According to the WeChat public account of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, since 2020, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment has guided all localities to establish and implement a reward system for reporting violations of the ecological environment in accordance with the relevant requirements of the "Guiding Opinions on the Implementation of the Reward System for Reporting Violations of Ecological and Environmental Laws", fully mobilize the enthusiasm of the general public to participate in ecological and environmental protection work, give play to the role of internal reporting, heavy rewards for reporting and other mechanisms, effectively improve the ability to discover problems, and accurately discover a number of major illegal and criminal clues.

On October 19, 2024, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment announced five typical cases in the field of reporting rewards, and commended the Deqing Branch of the Huzhou Ecological Environment Bureau of Zhejiang Province, the Anhui Provincial Department of Ecology and Environment, the Ganzhou Ecological Environment Bureau of Jiangxi Province, the Jinxiang County Branch of the Jining Ecological Environment Bureau of Shandong Province, and the Qidong Branch of the Hengyang Ecological Environment Bureau of Hunan Province for investigating and handling cases. The typical cases announced this time include:

1. Huzhou, Zhejiang Province rewards people who report a case of excessive heavy metal emissions from a certain electroplating processing site

[System background]

In 2021, the Huzhou Municipal Ecological Environment Bureau, together with the Huzhou Municipal Finance Bureau and the Huzhou Municipal Public Security Bureau, issued the "Implementation Measures for Huzhou Municipal Ecological Environment Grid Supervision and Reporting Rewards for Illegal Behaviors". If the ecological environment department verifies ecological and environmental violations based on the reporting clues and makes an administrative penalty decision on the illegal subject, the reporter will be given a reward of 5% of the fine amount, up to a maximum of 100,000 yuan. If the same reporting matter meets multiple reward conditions, the rewards can be superimposed. If the public security organ files a case for investigation and takes criminal compulsory measures, or if the procuratorate approves the arrest, the reporter will be given a reward of 10,000 yuan. If the people's court makes a guilty verdict, the reporter will be given a reward of 10,000 yuan.

[Case Summary]

On February 14, 2022, the Deqing Branch of the Huzhou Municipal Ecological Environment Bureau (hereinafter referred to as the "Deqing Branch") received a telephone report from the public, reporting that there was a processing point in a hidden farmhouse, emitting a pungent odor. The Deqing Branch immediately organized law enforcement personnel to rush to the scene to investigate and found that there were plastic barrels filled with unknown liquids, pickling tanks and suspected anodizing tanks in the reported farmhouse. The ground wastewater converged into the collection pool and was connected to the domestic sewage network through a hose. After inspecting and judging the on-site equipment and production process, the law enforcement officers immediately sealed up the site and production equipment. Upon investigation, from March 2021 to February 2022, Zhang rented the farmhouse to illegally engage in metal electroplating business and discharged untreated electroplating processing wastewater into the domestic sewage pipe.

On February 15, 2022, law enforcement officers sampled and monitored the sewage in the drainage hose of the farmhouse and the manhole of the domestic sewage pipe outside the wall. The results showed that the lead, total chromium, hexavalent chromium and nickel in the water sample of the drainage hose exceeded the standard limits of 0.1mg/L, 0.5mg/L, 0.1mg/L and 0.1mg/L in Table 3 of the "Electroplating Pollutant Emission Standard" (GB21900-2008) by 15.7 times, 57 times, 181 times and 96 times respectively; the lead and total chromium in the water sample in the manhole of the domestic sewage pipe outside the wall exceeded the standard limits of 0.1mg/L and 0.5mg/L in Table 3 of the "Electroplating Pollutant Emission Standard" (GB21900-2008) by 4.5 times and 3.6 times respectively.

[Investigation and Reward]

The behavior of Zhang Moumou involved in this case is suspected of constituting the "crime of polluting the environment" stipulated in Article 338 of the Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China. On February 24, 2022, the Deqing Branch transferred the case clues and evidence to the Deqing County Public Security Bureau of Huzhou City. On November 7, 2022, the People's Court of Nan Taihu New District, Huzhou sentenced Zhang Moumou to ten months in prison for the crime of polluting the environment and imposed a fine of RMB 25,000.

According to the relevant provisions of the "Implementation Measures for the Grid-based Supervision of the Ecological Environment in Huzhou City and the Reward for Reporting Illegal Acts", the Deqing Branch awarded the reporter a reward of 20,000 yuan.

2. Anhui rewards the masses who report a company's online fraud and illegal discharge of sludge

[System background]

In 2020, the Anhui Provincial Department of Ecology and Environment and the Provincial Department of Finance revised and implemented the "Anhui Provincial Ecological Environment Violation Reward Reporting Measures", and awarded 1,000 yuan to 20,000 yuan to qualified reporters according to the degree of harm of the reported ecological and environmental violations. All 16 prefecture-level cities in the province have established and implemented a reward system for reporting in light of local conditions. The informant can report through various channels such as telephone, WeChat, Internet, letter, visit, etc.

