Marine Environmental Protection Law of the People's Republic of China (2023 Revision)

Marine Environmental Protection Law of the People's Republic of China (2023 Revision)

Order of the President of the People's Republic of China

(No. 12)

The Marine Environmental Protection Law of the People's Republic of China, as revised and adopted at the 6th Session of the Standing Committee of the Fourteenth National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China on October 24, 2023, is hereby issued, and shall come into force on January 1, 2024.

Xi Jinping, President of the People's Republic of China

October 24, 2023

Marine Environment Protection Law of the People's Republic of China

(Adopted at the 24th Session of the Standing Committee of the Fifth National People's Congress on August 23, 1982; revised for the first time at the 13th Session of the Standing Committee of the Ninth National People's Congress on December 25, 1999; amended in accordance with the Decision on Amending Seven Laws Including the Marine Environment Protection Law of the People's Republic of China at the Sixth Session of the Standing Committee of the Twentieth National People's Congress on December 28, 2013; and amended for the second time in accordance with the Decision of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress on Amending the Marine Environment Protection Law of the People's Republic of China adopted at the 24th Session of the Standing Committee of the Twelfth National People's Congress on November. 7, 2016; amended for the third time in accordance with the Decision of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress on Amending Eleven Laws including the Accounting Law of the People's Republic of China, as adopted at the 30th Session of the Standing Committee of the Twelfth National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China on November 4, 2017; revised for the second time at the 6th Session of the Standing Committee of the Fourteenth National People's Congress on October 24, 2023)

Contents

Chapter I General Provisions

Chapter II Supervision and Control over the Marine Environment

Chapter III Marine Ecological Protection

Chapter IV Prevention and Control of Land-Based Pollutants

Chapter V Prevention and Control of Pollution from Construction Projects

Chapter VI Prevention and Control of Pollution from Waste Dumping

Chapter VII Prevention and Control of Pollution from Vessels and Related Operations

Chapter VIII Legal Liability

Chapter IX Supplementary Provisions

Chapter I General Provisions

Article 1 This Law is enacted according to the Constitution to protect and improve the marine environment, conserve marine resources, prevent pollution damages, guarantee ecological security and public health, safeguard the state's marine rights and interests, increase marine strength, enhance ecological conservation, promote sustainable economic and social development, and achieve harmony between humanity and nature.

Article 2 This Law shall apply to the sea areas under the jurisdiction of the People's Republic of China.

All units and individuals engaged in navigation, exploration, exploitation, production, tourism, scientific research or other operations in the sea areas under the jurisdiction of the People's Republic of China, or engaged in operations in the coastal land areas which have impact on the marine environment shall comply with this Law.

The relevant provisions of this Law shall also apply to environmental pollution and ecological damage in the sea areas under the jurisdiction of the People's Republic of China originating caused from outside the People's Republic of China.

Article 3 Marine environmental protection shall adhere to the principles of giving priority to protection, focusing on prevention, prevention and control at source, pursuing coordinated land and marine development, conducting comprehensive treatment, engaging the general public, and enforcing accountability for damage.

Article 4 The ecological and environmental department of the State Council shall be responsible for supervision and administration of the national marine environment, the national prevention and control of marine environmental pollution damages caused by land-based pollutants, coastal and marine construction projects (hereinafter referred to as the "construction projects"), and ocean dumping of wastes, and guidance on, coordination of, and supervision of national marine ecological protection and repair.

The natural resources department of the State Council shall be responsible for the supervision and administration of marine protection, development, and utilization and for the repair of national marine ecology, coastlines, and islands.

The transport department of the State Council shall be responsible for supervising and administering of the pollution to the marine environment caused by non-military vessels inside the harbor waters under its jurisdiction and by non-fishing vessels and non-military vessels outside the harbor waters under its jurisdiction and organizing, coordinating, and directing contingency to major marine oil spills. Maritime agencies shall be responsible for the supervising and administering the marine environment in the above waters and for investigating and handling pollution accidents. In the event of a pollution accident caused by a foreign vessel navigating, berthing or operating in the sea under the jurisdiction of the People's Republic of China, inspection and treatment shall be conducted on board the vessel in question. Where the pollution accident caused by a vessel results in fishery damages, the fishery department shall be invited to take part in the investigation and treatment.

