(16th Session) No.6

Regulations of Shanghai Municipality on Soil Pollution Prevention and Control were adopted at the 4th Session of the Standing Committee of the 16th Shanghai Municipal People's Congress on July 25, 2023, are hereby promulgated. They shall be effective as of October 1st, 2023.

Standing Committee of the Shanghai Municipal People's Congress

July 25, 2023

Regulations of Shanghai Municipality on Soil Pollution Prevention and Control

(Adopted at the 4th Session of the Standing Committee of the 16th Shanghai Municipal People's Congress on July 25, 2023)

Chapter I  General Provisions

Article 1

With a view to protecting and improving the ecological environment, preventing and controlling soil pollution, safeguarding public health, promoting permanent use of soil resources, advancing the building of ecological civilization, propelling sustainable and high-quality economic and social development, and building a beautiful Shanghai where humans and nature coexist in harmony, these Regulations are formulated in accordance with the Soil Pollution Prevention and Control Law of the People's Republic of China and other relevant laws and administrative rules, and in the light of the actual circumstances of this Municipality.

Article 2

These Regulations apply to the soil pollution prevention and control and relevant activities within the administrative area of this Municipality.

For the purposes of these Regulations, “soil pollution” means the phenomenon of a substance’s entry into the soil surface of the earth caused by a human factor, thus causing changes in the chemical, physical, biological and other properties of the soil, affecting the functions and effective use of the soil, and jeopardizing public health or damaging the ecological environment. Article 3

In soil pollution prevention and control, the principles of the primary role of prevention, priority for protection, categorized administration, risk management and control, liability for pollution, and public participation shall be adhered to.

This Municipality shall strengthen overall coordination between soil pollution prevention and control and atmospheric, water, solid-waste pollution prevention and control, and achieve prevention at the sources of the pollutants.

In the light of the ecological conditions of the soil and underground water, this Municipality shall implement the integrated prevention and control of soil pollution and underground water pollution, formulate a unified plan for the relevant work, and make holistic advances.

All organizations or individuals are obligated to protect soil and prevent soil pollution.

Article 4

Land-use rights holders engaged in the activities of land development and utilization, and enterprises, public institutions, and other producers and operators engaged in production and business activities shall take effective measures to prevent or reduce soil pollution, and assume liability according to law for the soil pollution they cause.

Article 5

The people’s governments at all levels of this Municipality shall be responsible for soil pollution prevention and control and safe soil utilization within the administrative area of this Municipality.

This Municipality shall implement a target-oriented responsibility system and a performance assessment and evaluation system for soil pollution prevention and control, and use the performance in achieving soil pollution prevention/control targets as a criterion for assessing and evaluating the people's governments at all levels and the leaders thereof, as well as the departments responsible for the supervisory management of soil pollution prevention and control and the leaders thereof.

Article 6

The municipal and district people's governments shall strengthen their leadership over soil pollution prevention and control, establish and improve the working mechanism for comprehensive supervision of soil pollution prevention and control, and organize, coordinate and urge relevant departments to perform their duties of supervisory management of soil pollution prevention and control according to the law.

Town/township people’s governments and sub-district offices shall, according to their duties, do well the work of soil pollution prevention and control.

Article 7

The department of ecology and environment shall exercise unified supervisory management of the soil pollution prevention and control work in the administrative area of this Municipality.

The agriculture and rural affairs department and the landscaping and city appearance department shall, according to their duties, exercise supervisory management of the farmland soil pollution prevention and control.

The planning and resources department shall, according to its duties, exercise supervisory management of the soil pollution prevention and control in the course of land development and utilization.

The departments of development and reform, housing and urban-rural development, water authority, economy and information technology, transportation, finance, health, emergency management, market regulation, and science and technology shall, according to their respective duties, coordinate to do well the soil pollution prevention and control work.

An agency dispatched by the Municipal People’s Government shall, on the strength of the authorization or entrustment, assume the duties of supervisory management of the soil pollution within its administrative area.

