‘River and Marine Sewage Outlets’ is the collective term for outlets where sewage is discharged into natural bodies of water directly or indirectly via pipes, ditches, or canals, etc. Their control is vital to protecting basin and marine environments. At the end of 2018 — a year which falls in the 13th Five-Year Plan Era (2016 – 2020) — the Ministry of Ecology and Environment began implementing pilots with the intent to slowly expand and integrate these nationally, and since then these programs have successfully improved sewage outlets on the Yangtze River, Bohai Sea, and Yellow River. River and Marine Sewage Outlet investigation work in the Yangtze and Bohai Sea basin areas was carried out in phases, and, to date, 60,292 outlets discharging sewage into the Yangtze have been discovered, as well as 18,886 outlets discharging into the Bohai Sea — figures which increased the number of outlets monitored by local regional authorities by 30 and 25 times, respectively.

The exact number of River and Marine Sewage Outlets was unclear, their management ineffective, and the level of pollution severe. In response, the Chinese Central Government have proposed methods, clarified strategies, and launched National River and Marine Sewage Outlet Control and Remediation work throughout the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025) based on the previous experiences investigating and remediating sewage outlets in the Yangtze and Bohai Sea basins. A series of top-level designs, technical guidelines, applicable standards and other policies, regulations, and standards have been released one after another — including the Implementation Opinions for Strengthening River and Marine Sewage Outlet Monitoring and Control Work — and regional River and Marine Sewage Outlet control work has begun receiving overall support.

 

1. Major Policies, Regulations and Standards released in Recent Years

A summary of all major new River and Marine Sewage Outlet Control and Remediation policies, regulations and standards issued by the Central Government in the last year can be found below.

Table 1   Major New River and Marine Sewage Outlet Control and Remediation Policies Post-October 2021

Document Name Issue Date Issuing Authority
Policy Document
Opinions on Further Promoting the Fight against Pollution 11/02/2021 Central Committee of the Communist Party of China & State Council
Implementation Opinions for Strengthening River and Marine Sewage Outlet Monitoring and Control Work 03/02/2022 General Office of the State Council
Notice on Public Opinions regarding Measures for the Supervision and Administration of Outlets discharging Sewage into the Sea (Pilot Implementation) (Consultation Paper) 11/25/2022 General Office of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment
Notice on the implementation of the General Office of the State Council’s Implementation Opinions for Strengthening River and Marine Sewage Outlet Monitoring and Control Work 12/16/2022 General Offices of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment & the Ministry of Water Resources
Plan to Demarcate Approval Scopes for Establishing Sewage Outlets that discharge into Rivers in River and Marine Basins 12/27/2022 General Office of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment
Standards
Notice on National Eco-environmental Standard Opinions regarding the call for Public Opinions regarding the 4 Items in Technical Guidelines for the Supervision and Administration of Outlets discharging Sewage into Rivers — Sewage Outlets (Consultation Paper) 11/13/2021 General Office of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment
Bulletin on National Eco-environmental Standard Opinions regarding the 5 Standards included in of Technical Guidelines for Three-Tier Investigations of Outlets discharging Sewage into Rivers or Seas 12/24/2021 Ministry of Ecology and Environment
Notice on National Eco-environmental Standard Opinions regarding the call for Public Opinions regarding the 2 Standards included in Technical Guidelines for the Supervision and Administration of Outlets discharging Sewage into Rivers — Approval of New Outlets (Consultation Paper) 01/27/2022 General Office of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment
Notice on Opinions regarding the call for public consultation regarding National Eco-environmental Standards: Technical Guidelines for the Supervision and Administration of Outlets discharging Sewage into Rivers and Seas — Technical Guiding Rules on the Establishment of Outlets discharging Sewage into Seas  (Consultation Paper) 06/14/2022 General Office of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment
Correspondence on Opinions regarding the call for public consultation regarding National Eco-environmental Standards: Technical Guidelines for the Supervision and Administration of Outlets discharging Sewage into Rivers or Seas — Terminology (Consultation Paper) 10/19/2022 General Office of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment

 

1.1 The 14th Five-Year Plan: Major River and Marine Sewage Outlet Control Targets and Tasks

On November 02, 2021, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council issued the Opinions on Further Promoting the Fight against Pollution. The Opinions extends strengthened collective governance of lane and marine pollution to cover River and Marine Sewage Outlets. The inspection, testing, source identification, and remediation of such outlets are listed as vital tasks in the in-depth defense of clear water, and a deadline of 2025 is set for the complete control of sewage outlets on the Yangtze, Yellow River, Bohai Sea, and all major tributaries of the Yangtze such as the Chishui River.

