Regulations of Shaanxi Province on Wetland Protection

· Document Number：Public Notification No. 50 of the Standing Committee of the People’s Congress of Shaanxi Province

· Area of Law： Forestry

· Level of Authority： Provincial Local Regulations

· Date issued：04-03-2006

· Effective Date：06-01-2006

· Status： Effective

· Issuing Authority： Shaanxi Province

Public Notification of the Standing Committee of the People's Congress of Shaanxi Province
(No. 50)
The Regulations of Shaanxi Province on Wetland Protection adopted at the 24th Meeting of the Standing Committee of the 10th People's Congress of Shaanxi Province on April 2nd, 2006, and are now promulgated and shall be in force as of June 1st, 2006.
Standing Committee of the People's Congress of Shaanxi Province
April 2nd, 2006
Regulations of Shaanxi Province on Wetland Protection
Content
Chapter I General Provisions 
Chapter II Wetland Protection Programming 
Chapter III Nature Reserve of Wetland
Chapter IV Supervision and Administration 
Chapter V Legal Liabilities 
Chapter VI Supplementary Provision 
Chapter I General Provisions
Article 1 These Regulations are formulated for the purpose of enhancing the Wetland protection, maintaining the ecological functions and biological diversity of Wetland, and guaranteeing the sustainable utilization of Wetland resources, in accordance with the provisions of relevant laws and administrative regulations, and in combination with the real conditions of Shaanxi Province.
Article 2 These Regulations shall apply to any units or individuals to be engaged in the protection, the utilization and the administration of Wetland within the administrative region of Shaanxi Province.
Article 3 The term "Wetland" as used in these Regulations refers to the perennial or seasonal swamps, marshes or water areas and zone land that possess a certain area and an important ecological functions.
Wetland can be divided into natural Wetland and the artificial Wetland that served as the inhabitable place for the State's key protected wild animals and the centralized distribution area for wild plants. The specific directories and their scope of Wetland shall be promulgated by the people's government of Shaanxi Province.
Article 4 Wetland protection shall comply with the principles of priority protection, scientific programming, reasonable utilization and sustainable development.
Article 5 The forestry administration department of the people's government of Shaanxi Province shall superintend the work for the Wetland protection in whole Shaanxi Province. The forestry administration departments of the people's governments of cities with districts, counties (cities and districts) shall superintend the work for the Wetland protection within their respective administrative districts.
The relevant administrative departments such as the water conservation, the agriculture, the land resources, the environmental protection, the development and reform, the construction and so on, shall do well the work for the Wetland protection according to their respective responsibilities.
Article 6 When the people's governments at or above country levels issue the certificates of land usufruct, of forest rights and of grassland, if Wetland is contained, they should mark clearly the type, the area, and the four extremes of the Wetland as well as other necessary contents concerning the Wetland.
Article 7 The people's governments at various levels and their related departments should carry out the propaganda and education activities for Wetland protection, and improve the citizen's consciousness for Wetland protection.
Units and individuals shall be encouraged to conduct the scientific research on Wetland protection and to popularize and apply the advanced technology in Wetland protection.
Article 8 The people's governments at or above county levels shall bring Wetland protection into the national economic and social development programming, and guarantee the fund input on Wetland protection.
Article 9 Every unit and individual shall have the obligation to protect Wetland and have the right to report and prosecute the action that destroys, invades and occupies Wetland.
Article 10 The people's governments at or above county levels shall grant honors and rewards to units and individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the work for Wetland protection.
Chapter II Wetland Protection Programming
Article 11 The forestry administrative department of Shaanxi Province should work together with such relevant departments as the water conservancy, the agriculture, the land and resources, the environmental protection, the development and reform, the construction and so on, and submit the directory and scope of Wetland for the approval from the people's government of Shaanxi Province.
Article 12 The forestry administrative departments at or above county levels should work together with such relevant departments as the water conservancy, the agriculture, the land and resources, the environmental protection, the development and reform, the construction and so on, work out the programming of Wetland protection for their own region in accordance with the directory and scope of Wetland, and implement that programming after submitting and approval by the people's government at the same level.
Article 13 The Wetland protection programming should include such contents as the guidance ideology, protection objects, section divisions, protection key areas, protection measures, the term of implementation and so on.
