ecological environment protection targets, and shall promptly report to the standing committee of the people’s congress at the corresponding level on major ecological environment incidents, accepting supervision in accordance with the law.

Article 31 — The state strengthens the building of judicial safeguards for the ecological environment.

People’s courts shall strengthen the adjudication of ecological environment cases and advance the building of specialized adjudication mechanisms for the ecological environment.

People’s procuratorates shall strengthen procuratorial work on the ecological environment and intensify procuratorial supervision.

Article 32 — The state improves the systems of compensation for ecological environment damage and public interest litigation on the ecological environment, safeguarding the interests of the state and the public interest of society.

Article 33 — Administrative organs, supervisory organs, adjudication organs, and procuratorial organs shall strengthen coordination and cooperation, establish and improve mechanisms for case transfer and information sharing, and pursue legal liability for illegal acts such as polluting the environment and damaging the ecology in accordance with the law.

Article 34 — The state implements outgoing audits of natural resource assets, auditing the performance by leading officials of their responsibilities for the management of natural resource assets and ecological environment protection.

Article 35 — The state strengthens the protection and restoration of the ecology, adheres to the integrated protection and restoration of mountains, waters, forests, farmlands, lakes, grasslands, and deserts, and implements systematic governance that gives priority to natural restoration and combines natural restoration with artificial restoration.

Article 36 — The state improves the system of major function-oriented zones, and optimizes the spatial development pattern of territorial space in accordance with the different positioning of urbanization areas, main agricultural production areas, key ecological function areas, and others.

Article 37 — The state improves the system of total resource management and comprehensive conservation, avoids resource waste, and improves the efficiency of resource utilization.

Article 38 — The state improves the property rights system and management system for natural resource assets, improves the entrustment and agency mechanism for the ownership of state-owned natural resource assets, and promotes the compensated use of natural resources.

Article 39 — The state improves the mechanism for realizing the value of ecological products, forms diversified paths for realizing the value of ecological products, and promotes the industrialization of ecology and the ecologization of industry.

Article 40 — In developing and utilizing natural resources, development shall be reasonable, conservation-oriented, intensive, and highly efficient; pollution of the environment and damage to the ecology shall be prevented; greenhouse gas emissions shall be reduced; and plans for ecological environment protection shall be formulated and implemented in accordance with the law.

Article 41 — The state coordinates the governance of water resources, the water environment, and water ecology, and strengthens the protection of the water ecological environment.

The state implements the system of rigid constraints on water resources, adheres to determining cities, land, population, and production by water, promotes the scientific and rational layout of population and cities, builds a modern industrial system commensurate with the carrying capacity of water resources, and safeguards national water security.

Article 42 — The state strengthens biodiversity protection, establishes and improves the coordination mechanism for biodiversity protection and the systems for biodiversity survey, monitoring, assessment, and protection, and rationally lays out and builds a spatial system for biodiversity protection.

In introducing alien species and in researching, developing, and utilizing biotechnology, effective measures shall be taken to prevent damage to biodiversity.

Article 43 — The state builds a system of protected natural areas with national parks as the mainstay, nature reserves as the foundation, and various types of natural parks as supplements, ensuring that important ecosystems, natural relics, natural landscapes, and biodiversity receive systematic protection.

Article 44 — The state advances the building of ecological barriers in areas such as the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau ecological barrier zone, the key ecological zones of the Yangtze River, the key ecological zones of the Yellow River, the northeastern forest belt, the northern sand-control belt, the southern hilly and mountainous belt, and the coastal belt, and strengthens the ecological environment protection of important rivers and lakes such as the Yangtze River, the Yellow River, the Huai River, the Hai River, the Pearl River, the Songhua River, the Liao River, Dongting Lake, Poyang Lake, Taihu Lake, Hongze Lake, and Chaohu Lake.

Article 45 — The ecological environment department under the State Council shall, based on the state of the marine ecological environment and the requirements for quality improvement, in conjunction with the development and reform, natural resources, housing and urban-rural development, transport, water administration, fishery administration, forestry and grassland departments of the State Council and other relevant departments as well as coast guard agencies, delineate key sea areas for national ecological environment governance and their control zones, draft comprehensive governance action plans, and implement them after approval by the State Council.

Local people’s governments at or above the level of cities divided into districts along the coast shall, based on the comprehensive governance action plans, formulate implementation plans for the sea areas under their administration, adopt special control measures according to local conditions, carry out comprehensive governance, and advance in a coordinated manner the governance of key sea areas and the building of beautiful bays.

Article 46 — People’s governments at all levels shall strengthen the protection of the agricultural ecological environment, promote the application of new technologies for the protection of the agricultural ecological environment, strengthen the monitoring and early warning of agricultural pollution sources, coordinate the relevant departments to take effective measures to prevent and control soil pollution and land desertification, acidification, salinization, impoverishment, rocky desertification, and land subsidence, as well as to prevent and control ecological imbalance phenomena such as vegetation destruction, water and soil loss, eutrophication of water bodies, depletion of water sources, extinction of species, and invasion of alien species, and promote the integrated prevention and control of plant diseases and pests.

People’s governments at all levels shall improve the level of public services for rural ecological environment protection, promote the comprehensive improvement of the rural ecological environment, and continuously improve the rural living environment.

Article 47 — Urban and rural construction shall be combined with the local natural ecological environment characteristics, protect vegetation, water areas and natural landscapes, cultural relics, and ancient and famous trees, and strengthen the construction and management of urban gardens and green spaces.

Article 48 — The state establishes and improves the systems for monitoring, surveying, and risk assessment of the ecological environment and health; encourages and organizes research on the impact of ecological environment quality on public health, and takes effective measures to prevent and control diseases related to environmental pollution, ecological damage, and the like.