The General Office of the State Council released the Implementation Opinions for Strengthening River and Marine Sewage Outlet Monitoring and Control Work on March 02, 2022. The Implementation Opinions is the first top level design document on the control and administration of sewage outlets to be released after the completion of Party and national institution reforms and clarifies major targets and tasks for the governance of sewage outlets during the 14th Five-Year Plan.

  • Central Committee of the Communist Party of China & State Council: Opinions on Further Promoting the Fight against Pollution (November 02, 2021)
  • General Office of the State Council: Implementation Opinions for Strengthening River and Marine Sewage Outlet Monitoring and Control Work (March 02, 2022)

 

Major Targets

Investigations into sewage outlets along main rivers, major tributaries, major lakes, and major bays in the Yangtze, Yellow, Huaihe, Haihe, Pearl, Songliao, and Taihu River Basins (hereinafter, the “Seven Basins”) are to be completed by the end of 2023; and the Opinions also requires the remediation of sewage outlets in the Bohai Basin and along the Yellow River and its major tributaries.

Once work in the Seven Basins has been completed, all sewage outlets in coastal bay basins are to be inspected by the end of 2025, as well as the bulk of remediation work on sewage outlets along main rivers, major tributaries, major lakes and major bay areas within the Seven Basins. A system to control and administer sewage outlets featuring a more complete regulatory framework, a more scientific technical framework, and a more efficient management framework should be in place by the same deadline.

 

Tasks and Driving Concepts

Land and Water as One; the Rivers define the Shore. Acknowledge that shorelines, rivers, land and the sea are intertwined, and determine the requirements for establishing and managing sewage outlets based on the eco-environmental functions of receiving waters.

Clear Responsibilities and Strict Monitoring. Clarify the organization responsible for each sewage outlet and ensure that there are named persons managing each matter and bearing each responsibility. Implement local management responsibilities in regional governments.

Standardize Requirements, Manage Differences. All relevant national departments must formulate sewage outlet control and administration rules and technical specifications, supervise investigative and remedial work into existing sewage outlets nationwide, regulate the approval of new sewage outlets, and strengthen daily administration. Regions must create plans that reflect the realities of their local situation and implement differentiated management techniques.

Key Point Identification and Step-by-Step Implementation. The stages in which targets will be achieved are to be clarified for the Yangtze, Yellow River, Bohai, and other focus-point basins. The monitoring, source identification, remediation, and establishment of a management system for sewage outlets discharging into the Yangtze will be given priority, and the management practices developed here will be gradually spread to all regions across China.

 

Major Tasks

Organize the investigation of sewage outlets, determine liability for sewage outlets, carry out restorative work as needed, strictly monitor and manage sewage outlets, build an information platform, strengthen support and guarantees, and other practical tasks.

 

1.2 Strictly Implement an Investigate -> Test -> Trace -> Control -> Manage Workflow

The General Office of the State Council released the Implementation Opinions for Strengthening River and Marine Sewage Outlet Monitoring and Control Work on March 02, 2022. In December of the same year, the General Offices of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment and the Ministry of Water Resources jointly issued the Notice on the implementation of the General Office of the State Council’s Implementation Opinions for Strengthening River and Marine Sewage Outlet Monitoring and Control Work. The Notice provides guiding opinions on regional implementation of a comprehensive Investigate -> Test -> Trace -> Control -> Manage workflow.

 

General Office of the State Council: Implementation Opinions for Strengthening River and Marine Sewage Outlet Monitoring and Control Work (March 02, 2022)

The Opinions clarify the manner in which work for the control and administration of River and Marine Sewage Outlets is to be implemented, from investigation and source identification, to implementing graded remediation work, to strict control and administration and guarantees of strengthened support.

