State Council seeks views on taxes for pollutants
Print Edition
THE State Council is seeking public opinion on a draft law which proposes taxes for pollutants, waste and noise.
The draft proposes taxes ranging from 350 yuan (US$57) to 11,200 yuan on various industrial noises according to the decibel level. It also sets rates of 1.2 yuan on a stipulated quantity of air pollutants, 1.4 yuan on a stipulated quantity of water pollutants, and a range of 5 to 30 yuan for each ton of different kinds of solid waste. Rates will be doubled for emissions in excess of the stipulated amounts.
Taxes may also be halved if emissions are below half the national standard.
Provincial governments may “appropriately” raise rates after taking local environmental conditions into account, the draft says.
It was drawn up by the Ministry of Finance, the State Administration of Taxation and the Ministry of Environmental Protection to promote an “energy-saving and environment-friendly” industrial system, according to the State Council’s Legislative Affairs Office.
China currently collects a “pollutant discharge fee” that almost equals the standard tax amount in the draft law.
For each outlet for waste air and water, authorities can tax at most three major pollutants, but that number could reach five if the pollutants are all heavy metals. This still allows provincial governments to increase the categories subject to taxation based on their “special needs.”
Environment Minister Chen Jining said earlier this week: “The Chinese environment is reaching or has reached its limit.”
Chen characterized the overall Chinese environment as “poor,” with high pollutant emissions, serious ecological damage and high risks, which are all very far from public expectations.
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