Law of the People*s Republic of China on Prevention and

Law of the Peoples Republic of China

on

Prevention and Control of Pollution of

the Environment by Solid Wastes

(Adopted on October 30, 1995 at the Sixteenth Session of the Eighth National Peoples Congress, Promulgated on October 30,1995 by Order No.58 of President of the Peoples Republic of China and coming into force as from the date of April 1, 1996).

Contents

Chapter IGeneral Provisions

Chapter Monitoring and Management of Prevention and Control of Pollution of the Environment by Solid Wastes

Chapter Prevention and Control of Pollution of Environment by Solid Wastes

Section 1 General Rules

Section 2 Prevention and Control of Pollution of the Environment by Industrial Solid Wastes

Section 3 Prevention and Control of Pollution of the Environment by Urban Domestic Garbage

Chapter IV Special Provisions for Prevention and Control of Pollution of the Environment by Hazardous Wastes

Chapter Legal Responsibilities

Chapter Supplementary Provisions

Chapter IGeneral Provisions

Article 1 This law is made for the purpose of prevention and control of pollution of the environment by solid wastes, protecting peoples health and promoting the construction of socialist modernization.

Article 2 This law is applicable to prevention and control of pollution of the environment by solid wastes in the Peoples Republic of China.

It is not applicable to prevention and control of pollution of the oceanic environment by solid wastes and prevention and control of pollution of the environment by radioactive solid wastes.

Article 3 The principle that the state adheres to in prevention and control of pollution of the environment by solid wastes is reducing the production of solid wastes, making full and reasonable use of them and conducting harmless disposal of them.

Article 4 The state encourages and supports clean production to cut down the outturn of solid wastes.

The state encourages and supports comprehensive use of resources, full recovery and reasonable use of solid wastes and all economic and technical policies and measures that are beneficial to the comprehensive use of solid wastes.

Article 5 The state encourages and supports the measures taken for concentrated disposal of solid wastes and helping to protect the environments.

Article 6 The local peoples governments above the county level shall incorporate prevention and control of pollution of the environment by solid wastes into their respective plans for environmental protection and adopt appropriate economic and technical policies and take corresponding measures to help prevention and control of pollution of the environment by solid wastes.

Article 7 The state encourages and supports scientific research and technical development for prevention and control of pollution of the environment by solid wastes, popularization of advanced preventive and control technologies and scientific knowledge about prevention and control of pollution of the environment by solid wastes.

Article 8 The peoples governments at all level shall award prizes to the units and individuals that have scored remarkable achievements in prevention and control of pollution of the environment by solid wastes and related activities for making comprehensive use of solid wastes.

Article 9 All units and individuals shall have the obligation to protect the environment and shall have the right to inform against any units and individuals that have caused pollution of the environment by solid wastes and lodge corresponding complaints with the court..

Article 10 The competent administrative department of the State Council in charge of environmental protection shall effect unified monitoring and management of prevention and control of the environment by solid wastes throughout the country. The related departments of the State Council shall be responsible for monitoring and management of prevention and control of the environment by solid wastes within the scope of duties incumbent on them respectively.

The competent administrative departments of local peoples governments above the county level shall effect unified monitoring and management of prevention and control of pollution of the environment by solid wastes in regions under their respective juris diction. The related departments of local peoples governments above the county level shall be responsible for monitoring and control of pollution of the environment by solid wastes within the scope of duties incumbent on them respectively.

The competent administrative department of the State Council in charge of construction and the competent administrative departments of local peoples governments above the county level in charge of environmental sanitation shall be responsible for monitoring and management of cleaning, collection, storage, transport and disposal of urban domestic garbage.

Chapter Monitoring and Management of Prevention and

Control of Pollution of the Environment by Solid Wastes

Article 11 The competent administrative department of the State Council in charge of environmental protection shall be responsible for establishment of the monitoring system for pollution of the environment by solid wastes, working out unified monitoring standard and building up the monitoring network in conjunction with other related departments.

Article 12 Construction work of projects that will produce industrial solid wastes and construction work of projects for storage and disposal solid wastes shall be implemented following the relevant rules and regulations of the state on management of environmental protection of construction projects.

