Yangtze River Protection Law of the People's Republic of China

Yangtze River Protection Law of the People's Republic of China 中华人民共和国长江保护法 Order of the President of the People's Republic of China (No. 65) The Yangtze River Protection Law of the People's Republic of China, as adopted at the 24th session of the Standing Committee of the Thirteenth National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China on December 26, 2020, is hereby issued, and shall come into force on March 1, 2021. Xi Jinping, President of the People's Republic of China December 26, 2020 Yangtze River Protection Law of the People's Republic of China (Adopted at the 24th session of the Standing Committee of the Thirteenth National People's Congress on December 26, 2020) Contents Chapter I General Provisions Chapter II Plans and Control Chapter III Resources Protection Chapter IV Prevention and Control of Water Pollution Chapter V Ecological and Environmental Restoration Chapter VI Green Development Chapter VII Guarantee and Supervision Chapter VIII Legal Liability Chapter IX Supplemental Provisions Chapter I General Provisions Article 1 This Law is enacted for the purposes of strengthening the ecological and environmental protection and restoration in the Yangtze River Basin, promoting the reasonable and efficient use of resources, guaranteeing ecological security, and achieving the harmonious coexistence of human and nature and the sustainable development of the Chinese nation. Article 2 The ecological and environmental protection and restoration in the Yangtze River Basin and the various production, living, development, and construction activities in the Yangtze River Basin shall comply with this Law. For the purposes of this Law, "Yangtze River Basin" means Qinghai Province, Sichuan Province, Tibet Autonomous Region, Yunnan Province, Chongqing Municipality, Hubei Province, Hunan Province, Jiangxi Province, Anhui Province, Jiangsu Province, and Shanghai Municipality involved in the drainage area formed by the main stream and tributaries of the Yangtze River and the lakes as well as the relevant county-level administrative areas of Gansu Province, Shaanxi Province, Henan Province, Guizhou Province, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Guangdong Province, Zhejiang Province, and Fujian Province. Article 3 For the economic and social development of the Yangtze River Basin, ecological priority and green development shall be adhered to, general protection shall be jointly provided, and no large-scale development shall be carried out; and for the protection of the Yangtze River, coordination, scientific planning, innovation drive, and systematic governance shall be adhered to. Article 4 The state shall establish a Yangtze River Basin Coordination Mechanism, uniformly guide and coordinate the protection of the Yangtze River, deliberate on the major policies and plans for the protection of the Yangtze River, coordinate the major cross-regional and inter-departmental matters, and supervise and inspect the implementation of the important work on the protection of the Yangtze River. Article 5 The relevant departments of the State Council and the provincial people's governments in the Yangtze River Basin shall be responsible for the implementation of the decisions of the National Yangtze River Basin Coordination Mechanism and for the work related to the protection of the Yangtze River according to the division of responsibilities. The local people's governments at all levels in the Yangtze River Basin shall fulfill the responsibilities for the ecological and environmental protection and restoration in their administrative areas, promotion of the reasonable and efficient use of resources, optimization of the industry structure and layout, and maintenance of ecological security in the Yangtze River Basin. The river chiefs and lake chiefs at all levels in the Yangtze River Basin shall be responsible for the work related to the protection of the Yangtze River. Article 6 The relevant regions in the Yangtze River Basin shall establish cooperation mechanisms in the formulation of local regulations and governmental rules, preparation of plans, supervision and law enforcement, and other aspects as needed, so as to coordinate the advancement of ecological and environmental protection and restoration in the Yangtze River Basin. Article 7 The departments of ecology and environment, natural resources, water administration, agriculture and rural affairs, standardization, and other relevant departments of the State Council shall, in accordance with the division of responsibilities, establish and improve a standards system for the water environment quality and pollutant discharge, ecological and environmental restoration, conservation and intensive use of water resources, ecological flow, biodiversity protection, aquaculture, and disaster prevention and reduction, among others, in the Yangtze River Basin. Article 8 The natural resources department of the State Council shall, in conjunction with other relevant departments of the State Council, regularly organize surveys of the land, minerals, water flows, forests, grasslands, wetlands, and other natural resources in the Yangtze River Basin, establish a basic database on resources, evaluate the carrying capacity of the resource environment, and disclose the condition of the natural resources in the Yangtze River Basin to the public. The wildlife protection department of the State Council shall organize a general survey of the wildlife and their habitats every ten years, or organize special surveys as needed, establish records of wildlife resources, and disclose the condition of the wildlife resources in the Yangtze River Basin to the public. The