TITLE:
Water Pollutants Discharge Permit Systems of the United States and China: A Comparison Using Referential Method
AUTHORS:
Ye Yuan, Yisong Li
KEYWORDS:
Water Pollution Discharge Permit, NPDES, Referential Method
JOURNAL NAME:
Beijing Law Review,
Vol.11 No.2,
May
29,
2020
ABSTRACT: Using a referential method, a comparative study is carried out on the USA
Clean Water Act (CWA) and the PRC Water Pollution Prevention and Control Law (WPPCL).
Both laws employ a discharge permit system to achieve their respective
environmental goals. The focus of the study is on the comparison of the
CWA/National Pollutants Discharge Elimination System and the WPPCL/Water
Pollution Discharge Permit system. It is first pointed out that the comparison
of environmental laws is not a “better-law comparison”. Instead, an
environmental law in one country may be used as reference to examine how an
environmental law in another country can be developed and implemented within
the respective legal framework. Comparison between the USA CWA/NPDES and the
PRC WPPCL/WPDP is made from the perspectives of law objectives, implementation procedures
and enforcement actions. Several recommendations are then made to better design
and implement the permit system in China, with respect to ethical premise,
concrete law, discharge standards and enforcement.