The fishery department of the State Council shall be responsible for the supervision and control over the marine environment pollution caused by non-military vessels inside the fishing port waters and that caused by fishing vessels outside the fishing port waters, be responsible for the protection of ecological environment in the fishing zones, and shall investigate and handle the fishery pollution accidents other than those specified in the preceding paragraph.

The development and reform, water administration, housing and urban-rural development, forestry and grasslands, and other departments of the State Council shall be responsible for marine environmental protection related to the relevant industries and fields within their respective purview.

A coast guard agency shall conduct the supervisory inspection of marine construction projects, pollution damage caused to the marine environment by ocean dumping of wastes, and the protection and utilization of the seaward side of the coastline of nature reserves, and other activities within the scope of its duties, investigating and punishing violations, and participating in the contingency to and investigation and handling of marine environmental pollution accidents in accordance with the prescribed authority.

The ecological and environmental protection departments of the armed forces shall be responsible for the supervision and control over the marine pollution caused by military vessels and for the investigation and handling of the pollution accidents caused by military vessels.

Article 5 Coastal local people's governments at or above the county level shall be responsible for the quality of the marine environment in the sea areas under their administration.

The state implements a target responsibility system and an assessment and evaluation system for marine environmental protection to assess and evaluate the completion of the target of marine environment protection.

Article 6 Coastal local people's governments at or above the county level may establish a regional cooperation mechanism for marine environmental protection to organize and coordinate environmental protection in the sea areas under their administration.

Trans-regional marine environment protection problems shall be solved through consultations by the relevant coastal local people's governments or be solved through coordination by the people's government at the higher level.

Major trans-department marine environment protection work shall be coordinated by the ecological and environmental department of the State Council. The problems that fail to be settled through coordination shall be submitted to the State Council for decision.

Article 7 The State Council and coastal local people's governments at or above the county level shall incorporate marine environmental protection into national economic and social development plans, and under the principle of division of power and responsibility for expenditure, incorporate the funds required for marine environmental protection into the government budget at the same level.

Article 8 People's governments at all levels and their relevant departments shall communicate, provide education on, and disseminate the knowledge about marine environmental protection to enhance public awareness and guide lawful public participation; encourage primary autonomous organizations, social organizations, and volunteers, among others, to communicate laws, regulations, and knowledge about marine environmental protection; and make publicly available information on the marine environment based on the division of responsibility.

The news media shall report on marine environmental protection to subject illegal acts to public scrutiny.

Article 9 Any entities and individuals shall have the obligation to protect the marine environment and have the right to supervise and expose the act of any other entity or individual that causes pollution of the marine environment and damage to the marine ecology, as well as the act of any functionary engaged in marine environment supervision and control that constitutes a violation of the law.

Any entity or individual engaged in activities that affect the marine environment shall take effective measures to prevent and mitigate marine environmental pollution and ecological damage. A pollutant discharger shall make information on pollutant discharge available to the public in accordance with the law.

Article 10 The state encourages the research, development and application of technology for marine environmental protection, promotes the informatization of marine environmental protection, trains professional and technical personnel in marine environmental protection, and improves scientific and technological capacity for marine environmental protection.

The state encourages international exchanges and cooperation in marine environmental protection.

Article 11 Units and individuals that have made outstanding achievements in marine environmental protection shall be commended and rewarded in accordance with relevant provisions issued by the state.

Chapter II Supervision and Control over the Marine Environment

Article 12 The state implements a supervision and administration system for the marine environment that pursues coordinated land and marine development and regional linkage, and strengthens the connection and coordination between planning, standards, monitoring, and other supervision and administration systems.

People's governments at all levels and their relevant departments shall enhance the capability to supervise and administer the marine environment and apply science and information technology in the supervision and administration of the marine environment.

Article 13 The state gives priority to delineating sea areas with extremely important ecological functions and an extremely sensitive and fragile ecosystem in ecological protection red line and implements strict protection.

