Firms in Jiangsu will have to pay for discharging sewage from
next year, the provincial government has said.
"Research into a new levying system has begun and it will be
completed in one or two months," an official from the Jiangsu price
bureau said.
The new system will require all companies to pay in advance for
any waste or sewage they discharge into Taihu Lake.
The system will be in-troduced on a trial basis on January 1,
2008, but the exact details are yet to be finalized, the official
said.
The provincial government is looking into similar systems and
regulations and hopes to provide details of the charges by the end
of the year, he said.
The government is currently trying to decide which firms should
be allowed to discharge waste, what they should be charged for
doing so, and how the system will be managed.
About 56 billion tons of waste are discharged into Taihu Lake
every year.
Bao Chenggang, a profe-ssor with the College of Environmental
Science and Engineering at Tongji University, said: "In my opinion,
it is a good idea for Jiangsu to trial a charging system for sewage
discharge, as it will help solve the water pollution problem.
"It is a good way to control water pollution using market
forces, but there is still a long way to go to fully solve the
pollution problem in Taihu Lake."
Bao said similar charging systems were commonplace in developed
countries.
The Ministry of Finance chose Taihu Lake as a pilot for the new
system in March.
Officials in Jiangsu have been keen to tighten environmental
protection measures in the province since an algae bloom broke out
on the lake in May and June.
As a result, 2,150 small chemical firms in its drainage area
will be closed down by the end of next year.
Taihu Lake, on the border of Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces, is
China's third largest freshwater lake. About 30 million people in
nine cities in Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai Municipality rely on
it for drinking water.
(China Daily September 12, 2007)