[Basic facts of the case]

In March 2023, the public reported on WeChat that Hanshan Chuangye Water Co., Ltd. secretly discharged sludge into Desheng River in March 2022 and illegally operated automatic monitoring equipment. According to the reporting clues provided by the public, the law enforcement officers of the Anhui Provincial Department of Ecology and Environment promptly conducted on-site investigations. After investigation, from March 16 to 17, 2022, the company's employees secretly discharged the mud and water mixture of the sewage treatment project into Desheng River by privately setting up fire hoses. The general manager of the company, Ding, arbitrarily unplugged the sampling tube of the automatic monitoring equipment of the wastewater pollution source, resulting in the inability of the automatic monitoring equipment to normally monitor the actual concentration of water pollutants discharged, and used tampering with monitoring data to evade supervision to discharge water pollutants.

[Investigation and rewards]

The company's behavior violated the relevant provisions of Article 39 of the "Water Pollution Prevention and Control Law of the People's Republic of China". On June 29, 2023, the Ma'anshan Municipal Ecological Environment Bureau imposed a fine of 320,000 yuan on the company in accordance with Article 83, Item 3 of the Water Pollution Prevention and Control Law of the People's Republic of China and the Anhui Provincial Regulations on Discretion Criteria for Administrative Penalties for Ecological Environment.

The behavior of Ding, the general manager of the company involved in this case, is suspected of constituting the "crime of polluting the environment" stipulated in Article 338 of the Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China. Ma'anshan Municipal Ecological Environment Bureau transferred the case to the public security organs for investigation in accordance with the law. In August 2024, the People's Procuratorate of Hanshan County has filed a public prosecution against Ding, and the court is waiting for trial.

According to the Anhui Provincial Regulations on Rewarding Reports of Ecological and Environmental Violations, the Anhui Provincial Department of Ecology and Environment will give the reporter a reward of 20,000 yuan.

3. Jiangxi Ganzhou rewards people who report a case of excessive discharge of electroplating wastewater from a hidden pipe in a certain electroplating factory

[System background]

In 2021, the Ganzhou Municipal Ecological Environment Bureau and the Ganzhou Municipal Finance Bureau issued the "Ganzhou City Ecological Environment Violation Report Reward Interim Measures", which allows reporters to report ecological and environmental violations such as illegal discharge, excessive discharge, falsification of monitoring data, and abnormal operation of pollution prevention and control facilities through telephone, letter, visit and WeChat. Reports are divided into three levels, and rewards are given at a rate not higher than 4%, 3%, and 2% of the penalty amount at the time, respectively. Double rewards are given for major reports and internal reports.

[Basic facts of the case]

On April 24, 2023, law enforcement officers of the Ganzhou Municipal Ecological Environment Bureau received a telephone report from the public, reflecting the "odor nuisance problem in a workshop of Dabu 4S Auto City in Ruijin City". After investigation, the law enforcement officers of Ganzhou Ecological Environment Bureau found that Xu opened an electroplating factory in the maintenance workshop on the second floor of the Auto City in March 2023. The factory did not apply for a discharge permit and environmental impact assessment approval procedures. The untreated production wastewater was discharged into the factory rainwater pipe network through the pipes on the outer wall of the maintenance workshop and eventually entered the external environment.

The law enforcement officers of Ganzhou Ecological Environment Bureau commissioned a third-party testing company to sample and test the factory's discharged wastewater on site. The test results showed that the total chromium and total copper in the electroplating factory's discharged wastewater exceeded the standard limits of 0.5mg/L and 1.0mg/L in Table 2 of the "Electroplating Pollutant Emission Standard" (GB21900-2008) by 23.3 times and 193.8 times, respectively.

[Investigation and Reward]

The actions of Xu and others involved in this case are suspected of constituting the "crime of polluting the environment" stipulated in Article 338 of the Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China. Ganzhou Ruijin Ecological Environment Bureau transferred the case to the public security organs for investigation in accordance with the law. In July 2024, the People's Procuratorate of Ruijin City has filed a public prosecution against Xu and six others, and the court is waiting for trial.

According to the relevant provisions of the "Interim Measures for Rewarding Reports of Ecological and Environmental Violations in Ganzhou City", the Ganzhou Municipal Ecological Environment Bureau awarded the whistleblower a reward of 16,000 yuan.

