Sui Huan Gui Zi [2023] No. 2

All sections/offices, sub-bureaus, monitoring stations and directly affiliated units,

　　As part of the effort to implement the Guidance on Implementing the System for Rewarding Reporting Ecological and Environmental Violationsissued by the Ministry of Ecology and Environment and continue to encourage the public to actively protect the ecology and environment, this bureau has amended the Measures of Guangzhou Municipality for Rewarding Reporting Environmental Violations, which came into effect in March 2020.It is hereby printed and distributed. Please comply with and implement it.

Guangzhou Municipal Ecological Environment Bureau

January 20, 2023

Measures of Guangzhou Municipality for Rewarding Reporting Ecological and Environmental Violations

　　Article 1 In order tostrengthen social supervision, encourage public participation, and crack down on environmental violations according to law, according to the Environmental Protection Law of the People’s Republic of China, the Regulations of Guangdong Province on Environmental Protection, the Regulations of Guangzhou Municipality on Ecological and Environmental Protection, and the Guidance of the General Office of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment on Implementing the Systemfor Rewarding Reporting Ecological and Environmental Violations(Huan Ban Zhi Fa [2020] No. 8),these Measures are formulated in light of the actual needs of Guangzhou.

　　Article 2 Guangzhou Municipal Ecological Environment Bureau (hereinafter referred to as the “municipal ecological environment bureau”) should accept reports on ecological and environmental violations occurring within the administrative region of Guangzhou, and should reward the informant who conforms to the provisions of these Measures, encourage the informant to report with his/her real name according to law, and encourage internal personnel of an organization to report related violations of the organization.

　　Article 3 The informant can report in the following ways:

　　3.1 online reporting: “Complaint & Reporting Center” on the website of Guangzhou Municipal Ecological Environment Bureau (http://sthjj.gz.gov.cn/);

　　3.2 reporting through letters and visits: Address of Guangzhou Municipal Ecological Environment Bureau: No.311 Huanshi Middle Road, Yuexiu District, Guangzhou, 510091;

　　3.3 official WeChat account: “Guangzhou Ecological Environment (GZEE)”.

　　Article 4 Those who report the following ecological and environmental violations and meet reward conditions stipulated in these Measures may be rewarded:

　　4.1 illegally discharge, dump or dispose of hazardous wastes, pollutants containing heavy metal, persistent organic pollutants and other toxic and harmful substances;

　　4.2 discharge industrial waste water, waste gas or waste liquid through hidden pipes, seepage wells, seepage pits, cracks, karst caves or perfusion, or unauthorized shutdown, demolition or idling of pollution control facilities and other abnormal ways to use pollution control facilities;

　　4.3 tamper or falsify environment monitoring data or automatic monitoring data;

　　4.4 discharge, dump or dispose of industrial waste water, liquid waste and solid waste in the protection area of a drinking water source or the core area of a nature reserve in violation of laws and regulations;

　　4.5 discharge or dump chemical, pharmaceutical, petrochemical, printing, dyeing, electroplating, papermaking or tanning industrial sludge in violation of laws and regulations;

　　4.6 illegally construct chemical, electroplating, printing or dyeing projects that seriously pollute the environment before passing environmental impact assessment;

　　Article 5 When reporting, the informant should provide the following information objectively and truthfully:

　　5.1 valid contact information of the informant;

　　5.2 object to be reported (the subject of ecological and environmental violation)

　　5.3 time, location and circumstance of the ecological and environmental violation;

　　5.4 direct evidence or clues such as photos, videos or written materials about the ecological and environmental violation.

　　Article 6 Under any of the following circumstances, no reward will be given:

　　6.1 The informant is a staff member or a close relative of a staff member of the ecological environment protection organ (or any other administrative department responsible for ecological environment supervision), or information reported by the informant comes from the above-mentioned personnel;

　　6.2 Reported information has been known to the municipal ecological environment bureau or exposed by the media before reporting;

　　6.3 There is no direct causal relationship between reported information and case investigation;

　　6.4 The informant fails to provide information specified in 5. of these Measures, or information provided is vague or inconsistent with the fact;

　　6.5 The informant expressly waives the reward;

　　6.6 Other circumstances in which no reward should be granted according to law.

　　Article 7 The municipal ecological environment bureau should, within 15 days from the date of receiving a report, inform the informant whether he/she complies with the requirements specified in 4. of these Measures. Those who meet the requirements should simultaneously be advised to provide information stipulated in 5. of these Measures comprehensively, and those who do not meet the requirements should be handled according to ordinary complaint and report procedures.

