Interim Measures of Hubei Province on Administration of the Collection and Use of Sewage Charges

Article 1. With a view to enhancing the administration of the collection and use of sewage charges, these Interim Measures are formulated in accordance with Regulations on the Administration of Collection and Use of Sewage Charges and the relevant stipulations of the State and in light of the actual situation of the Province.

Article 2. These Interim Measures shall be applicable to the check and ratification and the collection and use administration of sewage charges within the administrative area of the Province.

Article 3. The competent administrative department of environment protection above county level shall check and ratify the discharger’s sewage type, amount and number. And the discharger shall pay sewage charges to the local tax authority at all levels.

The departments of finance, commodity prices, and auditing above county level shall strengthen the guidance, administration and supervision over the collection and use of sewage charges in accordance with their own duties.

Article 4. The competent administrative department of environment protection and the local tax authority shall establish the system of sending official documents on the check and ratification and the collection of sewage charges and the related working communication system, ensuring the smooth operation in checking and ratifying and collecting sewage charges.

Article 5. Regarding the permit for collection of sewage charges, the competent administrative department of environment protection above county level shall apply to the department of commodity prices at the same level for its issuance in accordance with the Measures on Administration of the Permit for Collection of Charges and send the counterpart of the permit to the local tax authority at the same level. 

Article 6. The public notice system shall be adopted for the check and ratification and the collection of sewage charges. The competent administrative department of environment protection and the local tax authority above county level shall publicize the quarterly checked and ratified sewage charges and the actually collected sewage charges and name of the dischargers. 

Article 7. The discharger shall report the sewage type, amount and concentration of the very month or quarter to the competent administrative department of environment protection and local tax authority above county level within the beginning three days of each month or each quarter, fulfill the Registration Form for Sewage Report, and provide the related data.

Article 8. Where it is necessary to make the alteration and adjustment of the sewage type, amount and concentration, the discharge destination, the discharge method, the discharge outlet facility, and the facility for prevention and treatment of the pollution after being officially registered, the discharger shall handle the procedures for reporting the alteration within fifteen days before the actual action and fulfill the Registration Form for Sewage Alteration Report. If it is an emergency situation, the Registration Form for Sewage Alteration Report shall be submitted within three days after the alteration.

Article 9. Regarding the projects of new building, extension, rebuilding and technological renovation, the registration procedures for sewage report shall be handled within three months before the test run of the project.

The unit that produces the construction noise within city range above the level of organic town shall handle the registration procedures for sewage report within fifteen days before the actual operation and fulfill the Registration Form of Sewage Report in Construction Site.

Article 10. The competent administrative department of environment protection above county level shall perform the work of checking and ratifying the sewage type and amount by month or by quarter in accordance with the authority prescribed by the competent administrative department of environment protection of the State Council. And the work for check and ratification shall be accomplished within the beginning ten days of the next month or the next quarter as of receiving the sewage report.

Regarding the sewage type and amount of the thermal power station with an installed capacity of over 300,000 kilowatt, the provincial competent administrative department of environment protection shall be responsible for the check and ratification.

Article 11. Regarding the direct emission of sulfur dioxide, if the discharger does not install the online monitoring equipment or does not employ the installed online monitoring equipment, the discharged sulfur dioxide amount shall be calculated in accordance with the time of not employing the online monitoring equipment and in line with the status of non- desulfuration.

Regarding the direct sewage, if the discharger does not install the online monitoring equipment or does not employ the installed online monitoring equipment, the discharged sewage shall be calculated in accordance with the time of not employing the online monitoring equipment and in line with the maximum of the supervision or that of the balanced materials calculation.

Article 12. Regarding the sewage toward the urban centralized sewage treatment facilities, if the sewage processing fees have been paid, there shall be no other collection of sewage charges; the discharged sewage shall not exceed the adoptable standard of the urban centralized sewage treatment facilities.

Article 13. Where the sewage type and amount are checked and ratified, the competent administrative department of environment protection shall send the Notice for Check and Ratification of Sewage Charges to the discharger. If the discharger refuses to accept the decision on the sewage type and amount, he may apply to the competent administrative department of environment protection which sends the notice for another check within seven days as of receiving Notice for Check and Ratification of Sewage Charges; the competent administrative department of environment protection shall make the recheck decision within ten days as of receiving the application.

