On the morning of August 29, 2015, the 16th meeting of the Standing Committee of the 12th National People's Congress held a joint group meeting to inquire about the report of the law enforcement inspection team of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress on inspecting the implementation of the law of the people's Republic of China on the prevention and control of water pollution. Chairman Zhang Dejiang attended and commented. Wang Yang, the leader of the State Council, led the team to answer questions. Chen Jining, the Ministry of environmental protection, Lou Jiwei, the Ministry of Finance and Wan Gang, the Ministry of science and technology answered questions. The joint group meeting was chaired by Shen Yueyue, vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress.

At this meeting, members of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress discussed how the State Council can accelerate the prevention and control of water pollution, how to implement the principle of "prevention first", how to ensure the current safety of rural drinking water in China, how to strengthen the prevention and control of industrial pollution, how to effectively solve the problems of agricultural non-point source pollution and related groundwater pollution, and how to deal with the problems of drinking water safety caused by heavy metal pollution How to prevent the further degradation of wetlands and the relevant considerations of the introduction of value-added tax policy. The principal leaders of the nine departments attending the meeting answered the above questions.

Wang Yang said that the task of water pollution prevention and control is still very arduous. It requires not only the fundamental transformation of development concept and development mode, but also the breakthrough of science and technology, as well as the strong support of investment and law. For water pollution control, the State Council will focus on the source, treatment, reform, guarantee and implementation in the next step. Chen Jining believes that prevention is the first priority of environmental protection, but there are some problems in the implementation of prevention, such as difficult structural adjustment, difficult implementation of planning EIA, inadequate project EIA and incomplete supporting policies. The next step will be to optimize the spatial layout and strict regional environmental access, accelerate the optimization and adjustment of industrial structure, and implement the responsibility of local government project approval Improve the system construction of relevant policies and regulations. Miao Wei pointed out that industries with high energy consumption and high pollution lack the support of policies and funds, and the overall water-saving work of industry is relatively weak. The next step will be to improve the industry management system, optimize the spatial layout, optimize the industrial structure, effectively resolve excess capacity, strengthen water conservation and pollution reduction, fully implement green manufacturing, improve support policies, and actively promote the relocation and transformation of heavily polluting enterprises. Han Changfu believes that agricultural non-point source pollution is very reversible, which is different from other pollution. He has methods and confidence to solve this problem. During the 13th Five Year Plan period, five measures will be taken, namely: reducing substitution and implementing zero growth action of chemical fertilizer; Reduce and control the harm and implement the action of zero growth of pesticides; Combine planting and breeding, and vigorously promote the treatment of livestock and poultry manure; Five modernizations go hand in hand and comprehensively carry out straw resource utilization; Comprehensive measures should be taken to solve agricultural film pollution. Wang Yi said that in the next step, the Ministry of finance, together with the State Administration of Taxation, the national development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of housing and urban rural development, including industry associations, will conduct some in-depth research on the implementation of circular 78 in enterprises, especially waste recycling enterprises, understand the actual situation, make a comprehensive assessment, and put forward solutions to problems according to the situation, so as to better reduce the impact.

At the end of the meeting, Wang Yang concluded that the issues raised at the meeting grasped the key and key points of water pollution control, which not only reflected the attention and concern of the whole society for water pollution control, but also reflected that the members' research and Analysis on this issue were very profound, and played an important role in promoting the further improvement of the State Council and relevant departments of the State Council.

Background information: in order to fully understand the implementation of the water pollution prevention and control law and further strengthen the work of water pollution prevention and control, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress will carry out law enforcement inspection of the water pollution prevention and control law throughout the country. The law enforcement inspection team will be divided into four to five teams and will go to Inner Mongolia, Heilongjiang, Anhui, Shandong, Hubei, Guangxi and other places for inspection from May to June this year. At the same time, the standing committees of the people's congresses of other provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities were entrusted to inspect the implementation of the water pollution prevention and control law in their respective administrative regions. In late August, the 16th meeting of the Standing Committee of the 12th National People's Congress will hear a report on the inspection of the implementation of the water pollution prevention and control law and conduct special inquiries.

The site content is summarized as follows:

Wang Yang: the State Council will promote the prevention and control of water pollution from five aspects

[question] Gu Shengzu: this year, I went to the Yangtze River economic belt with vice chairman Chen Changzhi. We are very worried about water security in the Yangtze River Basin. The Yangtze River is surrounded by pollution sources and threatened by dangerous chemicals. There are more than 400000 chemical enterprises, five iron and steel bases and seven oil refineries along the coast. More than 30 billion tons of sewage are discharged to the Yangtze River every year. The situation of groundwater is more severe. My question is, what measures and arrangements does the State Council have for accelerating the prevention and control of water pollution in the next step?