  1. All local departments must investigate every outlet thoroughly and establish work plans that reflect local needs. In-depth investigations are to be organized and the number, location, and nature of existing sewage outlets of all kinds must be discovered, as well as information on the unit responsible for the discharge. Analyze and identify discharge sources to gradually determine where the liability for each sewage outlet lies, and create a list of liable entities.
  2. Local departments nationwide must use the industry and discharge characteristics of these liable entities to classify each sewage outlet into one of four categories: industrial discharge outlets, urban sewage treatment plant outlets, agricultural discharge outlets, and other discharge outlets. Municipal People’s Governments are to create implementation and remediation plans in line with requirements to legally ban some, clean and merge some, and regulate and remediate some outlets, with major remediation work to focus on intercepting and controlling pollution. By establishing numbering system for sewage outlets and removing, merging, and regulating existing outlets, each local government will be able to establish a list of sewage outlets that need to be retained.
  3. Ecological and Environmental Protection Plans, Marine Ecological and Environmental Protection Plans, Water Resource Protection Plans and other similar plans at all levels are to be delimited with sufficient consideration given to the distribution and control requirements of sewage outlets. Environmental Impact Assessments must assign a heavy significance to the actual implementation of sewage outlet establishment rules, and all checks and audits must be strict in nature to prevent uncontrolled outlet establishment at its source. The establishment of any sewage outlet discharging into rivers must be carefully audited for compliance with laws and regulations, and the establishment of any sewage outlet discharging into the sea must be properly recorded.
  4. Municipal and Prefectural People’s Governments are to monitor and manage sewage outlet liability based on the type of sewage outlet, the liable party, and the department(s) involved. Eco-environmental departments are to uniformly fulfill their monitoring, management and administrative enforcement duties regarding the discharge of sewage and pollution, with assistance from water resources and other departments where applicable. Departments with supervisory and management authority will legally strengthen daily oversight practices, and all relevant departments must increase their ability to enforce environmental regulations regarding sewage outlets and issue fines and warnings as required by the law and regulations. A uniformed sewage outlet information platform must be established for each administrative area, and all information must be uploaded to the comprehensive ecology and environment management informatization platform.
  5. The Opinions lay out requirements to establish liability for each primary unit involved in implementation at the national, provincial, municipal, and prefectural levels. The remediation and supervision of sewage outlets is to be a major focus of the Central and provincial Central Supervision Offices of Ecological and Environmental Protection.
  6. Foundational research into sewage outlet management must be heavily invested in, with the goals of analyzing the spatial distribution of sewage outlets, analyzing the impact of regular discharge on water quality in receiving waters, and identifying the input-output relationships at play. The establishment of a whole-process monitoring and management system covering the path from Receiving Water à Sewage Outlet à Sewage Channel à Source must be facilitated.
  7. Eco-environmental departments must legally disclose and regularly update information on the supervision and management of new sewage outlets, and each region must also establish a system to collect monitoring reports from the public.

 

General Offices of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment and the Ministry of Water Resources: Notice on the implementation of the General Office of the State Council’s Implementation Opinions for Strengthening River and Marine Sewage Outlet Monitoring and Control Work (December 16, 2022)

The Notice expounds on the key tasks proposed in the Opinions in further detail. The Notice requires that all provinces formulate concrete plans to implement the Implementation Opinions; investigation and remediation work should be carried out in stages with set yearly targets using a list of all main rivers, major tributaries (bodies of water), major lakes, and major shorelines in basic once an accurate count of all sewage outlets has been completed. Eco-environment supervisory bodies in each basin or bay area are expected to provide a detailed breakdown of the approval and permission scope for the establishment of riverside sewage outlets, as well as clear geographical boundaries. Local provincial-level ecology and environment departments must confirm the approval hierarchy for each administrative district.

Ecology and environment departments at all levels are to include the establishment of sewage outlets on the list of matters that require an administrative permit. Municipal and prefectural authorities will conduct initial checks, which will be audited at the provincial level and then randomly selected for further auditing by basin and shoreline bureaus; the Notice clarifies key points for the audits and random checks to be performed at all levels.

The Ministry of Ecology and Environment will utilize the existing Eco-environment Information Platform to build a National River and Marine Sewage Outlet Supervision and Management Informatization Platform to collage information on dynamic management of sewage outlet investigations and remediation work, new outlet approval records, daily monitoring practices and more. Provincial eco-environment departments and bureaus for each basin and bay area must submit regular reports on the sewage outlets in their jurisdictions, as data-sharing is key to elevating the level of informatized management.