Article 8

By relying on the Government Online-Offline Shanghai Platform for administrative services and the Integrated Online Administration Platform for city operation, this Municipality shall establish a unified soil-pollution-prevention/control comprehensive supervision platform, and strengthen the collection, sharing and utilization of the soil environment supervision information, so as to achieve whole-process and full-coverage supervision of soil pollution prevention and control.

Article 9

This Municipality shall, in cooperation with the relevant provinces and cites in the Yangtze River Delta, establish and improve the working mechanism for soil pollution prevention and control, to conduct cooperation in such fields as soil pollution prevention, risk management/control and remediation, law enforcement, and emergency handling.

This Municipality supports international exchanges and cooperation in soil pollution prevention and control.

Article 10

This Municipality supports basic research and research on key generic technologies, cutting-edge frontier technologies and modern engineering technologies in the field of soil pollution prevention and control, promote greater synergy between industry, academia, research, and application, enhance the cultivation of professional and technical personnel, and raise the capabilities for scientific and technological innovations, thus advancing the sci-tech progress in soil pollution prevention and control.

This Municipality supports wider application of new techniques, technologies, equipment and materials in soil pollution prevention and control, and promote the development of green and low-carbon industries for soil pollution prevention and control.

Article 11

The people's governments at all levels and the departments thereof, grassroots mass autonomous organizations, and the press shall strengthen soil-pollution-prevention/control publicity, education and science popularization, raise the public awareness of soil pollution prevention and control, expand the channels for the public’s participation, and guide the public in participating in the soil pollution prevention and control work according to the law.

Social organizations such as industry associations and academic societies are encouraged to participate in activities of soil-pollution-prevention/control publicity, education and science popularization.

Chapter II  Plans, Standards, Surveys and Monitoring

Article 12

The municipal and district people’s governments shall include the soil pollution prevention and control work in the national economic and social development planning and the ecological environment protection planning.

The municipal department of ecology and environment shall, jointly with the departments of development and reform, agriculture and rural affairs, planning and resources, housing and urban-rural development, landscaping and city appearance, water authority, economy and information technology, finance, etc., formulate the municipal plan for soil pollution prevention and control according to the requirements of ecological and environmental protection planning, the use of the land, the results of the general survey and monitoring of the soil pollution status before submitting the plan to the Municipal People’s Government for approval, publication and implementation.

When the departments of agriculture and rural affairs, landscaping and city appearance, etc. draw up a plan for a relevant industry, the plan shall include the content of soil pollution prevention and control.

When formulating a territorial space plan, the formulating institution shall take the soil environment quality into full consideration, and rationally determine the use of the land.

Article 13

Where a project is not covered by the state standards for soil pollution risk management and control, the Municipal People’s Government may formulate local standards therefor. Where a project is covered by the state standards for soil pollution risk management and control, the Municipal People’s Government may formulate local standards that are stricter than the state standards. The local standards shall be filed with the ecology and environment department of the State Council and be made public according to law.

To formulate local standards for soil pollution risk management and control, it is necessary to organize experts to conduct review and discussion, and solicit the opinions of relevant departments, industry associations, enterprises, public institutions, the public, etc.

The implementation of the standards for soil pollution risk management and control shall be regularly assessed, and the standards will be revised in due course based on the results of the assessment.

Article 14

The municipal and district people’s governments may, according to the soil pollution status survey, soil environment monitoring results, and the need for farmland protection, organize the departments of ecology and environment, agriculture and rural affairs, planning and resources, landscaping and city appearance, etc. to conduct detailed surveys of the soil pollution status. The detailed surveys shall specify the soil-pollution regions, distribution of the polluted plots and the areas of the plots, the main pollutants, and the degree of pollution, among others.

The results of the detailed soil pollution status survey shall constitute an important basis for categorized management and risk management in soil pollution prevention and control.