[answer] Wang Yang: while fully affirming the achievements of China's water pollution prevention and control in recent years, the law enforcement inspection report also pointed out some major problems, including the data just put forward by member Gu Shengzu, which reflect the reality of China's water pollution problems. In view of these problems, the State Council will strive to do a good job in the following five aspects in accelerating the prevention and control of water pollution in the next step.

First, grasp the source and make every effort to improve the level of green economic and social development. Next, we will take the prevention and control of water pollution as an important part of the 13th five year plan, seriously grasp the transformation of development mode, and fundamentally solve the problem of "people causing water diseases". At the same time, when formulating industrial policies, development plans, investment plans and fiscal, tax, financial and price policies, fully reflect the requirements of water environmental protection, promote the deep integration of economic and social development policies and environmental protection policies, and continuously improve the prevention and control level of water pollution.

Second, pay attention to governance and seriously solve the outstanding problems in the prevention and control of water pollution. We will carry out in-depth treatment actions in combination with the prominent problems in the prevention and control of water pollution found in this law enforcement inspection. We should earnestly strengthen the protection of drinking water sources, clean up illegal buildings and sewage outlets in drinking water source protection areas according to law, and ensure the safety of drinking water for urban and rural residents. We should formulate and implement a national plan for the comprehensive prevention and control of agricultural non-point source pollution, vigorously promote low toxic and low residue pesticides, improve the utilization efficiency of chemical fertilizer, scientifically delimit no breeding areas for livestock and poultry breeding, strengthen the resource utilization of livestock and poultry manure, and prevent and control livestock and poultry and aquaculture pollution. We should pay close attention to the special rectification of ten key industries such as papermaking, coking and nitrogen fertilizer, promote the centralized treatment of water pollution in industrial parks, and do a good job in the prevention and control of industrial pollution such as heavy metals and organic matter along rivers and lakes. We should speed up the construction of urban sewage treatment and other infrastructure, and improve the "black and smelly water body" of the city. In addition, establish the concept of "water saving is pollution control", implement the strictest water resources management system, control the total amount of water, improve water efficiency, strengthen water regulation, and ensure the ecological flow of important rivers.

Third, pay attention to reform and form a management system with the improvement of water environment quality as the core. Since this year, the CPC Central Committee and the State Council have issued important documents such as the opinions on accelerating the construction of ecological civilization and the action plan for the prevention and control of water pollution. Recently, they are organizing the preparation of an overall plan for the reform of the ecological civilization system, so as to promote the "two wheels" of the construction of ecological civilization and the reform of the system, including the prevention and control of water pollution. Through reform, we will strive to establish a monitoring, evaluation and early warning system for the carrying capacity of water resources and water environment, and implement the requirements of determining the city, land, people and production with water. We should improve the water ecological environment function zoning management system and realize the fine management of water pollution prevention and control space. Establish a discussion and coordination mechanism for water environment protection and promote regional cooperation in river basins. We will continue to optimize and integrate the existing water environment management system and accelerate the formulation and promulgation of supporting regulations such as pollutant discharge permits. Use economic, administrative and legal means to strengthen the incentive and restraint mechanism.

Fourth, pay attention to security and strengthen all-round support from policies, science and technology and funds. We will continue to strengthen financial investment in water pollution, promote the reform of taxes and fees related to water resources, and promote diversified financing and third-party governance. Promote the compensation of water environment, study and establish compensation guidance funds, expand the pilot of horizontal ecological compensation in the upstream and downstream of the river basin, and implement the incentive policy of water-saving and environmental protection leaders. We will continue to strengthen scientific research and technological popularization of water pollution control. Establish a water environment monitoring network with comprehensive sites, national networking, technical early warning and accountability according to law, strengthen grass-roots supervision and continuously improve the ability of environmental supervision. Deepen international exchanges and practical cooperation, fully learn from foreign advanced experience, technical means and applicable legal systems, and comprehensively improve the prevention and control level of water pollution in China.

Fifth, we should pay attention to implementation and improve the governance system with clear responsibilities and joint management. We should further give play to the baton role of objective assessment, study the relevant objectives of water environment quality as binding indicators, explore the preparation of natural resource balance sheet, implement the audit of natural resource assets for leading cadres, strictly enforce the accountability system, and earnestly implement the legal responsibility of local governments for water environment quality. We should earnestly implement the main responsibility of pollutant discharge units, strengthen the construction and operation management of pollution control facilities, and disclose pollutant discharge information according to law. Strengthen citizens' environmental awareness, promote public participation, improve the reporting system and strengthen social supervision.