Article 49 — The state implements an elimination system for technologies, processes, equipment, materials, and products that seriously pollute the environment or damage the ecology.

The development and reform department under the State Council shall, in conjunction with the relevant departments, determine the deadlines for eliminating technologies, processes, equipment, materials, and products that seriously pollute the environment or damage the ecology, and incorporate them into the national catalogue of comprehensive industrial policies.

Producers, importers, sellers, and users shall stop producing, importing, selling, and using the equipment, materials, and products listed in the catalogue specified in the preceding paragraph within the prescribed time limits. Users of technologies and processes shall stop using the technologies and processes listed in the catalogue specified in the preceding paragraph within the prescribed time limits.

Equipment, materials, and products that have been eliminated shall not be transferred to others for use.

Article 50 — The departments of the State Council responsible for supervision and administration of ecological environment protection, as well as the people’s governments of provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government relevant to key areas, river basins, and sea areas, may organize the relevant departments to carry out joint law enforcement, cross-administrative-region, cross-basin, and cross-sea-area law enforcement, and cross law enforcement.

Article 51 — Departments responsible for supervision and administration of ecological environment protection have the power to conduct on-site inspections, in accordance with the law, of enterprises, public institutions, and other producers and operators that pollute the environment or damage the ecology, as well as ecological environment technical service institutions. The entities subject to inspection shall truthfully report the relevant information and provide the necessary materials. The departments conducting on-site inspections and their staff shall keep the commercial secrets, personal privacy, and personal information of the inspected entities confidential.

Article 52 — Where enterprises, public institutions, and other producers and operators violate laws and regulations, causing or possibly causing serious pollution of the environment, damage to the ecology, or other consequences, or where the relevant evidence may be lost or concealed, the departments responsible for supervision and administration of ecological environment protection may, in accordance with the law, seal up or seize the relevant premises, vessels, facilities, equipment, tools, and articles.

Article 53 — The dispatched agencies established by the ecological environment departments of the people’s governments of cities divided into districts may, in their own name, carry out on-site inspections, sealing up, seizure, performance on behalf of the parties concerned, and administrative penalties in accordance with the law.

Article 54 — The state builds a credit supervision system for the ecological environment.

Departments responsible for supervision and administration of ecological environment protection shall, in accordance with the law, record the information on ecological environment violations of enterprises, public institutions, and other producers and operators in credit records.

Where enterprises, public institutions, and other producers and operators correct their dishonest conduct, eliminate adverse effects, and meet the conditions for credit repair, they may file an application for credit repair, and the relevant state organs shall carry out credit repair in accordance with regulations.

Article 55 — Where environmental pollution or ecological damage within the territory of the People’s Republic of China and other sea areas under its jurisdiction is caused or may be caused by activities outside such territory and sea areas, the relevant departments and agencies have the power to take necessary measures.

Chapter III — Planning and Ecological Environment Zoning Control

Article 56 — The state establishes and improves a national planning system led by national development plans, based on territorial space plans, supported by special plans and regional plans, and composed of national and local plans, strengthens the connection and coordination among plans, and gives play to the role of planning in guiding, directing, and constraining ecological environment protection.

Article 57 — People’s governments at or above the county level shall incorporate ecological environment protection into the national economic and social development plans.

Article 58 — The state establishes and improves the system of control over the use of territorial space and planning permission that covers the entire territory and all types and is unified and interconnected, and implements zone-based and category-based control over the use of territorial space in accordance with territorial space plans. Activities of developing and utilizing territorial space shall conform to the requirements of control over the use of territorial space and obtain planning permission in accordance with the law.

Article 59 — Territorial space plans shall scientifically and orderly make overall arrangements for functional spaces such as agriculture, ecology, and urban areas, delineate arable land and permanent basic farmland, ecological protection red lines, and urban development boundaries, and optimize the structure and layout of territorial space.

Special plans involving the use of territorial space shall be coordinated with territorial space plans.

Article 60 — The state establishes and improves the management system for ecological protection red lines, gives priority to including areas with extremely important ecological functions and extremely sensitive and fragile ecosystems in the ecological protection red lines, and implements strict protection.

In developing and utilizing natural resources or engaging in construction activities that affect the ecological environment, the ecological protection red lines shall be strictly observed, and no damage shall be caused to the ecological environment.

The people’s governments of provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government shall strengthen supervision and administration of human activities within the ecological protection red lines and regularly assess the effectiveness of protection.

Article 61 — The ecological environment department under the State Council shall, in conjunction with the relevant departments, formulate the national ecological environment protection plan in accordance with the national development plan, and implement it after approval and publication by the State Council.

The ecological environment departments of local people’s governments at or above the level of cities divided into districts shall, in conjunction with the relevant departments, formulate the ecological environment protection plans for their respective administrative areas in accordance with the requirements of the national ecological environment protection plan, and implement them after approval and publication by the people’s government at the corresponding level.

The contents of ecological environment protection plans shall include the objectives, tasks, and safeguard measures for pollution prevention and control, ecological protection, and climate change response.

Article 62 — The relevant local people’s governments of key areas, river basins, and sea areas that have not met the national ecological environment quality standards shall formulate time-limited compliance plans, improvement plans, and implementation plans in accordance with the law, and take effective measures to meet the standards on schedule and improve the quality of the ecological environment. The time-limited compliance plans, improvement plans, and implementation plans shall be published in a timely manner.

Article 63 — The ecological environment, development and reform, natural resources, housing and urban-rural development, water administration, agriculture and rural affairs, forestry and grassland departments, and other relevant departments may, within their respective scopes of duties, formulate plans in relevant fields of the ecological environment as needed.