The Report on Environmental Impact of the construction project shall include appraisal of the pollution of the environment and the environmental impact of the solid wastes that will be produced by the project. The competent department in charge of examining and approving construction projects shall grant approval to the Feasibility Study Report or Design Tasks for the project only after the Report on Environmental Impact of the project in which prevention and control of pollution of the environment are specified in detail is approved.

Article 13 The matching facilities necessary to be provided for prevention and control of pollution of the environment as specified in the Report on Environmental Impact of the construction project shall be designed, constructed and put into operation at the same time as the principal part of the project. The construction project can be put into production or use only when the facilities for prevention and control of pollution of the environment is accepted by the original competent administrative authorities in charge of environmental protection that examined and approved the Report on Environmental Impact. The acceptance of the facilities for prevention and control of pollution of the environment by solid wastes shall be conducted at the same time as that of the principal part of the project.

Article 14The competent administrative departments of local peoples governments above the county level in charge of environmental protection and other monitoring and management departments of prevention and control of pollution of the environment by solid wastes shall have the right to make on-site inspection of the units in relation with prevention and control of pollution of the environment by solid wastes located in areas under their respective jurisdiction in accordance with the scope of duties incumbent on them respectively. The inspected units shall reflect things as they really are and provide necessary information. The inspecting department shall keep technical and business secrets for the inspected units.

The inspectors shall show their credentials for making on-site inspections.

Chapter Prevention and Control of Pollution of

Environment by Solid Wastes

Section 1 General Rules

Article 15 All units and individuals that produce solid wastes shall take measures to prevent or reduce pollution of the environment by the solid wastes.

Article 16 The units and individuals that collect, store, transport, use and dispose of solid wastes shall take such measures to prevent pollution of the environment as those to prevent solid wastes from being kicked up, washed away or oozing out.

It is not allowed to discard or spill solid wastes along the way in the course of transportation of them.

Article 17 Finished products shall be put in packings that are easy to be recovered and reused, easy to be disposed of or easy to be resolved and absorbed in natural environment.

The producer, seller and user of the products shall recover and reuse the packings and containers of the products that can be recovered and reused in accordance with the relevant rules and regulations of the state.

Article 18 The state encourages all scientific-research and production units to develop and produce farm-oriented plastic film which is easy to be recovered and reused, easy to be disposed of or easy to be resolved and absorbed in natural environment.

The units and individuals using agricultural plastic film shall take measures to prevent or reduce pollution of the environment by the agricultural plastic film such as recovery and reuse of the same.

Article 19 Management and maintenance of the facilities, equipment and sites for collection, storage, transport and disposal of solid wastes shall be enhanced to ensure their normal operation and use of them.

Article 20 It is prohibited to arbitrarily close, set aside or remove the facilities, equipment and sites for prevention and control of pollution of the environment by solid wastes. Even when such closure, setting aside or removal is necessary, they can be closed, set aside or removed after approval from the competent administrative department of the local peoples government above the county level in charge of environmental protection is attained and appropriate measures shall be taken to prevent pollution of the environment.

Article 21 A specified time limit shall be set to request the enterprises and institution which caused serious pollution of the environment with solid wastes to improve the situation. The units which are requested to improve the situation within a specified time limit shall fulfil the tasks in time. To effect improvement of the environment within a specified time limit shall be determined by local peoples governments above the county level in accordance with their respective power specified by the State Council.

Article 22 It is prohibited to build facilities and sites for concentrated storage and disposal of industrial solid wastes and burial grounds for domestic garbage in natural reserves, scenic and historic resorts, source areas of drinking water and other areas requiring special protection delimited by the State Council and relevant competent departments of the State Council, the peoples governments of the provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the jurisdiction of the Central Government.

Article 23 If the solid wastes are to be transferred out of the administrative area of a province, autonomous region or municipality directly under the jurisdiction of the Central Government for storage or disposal, a corresponding report shall be given to the competent administrative department in charge of environmental protection of the peoples government at the province level within the jurisdiction of which comes the place from which the solid wastes are to be transferred and approval shall be obtained from the competent administrative department in charge of environmental protection of the peoples government at the province level within the jurisdiction of which comes the place to which the solid wastes are to be transferred.