 

General Office of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment: Notice on Public Opinions regarding Measures for the Supervision and Administration of Outlets discharging Sewage into the Sea (Pilot Implementation) (Consultation Paper) (November 25, 2022)

These Measures lay out clear requirements and rules for categorization, liability, new outlet record-keeping, enforcement and monitoring, supervisory management informatization platforms, information disclosure and monitoring reports applicable to outlets which discharge sewage into the sea.

 

General Office of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment: Notice regarding the Publication of the Plan to Demarcate Approval Scopes for Establishing Sewage Outlets that discharge into Rivers in River and Marine Basins (December 27, 2022)

The Ministry of Ecology and Environment has issued the Plan to Demarcate the Scope of Approval for New Outlets discharging Sewage into Rivers to the local eco-environment monitoring and management authorities in the Yangtze, Yellow River, Huaihe, Haihe (Bohai Sea region), Songliao, Pearl (South China Sea region), and Taihu (East China Sea region) basins (7 copies in total) to clarify the rules defining the scope of approval for establishing new river and marine sewage outlets.

 

1.3 Build a Complete Sewage Outlet Management System

As the work involved in completing a thorough census of all River and Marine Sewage Outlets in basin areas continued to grow, in 2021 the Ministry of Ecology and Environment began releasing a series of national Eco-environmental Standards and Regulations (as well as consultation papers) to facilitate the Investigate à Test à Trace à Control à Manage workflow for River and Marine Sewage Outlets.

 

General Office of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment: Notice on National Eco-environmental Standard Opinions regarding the call for Public Opinions regarding the 4 Items in Technical Guidelines for the Supervision and Administration of Outlets discharging Sewage into Rivers — Sewage Outlets (Consultation Paper) (November 13, 2021)

The Notice includes consultation papers for four national eco-environmental standards:

    • Technical Guidelines for the Supervision and Administration of Outlets discharging Sewage into Rivers — Sewage Outlets
    • Technical Guidelines for the Supervision and Administration of Outlets discharging Sewage into Rivers — General Rules for Source Identification
    • Technical Guidelines for the Supervision and Administration of Outlets discharging Sewage into Rivers — Establishing Regulations
    • Technical Guidelines for the Supervision and Administration of Outlets discharging Sewage into Rivers — Sewage Outlet Information Export and Exchange.

The above standards provide separate regulations for the categorization of outlets which discharge sewage into rivers, lay out concrete requirements for the scope, targets, details, workflows and processes involved in identifying the sources of river-side sewage outlets, determine the basic requirements for establishing a regulatory framework for sewage outlets which discharge into rivers together with requirements governing test sites, identification labeling, video monitoring systems, and record-keeping, and provides models, process flows, details and formats for the exchange of river sewage outlet data (automated and other) between national, provincial, prefectural and municipal bodies.

 

Ministry of Ecology and Environment: Bulletin on National Eco-environmental Standard Opinions regarding the 5 Standards included in Technical Guidelines for Three-Tier Investigations of Outlets discharging Sewage into Rivers or Seas (December 24, 2021)

The Bulletin issues five standards:

    • Technical Guidelines for Three-Tier Investigations of Outlets discharging Sewage into Rivers or Seas (HJ 1232-2021)
    • River and Marine Sewage Outlet Investigation and Remediation — UAV Remote Sensing Technical Specifications (HJ 1233-2021)
    • River and Marine Sewage Outlet Investigation and Remediation — UAV Remote Sensing Data Interpretation Technical Specifications (HJ 1234-2021)
    • River and Marine Sewage Outlet Command and Coding Rules (HJ 1235-2021)
    • Technical Specifications for the Remote Identification of Potential Risks to Centralized Surface Sources of Drinking Water (HJ 1236-2021).

These five standards went into effect on January 1, 2022.

 

General Office of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment: Notice on National Eco-environmental Standard Opinions regarding the call for Public Opinions regarding the 2 Standards included in Technical Guidelines for the Supervision and Administration of Outlets discharging Sewage into Rivers — Approval of New Outlets (Consultation Paper) (January 27, 2022)

The Notice includes consultation papers and summaries for two national eco-environmental standards:

    • Technical Guidelines for the Supervision and Administration of Outlets discharging Sewage into Rivers — Approval of New Outlets (Consultation Paper)
    • Technical Guidelines for the Supervision and Administration of Outlets discharging Sewage into Rivers — General Rules for Remediation (Consultation Paper).