Article 64 — The state may, as needed, formulate regional plans for key areas identified in national development plans, contiguous areas across administrative regions with close economic and social ties, and specific areas undertaking major strategic tasks, so as to guide regional ecological environment protection and coordinated and synergistic development.

Article 65 — In formulating plans in the field of the ecological environment, the opinions of the relevant departments, experts, and other parties shall be solicited; after the implementation of a plan, the organ that formulated the plan shall organize monitoring, analysis, and evaluation in accordance with state regulations.

Article 66 — The state establishes and improves the system of zoning control of the ecological environment.

Local people’s governments at or above the level of cities divided into districts shall, based on the state of the ecological environment of their respective administrative areas, formulate and adjust ecological environment zoning control plans, and implement them after filing with the ecological environment department of the people’s government at the next higher level.

Ecological environment zoning control plans shall be coordinated with territorial space plans.

Article 67 — Ecological environment zoning control plans shall implement the objectives of the ecological protection red line, the environmental quality baseline, and the upper limit of resource utilization, delineate priority protection, key control, and general control units, and specify the corresponding ecological environment access lists. Production and construction activities in violation of the provisions of the ecological environment access lists shall be prohibited.

Chapter IV — Standards and Monitoring

Article 68 — The state advances the building of the standards system in the field of the ecological environment, strengthens the connection and coordination among standards, and gives play to the supporting role of standards in ecological environment protection.

Article 69 — The ecological environment department under the State Council formulates national ecological environment quality standards.

The people’s governments of provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government may formulate local ecological environment quality standards for items not provided for in national ecological environment quality standards, and may formulate local ecological environment quality standards stricter than the national ones for items already provided for in national ecological environment quality standards. Local ecological environment quality standards shall be filed with the ecological environment department under the State Council.

Article 70 — The ecological environment, development and reform, industry and information technology, natural resources, housing and urban-rural development, transport, water administration, agriculture and rural affairs, forestry and grassland, standardization departments of the State Council, and other relevant departments shall, within their respective scopes of duties, formulate standards concerning pollution prevention and control, ecological protection, green and low-carbon development, and other aspects in accordance with the law.

Article 71 — In formulating standards in the field of the ecological environment, the purpose shall be to safeguard public health and protect the ecological environment, be compatible with economic and social development, and be scientific and rational.

Article 72 — In formulating standards in the field of the ecological environment, experts shall be organized to conduct review and demonstration, and the opinions of the relevant departments, industry associations, enterprises, public institutions, and the public shall be solicited, so as to improve the scientific nature of the standards.

Article 73 — The organs that formulate standards in the field of the ecological environment shall promptly publish the full text of the standards on their websites for the public to consult and download free of charge.

Article 74 — The implementation of standards in the field of the ecological environment shall be regularly evaluated, and the standards shall be revised or abolished in due course based on the evaluation results.

Article 75 — The state encourages and supports research on ecological environment benchmarks.

The ecological environment department under the State Council shall formulate ecological environment benchmarks based on the needs of safeguarding public health and protecting the ecological environment.

Article 76 — The state establishes and improves the ecological environment monitoring system.

The ecological environment department under the State Council shall, in conjunction with the relevant departments, formulate ecological environment monitoring specifications, build an ecological environment monitoring network that coordinates land and sea, integrates sky and ground, links upper and lower levels, and shares information, uniformly plan the setting of national ecological environment quality monitoring stations, advance comprehensive monitoring, collaborative monitoring, and regularized monitoring, establish and improve the mechanism for sharing monitoring data, and strengthen the management of ecological environment monitoring.

The ecological environment, natural resources, housing and urban-rural development, transport, water administration, agriculture and rural affairs, meteorology, forestry and grassland, disease prevention and control departments, and other relevant departments shall properly carry out work related to ecological environment monitoring within their respective scopes of duties.

Article 77 — The setting of various types of ecological environment monitoring stations shall conform to the laws, regulations, and relevant monitoring specifications.

Ecological environment monitoring shall use monitoring facilities and equipment that conform to the laws, administrative regulations, and national standards, and comply with the relevant monitoring specifications.

It is prohibited to produce, import, sell, or use monitoring facilities and equipment that do not conform to the laws, administrative regulations, and national standards.

Article 78 — Ecological environment monitoring institutions and enterprises, public institutions that implement pollutant discharge permit management and have other statutory monitoring obligations shall establish and improve monitoring data quality management systems in accordance with the law.

The monitoring institutions, enterprises, and public institutions specified in the preceding paragraph and their responsible persons shall be responsible for the authenticity, accuracy, and completeness of the monitoring data.

Article 79 — Ecological environment monitoring institutions shall possess the corresponding facilities, equipment, technical personnel, technical capabilities, and management capabilities, and shall file with the relevant departments in accordance with the law.

Article 80 — It is prohibited to falsify ecological environment monitoring data, or direct others to falsify such data, by interfering with sampling, substituting samples, changing monitoring conditions, conducting false monitoring, tampering with or fabricating records, or by other means.

It is prohibited to interfere with or damage ecological environment monitoring facilities and equipment, or direct others to interfere with or damage such facilities and equipment, by occupying, damaging, or moving or changing them without authorization, or by other means.

Article 81 — People’s governments at or above the provincial level shall organize the relevant departments or entrust professional institutions to survey and evaluate the state of the ecological environment, and establish and improve the mechanism for monitoring and early warning of the carrying capacity of the ecological environment.