Developing and utilizing marine resources or construction that affects the marine environment shall be reasonably arranged in accordance with spatial plans, and strictly comply with spatial use control requirements and ecological protection red lines, and shall not cause damage to the marine ecology and environment. Coastal local people's governments at all levels shall protect and reasonably use sea areas in accordance with spatial plans. The people's governments of coastal provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government shall strengthen the supervision and administration of human activities within ecological protection red lines and regularly assess the effectiveness of protection.

The relevant departments of the State Council, coastal local people's governments at or above the districted-city level, and their relevant departments shall conduct environmental impact assessments on the marine environmental protection and other content of the spatial plans and related plans of which they have organize the preparation.

Article 14 The ecological and environmental department of the State Council shall, in conjunction with relevant departments, agencies, and the people's governments of coastal provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government, formulate a national marine ecological and environmental protection plan and implement it with the approval of the State Council. The national marine ecological and environmental protection plan shall be connected with the national spatial plan.

Coastal local people's governments at all levels shall, in accordance with the national marine ecological and environmental protection plan, organize marine environmental protection in the sea areas under their administration.

Article 15 The people's governments of coastal provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government shall, based on the ecology, environment, and resource utilization condition of the sea areas under their administration, include the sea areas in zone-based ecological and environmental management and control plans and ecological and environmental access lists, and implement them after filing them for recordation with the ecological and environmental department of the State Council. The zone-based ecological and environmental management and control plans and the ecological and environmental access lists shall be connected with land spatial plans.

Article 16 The ecological and environmental department of the State Council shall work out the national marine environmental quality standards in accordance with the marine environmental quality conditions and the economic and technological level of the country.

The people's governments of coastal provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government may develop a local marine environmental quality standard, if there is no national marine environmental quality standard; or develop a local marine environmental quality standard stricter than the national marine environmental quality standard, if there is a national marine environmental quality standard. A local marine environmental quality standard shall be filed for recordation with the ecological and environmental department of the State Council.

The state encourages research on marine environmental criteria.

Article 17 A proposed marine environmental quality standard shall be open to relevant departments, industry associations, enterprises, public organizations, experts, and the public, among others, for comments, so as to ensure that the standard is sound.

A marine environmental quality standard shall be subject to regular assessments and timely revision based on the assessment results.

Article 18 In working out national and relevant local water pollutant discharge standards, the marine environment quality standards shall be taken as one important basis.

If a sea area fails to meet the target of marine environmental protection, the ecological and environmental department of the people's government at or above the provincial level shall suspend the approval of an environmental impact report (form) for a construction project that increases the discharge of a relevant pollutant, and in conjunction with relevant departments, interview the principal persons in charge of the people's government of the sea area and its relevant departments, requiring them to take effective and timely corrective measures, and make the interview and corrective action available to the public.

Article 19 The state strengthens the management and control of marine environmental quality, promote comprehensive management of sea areas, and strictly manage pollutant discharge permits for sea areas, so as to improve the quality of the marine environment in key sea areas.

A coastal or marine entity that needs to directly discharge industrial or medical wastewater into the sea, the operator of a centralized urban sewage treatment facility, or any other enterprise, public organization, producer, or distributor shall obtain a pollutant discharge permit in accordance with the law. Pollutant discharge permits shall be managed under the relevant provisions issued by the State Council.

An enterprise, a public organization, or any other producer or distributor subject to pollutant discharge licensing shall comply with the requirements of the pollutant discharge permit regarding the types, concentration, discharge volume, discharge method, discharge destination, and self-monitoring of pollutants.

It is prohibited to discharge pollutants into the sea by laying a hidden pipeline without permission, tampering with or forging monitoring data, improperly operating a pollution prevention and control facility, or otherwise circumventing supervision.

Article 20 The ecological and environmental department of the State Council shall, in accordance with the improvement requirements for the conditions and quality of the marine environment, in conjunction with the development and reform, natural resources, housing and urban-rural development, transportation, water administration, fishery and other departments and the coast guard agency of the State Council, delineate national priority sea areas for environmental governance and their control areas, develop a comprehensive governance action plan, and implement it with the approval of the State Council.

