11 November 2013, the State Council released the Prevention and Control of Pollution from Large-scale Breeding of Livestock and Poultry.

It is the first environment-related regulation tackling pollution in agriculture at the national level. It goes into effect on 1 January 2014.

 Governance

• Governments above county level are required to prepare plans for development of animal husbandry and plans on prevention and control of pollutions from livestock and poultry breeding
• Governments at municipal and national level are required to formulate schemes on comprehensive pollution control in main areas of animal husbandry

Waste treatment

• Animal husbandries and areas should be equipped with the following facilities:
  • facilities for separating animal waste from rainwater
  • storage facilities for animal waste and sewage
  • facilities for methane production, separation of biogas residue from biogas liquid and their transmission
  • facilities for treatment of sewage and animal bodies
  • environmentally sound disposal facilities according to the production scale and need of pollution control
• Treated animal waste, to be discharged into the environment, should meet national and local standards on pollution discharge and the target for total pollution control (“total cap”). Untreated animal waste is not allowed to be discharged

Waste reuse & reduction

• To encourage comprehensive use of waste from animal breeding. For animal husbandry farms using animal waste for biogas power generation, they are entitled to favorable on-grid power price according to related national policies
• To encourage further waste reduction even after complying the discharge requirements and meeting the total cap limits, financial incentives and supports will be provided by governments at county level

Penalties

• For building animal husbandry in forbidden areas, farmers will firstly receive warning from county-level governments to remove construction or shutdown the husbandry; in case of refusal, a fine of 0.03~0.1 million RMB will be charged
• For building animal husbandry in drinking water source protection areas, farmers will receive warning from county-level governments, a fine of 0.1~0.5 million RMB, and an order to remove construction or shutdown the husbandry
• For animal husbandry without environmental impact assessment if actually required, a fine of 0.05~0.2 million RMB will be charged
• For animal husbandry without waste treatment either in own facilities or designated facilities, a maximum fine of 0.1 million RMB will be charged
• For animal waste discharge without complying national or local standards or cap control indicator, a maximum fine of 0.05 million RMB will be charged
• Identifies legal liabilities of environmental, agricultural and animal husbandry departments at all levels for not fulfilling their responsibilities

See the full report here (Chinese only)