Chapter 3 General Procedures

Section 1 Filing
Article 18: In addition to administrative penalties that can be imposed on the spot in accordance with the law, the competent ecological environment department shall conduct a preliminary examination of suspected violations of ecological environment protection laws, regulations, and rules, and decide whether to file a case within 15 days. In special circumstances, with the approval of the person in charge of this authority, an extension of fifteen days may be granted. Unless otherwise stipulated by laws and regulations.
Article 19 After examination, if the following four conditions are met, the case shall be filed:
（1） There is preliminary evidence to prove that there are suspected violations of ecological and environmental protection laws, regulations, and rules;
（2） Administrative penalties should or can be imposed in accordance with the law;
（3） Belonging to the jurisdiction of this authority;
（4） The illegal act has not exceeded the accountability period stipulated in the Administrative Penalty Law of the People's Republic of China.
Article 20: For cases that have already been filed, if it is found that they do not meet the conditions for filing under Article 19 of these Measures based on new circumstances, the filing shall be revoked.
 

S ection 2 Investigation and Evidence Collection
Article 21: The competent ecological environment department shall designate a dedicated person to be responsible for conducting a comprehensive, objective, and impartial investigation and collecting relevant evidence of registered ecological environment violations.
Article 22: When handling administrative penalty cases, the ecological environment regulatory department may send a letter of assistance to relevant authorities for investigation and evidence collection if it requires assistance from other administrative organs.
When handling administrative penalty cases, the ecological environment supervisory department may send a letter of assistance to other ecological environment supervisory departments for investigation and evidence collection. The ecological environment regulatory department that has received the assistance letter for investigation shall provide assistance in accordance with the law for matters within the scope of its authority. If assistance is not possible, the ecological environment regulatory department requesting assistance in the investigation should be notified in a timely manner.
Article 23: Law enforcement personnel shall proactively present their law enforcement documents to the parties or relevant personnel during investigations or inspections. The parties or relevant personnel have the right to request law enforcement personnel to produce law enforcement documents. If law enforcement personnel do not present their law enforcement documents, the parties or relevant personnel have the right to refuse to accept investigation or inspection.
The parties or relevant personnel shall truthfully answer the inquiries and assist in the investigation or inspection, and shall not refuse, obstruct, or falsify during the inspection. Inquiries or inspections should be recorded in writing.
Article 24 Law enforcement personnel have the right to take the following measures:
（1） Entering relevant places for inspection, investigation, monitoring, recording, photography, and video recording;
（2） Ask the parties and relevant personnel to explain relevant matters and provide relevant materials;
（3） Review and copy production records, pollution discharge records, and other relevant materials.
When necessary, the ecological and environmental regulatory authorities may conduct covert investigations or other means of investigation. During investigations or inspections, technical personnel such as monitoring can be organized to provide technical support.
Article 25 Law enforcement personnel shall have the following responsibilities:
（1） Conduct a comprehensive, objective, timely, and impartial investigation into the basic information, illegal facts, harmful consequences, and illegal circumstances of the parties involved;
（2） Collect evidence related to the case in accordance with the law, and shall not obtain evidence through violence, threats, inducements, deception, or other illegal means;
（3） When inquiring about the parties involved, they should be informed of their legal rights;
（4） Listen to the statements and defenses of the parties, witnesses, or other relevant personnel, and truthfully record them.
Article 26 Evidence of administrative penalties for ecological environment includes:
（1） Documentary evidence;
（2） Material evidence;
（3） Audiovisual materials;
（4） Electronic data;
（5） Witness testimony;
（6） The statements of the parties involved;
（7） Appraisal opinions;
（8） Inspection records, on-site records.
Evidence must be verified to be true before it can be used as the basis for determining the facts of the case.
Evidence obtained through illegal means shall not be used as a basis for determining the facts of the case.
Article 27 The evidence materials obtained by the ecological environment regulatory department in accordance with the law before filing a case may serve as evidence for the case.
The evidence materials collected by other organs through investigation and authority in accordance with the law can be used as evidence for the case.
Article 28: When conducting inspections (surveys) of relevant items or places, on-site inspection (survey) records shall be made, and audio and video recordings may be made according to the actual situation.
The record of on-site inspection (investigation) shall specify the start and end time and location of the on-site inspection, basic information of law enforcement personnel, basic information of the parties or relevant personnel, law enforcement personnel presenting law enforcement documents, informing the parties or relevant personnel of the right to apply for avoidance and the obligation to cooperate with the investigation, the situation of on-site inspection, and other information, and shall be signed or stamped by the law enforcement personnel, parties or relevant personnel.
If the parties are not present, refuse to sign or stamp, law enforcement personnel shall indicate it in the on-site inspection (investigation) record.