　　Article 8 If rewarding conditions stipulated in this article are met, the municipal ecological environment bureau should reward the informant according to the following standards:

　　8.1 500 yuan if reported information is verified by the municipal ecological environment bureau as true;

　　8.2 10% of the amount of the fine if the municipal ecological environment bureau imposes an administrative fine on the reported object based on information reported, with the total amount not exceeding 30,000 yuan;

　　8.3 10,000 yuan if the municipal ecological environment bureau takes administrative coercive measures such as sealing up and seizure against the reported object according to information reported, or issues an administrative decision to order to stop production or business or close down; 1,000 yuan if other administrative penalty decisions are made;

　　8.4 30,000 yuan if reported information proves that the reported object is suspected of environmental pollution crimes and a case is filed for investigation after the reported object is transferred to the public security organ;

　　8.5 200% of the above reward standards if the organization at which the informant works commits ecological and environmental violations stipulated in 4., with the total amount not exceeding 60,000 yuan.

　　If the informant meets more than two (including) rewarding conditions at the same time, the highest reward should prevail.

　　Article 9 The reward for the informant follows the principle of one reward for each case. If several people report the same violation separately, the first informant should be rewarded; a joint report should be rewarded as it is for only one case, and the reward should be equally distributed among all the informants.

　　After the conclusion of the reported case, if the reported object commits a violation for which rewards should be awarded as stipulated in these Measures, the informant may continue to report against the reported object. If the informant meets the rewarding conditions stipulated in these Measures, he/she may get the corresponding reward again.

　　Article 10 The municipal ecological environment bureaushould notify the informant within 20 days from the date of deciding on administrative penalty, administrative coercive measures or the public security department’s decision on filing a case for investigation. The informant should apply reward to the municipal ecological environment bureauwithin 20 days after receiving the notice.

　　The municipal ecological environment bureau should, within 20 days from the date of receiving an application for reward from the informant, review it and decide on whether to reward and what kind of reward to give, and inform the informant at the same time.

　　Article 11 The reward will be paid by bank transfer, and the informant who meets rewarding conditions will go through the formalities for receiving a reward at the place designated by the municipal ecological environment bureau within 30 days from the date of receiving the rewarding notice. If the informant is unable to be present and has not authorized another person to be present on his/her behalf, he/she may go through the formalities of claiming a reward by mail. After the formalities are completed, the reward will be remitted to the bank account designated by the informant. If the informant fails to provide information or provides inaccurate information, the informant should bear all consequences.

　　Article 12 The municipal ecological environment bureau should keep confidential information related to the informant and the reported case, and should not disclose any content related to the reported clue to the reported object, or publicly discuss matters related to the report.

　　Article 13 If the informant makes a false or malicious report or falsifies reporting materials to defraud or falsely claim a reward, or seriously disturbs rewarding reporting ecological and environmental violations, the municipal ecological environment bureau will apply to relevant departments for holding the informant responsible according to law.

　　Article 14 Funds to reward reporting ecological and environmental violations should be incorporated into the annual budget of the municipal ecological environment bureau and should be arranged and used according to budget management provisions.

　　Article 15 Meanings of the following terms in these Measures:

　　Internal personnel of an organization refers to an informant who has signed an effective labor contract with the reported organization, or has other evidence to prove his/her employment by the reported organization;

　　Violations refer to the types of pollutants illegally discharged, ways of discharging pollutants illegally, duration of violations, specific circumstances of abnormal operations of pollution control facilities, and specific circumstances of illegal storage of hazardous wastes, etc.;

　　Close relatives refer to spouses, parents, children, brothers, sisters, grandparents, grandchildren and other supporting relatives.

　　Article 16 These Measures should be interpreted by Guangzhou Municipal Ecological Environment Bureau.

　　Article 17 These Measures should come into force as of the date of printing and distributing and be valid for 5 years. The Notice of Guangzhou Municipal Ecological Environment Bureau on Printing and Distributing the Measures of Guangzhou Municipality for Rewarding Reporting Environmental Violations (Sui Huan Gui Zi [2020] No. 5)should be annulled simultaneously.

　　Disclosure: Active Disclosure

　　Office of Guangzhou Municipal Ecological Environment Bureau   January 30, 2023