Article 14. The competent administrative department of environment protection shall send Notice for Check and Ratification of Sewage Charges signed by the discharger to the local tax authority at the same level when the recheck time limit expires or within five days as of the day of making the recheck decision.

The local tax authority shall send Notice for Payment of Sewage Charges to the discharger within five days as of the day of receiving Notice for Check and Ratification of Sewage Charges sent by the competent administrative department of environment protection.

The discharger shall pay sewage charges in full amount to the assigned commercial bank within seven days as of day of receiving Notice for Payment of Sewage Charges.

Article 15. The commercial bank shall hand over the sewage charges to the national treasury at the very day of receiving the payment. The national treasury department shall be responsible for appropriating 10% to the central treasury as the central government budget income, 15% to the provincial treasury as the province budget income, and 75% to the local treasury as the local budget income. These appropriations shall be administered respectively as the special funds of the central government, provincial government and local government for environment protection.

Sewage charges of the thermal power station with an installed capacity of over 300,000 kilowatt shall be collected by the provincial bureau of social security collections under direct jurisdiction of the provincial local tax authority, of which 10% shall be appropriated to the central treasury as the central government budget income and 90% to the provincial government as the province budget income.

Article 16. The local tax authority shall use General Payment Receipt of Hubei Province for Non-tax Income when collecting sewage charges, which is uniformly printed by the provincial department of finance.

Article 17. Sewage charges shall be listed into the financial budget, administered as the special funds for environment protection, and utilized mainly as the appropriation subsidy or the loan discount interest of the following projects:

1). prevention and treatment of the big pollution source;

2). prevention and treatment of the district pollution;

3). development, demonstration and application of the new technology and new industrial process for prevention and treatment of pollution;

4). capacity construction of monitoring, information, supervision, dissemination, environment protection and scientific research;

5). projects for prevention and treatment of pollution prescribed by the State Council and the people’s government of the Province.

Article 18. The outlays needed by the competent administrative department and the local tax authority at all levels in checking and ratifying and collecting sewage charges shall be listed into the budget administration by the finance department at the same level.

Article 19. Where the discharger violates these Interim Measures and discharges the sewage exceeding the adoptable standard of the urban centralized sewage treatment facilities, the discharger shall be ordered by the competent administrative department of environment protection above county level to make correction within a time limit and be imposed upon with a fine of over ten thousand yuan but less than thirty thousand yuan.  If there are other stipulations in the laws, rules and regulations, these stipulations shall prevail.

Article 20. Where the discharger does not pay sewage charges in accordance with the stipulations, the local tax authority in charge of the collection shall order the discharger to pay within a time limit with the additional 2‰ of the amount as the arrearage as of the day of delay. The discharger that refuses to pay within the time limit shall be imposed upon with a fine of over one fold but less than three fold of the due sewage charges and be ordered to shut down for rectification after being reported to and approved by the authorized people’s government. 

Article 21. Where the discharger refuses to pay sewage charges and the arrearage within a time limit, the local tax authority may take the following compulsory measures after being approved by the director of the local tax bureau (sub-bureau) above county level:

1). inform the bank in which the discharger opens the account or other banking organ in a written form that the due sewage charges and the arrearage shall be directly deducted from the discharger’s account;

2). detain, sequester, or legally auction or sell the commodities, cargos or other properties of the discharger, which is equal to the value of sewage charges, to pay sewage charges and the arrearage;

The local tax authority may also apply to the people’s court for the compulsory enforcement according to law.

Article 22. Where the local tax authority does not collect the due sewage charges or collect less than the due amount, the superior local tax authority shall order it make correction within a time limit or directly order the discharger to pay the rest part of the due sewage charges.

Where the local tax authority above county level finds out that the competent administrative department of environment protection at the same level overestimates or underestimates sewage charges, it shall timely report the case to the superior tax authority or the people’s government at the same level.

Where the competent administrative department of environment protection above county level finds out that the local tax authority at the same level does not collect the full amount of sewage charges, it shall timely report the case to the superior competent administrative department of environment protection and the people’s government at the same level.

Article 23. Where there are other illegal actions in the course of checking and ratifying and collecting sewage charges, the legal responsibilities shall be investigated in accordance with Regulations on the Administration of Collection and Use of Sewage Charges.

Article 24. These Interim Measures shall come into force as of the day of promulgation. If there are other former provincial provisions on collection administration of sewage charges contradicting these Interim Measures, these Interim Measures shall prevail.