Article 15

The municipal department of ecology and environment shall, jointly with the departments of agriculture and rural affairs, planning and resources, landscaping and city appearance, water authority, etc. set up soil-environment monitoring stations (sites) and improve the soil-environment monitoring network in accordance with the relevant state and municipal provisions.

The departments of ecology and environment, agriculture and rural affairs, planning and resources, landscaping and city appearance, water authority, etc. shall conduct monitoring according to the norms for soil environment monitoring, and strengthen control of the monitoring quality.

The land owners and use right holders shall render their cooperation in the setting up of soil environment monitoring stations (sites) and in the monitoring activities.

Article 16

The district departments of agriculture and rural affairs and landscaping and city appearance shall, jointly with the departments of ecology and environment and planning and resources, draw up a list of farmland plots under priority monitoring in accordance with the state provisions, and put them under priority monitoring.

The district ecology and environment department shall, jointly with the planning and resources department, draw up a list of construction land plots under priority monitoring in accordance with the state provisions, and put them under priority monitoring.

Chapter III  Prevention and Protection

Article 17

Various land utilization plans and construction projects that may pollute the soil shall be subject to environmental impact assessment according to law. The environmental impact assessment document shall include possible adverse impacts on soil, the corresponding preventive measures to take, etc.

In the absence of an environmental impact assessment according to law, the relevant plan shall not be carried out, and the relevant construction project shall not start.

Article 18

The municipal and district people’s governments and the departments of development and reform, economy and information technology, planning and resources, ecology and environment, etc. shall, in accordance with the territorial space plans, strictly follow the requirements for the layout and site-selection of the relevant industries and enterprises, and it is prohibited to launch, renovate or expand construction projects that may cause soil pollution in the vicinity of residential quarters, schools, hospitals, sanatoriums, nursing homes, etc.

Article 19

Enterprises, public institutions and other production and business operators shall take effective measures to reduce the discharge of atmospheric, water and solid-waste pollutants, and strengthen coordinated treatment of various types of pollutants, so as to avoid soil pollution.

Units and individuals that produce, use, store, transport, recover, handle or emit toxic and harmful substances shall take effective measures of enclosure and insulation to prevent toxic and harmful substances from leakage, loss or spreading so as to avoid soil pollution.

The owners and operators of gas stations, oil storages, etc. shall take effective anti-leakage measures about their underground oil tanks and attached underground pipes, and monitor for possible leakages so as to avoid soil pollution.

Article 20

The district ecology and environment department shall, according to the provisions and the discharge of toxic and harmful substances, formulate a catalog of the units under priority soil-pollution supervision, and submit it to the municipal ecology and environment department for examination and approval before making it known to the public, and the catalog shall be adjusted in a timely manner.

Article 21

Units under priority soil-pollution supervision shall fulfill, according to law, their obligations of controlling the discharge of toxic and harmful substances, inspecting and eliminating hidden risks of soil and underground water pollution, and conducting self-monitoring, and they shall report to the district ecology and environment department as required.

Units under priority soil-pollution supervision shall scientifically and rationally determine the priority sites, facilities and equipment for hidden risk elimination and self-monitoring, in conformity with the requirements of the relevant technical norms and in full consideration of the industry’s characteristics and the units’ production realities. When a unit under priority soil-pollution supervision finds hidden pollution risks in its activities of hidden risk investigation and self-monitoring, it shall take timely effective preventive measures to eliminate the hidden risk. When finding pollution signs, it shall immediately investigate the pollution source, identify the pollution cause, and take such measures as eliminating the pollution source and preventing the pollution from spreading. It shall also report its handling to the district ecology and environment department in a timely manner.

Where a unit under priority soil-pollution supervision dismantles its facilities, equipment, buildings or structures, it shall draw up a work scheme for soil and underground water pollution prevention and control including an emergency measure and submit the plan to the ecology and environment department and the economy and information technology department for filing before implementing it.