Article 24 It is prohibited for any solid wastes from outside China to be dumped piled or disposes of within the territory of China.

Article 25 It is prohibited by the state to import any solid wastes that cant be used as raw materials and the state limits the import of solid wastes that can be used as raw materials.

The competent administrative department of the State Council in charge of environmental protection will, in conjunction with the competent department of the State Council in charge of foreign trade and economic co-operation, prepare, adjust and promulgate the catalog of the solid wastes that may be used as raw materials. The solid wastes that are included in the catalog will be banned from being imported.

The solid wastes that are incorporated in the above-described catalog and that are necessary to be imported as raw materials can be imported only after approval is attained from the competent department of the State Council after examination together with the competent department of the State Council in charge of foreign trade and economic co-operation.

The detailed procedures in this regard will be worked out by the State Council.

Section 2 Prevention and Control of Pollution of the

Environment by Industrial Solid Wastes

Article 26 The competent department of the State Council in charge of environmental protection shall, in conjunction with the competent comprehensive department in charge of overall management of economy and other departments of the State Council, define the pollution of the environment by solid wastes, make technical policies on prevention and control of the pollution of the environments by industrial solid wastes, organize promotion of advanced productive technology and equipment for prevention and control of pollution of the environment by industrial solid wastes.

Article 27 The competent department of the State Council in charge of comprehensive management of economy shall, in conjunction with other related departments of the State Council, organize researches, development and popularization of the productive technology and equipment with which the industrial solid wastes may be reduced and publish the name list of the backward technologies and equipment that shall be eliminated within a specified time as they produce the industrial solid wastes which may cause serious pollution of the environment.

The producers, sellers, importers or users shall stop producing, selling importing or using the equipment included in the above-described name list within the time specified by the competent department of the State Council in charge of overall management of economy in conjunction with other related departments of the State Council. The users of productive technologies shall stop using the technologies covered in the above-stated name list within the time specified by the competent department of the State Council in charge of overall management of economy in conjunction with other related departments of the State Council.

The equipment that have been eliminated as per the provision of this article shall not be transferred to others for use.

Article 28 The related departments of the local peoples governments above the county level shall prepare work plans for prevention and control of pollution of the environment by industrial solid wastes, popularize advanced productive technologies and equipment with which the quantity of industrial solid wastes that may cause pollution of the environment will be reduced and promote prevention and control of pollution of the environment by industrial solid wastes.

Article 29 The units that produce industrial solid wastes shall establish and improve the responsibility system for prevention and control of pollution of the environment and take measures to prevent and control pollution of the environment by industrial solid wastes.

Article 30 All enterprises and institutions shall reasonably select and use raw materials, energy sources and other resources and adopt advanced productive technologies and equipment to reduce the outturn of industrial solid wastes.

Article 31 The state institutes the industrial solid wastes report and registration system.

The units producing industrial solid wastes shall, in accordance with the related regulations of the competent administrative department of the State Council in charge of environmental protection provide to the competent administrative departments of local peoples governments above the county level the data on outturn quantity, flow direction, storage and disposal of the industrial solid wastes.

Article 32 Each enterprise or institution shall arrange the facilities and sites for storage or disposal of the industrial solid wastes that are produced by it and that cant be used or will not be used for the time being as per the related regulations of the competent administrative department of the State Council.

Article 33 Special facilities and sites shall be provided for open-air storage of smelting slag, Chemical residue, burnt coal cinder, waste ore, tailings and other industrial solid wastes.

Article 34 The facilities and sites for storage and disposal of industrial solid wastes shall be constructed in accordance with the standard for environmental protection laid down by the competent administrative department of the State Council in charge of environmental protection.

All units producing industrial solid wastes that fail to provide facilities and sites for storage or disposal of industrial solid wastes or fail to provide such facilities and sites as are up to the standard for environmental protection shall build up or modify such facilities and sites within a specified time. The units shall pay for waste discharge or take other measures for the newly produced industrial solid wastes that will pollute the environment in the specified time. If the units that pay for waste discharge complete the facilities and site for storage or disposal of industrial solid wastes or make such facilities and site up to the standard for environmental protection before expiration of the specified time, they may stop paying for waste discharge from the date when they have built up or completed modification of the facilities and sites. If the units fail to build up or complete modification of the facilities and site before expiration of the specified time, they shall continue to pay for waste discharge until the facilities and sites are built up or made up to standard through modification. The detailed procedures shall be worked out by the State Council. The money for waste discharge shall be used for prevention and control of pollution of the environment and shall not be diverted to other purposes.