Chapter V — Ecological Environment Impact Assessment

Section 1 — General Provisions

Article 82 — For the purposes of this Law, “ecological environment impact assessment” means the methods and systems of analyzing, predicting, and evaluating the possible impact on the ecological environment after the implementation of plans and construction projects, proposing countermeasures and measures to prevent or mitigate adverse ecological environment impacts, and conducting follow-up monitoring.

The state strengthens ecological environment impact assessment of greenhouse gas emissions, and the specific measures and implementation steps shall be prescribed by the ecological environment department under the State Council.

Article 83 — In formulating relevant development and utilization plans and constructing projects that have an impact on the ecological environment, ecological environment impact assessment shall be conducted in accordance with the law.

Development and utilization plans for which ecological environment impact assessment has not been conducted in accordance with the law shall not be organized for implementation; construction projects for which ecological environment impact assessment has not been conducted in accordance with the law shall not commence construction.

Article 84 — Ecological environment impact assessment shall be objective, open, and fair, comprehensively considering the possible impact of the implementation of a plan or construction project on various ecological environment factors and the ecosystems they constitute, so as to provide a scientific basis for decision-making.

The state encourages relevant entities, experts, and the public to participate in ecological environment impact assessment in accordance with the law.

Article 85 — The state strengthens the building of basic databases and evaluation index systems for ecological environment impact assessment, encourages and supports scientific research on the methods and technical specifications of ecological environment impact assessment, establishes the necessary information sharing system for ecological environment impact assessment, and improves the scientific nature of ecological environment impact assessment.

The ecological environment department under the State Council shall, in conjunction with the relevant departments, organize the establishment and improvement of basic databases and evaluation index systems for ecological environment impact assessment.

Section 2 — Ecological Environment Impact Assessment of Plans

Article 86 — The relevant departments of the State Council, local people’s governments at or above the level of cities divided into districts and their relevant departments shall, in the course of formulating territorial space plans and construction and development plans for regions, river basins, and sea areas organized by them, organize ecological environment impact assessment and prepare chapters or explanations on the ecological environment impact of the plans.

The chapters or explanations on the ecological environment impact of plans shall analyze, predict, and evaluate the possible ecological environment impact after the implementation of the plans, propose countermeasures and measures to prevent or mitigate adverse ecological environment impacts, and be submitted to the plan approval organ together as a component of the draft plans.

Draft plans for which no chapters or explanations on the ecological environment impact have been prepared shall not be approved by the approval organ.

Article 87 — The relevant departments of the State Council, local people’s governments at or above the level of cities divided into districts and their relevant departments shall, in the course of formulating relevant special plans for industry, agriculture, forestry, energy, water conservancy, transport, urban and industrial park construction, tourism, and natural resources development organized by them, organize ecological environment impact assessment and submit ecological environment impact statements to the organs approving the special plans.

The guiding plans among the special plans listed in the preceding paragraph shall undergo ecological environment impact assessment in accordance with Article 86 of this Law.

Article 88 — The specific scope of plans subject to ecological environment impact assessment in accordance with Articles 86 and 87 of this Law shall be prescribed by the ecological environment department under the State Council in conjunction with the relevant departments and submitted to the State Council for approval.

The people’s governments of provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government may, based on local conditions, require ecological environment impact assessment to be conducted for plans formulated by people’s governments at the county level within their respective jurisdictions. The specific measures shall be formulated by the provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government by reference to this Section.

Article 89 — An ecological environment impact statement for a special plan shall include the following contents:

(1) analysis, prediction, and evaluation of the possible impact of the implementation of the plan on the ecological environment;

(2) countermeasures and measures to prevent or mitigate adverse ecological environment impacts;

(3) conclusions of the ecological environment impact assessment.

Article 90 — The organ formulating a special plan that may cause adverse ecological environment impact and directly involves the public’s rights and interests in the ecological environment shall, before submitting the draft plan for approval, hold demonstration meetings or hearings, or adopt other forms, to solicit the opinions of relevant entities, experts, and the public on the draft ecological environment impact statement, except for circumstances not to be made public as prescribed by the state.

The formulating organ shall seriously consider the opinions of relevant entities, experts, and the public on the draft ecological environment impact statement, and attach an explanation of the adoption or non-adoption of the opinions to the ecological environment impact statement submitted for review.

Article 91 — When the organ formulating a special plan submits the draft plan for approval, it shall attach the ecological environment impact statement to the approval organ for review; where no ecological environment impact statement is attached, the approval organ shall not approve the plan.

Article 92 — Before approving a draft special plan and making a decision, the people’s government at or above the level of a city divided into districts shall first have its ecological environment department convene representatives of the relevant departments and experts to form a review group to review the ecological environment impact statement and provide written review opinions.

The experts participating in the review group specified in the preceding paragraph shall be selected by random drawing from the list of experts in the relevant specialties in the expert database established in accordance with the provisions of the ecological environment department under the State Council.

For special plans approved by the relevant departments of people’s governments at or above the provincial level, the measures for reviewing their ecological environment impact statements shall be formulated by the ecological environment department under the State Council in conjunction with the relevant departments.

Article 93 — Where the review group proposes amendment opinions, the organ formulating the special plan shall, based on the conclusions of the ecological environment impact statement and the review opinions, revise and improve the draft plan, and explain the adoption of the conclusions and review opinions; where the opinions are not adopted, the reasons shall be stated.

When approving a draft special plan, the people’s government at or above the level of a city divided into districts or the relevant department of a people’s government at or above the provincial level shall take the conclusions of the ecological environment impact statement and the review opinions as an important basis for decision-making.

Where the conclusions of the ecological environment impact statement and the review opinions are not adopted in the approval, an explanation shall be provided and archived for future reference.