The ecology and environment department shall periodically monitor the soil and underground water in the vicinity of the unit under priority soil-pollution supervision.

Article 22

The administrative organ of an industrial park shall include the soil pollution prevention and control work in the responsibility system of the industrial park environment protection, periodically monitor the soil and underground water in the park, urge the enterprises in the park to implement the measures for preventing and controlling soil and underground water pollution, and urge them to safely treat the residual pollutants when they relocate or close down.

Article 23

This Municipality shall strengthen the treatment of new pollutants such as perpetual organic pollutants. The relevant units shall, according to the provisions, and implement environmental risk management/control measures appropriate for the new pollutants under the state and municipal priority management and control, so as to avoid soil and underground water pollution.

Relevant units are encouraged and supported to conduct tracking monitoring and environmental risk assessment of the new pollutants’ harms to the soil ecological environment and assess the environmental risks, and to conduct research on monitoring, risk assessment, and key management/control technologies.

Article 24

The agriculture and rural affairs department shall encourage agricultural producers to take locally appropriate farming methods favorable to soil pollution prevention such as combining crop farming with livestock raising, crop rotation, and fallow land; and support them to adopt measures favorable to soil maintenance and cultivation such soil improvement and soil fertility improvement.

When contracting out a farmland plot, the land owner shall supervise the contractor to rationally use and protect the farmland as agreed upon in the contract, and prevent the contractor from activities of polluting the farmland.

It is prohibited to discharge into farmland wastewater or sludge, or dredged sediments, tailings or slag that may pollute soil.

Article 25

The agriculture and rural affairs department and the landscaping and city appearance department shall, according to their respective duties, tighten the control of the total amount of pesticide and fertilizer to be used, organize investigation and calculation of agricultural inputs such as pesticide, fertilizer and agricultural film, and provide guidance and management of safe and rational use of agricultural inputs.

It is prohibited to produce, sell or use agricultural inputs the state expressly prohibits.

Agricultural producers are encouraged and supported to use such agricultural inputs as microbial fertilizer and recyclable plastic film, adopt scientific fertilizing techniques, and introduce green pest-control methods including ecological control, biological and physical prevention and control as well as other measures prescribed by the State.

Article 26

The municipal agriculture and rural affairs department shall guide the building of a network for recovering agricultural solid wastes such as waste packaging of pesticide and waste agricultural film.

The district people’s government shall, according to the provisions, organize the establishment of a network for recovering agricultural solid wastes, make full use of rural supply and marketing cooperatives, agricultural material sales outlets, etc., and reasonably deploy recovery stations. Recovery stations shall strengthen management and maintenance of their facilities, equipment and sites, create, according to the provisions, an account to truthfully record the recovery information, store the collected agricultural solid wastes in a standardized way, and hand the recovered wastes to the relevant unit for harmless treatment, or for use as resources.

The producers, sellers and users of agricultural inputs shall fulfill the obligations of recovering wastes according to law.

Article 27

Livestock and poultry farms (households) shall take measures to promptly collect, store, use and dispose of such wastes as livestock and poultry excrement, biogas residues and biogas slurry so as to prevent soil pollution. Where methods of using wastes as resources are employed, such as returning excrement manure to the fields, the methods shall conform to the relevant state and municipal standards and norms, and be compatible with the land absorption capabilities.

The agriculture and rural affairs department shall support harmless treatment of livestock and poultry excrement and utilization of the excrement as resources, strengthen guidance and service for the work of returning excrement manure to the fields, and conduct coordinated monitoring on the return of the manure to the fields and on agricultural products.

Article 28

This Municipality shall strengthen the protection and reasonable utilization of soil resources. In the case of topsoil stripped in the course of development and construction, the development unit shall separately gather and store it, and, if it meets conditions, it shall be first used for land reclamation, soil improvement, earth-shaping and afforestation, among others.

It is prohibited to use industrial solid waste, household waste or polluted soil containing heavy metals or other toxic and harmful substances in excess of the limits for land reclamation.