Section 3 Prevention and Control of Pollution of the

Environment by Urban Domestic Garbage

Article 35 All units and individuals shall abide by the regulations of the competent administrative department of the municipal peoples governments in charge of environmental sanitation, dump and pile up urban domestic garbage at designated places. They shall not discard or pile up such rubbish arbitrarily.

Article 36 In storing, transporting and disposing of urban domestic garbage, the regulations of the state on environmental protection and urban environmental sanitation shall be abided by so as to prevent pollution of the environment.

Article 37 Urban domestic garbage shall be cleared up and transported to designated places in a timely manner. At the same time, efforts shall be made to effect reasonable use and harmless disposal of garbage.

Classified collection, storage, transport and disposal of urban domestic garbage shall be realized step by step.

Article 38 The urban peoples government shall improve the fuel structure and develop urban gas, natural gas, liquefied petroleum gas and other clean energy sources in a planned way.

The related departments of the urban peoples government shall conduct overall planning and reasonably arrange salvage network points to promote recovery and reuse of waste materials.

Article 39 The urban peoples government shall provide necessary accessory facilities for cleaning, collection, storage, transport and disposal of urban domestic garbage.

Article 40 In construction of facilities and sites for disposal of urban domestic garbage, the standard for urban environmental sanitation laid down by the competent administrative departments of the State Council in charge of environmental protection and construction shall be followed.

It is prohibited to arbitrarily close, set aside or remove the facilities and sites for disposal of urban domestic garbage. In case that it is necessary to close, set aside or remove such facilities and sites, they can be closed, set aside or removed only after approval is attained from the competent administrative departments in charge of environmental sanitation and environmental protection of the local peoples government above county level. Besides in closing, setting aside or removing such facilities and sites, measures shall be taken to prevent pollution of the environment.

Article 41 The construction unit shall clear away, transport and dispose of the garbage produced in the course of architectural construction and take measures to prevent pollution of the environment.

Chapter IV Special Provisions for Prevention and

Control of Pollution of the Environment by Hazardous Wastes

Article 42 The provisions of this chapter are applicable to the prevention and control of pollution of the environment by hazardous wastes. To the pollution of the environment by other wastes not covered in this chapter, other provisions of this Law shall apply.

Article 43 The competent administrative department of the State Council in charge of environmental protection shall, in conjunction with the competent department of the State Council, work out the name list of hazardous materials, lay down a unified standard, method and marks for identification of hazardous wastes.

Article 44 Identification marks shall be made on containers and packings of hazardous wastes as well as on facilities and sites for collection, storage, transport and disposal of hazardous wastes.

Article 45 The units producing hazardous wastes shall give report to and register with relevant authorities in accordance with the relevant regulations of the state.

Article 46 The units producing hazardous wastes shall dispose wastes in accordance with the relevant regulations of the state. If the units dont dispose wastes, the competent department of the local peoples government above the county level in charge of environmental protection shall order them to correct within a specified time. If the units fail to dispose the wastes or the disposal of the wastes carried out by them doesnt comply with the relevant regulations of the state upon expiration of the specified time, the competent department of the local peoples government above the county level shall dispose the wastes for them and the expenses for disposal thus occurred shall be borne by the units that produced the wastes.

Article 47 The urban peoples government shall organize construction of facilities for concentrated disposal of wastes.

Article 48 If the unit that produces hazardous wastes cant dispose them by burial in a way complying with the relevant regulations of the state, it shall pay for discharge of hazardous wastes. The detailed procedures for collection of hazardous wastes shall be worked out by the State Council.

The money collected for discharge of hazardous wastes shall be used for prevention and control of pollution of the environment by hazardous wastes. It shall not be diverted to other purposes.

