On August 15, 2026, the Ecological Environment Code of the People's Republic of China officially came into effect. This law was passed at the Fourth Session of the 14th National People's Congress on March 12, 2026, with a total of 1242 articles in 5 parts, divided into general provisions, pollution prevention and control, ecological protection, green and low-carbon development, legal responsibilities, and supplementary provisions.

Its weight lies in a structural replacement.《Environmental Protection Law》《Environmental Impact Assessment Law》《Air Pollution Prevention and Control Law》《Water Pollution Prevention and Control Law》《Soil Pollution Prevention and Control Law》《Solid Waste Pollution Prevention and Control Law》《Noise Pollution Prevention and Control Law》《marine environmental protection law》《Law on the Prevention and Control of Radioactive Pollution》《Clean Production Promotion Law How to translate This10 laws shall be simultaneously repealed from the date of implementation of the Code.《Yangtze River Protection Law》《law on Yellow River conservation》《Wetland Protection Law》《Forest Law》《Grassland Law》《Wildlife Protection Law How to translate If it continues to be effective, special law shall prevail over general law. Synchronized completion of supporting cleaning: revised by the State CouncilPartial provisions of 12 administrative regulations, abolition of 3 administrative regulations, the Supreme People's Court issuing the first supporting judicial interpretation to solve the problem of old and new connection, Ministry of Ecology and Environmentthenabolish了176 normative documents.

As a lawyer who has been handling environmental administrative reconsideration, litigation, and corporate environmental compliance business for a long time, IIt must be reminded thatThe real risk during the transition period is not the lack of understanding of the new law, but the use of old legal thinking to deal with new law issues.

1、 Regulatory authorities，Finding methods becomes easier,butReasoning has become difficult

After the unification of legal application, the focus of controversy shifts to discretionary reasoning

In the past, when handling a case of excessive emissions, there were different regulations for water, air, and noise. The same enterprise's excessive discharge of multiple pollutants at the same time can be considered as one illegal act or multiple, and which law should be applied is often a problem for grassroots law enforcement personnel, and has become a high-frequency dispute in reconsideration and litigation.

The fifth part of the Code uniformly stipulates illegal acts by type and applies the same penalty for similar acts, which solves this problem at the legislative level. But new risks arise: after the unified application of laws, administrative counterparties may shift their attack points from“You applied the wrong law”Turn“Why did you choose this one”.

The provisions of the legal code are quite significantfineYes, that's right“Abnormal operation of pollution prevention and control facilities”, press“General operation and maintenance violations”“Facility failure but no intentional evasion of supervision”“Evading regulatory emissions”Three gradients are used to set the penalty range respectively; The daily continuous punishment is strictly limited to three situations: continuous violation, refusal to rectify, and obstruction of supervision; Correct“Built before approval”This type of high-frequency illegal behavior has been changed from a proportional fine based on the investment amount to a classified fixed penalty. The common direction of these rules is that excessive punishment is equivalent and falls on the document,needClearly state the factual basis for gradient determination.

my suggestionisPunishment Decision“Serious circumstances”“Refusal to correct”This type of conclusion must be supported by evidence and the identification process must be clearly stated. The practice of relying on discretionary standards for internal control in the past has significantly increased the risk after the implementation of the code. Similarly, the time of filing, the deadline for ordering correction, and the time nodes for review will become substantive points of contention in the trial.

Another change is worth reminding separately. The Code grants county-level ecological environment bureaus the qualification of independent law enforcement entities, which can carry out on-site inspections, seizures, and administrative penalties in accordance with the law. The issue of subject qualification has been resolved, but the procedural requirements have not been lowered. The integrity of on-site inspection records, sampling records, delivery receipts, and audio-visual records remains the foundation for the establishment of law enforcement actions.

2. Regulatory axis from“What are you looking for”Turn“Check by certificate”

Article 174 of the Code establishes a fixed pollution source supervision and management system with the pollutant discharge permit system as the core. Article 179 stipulates that the pollutant discharge permit is the main basis for implementing ecological environment supervision and management. Articles 180 to 185 incorporate requirements for ecological environment impact assessment, pollutant discharge standards, total control of key pollutant emissions, self-monitoring, etc. into the entire process of permit issuance, recording, and implementation.

This means that the pollutant discharge permit is issued from“A system”Upgraded to the core of fixed pollution source supervision, the legal status has also been elevated from administrative regulations to laws. Corresponding changes in law enforcement methods: based on the items specified in the license, verify the emission outlets, emission concentrations, total emissions, operation and maintenance of pollution prevention and control facilities, self-monitoring, ledger records, and information disclosure item by item.The division of labor between environmental impact assessment and licensing has also become clear, with environmental impact assessment managing access, licensing managing operation, and the responsibility chain closed from source to end.

For enterprises, the meaning of this clause is that every item written on the license can be directly used as a basis for punishment. For law enforcement officials, the standardization of inspections has increased, and the space for discretion has correspondingly narrowed, which is a good thing for both parties.

