9.2 Institutional Arrangements
205
9.2 Institutional Arrangements
In China’s centralized system, after the 2018 governmental restructure, regulatory
authorities involved in water quality management at the central level, including MEE,
MWR, MOHURD, and NHC (the former Ministry of Health), were permitted to have
their agencies at all different administrative levels.
As the organ of the State Council in charge of ecological and environmental protection, all the functions of the MEE are directly or indirectly related to supervision
and management of water quality, including establishing water quality management,
implementing national emission reduction target systems, supervision and management of national emission reduction targets and water quality monitoring, and so
forth (see Sect. 3.5). The Department of Water Ecology and Environment of MEE
is in charge of supervision and management of the water environment in China. The
functions of the Department include the following
1 :
• Drafting and organizing the implementation of water body pollution control policies, plans, laws, administrative regulations, departmental rules, standards, and
guidelines.
• Drafting water function zoning and near-shore coastal sea environmental function zones, calculating water environmental holding capacity, and conducting
assessments of water environmental holding capacity.
• Drafting and supervising implementation of key state river basin, sea, and groundwater water pollution control plans; establishing and organizing implementation
of water quality assessment systems for transboundary waters (provincial and
national boundaries).
• Supervising the environmental protection of drinkable water sources and pollution
control for coastal engineering, territorial source pollution, shipbreaking, and so
on.
• Maintaining detailed records on water pollutant discharge permits, total discharge
volume control, and pollutant discharge rights trading.
• Coordinating rural environmental protection efforts to guide rural environmental comprehensive control, organize eco-agriculture development, and favor
agricultural non-point source pollution control.
Before 2018, MWR was in charge of water resources protection and water bodies
in terms of water quality management. In 2018, a governmental restructure handed
all key functions related to water quality management to the MEE, including water
function zoning, drinking water sources protection, and groundwater protection.
After 2018, MWR was placed in charge of organizing to formulate and implement
water resources protection plans, guiding related drinking water source protection
works, participating to formulate water function zoning, and guiding management
of discharge outlets into water body settings.
1 https://www.mee.gov.cn/zjhb/bjg/shj/.
205
9.2 Institutional Arrangements
In China’s centralized system, after the 2018 governmental restructure, regulatory
authorities involved in water quality management at the central level, including MEE,
MWR, MOHURD, and NHC (the former Ministry of Health), were permitted to have
their agencies at all different administrative levels.
As the organ of the State Council in charge of ecological and environmental protection, all the functions of the MEE are directly or indirectly related to supervision
and management of water quality, including establishing water quality management,
implementing national emission reduction target systems, supervision and management of national emission reduction targets and water quality monitoring, and so
forth (see Sect. 3.5). The Department of Water Ecology and Environment of MEE
is in charge of supervision and management of the water environment in China. The
functions of the Department include the following
1 :
• Drafting and organizing the implementation of water body pollution control policies, plans, laws, administrative regulations, departmental rules, standards, and
guidelines.
• Drafting water function zoning and near-shore coastal sea environmental function zones, calculating water environmental holding capacity, and conducting
assessments of water environmental holding capacity.
• Drafting and supervising implementation of key state river basin, sea, and groundwater water pollution control plans; establishing and organizing implementation
of water quality assessment systems for transboundary waters (provincial and
national boundaries).
• Supervising the environmental protection of drinkable water sources and pollution
control for coastal engineering, territorial source pollution, shipbreaking, and so
on.
• Maintaining detailed records on water pollutant discharge permits, total discharge
volume control, and pollutant discharge rights trading.
• Coordinating rural environmental protection efforts to guide rural environmental comprehensive control, organize eco-agriculture development, and favor
agricultural non-point source pollution control.
Before 2018, MWR was in charge of water resources protection and water bodies
in terms of water quality management. In 2018, a governmental restructure handed
all key functions related to water quality management to the MEE, including water
function zoning, drinking water sources protection, and groundwater protection.
After 2018, MWR was placed in charge of organizing to formulate and implement
water resources protection plans, guiding related drinking water source protection
works, participating to formulate water function zoning, and guiding management
of discharge outlets into water body settings.
1 https://www.mee.gov.cn/zjhb/bjg/shj/.