Article 49 The units to be engaged in such operating activities as collection, storage and disposal of hazardous wastes shall apply for business license with the competent department of the local peoples government above the county level in charge of environmental protection. The detailed management procedures shall be worked out by the State Council.

It is prohibited to be engaged in operating activities of collecting, storing and disposing hazardous wastes without business license or not in accordance with the provisions of the business license.

It is prohibited to provide or trust hazardous wastes to any units without business licenses for collection, storage and disposal of such wastes.

Article 50 Collection and storage of hazardous wastes shall be carried out in accordance with different groups classified as per their characters. It is prohibited to collect, store, transport and dispose in a mixed way dangerous wastes that are incompatible in nature and that havent been treated for the purpose of ensuring safety.

It is prohibited to mix hazardous wastes with non-hazardous wastes for storage.

Article 51 In case hazardous wastes need to be transferred, it is necessary to complete hazardous-waste transfer bills in duplicate as per the relevant regulations of the state and give corresponding reports to competent departments of the local peoples governments above the county level of both the place from which the hazardous wastes are transferred and that where the transferred hazardous wastes are accepted.

Article 52 For transport of hazardous wastes, it is necessary to take measures for prevention of pollution of the environment and to abide by the relevant regulations of the state on management of transport of hazardous cargo.

It is prohibited to transport hazardous wastes and passengers with the same means of transportation.

Article 53 The sites, equipment, facilities and containers, packing and other materials for collection, storage, transport and disposal of hazardous wastes can be used for any other purpose only after they have been properly treated to eliminate pollution.

Article 54 The personnel to be directly engaged in collection, storage, transport, utilization and disposal of hazardous wastes shall receive professional training and they can take on such jobs only after they have passed the related examination.

Article 55 The units producing, collecting, storing, transporting, utilizing and disposing hazardous wastes shall specify emergency measures and preventive measures to be taken upon occurrence of any accidents. Should any such accidents occur, a report shall be promptly given to the competent department of the local peoples government above the county level in charge of environment, which shall make inspections as soon as possible.

Article 56 The unit that causes serious pollution of the environment by hazardous wastes due to occurrence of an accident or any other incident that arises suddenly, shall take immediate measures to eliminate or reduce the hazard of pollution of the environment, promptly give notices to all the units and residents that may be subject to the hazard of pollution, give reports to the competent department in charge of environmental protection and other related department of the local peoples government above the county level and subject itself to any investigation and punishment.

Article 57 When it happens that hazardous wastes seriously pollutes the environment and threatens the safety of the residents lives and property, the competent department of the local peoples government above the county level in charge of environmental protection shall inform the peoples government at the same level, which will then take effective measures to eliminate or reduce the hazard.

Article 58 It is prohibited to pass through the territory of the Peoples Republic of China for the purpose of transferring hazardous wastes.

Chapter Legal Responsibilities

Article 59 In case that any unit or individual violates this law in any of the following forms, the competent department of the local peoples government in charge of environmental protection will order it or him to correct and impose a fine on it or him.

(1) Failing to report to or register with competent authorities industrial solid wastes or hazardous wastes in accordance with the relevant regulations of the state or practicing fraud in reporting or registration;

(2) Rejecting on-site inspections by the competent department in charge of environmental protection or employing trickery when being inspected;

(3) Failing to pay for waste discharge in accordance with the relevant regulations of the state;

(4) Transferring to others for further use the equipment included in the name list of equipment that shall be eliminated within a specified time;

(5) Arbitrarily closing, setting aside or removing facilities and sites for prevention and control of pollution of the environment by solid wastes;

(6) Building facilities for concentrated storage, disposal of industrial solid wastes or burial grounds for domestic garbage in nature reserves, scenic and historic resorts, drinking water sources or other areas requiring protection;

(7) Arbitrarily transferring solid wastes out of the jurisdiction area of the original province, autonomous region or municipality directly under the jurisdiction of the Central Government for storage or disposal.

In case of Article 59 (1) or (2), a fine below 10,000 Yuan shall be imposed; in case of article 59 (3), a fine equivalent to 50% of the expenses for waste discharge payable shall be imposed and in case of Article 59 (4), (5), (6) or (7), a fine below 50,000 Yuan shall be imposed.

