Asia/Pacific News
China Drafts New Regs Imposing Penalties for Oil Spills
China's Legislative Affairs Office of the State Council Monday published an early draft of a new regulation that would impose damages and penalties for clean-up costs and ecological restoration of marine environments resulting from oil spills, Xinhua reports.
The proposed regulation would also see the requirement for companies to invest in environmental monitoring and evaluation, as well as the use professional consultants if necessary.
In addition to compensation and fines, companies found to be responsible for spills may be subject to suspension of their operations.
The draft is understood to be open for public consultation until October 4.
The government approved China's first oil spill emergency response scheme in February, a regulation that is expected to be ready by 2020.
The move is just the latest in a series of marine related environmental measures by the country.
In August, Ship & Bunker reported that China's Port of Shenzhen is set to implement at-berth sulfur regulations from October 1, 2016, under an early adoption option in China's recently announced Emission Control Area (ECA) rules.