Article 94 — After the implementation of a plan that has a significant impact on the ecological environment, the formulating organ shall promptly organize follow-up evaluation of the ecological environment impact, report the evaluation results to the approval organ, and notify the ecological environment department and other relevant departments; where obvious adverse ecological environment impacts are discovered, improvement measures shall be proposed in a timely manner.

Section 3 — Ecological Environment Impact Assessment of Construction Projects

Article 95 — The state implements category-based management of ecological environment impact assessment of construction projects based on the degree of their impact on the ecological environment.

The construction entity shall, in accordance with the following provisions, organize the preparation of an ecological environment impact report, an ecological environment impact form, or the completion of an ecological environment impact registration form:

(1) where a major ecological environment impact may be caused, an ecological environment impact report shall be prepared to conduct a comprehensive evaluation of the ecological environment impact caused;

(2) where a minor ecological environment impact may be caused, an ecological environment impact form shall be prepared to conduct analysis or special evaluation of the ecological environment impact caused;

(3) where the ecological environment impact is very small and there is no need to prepare an ecological environment impact report or form, an ecological environment impact registration form shall be completed.

The catalogue for category-based management of ecological environment impact assessment of construction projects shall be formulated and published by the ecological environment department under the State Council.

Article 96 — An ecological environment impact report for a construction project shall include the following contents:

(1) an overview of the construction project;

(2) the current state of the ecological environment around the construction project;

(3) analysis, prediction, and evaluation of the possible impact of the construction project on the ecological environment;

(4) the ecological environment protection measures for the construction project and the technical and economic demonstration thereof;

(5) analysis of the economic benefits and losses of the impact of the construction project on the ecological environment;

(6) recommendations for the implementation of ecological environment monitoring and discharge management for the construction project;

(7) conclusions of the ecological environment impact assessment;

(8) other contents prescribed by law.

The contents and format of ecological environment impact forms and ecological environment impact registration forms shall be formulated by the ecological environment department under the State Council.

Article 97 — The ecological environment impact assessment of a construction project shall avoid duplication with the ecological environment impact assessment of a plan.

Where a plan constitutes a construction project as a whole, the ecological environment impact assessment shall be conducted as a construction project, and the ecological environment impact assessment of a plan shall not be conducted.

Where a plan for which ecological environment impact assessment has been conducted includes specific construction projects, the conclusions of the ecological environment impact assessment of the plan shall serve as an important basis for the ecological environment impact assessment of the construction projects, and the contents of the ecological environment impact assessment of the construction projects shall be simplified based on the review opinions on the ecological environment impact assessment of the plan.

Article 98 — A construction entity may entrust a technical entity to conduct the ecological environment impact assessment of its construction project and prepare the ecological environment impact report or form; where the construction entity has the technical capacity for ecological environment impact assessment, it may conduct the assessment itself and prepare the report or form.

The preparation of ecological environment impact reports and forms for construction projects shall comply with the relevant state standards and technical specifications for ecological environment impact assessment.

The administrative measures for the preparation of ecological environment impact reports and forms for construction projects shall be formulated by the ecological environment department under the State Council.

Article 99 — Technical entities entrusted by construction entities to prepare ecological environment impact reports and forms for construction projects shall independently, objectively, and fairly conduct business in accordance with the law, establish and improve quality control systems, and ensure that the ecological environment impact reports and forms issued are objective, true, and accurate.

Technical entities and personnel entrusted by construction entities to prepare ecological environment impact reports and forms for construction projects shall have a good credit record, shall not have any interest relationship with the ecological environment department responsible for approving the reports and forms or other relevant approval departments, and the personnel in key positions such as preparation and review shall have the relevant professional and technical level and work experience.

Technical entities entrusted by construction entities to prepare ecological environment impact reports and forms for construction projects shall file with the ecological environment department, which shall strengthen supervision and administration of the ecological environment impact assessment business of technical entities. The specific measures shall be formulated by the ecological environment department under the State Council.

Article 100 — A construction entity shall be responsible for the contents and conclusions of the ecological environment impact report or form for its construction project, and the technical entity entrusted to prepare the report or form shall bear corresponding liability for the report or form it prepared.

The ecological environment department of the people’s government at or above the level of a city divided into districts shall strengthen supervision, administration, and quality assessment of the entities and personnel preparing ecological environment impact reports and forms for construction projects.

The ecological environment department responsible for approving ecological environment impact reports and forms for construction projects shall, in accordance with the law, conduct credit supervision over the preparation entities, the persons presiding over the preparation, and the main preparation personnel for their illegal acts.

No entity or individual may designate a technical entity to prepare an ecological environment impact report or form for a construction entity.

Article 101 — Except for circumstances not to be made public as prescribed by the state, for construction projects that may cause a significant impact on the ecological environment and for which an ecological environment impact report shall be prepared, the construction entity shall, before submitting the report for approval, hold demonstration meetings or hearings, or adopt other forms, to explain the situation to the public that may be affected and fully solicit the opinions of relevant entities, experts, and the public.

The ecological environment impact report submitted by the construction entity for approval shall be accompanied by an explanation of the adoption or non-adoption of the opinions of relevant entities, experts, and the public.

Article 102 — Ecological environment impact reports and forms for construction projects shall be submitted by the construction entity to the ecological environment department with approval authority for approval in accordance with regulations.

The ecological environment department shall, within 60 days from the date of receipt of an ecological environment impact report and within 30 days from the date of receipt of an ecological environment impact form, respectively make an approval decision and notify the construction entity in writing.

The state implements filing management for ecological environment impact registration forms.

No fees may be charged for the approval or review of ecological environment impact reports and forms for construction projects or for the filing of ecological environment impact registration forms.