Article 29: When conducting on-site inspections, the competent ecological environment department may conduct on-site sampling in accordance with relevant technical specifications, and the monitoring (testing) data obtained may serve as evidence for determining the facts of the case.
Law enforcement personnel should record the sampling situation in the on-site inspection (investigation) record, and may take photos or videos to record the sampling situation.
After obtaining a monitoring (testing) report or appraisal opinion, the ecological environment regulatory department shall inform the parties concerned of the monitoring (testing) and appraisal results.
Article 30 Pollutant discharge units shall be responsible for the authenticity and accuracy of automatic monitoring data in accordance with the law, and shall not tamper or forge them.
Pollutant discharge units in industries that implement automatic monitoring data labeling rules shall label their data in accordance with the regulations of the competent ecological and environmental department of the State Council. The marked automatic monitoring data can be used as evidence to determine the facts of the case.
If the on-site monitoring (testing) data during the same period is inconsistent with the automatic monitoring data, and the on-site monitoring (testing) meets the statutory monitoring standards and methods, the on-site monitoring (testing) data shall be used as evidence to determine the facts of the case.
Article 31 Where the competent department of ecological environment collects and fixes the illegal facts by using electronic technology monitoring equipment in accordance with laws and administrative regulations, the relevant provisions of the Law of the People's Republic of China on Administrative Punishments shall apply.
Article 32: In cases where evidence may be lost or difficult to obtain in the future, law enforcement personnel may, with the approval of the head of the ecological environment regulatory department, take measures to register and preserve evidence related to suspected illegal activities in advance.
If the situation is urgent and law enforcement personnel need to take pre registration and preservation measures on the spot, they can use instant messaging to report to the head of the ecological environment regulatory department for approval, and complete the approval procedures within 24 hours after implementation.
Registration and preservation of relevant evidence should be carried out on the spot, a list should be issued, and signed or stamped by the parties and law enforcement personnel.
During the period of prior registration and preservation, the parties or relevant personnel shall not damage, destroy or transfer evidence.
Article 33: For evidence registered and preserved in advance, the following measures shall be taken within seven days:
（1） Take timely measures to preserve evidence such as recording, copying, taking photos, and recording based on the situation;
（2） If appraisal is required, submit it for appraisal;
（3） If it is possible to seal up or detain according to relevant laws and regulations, it shall be decided to seal up or detain;
（4） If the illegal fact is not established, or if the illegal fact is established but should not be sealed up, detained, or confiscated according to law, it shall be decided to lift the measures for prior registration and preservation.
If no processing decision is made within seven days, the first registration and preservation measures will be automatically lifted.
Article 34: The competent ecological environment department shall implement administrative coercive measures such as lockdown and seizure, which shall have clear provisions in laws and regulations and be implemented in accordance with the Administrative Compulsory Law of the People's Republic of China and relevant provisions.
Article 35: In any of the following circumstances, the investigation of the case shall be suspended with the approval of the person in charge of the ecological environment department:
（1） Administrative penalty decisions must be based on the judgment results of relevant cases or other administrative decisions, and the relevant cases have not been concluded or other administrative decisions have not been made;
（2） Issues related to the application of laws and other related matters that need to be explained or confirmed by competent authorities;
（3） The case is temporarily unable to be investigated due to force majeure;
（4） The case cannot be investigated temporarily due to the unknown whereabouts of the parties involved;
（5） Other situations where the investigation should be suspended.
After the reasons for suspending the investigation are eliminated, the case investigation should be resumed immediately.
Article 36: If any of the following circumstances makes it impossible to continue the investigation of a case, the investigation shall be terminated with the approval of the person in charge of the ecological environment department:
（1） The death of a citizen suspected of violating the law;
（2） The termination of a legal person or other organization suspected of violating the law, with no legal person or other organization bearing its rights and obligations;
（3） Other situations where the investigation should be terminated according to law.
Article 37: In any of the following circumstances, the investigation shall be terminated:
（1） Clear illegal facts, complete legal procedures, and sufficient evidence;
（2） The illegal facts are not established;
（3） Other situations where the investigation should be terminated in accordance with the law.
Article 38: After the investigation is concluded, the investigators of the case shall prepare an investigation report, present the facts and evidence of the discovered illegal act, and provide preliminary handling opinions, and transfer them for case review.
The investigators of this case shall not serve as the examiners of this case.
 

Section 3 Case Review
Article 39: The main contents of case review include:
（1） Does this authority have jurisdiction;
（2） Whether the illegal facts are clear;
（3） Whether the evidence is legal and sufficient;
（4） Whether the investigation and evidence collection comply with legal procedures;
（5） Whether the administrative penalty accountability period has been exceeded;
（6） Whether the applicable laws, regulations, and rules are accurate, and whether the use of discretionary benchmarks is appropriate.