Chen Jining: it is not easy to implement "prevention first", and four measures will be taken

[question] Liu Depei: in the work of water pollution prevention and control, the basic principle is "prevention first, combination of prevention and control". This principle has been clearly stipulated in the water pollution prevention and control law. In the inspection of law enforcement, it is found that the problem of emphasizing end treatment and neglecting source prevention is more prominent. My question is, how to implement the principle of "prevention first" and what measures and methods are there in practical work?

[answer] Chen Jining: prevention of water pollution is the first and the last. Prevention is the first priority of environmental protection. Compared with prevention, treatment is an explicit index. Compared with treatment, prevention is easy to be ignored. The prevention of environmental protection mainly includes five aspects, including adjusting the economic structure, optimizing the industrial spatial layout, strictly enforcing the access of construction projects, establishing guidance standards, and promoting cleaner production and circular economy. In our work, we also found that there are some problems in implementing prevention first.

1、 Structural adjustment is difficult to deepen. Structural adjustment and environmental protection are only a means and purpose, not all. There are some difficulties and concerns in changing the mode of economic development in many places. For example, the short-term impact on GDP and taxes is not very enthusiastic about structural adjustment, and there are not many means of adjustment. 2、 It is difficult to implement the planning EIA. At present, it is difficult for our planning EIA opinions to form rigid constraints, and there is no accountability mechanism. Therefore, the phenomenon of approval before evaluation is common in planning EIA. For example, in the overall planning of 111 coal mining areas in China, about 45% of the planning EIA lags behind the planning approval, and the results of the planning EIA are often selectively implemented, or some clear requirements put forward by the planning EIA are avoided through planning adjustment. 3、 The environmental impact assessment of the project is not in place. As the legal punishment of the project EIA is too light, it is also quite difficult to implement. In some places, the project construction is not strictly controlled, which reduces the entry threshold of enterprises. Violations such as construction before approval and inconsistent approval are common. In the first half of the year, the national environmental protection inspection was carried out, and it was found that more than 30000 enterprises had the problem of illegal construction projects. 4、 Supporting policies are not complete. Lack of incentives for enterprises to carry out technological upgrading.

Since the 18th CPC National Congress, the CPC Central Committee and the State Council have put forward a series of new ideas, new viewpoints and requirements. In order to implement the decision-making and deployment of the Central Committee and the State Council, the Ministry of environmental protection has drafted the "ten articles on water" together with relevant departments, and the "ten articles on water" has been officially released in April this year. The "ten water articles" put forward a number of measures such as adjusting the industrial structure, optimizing the spatial layout, promoting circular development and promoting scientific and technological progress. There are 238 measures in the "ten water articles", of which 105 are preventive measures. Therefore, we hope to put prevention in a prominent position in the implementation of the "ten water articles".

Since the 18th CPC National Congress, the CPC Central Committee and the State Council have put forward a series of new ideas, new viewpoints and requirements. In order to implement the decision-making and deployment of the Central Committee and the State Council, the Ministry of environmental protection has drafted the "ten articles on water" together with relevant departments, and the "ten articles on water" has been officially released in April this year. The "ten water articles" put forward a number of measures such as adjusting the industrial structure, optimizing the spatial layout, promoting circular development and promoting scientific and technological progress. There are 238 measures in the "ten water articles", of which 105 are preventive measures. Therefore, we hope to put prevention in a prominent position in the implementation of the "ten water articles".

Next, we will do a good job in four aspects to highlight the role of prevention. First, we should fully implement the opinions of the Party Central Committee and the State Council on accelerating the construction of ecological civilization, further optimize the spatial layout and strictly enforce regional environmental access. It includes four aspects of work. 1. We should control the red line of space, take the water resources and water environment carrying capacity as the rigid constraint of regional development, delimit the red line of ecological protection through planning EIA and strategic EIA, clarify the spatial positioning, ecological function positioning and access conditions of ecological development, and optimize the layout of production and living ecological space and the development control boundary. 2. Set the red line of the total amount. This total amount refers to the total amount of pollutant discharge, which is to establish the total amount management mode of regional pollutant industry discharge, regulate the development scale and intensity within the region by controlling the total amount of pollutants in the regional industry, promote industrial upgrading and structural adjustment, and give local governments some autonomy at the same time. 3. We should clarify the red line of access, implement the source control and differentiated management of industrial access, establish and improve the planning of environmental and spatial control of the layout of chemical industry near the sea, river and river, and strengthen the environmental assessment management of Port Industrial Zone, heavy chemical base and "two high and one capital" industry planning. Formulate special emission limits for water pollutants for key river basins and regions, strictly enforce the access regulations of projects, formulate a negative list according to the actual situation, clarify the list of new industries prohibited from access, and encourage the formulation of stricter local standards according to the water quality objectives determined by the state and the requirements of water body functional zoning, so as to force enterprises to transform and upgrade and withdraw from the industry. 4. Carry out monitoring and early warning of water environment carrying capacity, organize and complete the evaluation of water environment carrying capacity in cities and counties by 2020, and issue early warning information. Where the water environment carrying capacity has been close to or broken through, further improve the access threshold.