Coastal local people's governments at or above the districted-city level shall, based on the comprehensive governance action plan, develop an implementation plan for the sea areas under their administration, adopt special management and control measures based on local conditions, conduct comprehensive governance, and coordinate the governance of the priority sea areas and the building of beautiful bays.

Article 21 An enterprise, a public organization, or any other producer or distributor that directly discharges a chargeable pollutant into the ocean shall pay environmental protection tax in accordance with the law.

A dumper that dumps wastes into the sea shall pay a dumping fee in accordance with the relevant provisions issued by the state. Specific measures shall be formulated by the development and reform department and the finance department of the State Council, in conjunction with its ecological and environmental department.

Article 22 The State shall strengthen the research and development of science and technology in the field of prevention and control of marine environment pollution damages and shall put into practice an elimination system with regard to any out-of-date production techniques and equipment that cause serious marine environment pollution damages.

An enterprise, a public organization, or any other producer or distributor shall give priority to the introduction of clean, low-carbon energies and clean production technology with higher resources utilization ratio and less pollutant discharges, so as to prevent pollution to the marine environment.

Article 23 The ecological and environmental department of the State Council shall be responsible for monitoring the marine ecology and environment, formulating and supervising the implementation of monitoring standards and specifications, organizing the monitoring of the quality of the marine ecology and environment, publishing a national gazette on the conditions of the marine ecology and environment, and regularly organizing the survey and evaluation of the quality and conditions.

The natural resources department of the State Council shall organize the survey of marine resources and the early warning and monitoring of the marine ecology, and publish alerts and gazettes for the early warning and monitoring.

Other departments and agencies that exercise the power to supervise and administer the marine environment under this Law shall conduct monitoring and surveillance in accordance with the division of responsibility.

Article 24 The relevant departments of the State Council and coast guard agencies shall provide the ecological and environmental department of the State Council with data on the monitoring, survey, surveillance and other aspects of estuaries and the marine environment necessary for the preparation of a national gazette on the conditions of the marine ecology and environment.

The ecological and environmental department shall provide the relevant departments and coast guard agencies with data relating to marine environment supervision and administration.

Article 25 The ecological and environmental department of the State Council shall, in conjunction with relevant departments and agencies, use an intelligent comprehensive information system to serve the supervision and administration of marine environmental protection and information sharing.

The relevant departments of the State Council, coast guard agencies, coastal local people's governments at or above the county level and their relevant departments shall, in accordance with applicable provisions, promote comprehensive, coordinated, and regular monitoring, and share information on the administration of the marine environment such as monitoring data and information on law enforcement, so as to improve the comprehensive administration of marine environmental protection.

Article 26 The state strengthens the monitoring of radiation in the marine environment, and the ecological and environmental department of the State Council shall be responsible for developing and organizing the implementation of a contingency plan for monitoring radiation in the marine environment.

Article 27 Any entity or individual that has caused or may possibly cause a marine environment pollution or ecological damage incident because of an accident or any other contingency shall immediately adopt effective measures to remove or reduce the danger, promptly inform all parties that are potentially endangered, report to each department and agency empowered by this Law to conduct marine environment supervision and control and accept investigation and treatment.

Coastal local people's government at or above the county level shall, whenever the offshore ecology and environment within their administration is seriously damaged, adopt effective measures to relieve or mitigate the pollution damage.

Article 28 To suit the need to prevent marine environmental pollution, the state develops a national contingency plan for major marine pollution incidents, establishes and improves a contingency mechanism for pollution caused by a marine oil spill, and guarantees necessary funds for response.

The state establishes an inter-ministerial joint meeting on contingency to major marine oil spills. The transport department of the State Council shall take the lead in organizing the preparation and implementation of a national contingency plan for major marine oil spills.

The ecological and environmental department of the State Council shall be responsible for developing and organizing the implementation of a national contingency plan for oil spill pollution incidents in offshore oil exploration and development.

