(Approved by the State Council and jointly issued by the Ministry of Finance, the state Planning Commission, the Ministry of Construction and the National Environmental Protection Agency on June 4, 1997.)

[Editor's Note] In accordance with the " the Comments made by the State Council on the plan of prevention and control of Water Pollution in the Huaihe River Valley and the Ninth Five year Plan and other relevant regulations and with the approval of the State Council, the Ministry of Finance, the state Planning Commission, the Ministry of Construction and the National Environmental Protection Agency  have jointly issued Circular On Experimental Collecting of Urban Sewage Treatment Fees in the Huaihe River Valley (hereinafter rezered to Circular) in which concrete stipulations have been set forth on the collecting, administering and using of urban sewage treatment fee in the Huaihe River Valley.

Also according to the explicit stipulations in clause 6 of the State Council's Comments on Prevention and Control of Water Pollution in the Taihu Lake Valley and Plan for the Year 2010, in clause 5 of the State Council's Comments on Prevention and Control of Water Pollution in the Dianchi Lake Valley and Plan for the year 2010, in clause 4 of the Circular issued by the General Office of the State Council for Approval of the Plan on Prevention and Control of Water Pollution in the Haihe River Valley, in clause 4 of the State Council's Comments on the Plan of Prevention and Control of Water Pollution in the Upper Reaches of the Changjiang River and Reply to Liaoning Province on Collecting Urban Sewage Treatment Fee and other questions jointly issued by the Ministry of Finance, the state Planning Commission, the Ministry of Construction and the State Environmental Protection Administration, this Circular shall apply to areas covered by the Taihu Lake Valley, the Dianchi Lake Valley, the Haihe River Valley, the upper reaches of Changjiang River Valley and Liaohe River Valley in the Province of Liaoning.

Therefore, regulations on collecting urban sewage treatment fee set forth in the Circular shall apply not only to the Huaihe River Valley, but to the Taihu Lake Valley, the Dianchi Lake Valley, the Haihe River Valley , upper reaches of Changjiang River  and the Liaohe River Valley in Liaoning Province and other cities.ª¥

 Following is the full text of the Circular:ª¤ª¥

In order to speed up the construction of centralized treatment facilities of urban sewage in the Huaihe River Valley and ensure their normal operation, in accordance with relevant stipulations in the Law of the People's Republic of China on the Prevention and Control of Water Pollution, Intrim Regulations on Prevention and Control of Water Pollution in the Huaihe River Valley and Comments by the State Council On Plan to Prevent and Control Water Pollution in the Huaihe River Valley and Ninth Five year Plan, The present Circular on the questions about collecting urban sewage treatment fee in the Huaihe River Valley is hereby issued with the approval of the State Council:

1. Any of the relevant cities (hereinafter called the cities) of the four provinces of Henan, Anhui, Jiangsu and Shandong in the Huaihe River Valley where urban sewage treatment plants have already been built, or are being built, or the feasibility report on the construction of urban sewage treatment plant has been approved in accordance with capital construction procedures (or project proposal has been approved), upon approval of the provincial government to which it belongs, may collect urban sewage treatment fee on an experimental basis.ª¥

2. Any unit or individual discharges sewage to a sewage treatment plant or drainage system shall pay urban sewage treatment fee.

After collecting urban sewage treatment fee, governments shall stop collecting other fees previously charged for using these facilities from those who discharge waste water to the sewage treatment plant and the drainage system.

Those who discharge waste water exceeding the set quota shall still be fined for excessive discharging in accordance with the regulations.

Standards for urban sewage treatment fees shall be specified by the municipal governments taking into consideration of the costs of operation and maintenance of sewage treatment plants and other sewage facilities, and part of their construction cost as well as the ability to bear of the local enterprises and residents. These standards shall take effect upon approval by respective provincial government.ª¥

3. The municipal construction administration shall entrust the local water supplying company to collect the urban sewage treatment fee in keeping with approved coverage and standards. While collecting fees the department concerned shall use bills uniformly printed by the provincial financial department or  printed under its supervision. The municipal construction administration may pay an appropriate amount not exceeding 0.2% of the total amount collected to the unit collecting on its behalf.  Exact standard is to be specified by municipal governments.

4. Urban sewage treatment fee as a source of funds for construction and operation of urban sewage treatment facilities, may be used: (1) in operating and maintaining urban sewage treatment plants and drainage system; (2) in making up the deficiency of funds for construction of urban sewage treatment plants and drainage system; (3) as funds for constructing urban sewage treatment plant where construction of such facilities has not yet been completed.ª¥

5. Revenue from collecting urban sewage treatment fee shall be incorporated into the special fiscal account at the same level in accordance with relevant regulations in the State Council's Decision on Strengthening the Management of Non-budget Funds, and shall be allocated only as planned and for particular purpose and must not be used otherwise. Surplus from balance may be transferred to the next year for the use of same special item. Departments of finance, planning (price) and audit shall strengthen supervision of the revenue and expenditure of urban sewage treatment fee to ensure its proper use. The management of urban sewage treatment plants shall be improved to raise the quality of water treated and to ensure that the waste water after treatment meets the national standard for discharge. Environment administration shall fine urban sewage treatment plants for releasing water exceeding thestandards stipulated in the relevant national regulations.

6. Any city, which has been approved by the provincial government to collect urban sewage treatment plant construction fee, must not collect urban sewage treatment fee prior to the plant being put into operation. If a city where feasibility study report on the construction of urban sewage treatment plant has been approved in accordance with capital construction procedures (or the project proposal has been approved), is still unable to start the construction of the sewage treatment plant after collecting urban sewage treatment fee for half a year, the provincial government shall disqualify the city from having the pilot project.

7. The four provincial governments along the Huaihe River Valley may formulate rules for implementation in compliance with this Circular and present them to the Ministry of Finance and the State Planning Commission for the record. During the experimental process, any adjustment of the related national policy shall be applicable.