Article 29

It is prohibited to pollute or destroy unused land.

The people’s governments at all levels of this Municipality and the relevant departments thereof shall strengthen protection of unused land. The district people’s governments shall conduct regular inspections of the unused land, and when finding cases of soil pollution including emissions of toxic and harmful substances, they shall investigate and handle them according to law.

Chapter IV  Risk Management/Control and Remediation

Article 30

The soil pollution risk management/control and the remediation shall include soil pollution status survey and soil pollution risk assessment, risk management and control, remediation, assessment of the risk management/control results, assessment of the remediation effects, ex-post management, and other activities. Where the soil pollution has affected or may affect underground water, the risk management and control shall include the content of underground water pollution prevention and control.

The management/control and remediation of soil pollution risks shall strictly follow the procedure and requirements prescribed by the State and this Municipality.

The department of ecology and environment shall, jointly with the departments of planning and resources, housing and urban-rural development, etc., strengthen whole-process supervision of the construction land soil pollution risk management/control and remediation. The departments of agriculture and rural affairs and landscaping and city appearance shall, jointly with the departments of ecology and environment, planning and resources, etc. strengthen whole-process supervision of farmland soil pollution risk management/control and remediation.

Article 31

The person responsible for soil pollution is liable for soil pollution risk management/control and remediation. Where no one can be identified as the person responsible for soil pollution, the land use right holder shall manage/control and remediate the soil pollution risks.

The people’s governments at all levels of this Municipality and the relevant departments thereof may manage/control and remediate the soil pollution risks in the light of the actual circumstances.

The persons concerned are encouraged and supported to voluntarily manage/control and remediate the soil pollution risks.

Article 32

The units engaged in soil pollution status survey and in soil pollution risk assessment, risk management and control, remediation, assessment of risk management/control results, assessment of the remediation effects, ex-post management, etc. shall have the professional capabilities including work sites, professional personnel and equipment corresponding to the work they undertake, establish a quality management system, and conduct activities according to the relevant technical norms.

A unit commissioned to engage in activities in the preceding paragraph shall be responsible for the authenticity, accuracy and completeness of its survey report, risk assessment report, risk management/control effect assessment report, and remediation effect assessment report, and be responsible, as agreed, for the results of its risk management and control, remediation, ex post management, and other activities.

Article 33

When it is necessary to relocate the polluted soil in the activities of risk management/control and remediation, the following provisions shall be followed:

1. The unit undertaking the remediation shall formulate a relocation plan, and report such handling measures as the transport time, mode and route, and the quantity, destination and final treatment of the polluted soil, to the ecology and environment departments of the places of departure and destination;

2. The remediation undertaking unit, the transport unit and the soil-receiving unit shall fill and operate the polluted-soil-relocation triplicate form; and

3. Where the polluted soil is a hazardous waste, the remediation undertaking unit shall handle it in accordance with the requirements of the laws and rules and the relevant standards.

Article 34

This Municipality implements the catalog of construction land soil pollution risk management/control and remediation.

After the soil pollution status survey, soil pollution risk assessment and other relevant reviews, the municipal ecology and environment department shall, jointly with the planning and resources department, incorporate the construction land plots needing risk management/control and remediation into the catalog of construction land soil pollution risk management/control and remediation, and report to the State Council ecology and environment department periodically. The catalog of construction land soil pollution risk management/control and remediation shall be made known to the public, and be updated according to the actual circumstances of the risk management/control and remediation.

Land plots that are included in the catalog of construction land soil pollution risk management/control and remediation shall not be used for residential, public-management, or public-service purposes.

Town/township people’s governments and subdistrict offices shall assist the departments of ecology and environment, etc. in strengthening inspection on the plots included in the catalog.