Article 60 If any unit or individual violates this Law by producing, selling, importing or using the eliminated equipment or using eliminated productive technology, the competent department of the local peoples government above the county level in charge of comprehensive management of economy shall order it or him to correct. If the case is serious, the competent department of the local peoples government above the county level in charge of comprehensive management of economy shall make a proposal about punishment and request the peoples government at the same level to order it or him to suspend its or his business or close down in accordance with the power specified by the State Council.

Article 61 If any construction project fails to construct the facilities for prevention and control of pollution of the environment by solid wastes or the said facilities are put into production or use without passing the acceptance test, the competent department in charge of environmental protection that originally examined and approved the Report on Environmental Impact of the construction project shall order it to stop production or usage and may impose a fine below 100,000 Yuan upon it.

Article 62 For any enterprise or institute that has been ordered to make improvement within a specified time and that fails to fulfil the task of improvement upon expiration of the specified time, a fine below 100,000 Yuan may be imposed on it or it may be ordered to suspend its business or close down.

The punishment of fining shall be determined by the competent department in charge of environmental protection and ordering the unit violating the Law to suspend its business or close down shall be determined by the local peoples government above the county level in accordance with the power specified by the State Council.

Article 63 If any unit violates the provisions of this Law in storing, transporting or disposing urban domestic garbage, it shall be punished in accordance with the relevant regulations of the State Council on environmental protection and urban environmental sanitation.

Article 64 If any unit or individual violates the provision of this Law on prevention and control of pollution of the environment by hazardous wastes in any of the following ways, the unit or individual shall be ordered to stop such breaching action and make correction within a specified time by the competent department of the local peoples government above the county level in charge of environmental protection and a fine below 50,000 Yuan may be imposed on that unit or individual:

(1) Failing to make any identification marks of hazardous wastes;

(2) Providing or trusting hazardous wastes to units without business licenses for collection, storage or disposal;

(3) Failing to complete forms in duplicate for transfer of hazardous wastes or to give corresponding reports to the competent departments of the local peoples governments above the county level in charge of environmental protection in the place which hazardous wastes are transferred from and in that where the hazardous wastes are accepted in accordance with the relevant regulations of the state;

(4) Mixing hazardous wastes with non-hazardous wastes for storage;

(5) Collecting, storing, transporting, disposing in a mixed manner hazardous wastes with incompatible characters without conducting any treatment to ensure safety;

(6) Transporting hazardous wastes and passengers by the same means of transportation;

(7) The producer of hazardous wastes fails to dispose the hazardous wastes produced by it or refuses to bear the cost for disposal;

(8) Diverting the sites, facilities, equipment and containers, packing and other materials originally used for collection, storage, transport and disposal of hazardous wastes to other uses without conducting any treatment to eliminate pollution.

Article 65 If any unit or individual undertakes the business and activities of collection, storage and disposal of hazardous wastes without business licenses or not in accordance with the provisions of the business licenses, the competent department of the local peoples government above the county level in charge of environmental protection shall order the unit or individual to stop such breaching actions, confiscate its or his illicit gains and may at the same time impose a fine below the amount of illicit gains on the unit or individual.

For any unit or individual failing to undertake the above-described activities in accordance with the provisions of the business license, the organ that issued the business license may revoke it.

Article 66 If any unit or individual violates this Law and dumps, piles, deposes solid wastes from outside China in the territory of China or arbitrarily imports solid wastes and uses it as raw materials without gaining approval from the competent department of the State Council, the customs house shall order the unit or individual to return the solid wastes to the place where they come from and may at the same time impose a fine above 100,000 Yuan and below 1,000,000 Yuan on the unit or individual. If the unit or individual escaped the supervision of the customs house and committed the crime of smuggling, the unit or individual shall be investigated to establish the criminal responsibility according to law.

The unit or individual that has imported solid wastes that cant be used as raw materials in the name of making use of raw materials shall be punished in accordance with the provisions above.

Article 67 Any unit or individual that violates this Law and tried to transfer hazardous wastes via the territory of China shall be ordered to return the solid wastes to the place where they came from by the customs house and at the same time a fine above 50,000 Yuan and below 500,000 Yuan may be imposed on the unit or individual.

