Eight departments jointly issue a document! Strengthening risk prevention and control of industrial wastewater.

Recently, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, jointly with the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of Natural Resources, the Ministry of Water Resources, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, the Supreme People's Court, and the Supreme People's Procuratorate, issued the "Notice on Further Strengthening the Prevention of Industrial and Other Sewage Pollution Risks to Guarantee the Safety of Agricultural Irrigation Water." As an important supporting system for the "Action Plan for the Protection and Governance of Water Bodies Around the People," this document focuses on prominent water environmental issues in farmland irrigation and comprehensively improves the cross-departmental, full-chain water pollution risk prevention and control system.

Focusing on Prominent Shortcomings for Precise and Targeted Systematic Governance

Currently, some regions face problems such as unreasonable layout of industrial parks and livestock and poultry breeding, lax control over sewage discharge, and imperfect mechanisms for guaranteeing the safety of agricultural irrigation water. Adhering to a problem-oriented approach, this "Notice" introduces detailed measures across four major dimensions: optimizing industrial spatial layout, tightening sewage discharge control, improving irrigation water quality guarantees, and strengthening law enforcement, publicity, and supervision. These measures aim to address shortcomings in water body governance and systematically prevent risks of industrial and breeding sewage polluting farmland irrigation water bodies.

Strictly Controlling Project Access to Prevent Environmental Risks at the Source

The "Notice" clarifies the strengthening of source control, relying on key links such as territorial space planning, ecological environment zoning control, and environmental impact assessment approval to strictly regulate project access in high-risk areas such as farmland surroundings and karst landscapes. It focuses on strictly controlling construction projects that discharge total salts, heavy metals, and toxic and harmful pollutants. It strictly prevents secondary water environmental risks caused by the relocation of chemical industrial parks and adjustments to industrial layouts, blocking pollutants from entering farmland irrigation water systems at the source.

Upgrading Pollution Treatment Capacity and Deepening the Investigation and Rectification of Water-related Issues

The document requires comprehensively promoting the quality improvement and upgrading of sewage treatment facilities in industrial parks around farmland, and routinely carrying out special investigations and rectifications of water-related issues in industrial sewage discharge and livestock and poultry breeding. For areas where industrial characteristic pollutants threaten the safety of irrigation water, local water pollutant discharge standards will be revised according to local conditions, discharge control standards will be tightened, and the primary responsibility of polluting enterprises for governance will be consolidated to strictly control water pollution hazards at the discharge end.

Improving the Monitoring System and Perfecting the Water Quality Safety Guarantee Mechanism

The "Notice" further consolidates the primary responsibility of enterprises for self-monitoring and issues supporting technical guidelines for water quality monitoring of agricultural irrigation water to guide all regions in scientifically formulating routine water quality monitoring plans. At the same time, it establishes a cross-departmental monitoring collaboration mechanism, clarifying requirements for water quality data sharing, information exchange, and emergency response to sudden pollution, thereby achieving dynamic supervision of irrigation water quality and early detection and disposal of risks.

Strengthening Law Enforcement and Judicial Linkage to Severely Crack Down on Illegal Sewage Discharge

Localities will increase on-site law enforcement efforts, focusing on strictly investigating malicious illegal acts such as the discharge of industrial wastewater and livestock and poultry manure using concealed methods like karst caves, seepage pits, and fissures. They will continue to deepen the efficient connection and information sharing between administrative law enforcement and criminal justice, and severely crack down on various illegal and criminal acts that pollute the environment. At the same time, they will routinely conduct policy publicity and business training to enhance corporate awareness of law compliance and the performance capabilities of grassroots supervision.

The implementation of these new regulations will effectively address weak links in industrial sewage pollution control, earnestly safeguard the safety of agricultural irrigation water, and effectively solve prominent water environmental issues around the people. In the next step, multiple departments will continue to carry out policy publicity, tracking, supervision, and assistance to promote the implementation of various governance measures in all regions and firmly hold the bottom line of farmland water body safety.