Chinese lawmakers weigh new laws to tackle water and soil pollution

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China's top lawmakers on Thursday began to weigh new laws at the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee's bi-monthly session to better prevent water and soil pollution.

Water Pollution Prevention and Control Law

The draft amendment to the Water Pollution Prevention and Control Law was submitted to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress for second reading.

It suggested that the "river chief" system, which was introduced for all 2,865 lakes and 45,203 rivers across the country, should be promoted to provincial, city, county and township levels, with leading officials assuming major responsibility in addressing water pollution.

Workers fish out garbage from the Xiuhe River in Xiushui, a county in east China’s Jiangxi Province. /China Daily Photo

China first appointed local government officials as river chiefs in 2007 to address pollution from a blue algae outbreak in Taihu Lake, Jiangsu Province.

The draft said that city and county-level governments should disclose information about the implementation of water quality improvement plan to the public. Drinking water suppliers who failed to provide standard water to the public will be fined up to 200,000 yuan (about 32,000 US dollars), according to the draft.

Soil Pollution Prevention and Control Law‍

The soil pollution prevention and control law, as the first such law in China, promised to set up soil pollution prevention funds and conduct a nationwide soil condition census once a decade.

Explaining the draft to lawmakers, Luo Qingquan, deputy head of the NPC's Environment and Resources Protection Committee, said China is facing a "grim situation" in terms of its soil conditions.

Lawmakers began reviewing a draft legislation for the country's first soil pollution prevention and control law on June 22, 2017. /CFP Photo

Soil pollution has become an imminent environmental challenge that needs to be addressed and an outstanding obstacle in the country's quest to build a moderately prosperous society in all respects, he said.

By putting in place the "strictest environmental protection system," the new law will help improve soil quality, ensure safe agricultural products and public health, safeguard sustainability in the utilization of soil resources, and protect and improve the environment, according to Luo.

(With inputs from Xinhua)