Water Environment Conservation Act.

The purpose of this Act is to prevent harm to citizens’ health and environmental hazards due to water pollution and to appropriately manage and conserve the water environments of public waters, including rivers, lakes and marshes, in order to enable citizens to enjoy benefits accruing from such endeavors, and to leave such benefits to future generations. The Act defines key concepts relating to water pollution, aquatic ecosystems, wastewater, pollution sources, and water quality management, and assigns responsibilities to the State, local governments, businesses, and citizens. It establishes principles for water environment conservation, monitoring systems, pollution control, public information networks, and policy coordination to support sustainable water resource management and environmental protection.
The Act establishes regulatory mechanisms for water quality management, including water environment standards, pollution measurement networks, monitoring systems, wastewater discharge regulation, total pollution load control, and management plans for river basins and local governments. It provides for wastewater treatment facilities, pollution reduction facilities, aquatic ecosystem assessment, environmental information disclosure, and support for research and public participation.
More specifically, the Act prohibits unlawful discharge of pollutants, toxic substances, oils, wastes, pesticides, and hazardous materials into public waters and establishes reporting obligations, emergency response systems, water pollution prevention centres, and remediation measures. It also regulates pollution monitoring, discharge permits, facility management, pollution load allocation, penalties, traffic restrictions for hazardous substances near water sources, and enforcement mechanisms to protect water quality and aquatic ecosystems.