China China announces legislative plan for 2021

Regulations on groundwater and carbon trading are under consideration

China announces legislative plan for 2021

The General Office of China’s State Council on May 27 announced its legislative plan for 2021. The plan contains 18 draft laws to be submitted to the congress as well as 28 sets of regulations planned to be introduced or amended. The table below shows the ecological and environmental law and regulations in the plan.

Name of law or regulations Drafter(s)
Yellow River Protection Law (黄河保护法) Ministry of Water Resources and National Development and Reform Commission
Regulations on Groundwater Management (地下水管理条例) Ministry of Water Resources
Regulations on River Sand Mining (河道采砂管理条例) Ministry of Water Resources
Interim Regulations on Carbon Emissions Trading (碳排放权交易管理暂行条例) Ministry of Ecology and Environment

 

Here is an overview of these draft law and regulations:

 

1. Yellow River Protection Law

On April 29, 2021, China’s Ministry of Water Resources and National Development and Reform Commission jointly published a draft of the Yellow River Protection Law to solicit comments. The draft law proposes stricter requirements on water intake, units of water sources, etc.

 

2. Regulations on Groundwater Management

On May 19, 2017, the Ministry of Water Resources published a draft of the Regulations on Groundwater Management to solicit comments. The draft regulations concern the exploitation, utilization, protection, contamination control, etc. of groundwater.

 

3. Regulations on River Sand Mining

On July 24, 2019, the Ministry of Water Resources published a draft of the Regulations on River Sand Mining to solicit comments. The purpose of the draft regulations is to standardize river sand mining operations. They set out the relevant departments’ responsibility for supervision.

 

4. Interim Regulations on Carbon Emission Trading

On April 23, 2019, China’s Ministry of Ecology and Environment published a draft of the Interim Regulations on Carbon Emissions Trading to solicit comments. The draft regulations define what greenhouse gases, which industries and which key emitters are covered by the carbon trading scheme.

 

The full text of the legislative plan is available at
https://www.mee.gov.cn/zcwj/gwywj/202106/t20210613_838919.shtml

Author / Responsibility

AOKI Kenji

Senior Consultant, EnviX Ltd.
General Director, E&H Consulting Co., Ltd.

Business Performance

Expertise in EHS (environment, health and safety) consulting in ASEAN region.
- Environmental regulations updating
- Chemical regulations consulting

Background

MSc in Earth Science, The University of Tokyo

AOKI Kenji