Article 35

The land use right holder shall conduct surveys of the construction land soil pollution in accordance with the state and municipal provisions under one of the following cases:

1. The general surveys, detailed surveys and monitoring, and on-the-spot inspection of the soil pollution status indicate that the construction land plots have the risks of soil pollution;

2. The use of the plots has been changed to plots for residential, public management, public service, and commercial service purposes; and

3. The use of the production and business land plots of the units that are under priority soil-pollution supervision or that once are included in the catalog of soil pollution risk management/control and remediation has been changed, or the land plots’ use right has been withdrawn or transferred.

In the case of the soil pollution status survey provided for in Item 1 of the preceding paragraph, the land use right holder shall complete the survey within 6 months of receipt of the written notification from the district ecology and environment department. In the case of the soil pollution status survey provided for in Items 2 and 3 of the preceding paragraph, the land use right holder shall complete the survey before the use of the land plot has been changed or before the land plot’ use right has been withdrawn or transferred.

In addition to the cases prescribed in paragraph 1 of this Article, before the use of other industrial land plots has been changed or before the land plots’ use right has been withdrawn or transferred, the land use right holders are encouraged to conduct soil pollution status surveys.

Where the existing non-residential buildings such as factory buildings and warehouses are renovated into government-subsidized rental housing according to state provisions, they shall undergo soil pollution status surveys when the projects are being examined.

Article 36

In the case of the plots in the catalog of construction land soil pollution risk management/control and remediation, the risk management and control shall be implemented according to the results of soil pollution risk assessment and in the light of the plan for land development and utilization; where remediation is required, rectification and remediation shall be conducted.

The person responsible for the soil pollution or the land use right holder shall, in accordance with the relevant state and municipal provisions, draw up a plan for risk management and control or for remediation, and shall submit the plan to the district ecology and environment department for filing before implementing it. Where there are significant changes in the content of the risk management and control plan or the remediation plan, the plan shall be re-submitted for filing. The implementation of the risk management and control shall be reported to the district ecology and environment department periodically.

The remediation of soil pollution shall strictly follow the remediation technical norms and safety management provisions of the State and this Municipality. In the case of a soil pollution remediation project involving a deep foundation pit, the ecology and environment department shall inform the housing and urban-rural development department, which shall strengthen supervisory management of the safety of the soil pollution remediation construction involving the deep foundation pit.

Where a construction land plot has met the targets of risk management/control and remediation specified by the soil pollution risk assessment report, the plot shall be removed from the catalog of construction land soil pollution risk management/control and remediation according to law and in a timely manner. If the targets are not achieved, it is forbidden to start construction of any project unrelated to risk management/control and remediation.

Article 37

Where a construction land plot engaged in soil pollution remediation has reached the remediation targets and can be safely used, the departments of ecology and environment, planning and resources, housing and urban-rural development, etc. may streamline the procedures of examining and approving the re-development and re-use of the plot, thus raising the efficiency of re-developing and re-using the plot. The specific management provisions shall be separately formulated by the municipal ecology and environment department in conjunction with relevant departments.

Article 38

A system of categorized management of farmland is adopted in this Municipality. The municipal departments of agriculture and rural affairs and landscaping and city appearance shall, jointly with the departments of ecology and environment, planning and resources, etc., and according to the soil pollution degrees and relevant standards, classify farmland into three categories: the priority protection category, the safe use category, and the strict management/control category, implement categorized management, and make dynamic adjustments.

Article 39

The district people’s government shall, according to law, define the priority protected farmland that meets the conditions as the permanent basic farmland, and exercise strict protection thereof. In an area where permanent basic farmlands concentrate, new projects that may cause soil pollution are prohibited. In the case of soil-polluting projects that have been built, the district people’s government shall order their closure or dismantling within the prescribed time limit.

In the case of the farmland plots of the safe use category, the agriculture and rural affairs department and the landscaping and city appearance department shall formulate and implement the safe use scheme in the light of the main crop varieties and cultivation habits. The agriculture and rural affairs department and the landscaping and city appearance department shall, according to the requirements of the safe use scheme, periodically conduct coordinated monitoring of the soil and farm products, track and assess changes in the soil environment quality and farm product quality, and make timely adjustments to the safe use scheme according to the coordinated monitoring and assessment results.