3. Penetrating supervision: Third party institutions are no longer a responsibility barrier

Code of ConductSeven articles regulate the falsification of ecological environment technology service institutions, with unprecedented strength. Article 1230The regulations are very strictTypical: If an institution fails to comply with technical specifications and causes data distortion, it shall be ordered to rectify, its illegal gains shall be confiscated, and a fine of not less than 20000 yuan but not more than 200000 yuan shall be imposed; Those who engage in fraud and issue false reports shall have their illegal gains confiscated and be fined not less than 100000 yuan but not more than 500000 yuan; If the circumstances are serious, the fine shall be increased to no less than 500000 yuan and no more than 2 million yuan, the license shall be revoked, and employment shall be prohibited. At the same time, the directly responsible supervisors and other directly responsible personnel shall be fined not less than 10000 yuan but not more than 50000 yuan, and shall be prohibited from engaging in related businesses for five years. For serious cases, they shall be prohibited from business for ten years.

Here is a practical point. The Code distinguishes between two types of behavior: one is objective violations caused by substandard equipment and non-standard processes leading to data distortion, and the other is subjective falsification of qualified reports despite knowing there are problems with the data. The penalties for the two differ greatly. For law enforcement officers, the direction of evidence collection should be clear and able to prove that the parties involved are“clumsy”still“You know it, but pretend you're confused.”For enterprises, entrusting a third party to operate environmental protection facilities and prepare reports does not transfer their main responsibility for pollution control,“I picked it up”Not legally established. Enterprises and technical service institutions that collude shall bear joint and several liability for illegal activities and compensation in accordance with the law, and shall be subject to credit penalties simultaneously.

2、 Enterprise，Four accounts need to be recalculated

1. The pollutant discharge permit is the general environmental compliance charter of the enterprise

Many companiesonlyTreat the license as if it were hanging on the wallpaperAfter the implementation of the Code, it became a corporate environmental behaviorWhetherlegalofBoundary: How to set up the discharge outlet, what pollutants are allowed to be discharged, what are the concentration and total limit values, how to maintain the facilities, how to record the ledger, where to disclose the information, all based on the certified matters. What is not written on the certificate cannot be done; What is written on the certificate must be done.

I suggest that companies break down each license item into an internal checklist and assign each obligation recorded on the license to a specific position and individual. The earlier this matter is completed, the more proactive it will be.

2. Data authenticity is the first red line

Article 1110 of the Code stipulates that those who fail to disclose or truthfully disclose ecological and environmental information such as pollutant emissions and greenhouse gas emissions to the public shall be ordered to make corrections and fined not less than 20000 yuan but not more than 200000 yuan. Those who refuse to make corrections shall be ordered to restrict production, suspend production for rectification, and relevant information shall be announced. Those who tamper with or falsify monitoring data shall be subject to continuous daily penalties, with a maximum fine of two million yuan, and responsibilities such as revoking licenses and prohibiting employment shall be stipulated.

Simultaneously tightening at the criminal level.On March 30th, 2026,“Two Supremes”repairbookThe judicial interpretation of criminal cases of environmental pollution will increase the number of personnel responsible for motor vehicle emission inspection as the criminal subject of providing false certification documents in the environmental field, and add the provision of a large number of false certification documents and illegal gains of more than 100000 yuan within one year as one of the criteria for criminalization; Those who provide programs or tools specifically designed for cheating in motor vehicle emission testing shall be convicted of the crime of providing intrusion or illegal control of computer information system programs or tools. Falsification of carbon data is also included in the scope of application of the crime of providing false certification documents.

One sentence: Environmental data is no longer“technical issue”It is a core risk point that may trigger administrative penalties, civil compensation, and criminal liability simultaneously.

3. Newly added regulatory areas: light, electromagnetic, new chemical substances, carbon

The code has filled several gaps in the past. The pollution prevention and control department has established a new division for chemical substance pollution risk control, and the treatment of new pollutants has been included in the law for the first time; Clear rules have been established for light pollution and electromagnetic radiation; Strengthen the supervision of pollution issues such as noise, oil fumes, and odors around the public; Hazardous waste is subject to full chain control, and waste producing units must review the qualifications of the disposal party and be responsible for the entire process of transportation and treatment.

involveCarbon obligations require special attention. Articles 1037 and 1038 of the Code establish the legal status of the national carbon market and clarify it“Carbon emission quota（CEA+Certified Voluntary Emission Reduction (CCER)”The dual layer trading system. Article 1226 stipulates that if key greenhouse gas emitting units included in the national carbon emission trading market fail to submit emission statistical accounting data and annual emission reports, they shall be ordered to make corrections and fined not less than 50000 yuan but not more than 500000 yuan. If they refuse to make corrections, they may be ordered to suspend production for rectification; Those who fail to fully pay their carbon emission quotas within the prescribed time limit shall be ordered to make corrections within a specified time limit and fined not less than one million yuan but not more than five million yuan; For those who fail to complete the clearance within the deadline, a fine of not less than five times but not more than ten times the average transaction price in the market one month before the deadline for clearing the outstanding carbon emission quotas shall be imposed, and production suspension and rectification may be ordered.