agriculture and rural affairs departments of the local people's governments at or above the county level in the Yangtze River Basin shall, in conjunction with other relevant departments of the people's governments at the same level, conduct biodiversity surveys on the spawning grounds, feeding grounds, overwintering grounds, migration routes, and other important habitats for aquatic life. Article 9 The National Yangtze River Basin Coordination Mechanism shall coordinate the improvement by the relevant departments of the State Council of the monitoring network system and monitoring information sharing mechanism for the ecology and environment, resources, hydrology, meteorology, shipping, and natural disasters, among others, in the Yangtze River Basin on the basis of established stations and monitoring projects. The relevant departments of the State Council, the local people's governments at or above the county level in the Yangtze River Basin and other relevant departments shall organize the improvement of the ecological and environmental risk reporting and early warning mechanism in accordance with the division of responsibilities. Article 10 The ecology and environment department of the State Council shall, in conjunction with other relevant departments of the State Council and the provincial people's governments in the Yangtze River Basin, establish and improve their working mechanisms for joint response to ecological and environmental emergencies in the Yangtze River Basin, connect it with the National Emergency Response System, and strengthen the management of ecological and environmental emergencies in vessels, ports, mines, chemical plants, and tailings ponds, among others, in the Yangtze River Basin. Article 11 The state shall strengthen the monitoring, forecasting, early warning, defense, response, and restoration and reconstruction system for floods, droughts, forest and grassland fires, geological disasters, earthquakes, and other disasters in the Yangtze River Basin so as to improve the capability for disaster prevention, disaster reduction, disaster withstanding, and disaster relief. Article 12 The National Yangtze River Basin Coordination Mechanism shall establish an expert advisory committee and arrange for professional institutions and persons to give scientific, technological, and other professional advice on the major development strategies, policies, and plans, among others, for the Yangtze River Basin. The relevant departments of the State Council, the provincial people's governments in the Yangtze River Basin and the relevant departments thereof shall, based on the division of responsibilities, organize such work as third-party assessment, analysis, and justification of the impact of plans related to construction projects, important infrastructure, and industry layout in the Yangtze River Basin on the ecosystem of the Yangtze River Basin. Article 13 The National Yangtze River Basin Coordination Mechanism shall coordinate the establishment and improvement of its information sharing system for the Yangtze River Basin by the relevant departments of the State Council and the provincial people's governments in the Yangtze River Basin. The relevant departments of the State Council, the provincial people's governments in the Yangtze River Basin and the relevant departments thereof shall share their information on the ecology and environment, natural resources, and administration and law enforcement, among others, in the Yangtze River Basin as required. Article 14 The relevant departments of the State Council, local people's governments at or above the county level in the Yangtze River Basin and the relevant departments thereof shall strengthen the publicity and education of the ecological and environmental protection and green development in the Yangtze River Basin. The news media shall adopt various forms to give publicity of and education on the ecological and environment protection and green development of the Yangtze River Basin and conduct public opinion supervision on illegal acts in accordance with the law. Article 15 The relevant departments of the State Council, local people's governments at or above the county level in the Yangtze River Basin and the relevant departments thereof shall take measures to protect the famous historical and cultural cities, towns, and villages in the Yangtze River Basin, strengthen the protection of the cultural heritage in the Yangtze River Basin, and inherit and advocate the excellent and characteristic culture in the Yangtze River Basin. Article 16 The state shall encourage and support the participation of entities and individuals in the activities of the ecological and environmental protection and restoration, reasonable use of resources, and promotion of green development in the Yangtze River Basin. Entities and individuals that have made outstanding contributions to the protection of the Yangtze River shall be commended and rewarded by the people's governments at or above the county level and their relevant departments in accordance with the relevant provisions issued by the state. Chapter II Plans and Control Article 17 The state shall establish a planning system for the Yangtze River Basin under the guidance of national development planning, based on spatial planning, supported by special planning and regional planning, and maximize the leading, guiding, and restricting role of planning in advancing the ecological and environmental protection and green development of the Yangtze River Basin. Article 18 The State Council and local people's governments at or above the county level in the Yangtze River Basin shall incorporate the protection of the Yangtze River into the national economic and social development