In the case of the farmland plots of the strict management/control category, the agriculture and rural affairs department and the landscaping and city appearance department shall adopt risk management and control measures according to state requirements. Where risk management and control measures are required such as crop mix adjustment, conversion of farmland back into forests, grassland or wetland, crop rotation, and fallow land, the people’s governments at all levels of this Municipality and the relevant departments thereof shall render the corresponding policy support.

Article 40

Where unused and reclaimed lands are to be developed into farmland, gardens or other lands for growing edible farm products, the district departments of agriculture and rural affairs and landscaping and city appearance shall, jointly with the departments of ecology and environment and planning and resources, conduct soil pollution status surveys, implement categorized management according to law, and conduct coordinated monitoring of soil and farm products periodically according to the provisions.

Chapter V  Guarantee and Supervision

Article 41

This Municipality shall set up a soil pollution prevention and control fund jointly financed by the government and social capital, which is mainly used for farmland soil pollution prevention and control, for the soil pollution risk management/control and remediation when it is impossible to identify the person responsible for the soil pollution and the land use right holder, and for other matters prescribed by the government.

The creation, operation and management of the soil pollution prevention and control fund shall be implemented according to the relevant provisions on government-invested funds.

Article 42

Through its soil-pollution-prevention/control comprehensive supervision platform, the ecology and environment department shall strengthen sharing and using of such information as the basic data on territorial space management and soil pollution prevention and control, administrative licensing, and administrative punishment, so as to improve the comprehensive supervision of the soil pollution prevention and control work.

The departments of ecology and environment, agriculture and rural affairs, housing and urban-rural development, landscaping and city appearance, water authority, etc. shall promptly upload the information prescribed in the preceding paragraph onto the soil-pollution-prevention/control comprehensive supervision platform, and update the information dynamically.

Article 43

The ecology and environment department shall, jointly with the departments of planning and resources, agriculture and rural affairs, housing and urban-rural development, landscaping and city appearance, etc., establish and improve the joint supervision mechanism for soil pollution prevention and control, and strengthen coordination among them in the management of soil pollution status survey and monitoring, cross-departmental joint assessment, farmland reclamation, re-development and market access of polluted construction land plots, and polluted plots not to be developed and utilized temporarily, so as to raise the efficiency of soil pollution prevention and control.

Article 44

The town/township people’s governments and sub-district offices shall play their role in the grid management, increase inspections in their respective administrative area, and strengthen soil-pollution-prevention/control publicity, education and science popularization. When finding hidden soil-pollution risks or pollution signs, they shall report to the relevant departments in a timely manner.

The departments of ecology and environment, agriculture and rural affairs, landscaping and city appearance, etc., shall strengthen guidance and provide support and services.

Article 45

The municipal and district people’s governments shall incorporate the soil pollution prevention and control status into their annual reports on the environment status and the fulfillment of the environmental protection targets, and report to the same-level people’s congress or standing committee of the people’s congress.

Article 46

When any organizations or individuals find an act of soil pollution, they may report via such channels as the 12345 citizen hotline, or directly report to the ecology and environment department or a department with the functions of supervising and managing soil pollution prevention and control. The relevant departments shall publicize the methods of reporting to facilitate reports by the public.

The department receiving the report shall handle it promptly and keep the information about the reporter confidential. If the reporter uses his real name to submit a report which proves to be true upon verification, he shall be rewarded.

Where a person reports against his own unit, that unit shall not retaliate against him by methods such as terminating or altering the labor contract.

Article 47

The municipal ecology and environment department and other departments with the functions of supervising and managing soil pollution prevention and control shall, according to the relevant state and municipal provisions, incorporate the performance of the units and individuals engaged in soil pollution risk management/control and remediation into the credit system to establish credit records, include the illegal information in the social credit archives, and include the information in the National Credit Information Sharing Platform, the National Enterprise Credit Information Publication System, and Shanghai Municipal Public Credit Information Service Platform, and also make public such information.

