14th NPC Adopts Ecological Environment Code of the People’s Republic of China

On March 12, 2026, the Fourth Session of the 14^th National People’s Congress (NPC) voted to adopt the Ecological Environment Code of the People’s Republic of China, to take effect on August 15, 2026, upon which the Environmental Protection Law and ten other laws will be repealed simultaneously.

The Ecological Environment Code is a systematic integration and codification of the existing ecological and environmental laws. It consists of five Parts and 1,242 Articles, namely the General Provisions, Prevention and Control of Pollution, Ecological Conservation, Green and Low-Carbon Development, Legal Liability, and Supplementary Provisions. In general terms, it establishes unified rules on the ecological and environmental supervision and administration system, planning and zoned regulation, standards and monitoring, environmental impact assessment, ecological conservation compensation, response to emergencies, and information disclosure and public participation. The Code sets out special chapters respectively on air, water, oceans, soil, solid waste, noise, radioactive pollution and chemical substances, electromagnetic radiation, and light pollution, establishes a fixed pollution source regulation system with the pollutant discharge permit system at its core, as well as systems such as total quantity control of key pollutants and trading of pollutant discharge rights, and refines provisions on the responsibilities of enterprises and public institutions for pollution prevention and control, obligations regarding green and low-carbon development, ecological and environmental impact assessment, authenticity and completeness of monitoring data, credit-based regulation of ecological and environmental conduct, compensation for ecological and environmental damage, and public interest litigation.