River Outfall Approval and Standardised Construction: Key Points of Decree No. 35 as Amended in 2026

1. Which text is currently in force

The Measures for the Supervision and Administration of Sewage Outfalls into Rivers was adopted at the third ministerial meeting of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment in 2024 on 2024-07-10, promulgated on 2024-10-16 as Decree No. 35 of the Ministry, and took effect on 2025-01-01. The version currently published on the Ministry website carries the heading promulgated on 2024-10-16 as Decree No. 35 and amended under the Decision on Amending and Repealing Certain Rules of 2026-09-20. Citations must therefore follow the amended text in force, not the original 2024 wording.

In the amended text, Article 1 grounds the Measures in the Ecology and Environment Code of the People's Republic of China and related State Council provisions, and Article 35 correspondingly refers to penalties under that Code, whereas the 2024 original referred to Article 84 of the Law on Prevention and Control of Water Pollution.

2. Classification first: four outfall types and three that require approval

Article 3 defines a sewage outfall into a river as any opening discharging wastewater directly, or through pipes, ditches or channels, into rivers, lakes, canals or reservoirs. Setting covers three cases: new construction, alteration and expansion, where alteration means a major change in discharge location or method and expansion means an increase in discharge capacity.

Article 6 classifies outfalls by the sector of the responsible entity and by discharge characteristics into four types: industrial outfalls, municipal wastewater treatment plant outfalls, agricultural outfalls and other outfalls. Industrial outfalls include those of industrial and mining enterprises and their stormwater outlets, and those of wastewater treatment plants in industrial and other parks together with their stormwater outlets; agricultural outfalls include those of large scale livestock, poultry and aquaculture operations; other outfalls include those of large and medium irrigated areas, smaller scale livestock, poultry and aquaculture operations, rural wastewater treatment facilities and scattered rural domestic sewage.

Article 11 identifies the three categories requiring approval: outfalls of industrial and mining enterprises, of wastewater treatment plants in industrial and other parks, and of municipal wastewater treatment plants must be submitted to the competent river basin ecology and environment supervision agency or the local ecology and environment authority, and discharge through such outfalls is prohibited without approval. Other categories follow the registration route described below.

3. Approval authority and time limits

Article 12 assigns approval to the river basin supervision agency where any of four conditions applies: the ecological environment impact report or report form of the construction project is approved by the national ecology and environment authority; the outfall is located in a provincial boundary buffer zone; it is located on an international or boundary river or lake; or a trans-provincial dispute exists. Outside these cases, the approval authority is determined and published by the provincial ecology and environment authority where the outfall is located.

Article 13 sets a four step procedure of application, acceptance, review and decision, with two time rules: the authority must decide whether to grant permission within 20 working days of acceptance, and time spent on expert review, hearings or site inspection is excluded from that period. Where permission is granted a written decision approving the outfall is issued; where it is refused the reasons must be given in writing; and the decision must be made public for public consultation.

4. Demonstration report or brief analysis: the three triggers in Article 14

Article 14 requires submission of an application form, a setting demonstration report or brief analysis material, and the construction project supporting documents, and sets out three cases in which a demonstration report is mandatory:

• the responsible entity belongs to papermaking, coking, nitrogenous fertiliser, chemicals, printing and dyeing, agricultural and sideline food processing, tanning, electroplating, metallurgy, non-ferrous metals, active pharmaceutical ingredient manufacturing, pesticides or similar sectors;
• the discharge contains radioactive substances, heavy metals or other toxic and hazardous water pollutants;
• the volume of wastewater or pollutants reaches the scale threshold set by the national ecology and environment authority.

All other cases require only brief analysis material. Article 15 distinguishes the content: a demonstration report has eight elements - basic information on the responsible entity; the current aquatic ecological environment of the water body; the outfall location, discharge method and destination; the wastewater volume and the types, concentrations and quantities of key pollutants; analysis of impacts on the surrounding environment and related environmental risks; water ecological protection measures and their effectiveness; the demonstration conclusion; and other matters requiring explanation - while the brief analysis need only cover the first four. Article 16 adds that where several entities share one outfall, the material must also state each entity's discharge volume and key pollutant types, concentrations and quantities, separating their respective responsibilities.