The ecology and environment department and other departments with the functions of supervising and managing soil pollution prevention and control shall conduct categorized credit management according to the credits of the units and individuals engaged in soil pollution risk management/control and remediation.

Chapter VI  Legal Liability

Article 48

For acts in violation of the provisions of these Regulations, if the laws and administrative rules have provided for the handling, such provisions shall prevail.

Where an act in violation of the soil pollution prevention and control regulations is suspected of a crime, the ecology and environment department or other departments with the function of supervising and managing soil pollution prevention and control shall immediately transfer the case to the judicial authorities.

Where polluted soil harms the state interest or social public welfare, the relevant department or organization may initiate public-interest litigation.

Article 49

Where the owners and operators of gas stations, oil storages, etc. fail to take effective anti-leakage measures or fail to monitor for possible leakages, in violation of the provisions of Paragraph 3 of Article 19 of these Regulations, the ecology and environment department shall order them to stop their illegal acts and take effective measures to eliminate the pollution within a prescribed time limit, and impose a fine of not less than 20,000 yuan but not more than 200,000 yuan. In the case of failure to take rectification measures within the time limit, the ecology and environment department shall handle it according to law.

Article 50

Where a unit entrusted to engage in soil pollution risk management/control and remediation fails to conduct surveys and assessments according to the technical norms, in violation of the provisions of Paragraph 1 of Article 32 of these Regulations, the ecology and environment department shall order it to make rectifications, and impose a fine of not less than 100,000 yuan but not more than 200,000 yuan; and in a serious case, impose a fine of not less than 200,000 yuan but not more than 500,000 yuan.

Article 51

Where a polluted soil remediation unit, a transport unit, or a polluted soil receiving unit fails to fill and operate the polluted-soil-relocation triplicate form according to the provisions, in violation of the provisions of Paragraph 2 of Article 33 of these Regulations, the ecology and environment department shall order rectifications and impose a fine of not less than 100,000 yuan but not more than 500,000 yuan; in a serious case, it shall impose a fine of not less than 500,000 yuan but not more than 1,000,000 yuan; if there are illegal gains, it shall confiscate them; and it shall impose a fine of not less than 5,000 yuan but not more than 20,000 yuan on the leader directly responsible and other directly responsible persons.

Article 52

Where the land use right holder fails to conduct soil pollution status survey according to the provisions, in violation of the provisions of Paragraph 1 of Article 35 of these Regulations, the ecology and environment department shall order rectifications, and impose a fine of not less than 20,000 yuan but not more than 200,000 yuan; in the case of refusal to make the rectifications, it shall impose a fine of not less than 200,000 yuan but not more than 1,000,000 yuan; in the case of legal substitute performance, the ecology and environment department shall handle it according to law; and it shall impose a fine of not less than 5,000 yuan but not more than 20,000 yuan on the leader directly responsible and other directly responsible persons.

Article 53

Where the person responsible for the soil pollution or the land use right holder fails to submit the risk management/control and remediation plan to the district ecology and environment department for filing according to the provisions, in violation of the provisions of Paragraph 2 of Article 36 of these Regulations, the ecology and environment department shall order rectifications; in the case of refusal to make the rectifications, it shall impose a fine of not less than 10,000 yuan but not more than 50,000 yuan.

Article 54

Where an act violating the provisions of laws and rules has caused soil pollution and ecological environment damage, the municipal or district people’s government, or the department or agency it designates shall, according to the provisions, organize consultation with the person responsible for the soil pollution, and demand him to assume the liability of compensation; and it may file a suit with the people’s court in accordance with the law if no consensus is reached in the consultation.

Chapter VII  Supplementary Provision

Article 55

These Regulations shall be effective as of October 1, 2023.