BEIJING (Reuters) - China heightened pressure on polluters on Thursday, passing legislation that allows for stiff fines against heads of companies that foul its scarce water resources. The Water Pollution Prevention and Control Law which was passed ahead of the annual full session of China's parliament, or National People's Congress, which opens next week, will take effect on June 1, the official Xinhua news agency reported.
BEIJING (Reuters) - China heightened pressure on polluters on Thursday, passing legislation that allows for stiff fines against heads of companies that foul its scarce water resources.
The Water Pollution Prevention and Control Law which was passed ahead of the annual full session of China's parliament, or National People's Congress, which opens next week, will take effect on June 1, the official Xinhua news agency reported.
"Enterprise heads directly responsible for causing severe water pollution incidents and others with direct responsibility would be fined up to half of their income in the previous year," the law states.
Previously, executives faced only disciplinary action, but the issue of resource conservation in China has taken on greater urgency as the government struggles to curb the environmental consequences of its breakneck economic growth.
!ADVERTISEMENT!The country periodically faces spills into rivers that result in drinking water supplies being cut off, most seriously in a 2005 case when an explosion at an industrial plant sent toxic chemicals streaming into the Songhua river in China's northeast.
Run-off from heavy fertilizer use, industrial waste and untreated sewage also caused a foul-smelling algae bloom on a lake in the southern province of Jiangsu last year that left tap water undrinkable in a city of more than 2 million.
(Reporting by Lindsay Beck)