Article 14 The Wetland protection programming should be worked out in accordance with the type, the distribution circumstance, the ecological function of the Wetland and the conditions of water resources, vegetation coverage and the wild fauna and flora resources, on a scientific and reasonable basis.
The Wetland protection programming should be linked up to the overall programming of land utilization, the programming of comprehensive treatment of rivers and lakes, the urban overall programming and the water function section division and so on.
Article 15 Where to work out the Wetland protection programming, opinions from the related units, experts and the public should be extensively asked for via such forms like the argumentation meeting and the witness hearing and so on.
Chapter III Nature Reserve of Wetland
Article 16 The people's governments at or above county levels shall establish nature reserve for the Wetland which may possess one of the following conditions:
(1) Listed in the Directory of the International Important Wetland and the Directory of National Important Wetland;
(2) Being typical of the Wetland ecological system;
(3) Being rich in the biological diversity or centralized in the distribution of severely endangered species;
(4) Being the breeding place or the winter living ground or the important migration and stopover areas of bird species of national and local key protections; or
(5) Being other Wetland worthy of special protection or scientific research.
Article 17 The establishment of the nature reserve of Wetland shall not be restricted to the division of administrative regions or the relation of resources subjection. Nature reserve of Wetland cross different administrative regions may be established in accordance to the natural distribution and trend of Wetland ecological system.
Article 18 The nature reserve of Wetland that spans two or more counties (cities, districts) shall be set up by the people's governments at or above the level of cities with districts. The nature reserve of Wetland that spans two or more cities with districts shall be set up by the people's government of Shaanxi Province.
Article 19 Where for the Wetland with special protection value but not qualified to be a nature reserve of Wetland, the people's governments at county level or the people's governments at the level of cities with districts in the locus may authorize to set up small-scale Wetland reserve .
Article 20 The construction and administration of the nature reserve of Wetland shall be carried out in accordance with relevant laws and regulations.
Chapter IV Supervision and Administration
Article 21 The forestry administrative departments at or above county levels should work together with such departments as the water conservancy, agriculture, land and resources, environmental protection, construction and so on, conduct the survey on Wetland resources, establish the monitoring system and dossier of Wetland resources, and publicize regularly to the society the status of Wetland resources.
Article 22 The people's governments at or above county levels should take measures to protect Wetland resources. The natural Wetland that suffers functional degrading due to the lack of water resources should be refilled with water via measures like the transferring of water, in order to maintain the ecological function of Wetland.
Article 23 The purpose of Wetland shall not be changed willfully without undergone the approval.
Where it is indeed necessary to change the purpose of the Wetland for some important construction project, the land and resources administrative department should ask for the opinion from the forestry administrative department at the same level when handling the procedure for the examination and approval of the land according to law.
Article 24 Any change to the purpose of natural Wetland should accord with the following conditions:
（1）The natural Wetland must be occupied by some important construction project;
（2）The important construction project has passed the environmental impact appraisal; and
（3）Having the feasible scheme for holding on the Wetland.
Article 25 Where to hold on temporarily the Wetland, that occupying unit should bring forward the feasible restoring scheme for the Wetland, and subject to the check and approval by the forestry administrative departments at or above county levels.
The term for the temporary holding on of Wetland shall not be more than one year. At the expiration of the term, the occupying unit should make the restoration in time in accordance with the restoring scheme for the Wetland.
Article 26 Where to carry out the development and utilization of the natural Wetland resources, the Wetland protection programming should be accorded to, the basic function of the Wetland ecological system shall not be destroyed, the inhabiting and living environments of wild animals and plants shall not be destroyed.
Where to engage in such activities as cutting reeds, mowing grass, grazing animals and so on within natural Wetland, these activities should be conducted within the range and in the time period promulgated by the people's governments at county (city, district) levels. The people's governments at county (city, district) levels should follow the rules of waterfowls' migrating and Wetland plants' growing when they provide these range and time period.