Fourth, Jining, Shandong Province, rewards the masses who reported that a company secretly discharged sewage in order to evade supervision

[System background]

In recent years, the Shandong Provincial Department of Ecology and Environment and the Shandong Provincial Department of Finance have jointly issued the "Interim Provisions on Rewards for Reporting Ecological and Environmental Violations in Shandong Province" and the "Regulations on Rewards for Reporting Ecological and Environmental Violations in Shandong Province", broadening the channels for reporting rewards, adjusting and optimizing the distribution methods and some reporting reward situations. Based on the punishment and handling results, different amounts of rewards will be given to whistleblowers according to the severity of the reported environmental violations, with a maximum reward of 500,000 yuan per time.

[Basic facts of the case]

On November 22, 2023, the Jinxiang County Branch of the Jining Municipal Ecological Environment Bureau (hereinafter referred to as the "Jinxiang County Branch") received a report from the masses that white sewage flowed into the roadside ditch at the rainwater pipe network on the north side of Jinxiu Road in Jinxiang County, and suspected that surrounding enterprises were secretly discharging sewage. The law enforcement and monitoring personnel of the Jinxiang County Branch immediately rushed to the scene and carried out a traceability investigation. They found that the sewage came from the rainwater collection well on the south side of the electrophoresis workshop of a certain company. The monitoring personnel extracted water samples on site. The test report showed that the chemical oxygen demand of the wastewater was 2280mg/L, which exceeded the standard limit of 60mg/L in Table 2 of the "Comprehensive Emission Standards for Water Pollutants in the Basin Part 1: Dongping Lake Basin of the South Four Lakes" (DB37/3416.1-2018) by 37 times. Further investigation found that there was a pipe at the bottom of the company's sewage regulating tank connected to the rainwater pipe network in the factory area, and finally found out that it had illegally discharged pollutants by evading supervision.

[Investigation and Rewards]

The company's behavior violated the provisions of Article 17, paragraph 2 of the "Regulations on Pollutant Discharge Permit Management". On February 28, 2024, the Jinxiang County Branch fined the company 400,000 yuan in accordance with Article 34, Item 2 of the "Regulations on Pollutant Discharge Permit Management" and the "Shandong Province Ecological Environment Administrative Penalty Discretion Criteria (2022 Edition)". The Jinxiang County Branch transferred the case to the Jinxiang County Public Security Bureau in accordance with the law, and the public security bureau detained the relevant responsible persons of the company for 5 days.

According to the "Shandong Province Ecological Environment Violation Report Reward Regulations" and the relevant provisions of the linkage mechanism for reporting and rewarding ecological environment violations and crimes, the Jinxiang County Branch awarded the reporter a reward of 10,000 yuan.

V. Hunan rewards people who report a company¡¯s case of evading supervision by operating pollution prevention and control facilities abnormally

[System background]

In 2023, the Hunan Provincial Department of Ecology and Environment issued the "Hunan Provincial Ecological Environment Problem Clue Reporting Reward Measures (Trial)", and established a provincial ecological environment problem clue reporting reward platform to realize the online handling of the entire process of reporting acceptance, registration, verification, and reward, and the entire process is electronic. After the reported problem is verified to be true, the reporter will receive a cash reward of at least 1,000 yuan and up to 500,000 yuan.

[Case Summary]

In April 2023, some people reported that a food company in Qidong County, Hengyang City secretly discharged production wastewater into the surrounding rivers, causing the color of the river water in this section to be obviously abnormal. The Qidong Branch of the Hengyang Municipal Ecological Environment Bureau (hereinafter referred to as the "Qidong Branch") and the public security department jointly handled the case and finally found that the sewage treatment station of the food company was not operating normally. A tap water valve was installed at the total wastewater outlet. Tap water was mixed into the total wastewater outlet through a hose, and then mixed and discharged after dilution, in order to discharge pollutants in an evasion of supervision.

After on-site sampling, the chemical oxygen demand and ammonia nitrogen at the total wastewater outlet exceeded 13.56 times and 5.20 times the first-level standard limit of 100mg/L and 15mg/L in the maximum allowable discharge concentration standard of the second category of pollutants in Table 4 of the "Comprehensive Sewage Discharge Standard" (GB8978-1996).

[Investigation and Reward]

The company's behavior violated Article 39 of the "Water Pollution Prevention and Control Law of the People's Republic of China". On May 4, 2023, the Qidong Branch ordered the company to suspend production and rectify the situation in accordance with Article 83, Item 3 of the Water Pollution Prevention and Control Law of the People's Republic of China and the Hunan Province Ecological Environment Protection Administrative Penalty Discretion Benchmark Regulations (2021 Edition). The Qidong Branch transferred the case to the Qidong County Public Security Bureau in accordance with the law, and the public security bureau detained Zhang, the company's principal person in charge, for 10 days.

According to the relevant provisions of the Hunan Province Ecological Environment Problem Clue Reporting Reward Measures (Trial), the Hunan Provincial Department of Ecology and Environment awarded the reporter a reward of 3,000 yuan.

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