The above standards regulate eligibility criteria, procedures, application materials and technical requirements for new and existing sewage outlet approval applications, and the scope of application, general requirements, technical pathways, remediation processes, remediation requirements and key technical points involved in river sewage outlet remedial work, respectively.

 

Ministry of Ecology and Environment: Notice on Opinions regarding the call for public consultation regarding National Eco-environmental Standards: Technical Guidelines for the Supervision and Administration of Outlets discharging Sewage into Rivers and Seas — Technical Guiding Rules on the Establishment of Outlets discharging Sewage into Seas (Consultation Paper) (June 14, 2022)

These standards regulate the basic principles for approving new outlets discharging sewage into the sea, as well as the procedures, content, methods, and technical requirements for demonstrating environmental impact.

 

General Office of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment: Correspondence on Opinions regarding the call for public consultation regarding National Eco-environmental Standards: Technical Guidelines for the Supervision and Administration of Outlets discharging Sewage into Rivers or Seas — Terminology (Consultation Paper) (October 19, 2022)

These standards regulate the basic terminology to be used for the categorization, supervision and management of River and Marine Sewage Outlets.

 

 

2. Future Policy Direction

China will continue to improve the management systems needed to better control River and Marine Sewage Outlets, with a concrete focus on: the consolidation of local authority management responsibilities and the creation of clear work plans suited to local requirements, the trialing of advanced technological methods and the completion of technical guidelines for supervision and management, and the general promotion of administrative informatization for River and Marine Sewage Outlets.

 

Consolidate local authority management responsibilities and create clear work plans suited to local requirements

Establishing clear responsibilities and methods for the work to be carried out by departments at all levels is a prerequisite for sewage outlet investigation and remediation work to proceed in an orderly and logical manner according to scientific work plans that take into account the locality, age, distribution density and other features of river and marine basin sewage outlets in the administrative region of the local authority responsible for creating the plan.

Provincial, municipal, and regional governments across the nation announced policy proposals for the supervision and management of River and Marine Sewage Outlets one after another from the beginning of 2022 through to early 2023.

These policies include (but are not limited to):

  • Shaanxi Province River Sewage Outlet Supervision and Management Work Implementation Plan (August 2022)
  • Fujian Province Work Plan to Strengthen the Supervision and Management of River and Marine Sewage Outlets (September 2022)
  • Zhejiang Province Work Plan to Strengthen the Supervision and Management of River and Marine Sewage Outlets (November 2022)
  • Liaoning Province Work Plan to Strengthen the Supervision and Management of River and Marine Sewage Outlets (December 2022)
  • Shandong Province River and Marine Sewage Outlet Supervision and Management Work Plan (February 2023)
  • Guizhou Province Action Plan for the Investigation and Remediation of River Sewage Outlets (February 2023).

 

Trial advanced technological methods and complete technical guidelines for supervision and management

Conventional sewage outlet investigation has always utilized a so-called ‘Three-Tier Investigative Method’ comprised of UAV remote sensing, manual walk-throughs, and expert QC reviews. Pilot regions used UAV remote sensing to cover all shoreline investigations and successfully compiled a consistent accounting of all sewage outlets. However, the frontiers of science and technology are continually being pushed in new directions, and many novel technologies are gradually being applied in the field of eco-environmental protection. Future sewage outlet investigative and remediation work should actively explore the possibilities offered by cutting-edge technology, and investment into the development of practical technology and equipment for purposes such as remote monitoring, aerial surveys of aquatic surfaces, underwater detection, and pipeline inspection. Ultimately, models which unify water, land, and air investigations must be found to guarantee the effectiveness of investigative and remedial work for sewage and pollution outlets for years to come.

 

Promote administrative informatization for River and Marine Sewage Outlets

The application of informatization practices and smart technology to the field of River and Marine Sewage Outlet management will be enhanced. The Central Government’s Implementation Opinions for Strengthening River and Marine Sewage Outlet Monitoring and Control Work clearly sets out the general requirements for the creation of united sewage outlet information platforms for each administrative region (‘River and Marine Sewage Outlet Monitoring and Control Informatization Platform’).

These requirements include the need to create a dynamic list of sewage outlets, requirements to create a sharing mechanism for River and Marine Sewage Outlet-related information, improve the skill levels needed to properly co-ordinate eco-environmental protection information, and quickly develop eco-environmental administrative services. As far as regional plans go, the most concrete requirements are for the establishment and use of informatization platforms.