Second, we should promote the optimization and adjustment of the industrial structure. There are also four tasks. 1. To eliminate backward production capacity, we should use environmental protection standards, enforce legal means, highlight the market mechanism, and comprehensively promote the elimination of backward production capacity and resolve excess production capacity. We also have a goal to ban small-scale papermaking, tanning, printing and dyeing and other pollution projects that do not meet the national industrial policies by the end of 2016, which is also the requirement of the water pollution prevention and control law. 2. It is necessary to strictly control the new capacity, implement the replacement method of equal capacity reduction for the new surplus capacity, support local governments to carry out capacity replacement index transactions guided by the government, voluntary and market-oriented operation of enterprises, and guide the concentration of effective capacity to advantageous enterprises or regions. 3. Implement the clean transformation of key polluting industries. For example, the paper industry should promote the transformation of pulp chlorine free bleaching, and encourage large paper mills to carry out alkali recovery. 4. Vigorously develop energy conservation and environmental protection industry, information industry, biological industry, new energy and other strategic emerging industries, and promote green manufacturing.

3、 In terms of prevention, we should implement the responsibility of project approval of local governments. It mainly includes two aspects. First, urge local governments to increase the investigation and punishment of environmental impact assessment violations such as construction without approval and unauthorized change. For the problem of construction without approval, all localities should implement territorial responsibility. We have started a comprehensive investigation and clean-up, so as to achieve the perfection, rectification and shutdown of the rectification and shutdown. The Ministry of environmental protection should conduct public interviews for places that are negligent in performing their duties and ineffective in supervision, and some places should be subject to regional approval restrictions according to the situation. Second, we should seriously investigate the responsibility of local governments for administrative examination and approval, and investigate the responsibility for the examination and approval acts that do not meet the requirements of environmental protection, so as to move the ecological environment damage threshold forward. For those who violate the positioning of the main functional areas or break through the ecological red line, we should investigate the relevant responsible persons for life, and the central documents also have corresponding provisions.

Finally, we should improve the system construction of relevant policies and regulations. There are three aspects of work. First, we should promote the revision of laws and regulations such as the water pollution prevention law and the environmental impact assessment law. Increase the punishment for illegal acts of construction projects such as construction without approval, strengthen the legal status and rigid constraints of planning EIA, clarify legal responsibilities and improve the accountability mechanism. Second, we should sort out the current laws, regulations and provisions. According to the requirements of the State Council for changing functions, we should abolish those that are not conducive to source prevention. At present, this work has been done in the environmental protection inspection. We should abolish and correct the local policies in some places, such as listing protection, fully reflect the requirements of prevention first in industrial policies and regional planning, and establish and improve the systems of environmental protection leaders. Finally, we should advocate and establish a climate of protection priority in the whole society, so that every enterprise and individual can change from a bystander of environmental protection to a preventer and supervisor of environmental protection.

[summary] Wang Yang: just now, you have raised a lot of questions from different angles. These questions have grasped the key and key points of water pollution control. I personally feel that they not only reflect the members, but also reflect the attention and concern of the whole society for water pollution control through the members, but also reflect the members' profound research and Analysis on this issue, It plays a very important role in promoting the further improvement of the work of the State Council and relevant departments of the State Council. During today's inquiry, both I and comrades from relevant departments of the State Council answered your questions. Some of these answers may be quite satisfied, and some may not be completely satisfied. However, I think these answers truly reflect the current situation of water pollution prevention and control. Some aspects are better, some aspects are not good enough, or worse. Next step, The State Council and relevant departments should earnestly learn from the opinions put forward by the members and study and do a good job.

The National People's congress carries out supervision over government work according to law, and all departments of the State Council still have pressure, but I believe this is also a driving force, because supervision itself is another form of support. The NPC Standing Committee carries out law enforcement inspections and special inquiries to support the work of the government's law enforcement departments and give full play to the power of the law. The NPC's supervision according to law has made the whole society realize that the law is a "tiger with teeth", and the law enforcement departments must spare no effort to strengthen law enforcement, so that the law must be obeyed, the law must be strictly enforced, and the law breakers must be prosecuted. Otherwise, if the law enforcement departments have teeth and don't bite the violators, the law will investigate the responsibility of the law enforcers, which is the due meaning of governing the country according to law. Finally, on behalf of the State Council, Premier Keqiang and vice premier Korea, I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to the members of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress for their concern and support for the prevention and control of water pollution.