planning. The development and reform department of the State Council shall, in conjunction with other relevant departments of the State Council, prepare a development plan for the Yangtze River Basin, scientifically coordinate the ecological and environmental protection and green development of the upper and lower reaches, left and right banks, main stream and tributaries of the Yangtze River Basin, and implement it with the approval of the State Council. A water resources plan and an ecological and environmental protection plan for the Yangtze River Basin, among others, shall be prepared in accordance with relevant laws and administrative regulations. Article 19 The natural resources department of the State Council shall, in conjunction with other relevant departments of the State Council, organize the preparation of a spatial plan for the Yangtze River Basin, scientifically and systematically arrange the ecological, agricultural, urban, and other functional space of the Yangtze River Basin, delimit ecological protection red lines, permanent basic farmland, and urban development boundaries, optimize the spatial structure and layout, guide the use of land and space in the Yangtze River Basin, and implement it with the approval of the State Council. Special plans involving the use of land and space in the Yangtze River Basin shall be coherent with the spatial plan for the Yangtze River Basin. The local people's governments at or above the county level in the Yangtze River Basin shall organize the preparation of spatial plans for their respective administrative areas and implement it with approval obtained in accordance with the prescribed procedures. Article 20 The state shall exercise control over the use of land and space in the Yangtze River Basin. The natural resources departments of the local people's governments at or above the county level in the Yangtze River Basin shall, in accordance with the spatial plans, exercise control by zone and by class over the of use of the land and space in the Yangtze River Basin under their jurisdiction. The development and use of land and space in the Yangtze River Basin shall comply with the requirements for control over the use of land and space, for which a planning permit shall be obtained according to law. If the requirements for control over the use of land and space are not met, the natural resources department of the people's government at or above the county level shall not grant a planning permit. Article 21 The water administration department of the State Council shall coordinate the reasonable allocation, unified assignment, and efficient use of the water resources in the Yangtze River Basin and organize the implementation of the management system for control over total water abstraction and the use and control over consumption intensity. The ecology and environment department of the State Council shall determine the total discharge control indicators for key pollutants in each provincial administrative area in the Yangtze River Basin in accordance with the goals of improving quality of the water environment and requirements for prevention of water pollution. In the water functional zones in the Yangtze River Basin where the water quality fails to meet the standards, more stringent requirements for reducing total pollutant discharge shall be imposed. Enterprises and public institutions shall take measures to control the total pollutant discharge. The natural resources department of the State Council shall be responsible for coordinating the control over the total quantity of and plan arrangements for new construction land in the Yangtze River Basin. Article 22 The provincial people's governments in the Yangtze River Basin shall formulate ecological and environmental zoning and control plans and ecological and environmental access lists based on the conditions of the ecology, environment, resource use in their respective administrative areas and implement them after filing them with the ecology and environment department of the State Council. The ecological and environmental zoning and control plans and the ecological and environmental access lists shall be coherent with the spatial planning. The industry structure and layout in the Yangtze River Basin shall be commensurate with the carrying capacity of the ecosystem and resource environment in the Yangtze River Basin. It shall be prohibited to lay out any industry that seriously affects the ecosystem in a key ecological functional zone of the Yangtze River Basin. The relocation of a heavily polluting enterprise or project to the upper or middle reaches of the Yangtze River shall be prohibited. Article 23 The state shall strengthen the management of the development and use of water power resources in the Yangtze River Basin. The construction of a medium-sized or large hydropower project in the Yangtze River Basin as needed for the national development strategy, the national economy and the people's livelihood shall be subject to scientific justification and the approval of the State Council or the department authorized by the State Council. For established small hydropower projects in the Yangtze River Basin that do not meet the requirements for ecological protection, the local people's governments at or above the county level shall organize corrective actions by class or take measures to phase them out. Article 24 The state shall strictly protect the headwaters of the trunk stream and important tributaries of the Yangtze River and establish national parks and other protected natural areas to protect national ecological security shields. Article 25 The water administration department of the State Council shall strengthen the protection of river courses and lakes