Article 103 — After receiving an ecological environment impact report for a construction project, the ecological environment department shall make the full text public, except for circumstances not to be made public as prescribed by the state; where it discovers that the construction project has not fully solicited public opinions, it shall order the construction entity to solicit public opinions.

Article 104 — The ecological environment department under the State Council shall be responsible for approving the ecological environment impact reports and forms of the following construction projects:

(1) construction projects of a special nature such as nuclear facilities;

(2) construction projects spanning the administrative regions of two or more provinces, autonomous regions, or municipalities directly under the Central Government;

(3) construction projects approved by the State Council or by departments authorized by the State Council;

(4) other construction projects prescribed by laws and administrative regulations.

The approval authority for ecological environment impact reports and forms of construction projects other than those specified in the preceding paragraph shall be prescribed by the people’s governments of provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government and filed with the ecological environment department under the State Council.

Where a construction project may cause adverse ecological environment impact across administrative regions and the relevant ecological environment departments have disputes over the conclusions of the ecological environment impact assessment of the project, the ecological environment impact report or form shall be approved by the ecological environment department at the next higher level common to them.

Article 105 — Where a construction project falls under any of the following circumstances, the ecological environment department shall make a decision not to approve the ecological environment impact report or form:

(1) the type, site selection, layout, scale, and other aspects of the construction project do not conform to the laws, regulations, and relevant statutory plans on the ecological environment;

(2) the quality of the ecological environment of the area, river basin, or sea area where the project is located does not meet the ecological environment quality standards, and the measures proposed for the construction project cannot meet the management requirements for the improvement objectives of ecological environment quality;

(3) the pollution prevention and control measures adopted for the construction project cannot ensure that the discharge of pollutants meets the discharge standards, or necessary measures have not been taken to prevent and control ecological damage;

(4) for reconstruction, expansion, and technological transformation projects, effective prevention and control measures have not been proposed for the existing environmental pollution and ecological damage of the project;

(5) the ecological environment impact report or form for the construction project has serious quality problems such as obviously untrue basic materials, major defects, omissions, or falsehoods in the contents, or incorrect or irrational conclusions of the ecological environment impact assessment.

Article 106 — Where, after the ecological environment impact report or form for a construction project is approved, major changes occur in the nature, scale, location, production process adopted, or the measures for preventing pollution and ecological damage of the construction project, the construction entity shall re-submit the report or form for approval.

Where a construction project commences construction more than five years after the date of approval of its ecological environment impact report or form, the report or form shall be re-submitted to the original approval department for re-review; the original approval department shall notify the construction entity in writing of the review opinion within ten days from the date of receipt of the report or form.

Article 107 — Where the ecological environment impact report or form for a construction project has not been reviewed by the approval department in accordance with the law or has not been approved after review, or has not been re-reviewed and approved by the original approval department, the construction entity shall not commence construction.

Article 108 — During the construction and operation of a construction project, the construction entity shall implement the ecological environment protection countermeasures and measures proposed in the ecological environment impact report or form and the approval opinions of the approval department.

Article 109 — Where, during the construction and operation of a construction project, circumstances inconsistent with the approved ecological environment impact report or form arise, the construction entity shall organize a post-assessment of the ecological environment impact, adopt improvement measures, and file with the original approval department of the report or form and the approval department of the construction project; the original approval department may also order the construction entity to conduct a post-assessment and adopt improvement measures.

Article 110 — The ecological environment department shall conduct follow-up inspections of the ecological environment impact after a construction project is put into production or use, and where serious environmental pollution or ecological damage is caused, shall ascertain the causes and determine liability.

Chapter VI — Ecological Protection Compensation

Article 111 — The state establishes and improves the ecological protection compensation system, and through mechanisms such as vertical financial compensation, horizontal compensation among regions, and market-based compensation, compensates regions, entities, and individuals that carry out ecological environment protection in accordance with regulations or agreements; in accordance with the integrity, systematic nature, and inherent laws of ecosystems, establishes and improves a government-led, enterprise-and-society-participated, market-operated, and sustainable ecological protection compensation mechanism, so as to promote the overall protection of the ecological environment.

Ecological protection compensation may take various forms such as financial compensation, counterpart assistance, industrial transfer, personnel training, co-building of parks, and the purchase of ecological products and services.

Article 112 — People’s governments at or above the county level shall build a stable investment mechanism for ecological protection compensation funds, and broaden the channels of ecological protection compensation funds through various means in accordance with the law.

Article 113 — The state shall, through financial transfer payments and other means, compensate regions, entities, and individuals that carry out protection of important ecological environment elements, as well as regions, entities, and individuals that carry out ecological environment protection in areas with important ecological functions such as key ecological function zones, ecological protection red lines, and protected natural areas delineated in accordance with the law.

The central finance shall implement compensation by category for forests, grasslands, wetlands, deserts, oceans, water flows, arable land, and other important ecological environment elements such as aquatic biological resources and terrestrial wild animal and plant resources prescribed by laws, administrative regulations, and state regulations. The relevant local people’s governments may, on the basis of the category-based compensation by the central finance, establish category-based compensation systems in accordance with the principle of dividing fiscal powers and expenditure responsibilities between the central and local governments and in light of local conditions, so as to increase compensation for entities and individuals carrying out protection of important ecological environment elements.

The central finance shall arrange transfer payments to key ecological function zones and gradually increase the scale of transfer payments in light of fiscal conditions. Based on the characteristics of spillover of ecological benefits, the importance of ecological functions, and the sensitivity and vulnerability of the ecological environment, differentiated compensation shall be implemented in transfer payments to key ecological function zones, and support for areas with a high proportion of ecological protection red line coverage shall be increased.