Article 27 The following activities shall be prohibited within the range of natural Wetland:
(1) Reclamation or burning grass on waste land;
(2) Discharging willfully stored water of Wetland;
(3) Destructing the swimming back channels of such aquatic organisms as fish and so on, or the inhabiting place of wild animals;
(4) Exploiting willfully sand, rocks, mines and digging willfully ponds;
(5) Willfully felling forest, collecting wild plants, hunting wild animals, picking up birds' eggs or catching and dragging for fish and other species of aquatic organisms via the devastating mode;
(6) Discharging into natural Wetland the over-standarded sewage, or toxic and harmful gases, and throwing in chemical substances that might endanger the water body and aquatic organisms;
(7) Dumping solid abandoned wastes into the natural Wetland and within the scope of one kilometer;
(8) Introducing willfully the ab extra species into natural Wetland; and
(9) Other actions that might destroy the natural Wetland.
Article 28 The people's governments at various levels should encourage and support local residents to develop the ecological agriculture of Wetland, to prevent the reduction of Wetland area and the contamination of Wetland, and maintain the ecological functions of artificial Wetland, in the artificial Wetland that served as the inhabitable place for the State's key protected wild animals and the centralized distribution area for wild plants .
Where the ownership holders or the usufruct holders have suffered economic losses because of the reason to maintain the ecological functions of artificial Wetland, the people's governments at or above county levels shall grant compensations for that said losses. The specific compensation measures shall be provided by the people's government of Shaanxi Province.
Chapter V Legal Liabilities
Article 29 Where to the action(s) in the violation of these Regulations, and other laws and regulations have the provisions of punishment, the related departments shall impose the punishment in accordance with these provisions.
Article 30 Where in the violation of the provision of Clause 1, Article 23 of these Regulations, changing willfully the purpose of natural Wetland, the forestry administrative departments at or above county levels shall order to stop the illegal action and to make the restoration within a time limit, meanwhile, may impose the fine of not less than RMB 5 Yuan but not more than RMB 30 Yuan per square meter of the area that has been changed the purpose.
Article 31 Where in the violation of the provision of Clause 2， Article 25 of these Regulations，failing to make the restoration according to restoration scheme of Wetland, the forestry administrative departments at or above county levels shall order to make the restoration within a time limit; if refused to restore, the forestry administrative departments at or above county levels shall organize that restoration, but all the required expenses shall be born by the occupied unit, meanwhile, a fine of not more than fifty percent of the total Wetland restoration expenses may be imposed thereupon.
Article 32 Where in the violation of the provision of Clause 2, Article 26 of these Regulations, engaging in such activities as cutting reed, mowing grass and feeding livestock within natural Wetland, the forestry administrative departments at or above county levels shall give warning; if the circumstances are serious, a fine of not more than RMB 500 Yuan shall be imposed thereupon.
Article 33 Where in the violation of the provision of Clause 1, Article 27 of these Regulations, reclaiming or burning grass on waste land, the forestry administrative departments at or above county levels shall order to stop the illegal action, to make the restoration within a time limit, meanwhile may be imposed the fine of not less than RMB 5 Yuan but not more than RMB 10 Yuan per square meter. Where in the violation of the provision of Clause 2, Article 27 of these Regulations, discharging willfully Wetland stored water within the range of the Wetland, the forestry administrative departments at or above county levels shall order to stop the illegal action; if the circumstances are serious, a fine of not more than RMB 5,000 Yuan may be imposed thereupon.
Article 34 Where the imposed fine is not less than RMB 5,000 Yuan for an individual or not less than RMB 30, 000 Yuan for a unit, the party(ies) shall be notified of the right to require a witness hearing.
Article 35 Where the party(ies) is not satisfied with the administrative punishment, he or they may apply for administrative reconsideration or file administrative litigation according to law.
Article 36 Where the State organs and their working personnel have one of the following actions in the work of Wetland protection, the directly responsible superintender and the other directly responsible personnel shall be imposed an administrative punishment; if a crime has been constituted, the criminal liability shall be investigated for according to law.
(1) Failing to approve the change of purpose of Wetland according to the provision; or
(2) Abusing the authority, neglecting the duty, and practicing the favoritism and embezzlement, which have caused severe destruction to the natural Wetland.
Chapter VI Supplementary Provision
Article 37 These Regulations shall come into effect as of June 1st, 2006.