in the Yangtze River Basin. The local people's governments at or above the county level in the Yangtze River Basin shall be responsible for delimiting and publicly announcing the management scope for river courses and lakes so as to strictly protect rivers and lakes and prohibit illegal encroachment on water areas of rivers and lakes. Article 26 The state shall exercise special control over the shorelines of rivers and lakes in the Yangtze River Basin. The National Yangtze River Basin Coordination Mechanism shall coordinate the efforts of the departments of natural resources, water administration, ecology and environment, housing and urban-rural development, agriculture and rural affairs, transport, forestry and grassland, etc. of the State Council and the provincial people's governments in the Yangtze River Basin to delineate the scope of protection of river and lake shorelines, formulate river and lake shoreline protection plans, strictly control the development and construction of shorelines, and promote the reasonable and efficient use of shorelines. The construction or expansion of a chemical park or chemical project within one kilometer from the shoreline of the main stem or a tributary of the Yangtze River shall be prohibited. The construction, conversion, or expansion of a tailings pond within three kilometers from the shoreline of the trunk stream of the Yangtze River or within one kilometer from the shoreline of an important tributary shall be prohibited, unless the conversion is made for the purpose of improving safety and ecological and environmental protection. Article 27 The transport department of the State Council shall, in conjunction with the departments of natural resources, water administration, ecology and environment, agriculture and rural affairs, and forestry and grassland departments of the State Council, scientifically delimit prohibited navigation areas and restricted navigation areas in important habitats for aquatic life in the Yangtze River Basin. Vessels shall be prohibited from navigating within the delimited prohibited navigation areas. The navigation in a prohibited navigation area in an important habitat for aquatic life as required by the national development strategy, the national economy, and people's livelihood shall be subject to the approval of the transport department of the State Council in consultation with the agriculture and rural affairs department of the State Council, with necessary measures taken to reduce the interference with important aquatic life. The implementation of a waterway improvement project across the ecological protection red line, or in a protected natural area or important habitat for aquatic life, in the Yangtze River Basin shall be strictly restricted or be subject to scientific justification, with relevant formalities completed in accordance with the law, if the improvement is necessary. Article 28 The state shall establish a sand mining plan and a permit system for the river courses in the Yangtze River Basin. Sand mining in the river courses in the Yangtze River Basin shall obtain a permit from the relevant basin management agency of the water administration department of the State Council or the water administration department of the local people's government at or above the county level. The relevant basin management agency of the water administration department of the State Council and the local people's governments at or above the county level in the Yangtze River Basin shall delimit prohibited sand mining areas, specify prohibited sand mining periods, and strictly control sand mining areas, the total volume of sand mining, and the number of sand mining vessels in the sand mining areas. Sand mining activities in a prohibited sand mining area or during a prohibited sand mining period in the Yangtze River Basin shall be prohibited. The water administration department of the State Council shall, in conjunction with other relevant departments of the State Council, arrange for the relevant local people's governments in the Yangtze River Basin and the relevant departments thereof to take joint enforcement actions against illegal sand mining in river courses in the Yangtze River Basin. Chapter III Resource Protection Article 29 The protection and use of water resources in the Yangtze River Basin shall, in accordance with the comprehensive plan for the basin, give priority to satisfying urban and rural residents' need for domestic water, ensure basic ecological water use, and take into account agricultural and industrial water use, shipping, and other needs. Article 30 The relevant basin management agency of the water administration department of the State Council shall, in consultation with the provincial people's governments in the Yangtze River Basin, formulate a water distribution plan for inter-provincial rivers according to law and implement it with the approval of the State Council or the department authorized by the State Council. For the formulation of a water distribution plan for inter-provincial rivers in the Yangtze River Basin, the opinions of other relevant departments of the State Council shall be solicited. The water administration department of each provincial people's government in the Yangtze River Basin shall formulate a water distribution plan for the Yangtze River Basin in its respective administrative area and implement it with the approval of the people's government at the same level. The relevant basin management agency of the water administration department of the State Council or the water administration department of each local people's government at or above the county level in the Yangtze River Basin shall prepare an annual water distribution plan and an ass......