The relevant local people’s governments shall implement the ecological protection compensation funds and ensure that they are used for ecological protection compensation.

Article 114 — The state encourages, guides, and promotes the people’s governments of beneficiary regions and protection regions to establish ecological protection compensation mechanisms through consultation and other means, and to carry out horizontal ecological protection compensation among regions. Based on the needs of ecological environment protection, the people’s government at a higher level may organize and coordinate horizontal ecological protection compensation among the people’s governments at lower levels.

For horizontal ecological protection compensation carried out in key areas spanning provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government and spanning autonomous prefectures and cities divided into districts where ecological functions are particularly important, the central finance and provincial finance may provide guidance and support. For those that have achieved notable results in horizontal ecological protection compensation among regions, the development and reform, finance departments of the State Council, and other relevant departments may provide appropriate support in planning, funding, and project arrangement.

Article 115 — The state gives full play to the role of market mechanisms in ecological protection compensation and promotes the market-oriented development of ecological protection compensation.

The state encourages social forces such as enterprises and public welfare organizations, as well as local people’s governments, to carry out ecological protection compensation through the purchase of ecological products and services in accordance with market rules.

The state encourages and guides social funds to establish market-operated ecological protection compensation funds and to participate in ecological protection compensation in an orderly manner in accordance with the law.

Article 116 — The state improves the monitoring support system for ecological protection compensation, establishes and improves the statistical system for ecological protection compensation, and improves the standard system for ecological protection compensation, providing technical support for ecological protection compensation work.

Chapter VII — Response to Sudden Ecological Environment Incidents

Article 117 — People’s governments at all levels and their relevant departments, enterprises, public institutions, and other producers and operators shall, in accordance with the law, properly carry out the work of prevention and preparation, monitoring and early warning, emergency response, investigation and evaluation, and post-incident recovery for sudden ecological environment incidents.

Article 118 — Based on factors such as the degree of social harm and the scope of impact, sudden ecological environment incidents are divided into four levels: particularly major, major, relatively major, and general. The classification standards for sudden ecological environment incidents shall be formulated by the ecological environment department under the State Council in conjunction with the relevant departments and implemented after approval and publication by the State Council.

Article 119 — The state establishes and improves a responsibility system for responding to sudden ecological environment incidents that features graded responsibility, territorial primacy, and departmental coordination, strictly prevents and controls ecological environment risks, protects ecological environment sensitive targets, and promptly, properly, and scientifically handles various sudden ecological environment incidents.

Article 120 — The ecological environment, emergency management departments, and other relevant departments shall cooperate closely, strengthen information sharing, coordination, and linkage, and jointly carry out the work of responding to sudden ecological environment incidents.

Article 121 — Enterprises, public institutions, and other producers and operators shall, in accordance with the law, improve risk prevention and control measures for sudden ecological environment incidents, carry out hidden danger investigation, and eliminate hidden dangers in a timely manner.

Enterprises, public institutions, and other producers and operators shall, in accordance with state regulations, stockpile necessary ecological environment emergency materials and equipment, regularly carry out emergency drills, and make emergency preparations. When a sudden ecological environment incident occurs or may occur, enterprises, public institutions, and other producers and operators shall immediately take measures to handle it, cut off or control pollution sources, prevent the spread of hazards, promptly notify those who may be harmed, report to the ecological environment, emergency management departments, and other relevant departments, and accept investigation and handling.

Article 122 — During the emergency response to natural disasters, accidents, and public health incidents, people’s governments at all levels and their relevant departments, enterprises, public institutions, and other producers and operators shall take necessary measures to avoid or reduce harm to the ecological environment.

Article 123 — The State Council organizes the formulation of the national emergency plan for sudden ecological environment incidents and organizes its implementation. Local people’s governments at or above the county level shall formulate emergency plans for sudden ecological environment incidents within their respective administrative areas and file them in accordance with regulations.

Enterprises, public institutions, and other producers and operators shall formulate emergency plans for sudden ecological environment incidents in accordance with state regulations and file them with the ecological environment department and other relevant departments.

Article 124 — People’s governments at or above the county level shall establish and improve the monitoring and early warning mechanism for sudden ecological environment incidents and organize the formulation of early warning plans; when the ecological environment is damaged and public health and ecological security may be affected, early warning information shall be released in a timely manner in accordance with the law and emergency measures shall be initiated.

The ecological environment department shall strengthen the collection, analysis, and assessment of risk information that may lead to sudden ecological environment incidents, and when it is determined after assessment that a sudden ecological environment incident may occur, promptly propose to the people’s government at the corresponding level the release of early warning information.

Article 125 — Where a sudden ecological environment incident involves or may involve adjacent administrative regions, the people’s government of the place where the incident occurs and its ecological environment department shall promptly notify the people’s government and its ecological environment department at the same level in the adjacent administrative regions.

The people’s government receiving the notification shall, in accordance with state regulations, promptly initiate emergency response and adopt emergency linkage measures.

Article 126 — After the emergency response to a sudden ecological environment incident is completed, the relevant people’s government shall immediately organize an assessment of the ecological environment impact and losses caused by the incident, and promptly publish the assessment results.

The assessment results shall serve as an important basis for the investigation and handling of the sudden ecological environment incident, damage compensation, and ecological restoration.

Chapter VIII — Safeguard Measures

Article 127 — The state adopts fiscal, tax, price, procurement, financial, industrial, and other policies and measures conducive to protecting the ecological environment.

Article 128 — The State Council and local people’s governments at or above the county level shall, in accordance with the principle of dividing fiscal powers and expenditure responsibilities, incorporate the funds needed for ecological environment protection into the budgets of the governments at the corresponding levels, increase fiscal investment in ecological environment protection, optimize the allocation of fiscal resources in the field of ecological civilization construction, ensure that the scale of investment matches the construction tasks, and improve the efficiency of the use of fiscal funds.

