Transjurisdictional Water Pollution Management in China: The Legal and Institutional Framework

Abstract

Transjurisdictional water pollution is a major technical and legal problem for the Chinese government and arises from the many problems in the current legal, institutional, and operational framework for water resources and for water environment, planning, and management. The law for pollution and the water law must be seen within the context of the current transition in China from the traditional “rule by law” to “rule of law.” Nevertheless, the common view in China is that each law gives “power” to the State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA) for pollution and the Ministry of Water Resources (MWR) for water quantity management. The administrative framework is described, and the role of local government is highlighted as a major reason for failures in enforcing environmental laws. River basin organizations have little administrative power except for flood emergencies and are not mandated to manage river basins in a holistic context. We outline a variety of deficiencies and recommend corrective actions in the Water Pollution Prevention and Control (WPPC) Law. These include such issues as a lack of definition of terminology, an inadequate definition of pollution, a lack of trans-boundary water quality standards, problems of administrative transparency, access to data and information, and several technical issues that cause friction between the two ministries. At the highest level, there is need for a permanent inter-ministerial coordination arrangement to deal with the harmonization of laws, institutional arrangements and operational practices between SEPA and MWR.