Article 68 For the solid wastes that have illegally entered the territory of China, the competent department of the peoples government above the province level shall make a proposal about how to handle the matter to the related customs house, which shall then make the decision on punishment in accordance with Article 67 of this Law. If the solid wastes have already caused pollution of the environment, the competent department of the peoples government above the province level shall order the importer to eliminate the pollution.

Article 69 If any unit or individual has violated this Law and caused pollution of the environment, the competent department of the local peoples government above the county level in charge of environmental protection shall impose a fine below 100,000 Yuan on the unit or individual. If heavy losses resulted from the pollution, the fine shall be determined at the rate of 30% of the direct losses. However the max. fine amount shall not exceed 500,000 Yuan. For the person-in-charge and other personnel bearing direct responsibilities for the event of pollution, administrative disciplinary measures shall be taken by the units to which they belong or competent government authorities against them.

Article 70 All fine shall be turned over to the national treasury. It shall not be withheld by any unit or individual.

Article 71 The units and individuals that suffered from injuries due to pollution caused by solid wastes shall have the right to claim for indemnity of losses in accordance with law.

The disputes over the liability for damage and damage amount may, in accordance with the request of the party litigant, be settled through mediation by the competent department in charge of environmental protection or other monitoring and management departments in charge of prevention and control of pollution of the environment by solid wastes. In case that the disputes cant be settled through mediation, the party litigant may initiate legal proceedings at the peoples court. The party litigant may also directly bring the case to the peoples court.

Article 72 If any unit or individual has violated this Law and caused grave pollution of the environment by collection, storage or disposal of hazardous wastes which resulted in serious consequences of heavy losses of public and private property or personal injury, the unit or individual shall be investigated to establish criminal responsibilities in the light of the provision of Article 115 or 187 of the Criminal Law of the Peoples Republic of China.

If a unit committed crime as described in this article, a fine shall be imposed on it and the person-in-charge and other personnel bearing direct liability for the crime shall be investigated to establish criminal responsibilities of them.

Article 73 If any monitoring and management personnel for prevention and control of pollution of the environment by solid wastes committed crime by abuse of authority, neglect of duty, bending the law for the benefit of relatives or friends, he shall be investigated to establish the criminal responsibility of him in accordance with law. If the personnels behaviour hasnt constituted a crime, administrative disciplinary measure shall be taken against him according to law.

Chapter Supplementary Provisions

Article 74 The definitions of the following terms used in this Law shall be:

(1) Solid wastes: shall mean the discarded solid and semisolid materials that are produced during production, construction, daily life and other activities and that may contaminate the environment.

(2) Industrial solid wastes: shall mean the solid wastes that are produced during the industrial, transportation and other productive activities.

(3) Urban domestic garbage: shall mean the solid wastes produced during urban daily life or activities carried out for the purpose of providing service to urban daily life and the solid wastes that are considered to be urban domestic garbage in accordance with the stipulation of the relevant laws and administrative regulations.

(4) Hazardous wastes: shall mean the wastes that are included in the name list of hazardous wastes of the state or the wastes that are held to be of hazardous characters on the basis of the identification standard and method specified by the state.

(5) Disposal: shall mean the activities carried out to lessen the quantity of solid wastes already generated, reduce the volume of solid wastes, reduce or eliminate the hazardous components thereof by burning the solid wastes or using other methods to change the physical, chemical and biological characters of the solid wastes or the activities carried out to finally put solid wastes at places or in facilities complying with the requirements of the relevant regulations on environmental protection and ruling out the possibility and need of recovery.

Article 75 This Law is also applicable to prevention and control of pollution by liquid-state wastes and gaseous wastes placed in containers. To waste water drained into the water body and waste gas discharged into the atmosphere, however, the related laws are applicable, but this Law shall not be applicable.

Article 76 If any international treaty to which the Peoples Republic of China is a signatory state or of which the Peoples Republic of China is a participant and this Law have different provisions the provisions of the international treaty shall prevail except the clauses about which the Peoples Republic of China declared her reservations.

Article 77 This Law shall come into force as from the date of April 1, 1996.

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