Article 129 — The state grants tax preferences in accordance with the law to entities and individuals participating in ecological environment protection.

The state encourages and advocates that all sectors of society donate property for ecological environment protection, and grants tax preferences in accordance with the law.

Article 130 — The state improves the price formation mechanisms in the fields of natural resources, sewage and garbage treatment, water and energy use, and implements differentiated price policies in accordance with the law for industries with high resource consumption and high pollution.

Article 131 — State organs and other public institutions using fiscal funds shall give priority to procuring and using products, equipment, facilities, and services that are conducive to protecting the ecological environment, such as those that save energy, water, land, materials, and minerals.

Article 132 — The state strengthens financial support for ecological environment protection, and continuously promotes the standardized and sound development of green credit, green bonds, green insurance, green trusts, and other green financial products and services.

Article 133 — The state encourages and supports the development of ecological environment protection industries such as ecological environment protection technology and equipment, conservation and intensive use of resources, and ecological environment services.

Article 134 — The state promotes the establishment of a trading system for resource and environment factor markets, advances the market-oriented allocation of resource and environment factors, and gives full play to the role of market mechanisms.

Article 135 — The state promotes advanced and applicable technologies, processes, and equipment, reduces resource consumption and the generation and discharge of pollutants and greenhouse gases, and promotes the comprehensive utilization of waste and the harmless treatment of pollutants.

Article 136 — Where enterprises, public institutions, and other producers and operators switch production, relocate, or close down in accordance with relevant regulations to protect the ecological environment, the people’s governments shall provide support.

Chapter IX — Information Disclosure and Public Participation

Article 137 — Citizens, legal persons, and other organizations shall, in accordance with the law, enjoy the right to obtain ecological environment information and to participate in and supervise ecological environment protection.

Departments responsible for supervision and administration of ecological environment protection shall, in accordance with the law, disclose ecological environment information, improve public participation procedures, and provide convenience for citizens, legal persons, and other organizations to participate in and supervise ecological environment protection.

Article 138 — The ecological environment department under the State Council shall uniformly release national ecological environment quality, monitoring information on key pollution sources, and other major ecological environment information. The ecological environment departments of people’s governments at or above the provincial level shall regularly release ecological environment status bulletins.

Departments responsible for supervision and administration of ecological environment protection shall, in accordance with the law, disclose information on ecological environment quality, ecological environment monitoring, sudden ecological environment incidents, as well as ecological environment administrative licensing and administrative penalties.

Article 139 — Departments responsible for supervision and administration of ecological environment protection shall strengthen coordination and communication to ensure that the disclosed ecological environment information is accurate and consistent.

Article 140 — The state encourages enterprises, public institutions, and other producers and operators to voluntarily disclose relevant ecological environment information.

Enterprises, public institutions, and other producers and operators subject to key management of pollutant discharge permits and other statutory obligations to disclose ecological environment information shall, in accordance with the law, promptly, truthfully, accurately, and completely disclose ecological environment information such as pollutant discharge information and greenhouse gas emission information.

Article 141 — The state encourages and guides citizens, legal persons, and other organizations to participate in ecological environment protection in accordance with the principles of lawfulness, orderliness, voluntariness, and convenience.

Article 142 — The state encourages and guides citizens, legal persons, and other organizations to use products, technologies, and processes conducive to protecting the ecological environment, reduce the generation of waste, and promote the recycling of waste.

Article 143 — In formulating plans in the field of the ecological environment, formulating standards in the field of the ecological environment, and conducting ecological environment impact assessment, measures such as holding hearings and soliciting public opinions shall be taken in accordance with the law to safeguard the public’s right to participate in ecological environment protection.

Article 144 — The state encourages citizens, legal persons, and other organizations to supervise public affairs concerning ecological environment protection.

Article 145 — Departments responsible for supervision and administration of ecological environment protection shall publish efficient and convenient reporting channels such as reporting telephone numbers and email addresses to facilitate public reporting.

Citizens, legal persons, and other organizations that discover that any entity or individual has committed acts such as polluting the environment or damaging the ecology have the right to report to the departments responsible for supervision and administration of ecological environment protection.

Citizens, legal persons, and other organizations that discover that local people’s governments at all levels or the departments or agencies responsible for supervision and administration of ecological environment protection have failed to perform their duties in accordance with the law have the right to report to the organs at a higher level or to the supervisory organs.

Article 146 — The organ receiving a report shall promptly handle it and keep the relevant information of the reporter confidential; for real-name reports, it shall provide feedback on the handling results and other information.

Where a reporter reports on the entity where he or she works, the entity shall not retaliate against the reporter by terminating or modifying the labor contract or employment contract, or by other means.

Article 147 — The state encourages social organizations and volunteers to engage in public welfare activities for ecological environment protection in accordance with the law.

Where pollution of the environment, damage to the ecology, or other acts harm the public interest of society, social organizations meeting the following conditions may institute civil public interest litigation before the people’s courts in accordance with the law:

(1) they are registered with the civil affairs department of a people’s government at or above the level of a city divided into districts in accordance with the law;

(2) they have been specifically engaged in public welfare activities for ecological environment protection for five consecutive years or more and have no record of violations of law.

Where social organizations meeting the conditions specified in the preceding paragraph institute civil public interest litigation before the people’s courts, the people’s courts shall accept the cases in accordance with the law.

Social organizations instituting litigation shall not seek economic benefits through litigation.

← Back to the China Laws Directory⬇ Download Full Text as PDF

Free PDF download of the complete article.