China plans to toughen penalties for water polluters, state press said Monday, as a new report showed two of the nation's major rivers remain heavily contaminated despite a decade of clean-up efforts.
A draft amendment to the nation's water pollution law was introduced to parliament on Sunday that dramatically increases the fines firms will have to pay for contaminating the nation's rivers and lakes, the China Daily reported.
"The amendment will end the anomaly (of) high cost for those who comply with the law and light penalties for violators," State Environmental Protection Administration chief Zhou Shengxian told lawmakers.
Companies found guilty of polluting water supplies currently face a maximum fine of one million yuan (130,000 dollars).
Under the draft amendment, companies will be hit with fines equal to 20-30 percent of the economic losses caused by their polluting, the China Daily said.
The amendment also proposes a new license system for factories that emit radioactive and other toxic materials. Local governments will also be held responsible for water pollution levels in their districts, the report said.
The Standing Committee of China's parliament, the National People's Congress, is currently studying the amendment, although there was no mention of when it was expected to be approved.
Meanwhile, a report released by parliament's environment committee on Sunday said the Huaihe and Liaohe rivers, which supply water to around 200 million Chinese, remain heavily polluted despite 10 years of clean-up work.
More than half the water in the Huaihe river in central China is highly polluted, threatening drinking supplies for many major cities and farmers in the region.
The Huaihe river is also part of a massive project to divert water from southern China to the arid north, due to begin operations next year, and the report said the pollution was a big concern for those efforts.
In northeast China, the Liaohe river is suffering a similar fate, with the discharge of hundreds of thousands of improperly treated sewage each year partly to blame, according to the report.
More than 300 million people in rural China do not have access to clean water, according to previously released government statistics cited again in the report.
