China Policy Journal Volume 1, Number 1, Fall 2018 | Page 12

Water-Pollutant Discharge-Fee System in China
ucts are listed in the 2011 Industrial
Structure Adjustment Guide. If the pollutant’s
discharge behavior falls under
one of these situations, the penalty fee is
charged once; while if it falls under two
situations, the penalty is doubled; or
meets all situations, the penalty go up
to thrice. Moreover, to strengthen water-pollution
control, the penalty fare is
defined in terms 73 and 74 of the water
pollution prevention law (2008): the irregular
use of wastewater-treatment facilities
and the demolition and idling of
pollutant-treatment equipment should
be charged by the upper level of the executive
authority with a penalty fare of
one to three times the water-pollutant
discharge fee, while the national or regional
standard-exceeding discharge
over the total quantity-control indicators
are charged with a fare of two to
five times the discharge fee.
The flexible fee structure not
only affects the industrial structure,
but also guides the spacial distribution
of enterprises avoiding environmental
sensitive areas and gives preference to
water-resource abundant and low development-difficulty
areas, which has
further practical implications from the
perspective of development and management.
1.2.3. Pollutant Factors
With industrial development, the water-pollutant
discharge-fee system was
broadened by expanding the range of
pollutant factors. The Temporary Regulation
of Pollutant Discharge Fee set the
standard for wastewater, waste gasses
and solids, among which 20 types of
water pollutants are clearly defined. In
1991, the list was extended to 29 types
due to an increase in known facts about
pollution. With further promotion of
the water-pollutant discharge-fee system
till 1993, the water-pollution fee
was deepened from the content and the
range. In 2003, the pollutant types were
redefined and extended to 65, covering
most of the water contaminants, of
which 36 types were newly added, including
heavy metals, radioactive materials,
biochemical pollutants, etc. The
fee standard changed from being single-factor
dominant to being multi-factor
based.
1.2.4. The Fee Collection Range
Environmental deterioration had been
exacerbated since the 10 th five-year
plan, for prioritized achieving economic
growth. Increasing transferrable or illegal
point-source and nonpoint-source
pollution resulted in compromised sanitation
condition. In 1982, the fee system
was limited to private and collective
firms and units. However, supplydriven
and conventional exploitation
stretched the gap between water demand
and the supply. It deviated from
the original objective to control all
wastewater discharged into water bodies,
to cover and regulate any newly
added pollution source within the system.
Thus, the pollution fee was redefined
in the Pollutant Discharge Fee Collection
and Management Regulation of
2003, which was extended to include to
all polluters, including plants, units, individuals
from the industrial field, and
commercial householders.
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