BEIJING (Reuters) - China has issued a draft environment tax law which proposes targeting air, water, noise and solid waste pollution through levies on polluters, the Cabinet?s Legislative Affairs Office said on Wednesday.
It proposed the following levy rates: 1.2 yuan on air pollutants, 1.4 yuan on water pollutants, and a range of 5 to 30 yuan for solid waste, it said.
China has promised to implement regulations that will force polluters to pay for the damage they do. For years, the cost of compliance has usually outweighed fines or other charges, giving industries little incentive to install clean technologies.
Amendments to the Environmental Protection Law, which went into effect on Jan. 1, included provisions to bolster financial and criminal punishments for transgressors.
(Reporting by Kathy Chen and David Stanway; editing by Nicholas Heath and Jason Neely)