5. Registration and cancellation

Article 22: outfalls outside the categories in Article 11 must, before being set up, be registered with the ecology and environment authority at prefecture level city, which shall confirm and register within 10 working days. A registered outfall whose responsible entity changes sector or discharge characteristics so that Article 11 applies must move to the approval route.

Article 21: changes in the name of the responsible entity, the address of the production or business site, the principal or contact details must be applied for within 30 days, and the authority shall make the change within 10 working days. Article 23: where an outfall is no longer used, the responsible entity shall remove or close it and apply to cancel the decision or registration within 30 days of removal or closure.

6. Prohibitions and controls: the three layers of amended Article 18

Amended Article 18 operates on three levels. First, setting outfalls in violation of laws, regulations or provisions of the national ecology and environment authority is prohibited. Second, setting outfalls within drinking water source protection areas is prohibited, and new outfalls are prohibited in the protection areas of nature reserve water bodies, important fishery water bodies and other water bodies of special economic or cultural value, unless laws or administrative regulations provide otherwise. Third, for water function zones that fail to meet aquatic ecological and environmental quality targets, the setting of outfalls is strictly controlled, except for outfalls of important livelihood projects such as municipal wastewater treatment plants. Compared with the 2024 original, protected area wording changed from scenic area water bodies to nature reserve water bodies, and within protected areas the wording moved from prohibited to prohibited for new outfalls - both changes directly affect the legality assessment of existing outfalls.

Article 19 requires coordination with the pollutant permit: where the responsible entity holds a pollutant discharge permit, outfall approval must be aligned with the particulars recorded in that permit.

7. Standardised construction: three hard requirements

Article 30: the monitoring sampling point, inspection well and signboard of an outfall shall meet the standardised construction requirements of the national ecology and environment authority, and the responsible entity shall install a signboard in a prominent position at the point where wastewater enters the river or at the sampling point. Article 31: the responsible entity shall proactively disclose outfall information to the public through signboards, display screens, QR codes or online media. Article 29: where several entities share one outfall, monitoring shall be strengthened with the required surveillance and automatic monitoring, and video monitoring systems are encouraged.

Article 28 sets inspection and reporting duties: the responsible entity shall regularly inspect and maintain the discharge channel, the outfall structure and ancillary facilities, and where others discharge through its channel it shall immediately report to the local ecology and environment authority and preserve evidence.

8. Division of labour with State Council General Office Document No. 17 of 2022

One further document must be read alongside: the Implementing Opinions of the General Office of the State Council on Strengthening Supervision and Administration of Sewage Outfalls into Rivers and the Sea, Document No. 17 of 2022, dated 2022-01-29. It sets the timetable: by the end of 2023, complete the survey of outfalls along the main streams and important tributaries, key lakes and key bays of the seven basins - Yangtze, Yellow River, Huaihe, Haihe, Pearl, Songliao and Taihu; by the end of 2025, complete the survey of all outfalls in those seven basins and in coastal waters, and basically complete remediation along their main streams, important tributaries, key lakes and key bays. It also sets the three part remediation approach of outlawing a batch, merging a batch and standardising a batch, and states that existing outfalls of enterprises in industrial and other parks should be merged as far as possible so that wastewater is collected and treated centrally by the park treatment facility.

A simple way to remember the split of duties: Decree No. 35 governs the administrative procedure for a single outfall from application to cancellation, while Document No. 17 governs the regional survey, tracing, remediation and long term mechanism. Both must be consulted when preparing an outfall setting demonstration.

9. What is left to the demonstration

Three gaps must be stated honestly. First, the specific scale threshold referred to in Article 14 is not contained in the Measures and must be taken from separate provisions issued by the Ministry. Second, the technical methods for assessing the pollutant carrying capacity of the water body and for hydrodynamic and water quality impact prediction are not given; Article 15 only lists the required content. Third, the detailed dimensions and materials of the sampling point, inspection well and signboard are not specified in the Measures; Article 30 refers to the standardised construction requirements of the national ecology and environment authority, which must be applied.

The practical sequence is: classify under Article 6 and decide approval or registration under Article 11; decide between a demonstration report and brief analysis under Article 14; screen against the prohibitions in Article 18 and check the pollutant permit under Article 19; and finally write the signboard and sampling point requirements of Article 30 and the inspection and reporting duties of Article 28 into the operating management system.