The national maritime agency shall be responsible for developing a national contingency plan for major marine oil spill pollution incidents caused by vessels and filing it for recordation with the ecological and environmental department and the emergency management department of the State Council.

Coastal local people's governments at or above the county level and their relevant departments shall formulate a relevant contingency plan, and in case of a marine environmental emergency, promptly put into operation the contingency plan to take effective measures to remove or reduce the danger.

An entity that may experience marine environmental emergencies shall, in accordance with applicable provisions, develop a contingency plan, be equipped with contingency devices and equipment, and regularly organize contingency drills; it shall file the contingency plan for recordation with the departments and agencies that exercise the power to supervise and administer the marine environment in accordance with this Law.

Article 29 A department or agency empowered by this Law to conduct marine environment supervision and control has the right to conduct on-site inspections of entities and individuals engaged in activities that affect the marine environment. In their monitoring cruise, whenever any act of violation of the provisions of this Law is discovered, they shall check it, conduct on-the-spot investigation, collect evidence, and if necessary, have the power to adopt effective measures to prevent aggregation, and report to the relevant department or agency for the treatment.

An inspectee shall report the situation faithfully and provide necessary data. The inspector shall keep the trade secrets, privacy, and personal information of the inspectee in accordance with the law.

Departments and agencies that exercise the power to supervise and administer the marine environment under this Law may take a joint law enforcement action at sea.

Article 30 If serious marine environmental pollution or ecological damage is caused or may be caused, or relevant evidence may be destroyed or concealed, a department or agency that exercises the power to supervise and administer the marine environment in accordance with this Law may place under seal or impound a relevant vessel, facility, equipment, or item.

Article 31 If environmental pollution or ecological damage in a sea area under the jurisdiction of the People's Republic of China is caused or may be caused from outside the People's Republic of China, the relevant departments and agencies have the power to take necessary measures.

Article 32 The ecological and environmental department of the State Council shall, in conjunction with relevant departments and agencies, establish a system for applying the credit records and evaluations of enterprises, public organizations, and other producers and distributors that discharge pollutants into the sea, engage in ocean dumping of wastes, and engage in marine ecological and environmental governance and services, and include relevant credit records in the national public credit information sharing platform.

Chapter III Marine Ecological Protection

Article 33 The state strengthens marine ecological protection and improves the quality, diversity, stability and sustainability of marine ecosystems.

The State Council and the coastal local people's governments shall adopt effective measures to afford priority protection to typical and representative marine ecosystems such as mangroves, coral reefs, seaweed fields, seagrass beds, coastal wetlands, islands, bays, estuaries and important fishery waters, protect sea areas where rare and dying out marine organisms are naturally and densely scattered, protect habitats of marine organisms having important economic value, and protect marine natural relics and natural landscapes having great scientific and cultural significance.

Article 34 The State Council, the people's governments of coastal provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government, and their relevant departments shall, to suit the need to protect the sea, include important marine ecosystems, natural concentrated distribution areas of rare and endangered marine life, concentrated distribution areas of marine natural heritage and landscape, and other areas in national parks, nature reserves or nature parks, and other nature reserves.

Article 35 The state shall establish and improve a compensation system for marine ecological protection.

The State Council and the people's governments of coastal provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government shall support compensation for marine ecological protection by transfer payments, industrial support, and other means.

Coastal local people's governments at all levels shall appropriate funds to ensure compensation for marine ecological protection.

Article 36 The state strengthens the protection of marine biodiversity, improves the survey, monitoring, assessment, and protection system for marine biodiversity, maintains and repairs important marine ecological corridors, and prevents damage to marine biodiversity.

When marine and coastal zone resources are developed and utilized, important marine ecosystems, biological species, and biological genetic resources shall be effectively protected to maintain marine biodiversity.

Any introduction of marine animal or plant species shall be subjected to scientific assessment so as to avoid damages to marine ecosystems.

Article 37 The state encourages sound captive breeding and reintroduction of aquatic life, supports sound planning, and adopts measures such as placing artificial reefs and planting seaweed fields, seagrass beds, and corals according to local conditions, so as to restore marine biodiversity and repair and improv......