Article 40: If the illegal facts are unclear, the evidence is insufficient, or the investigation procedure is illegal, the examiner shall return the case to the investigator for supplementary investigation and evidence collection or conduct a new investigation and evidence collection.
Article 41: The exercise of the discretion of administrative penalties for ecological environment shall comply with legislative purposes and take into account the following circumstances:
（1） Environmental pollution, ecological damage, and social impact caused by illegal activities;
（2） The degree of subjective fault of the parties involved;
（3） The specific ways or means of illegal behavior;
（4） The duration of the illegal act;
（5） Specific targets of harm caused by illegal activities;
（6） Whether the party violated the law for the first time or again;
（7） The attitude of the parties involved in correcting their illegal behavior and the corrective measures taken and their effectiveness.
If the circumstances of similar illegal acts are the same or similar, and the degree of social harm is equivalent, the types and extent of administrative penalties should be equivalent.
Article 42 If an illegal act is minor and corrected in time, and has not caused ecological environmental hazard, no administrative penalty shall be imposed. If it violates the law for the first time and the consequences of ecological environmental hazard are minor and it is corrected in time, no administrative penalty may be imposed.
If the parties have sufficient evidence to prove that there is no subjective fault, no administrative penalty shall be imposed. If there are other provisions in laws and administrative regulations, such provisions shall prevail.
If the illegal acts of the parties are not subject to administrative punishment in accordance with the law, the ecological environment regulatory department shall educate the parties.
Article 43: If a party falls under any of the following circumstances, they shall be given a lighter or mitigated administrative penalty:
（1） Actively eliminating or mitigating the harmful consequences of illegal behavior in the ecological environment;
（2） Those who are coerced or deceived by others to engage in illegal ecological and environmental activities;
（3） Proactively confessing illegal ecological and environmental behaviors that have not yet been mastered by the ecological and environmental regulatory authorities;
（4） Those who have made meritorious achievements in cooperating with the ecological and environmental regulatory authorities to investigate and punish illegal ecological and environmental behaviors;
（5） Other administrative penalties that should be mitigated or mitigated according to laws, regulations, and rules.
 

Section 4 Notification and Hearing
Article 44: Before making an administrative penalty decision, the competent ecological environment department shall inform the parties concerned of the intended administrative penalty content, facts, reasons, basis, and the rights of the parties concerned to state, defend, and request a hearing in accordance with the law. The parties concerned shall make a statement and defense within five days after receiving the notification letter; If the party concerned fails to be notified in accordance with the law or refuses to listen to the party's statement or defense, no administrative penalty decision shall be made, except where the party concerned explicitly waives the right to make a statement or defense.
Article 45: If a party makes a statement or defense, the ecological environment regulatory department shall fully listen to the opinions of the party and include the party's statement and defense materials in the case file. The facts, reasons, and evidence proposed by the parties shall be reviewed. If the facts, reasons, or evidence proposed by the parties are valid, they shall be adopted; If not adopted, reasons should be provided.
No heavier punishment shall be imposed due to the statements or defenses of the parties involved.
Article 46: If the following administrative penalty decisions are to be made and the parties request a hearing, the ecological environment regulatory department shall organize a hearing:
（1） Large fines;
（2） Confiscate a large amount of illegal gains and confiscate valuable illegal property;
（3） Suspend the license, lower the qualification level, revoke the license, and not apply for administrative license within a certain period of time;
（4） Restricting the conduct of production and business activities, ordering suspension of production and rectification, ordering suspension of production and business, ordering closure, restricting employment, and prohibiting employment;
（5） Other severe administrative penalties;
（6） Other situations stipulated by laws, regulations, and rules.
The parties shall not bear the cost of organizing the hearing.
Article 47: The hearing shall be organized in accordance with the following procedures:
（1） If the party requests a hearing, it shall be submitted within five days after being notified by the ecological environment regulatory department;
（2） The ecological environment regulatory department shall notify the parties and relevant personnel of the time and location of the hearing seven days prior to the hearing;
（3） The hearing shall be held in public, except for those involving state secrets, trade secrets, or personal privacy that shall be kept confidential in accordance with the law;
（4） The hearing shall be presided over by non investigating personnel designated by the ecological environment regulatory department; If the parties concerned believe that the host has a direct interest in the case, they have the right to apply for withdrawal;
（5） The parties involved can personally attend the hearing or entrust one to two people to act as agents;
（6） If the parties and their agents refuse to attend the hearing without justifiable reasons or withdraw from the hearing without permission, it shall be deemed as a waiver of the right to the hearing, and the ecological environment regulatory department shall terminate the hearing;
（7） During the hearing, the investigators present facts, evidence, and suggestions for administrative penalties related to the violation of the law by the parties involved, and the parties engage in defense and cross examination;
（8） The hearing should be recorded in writing. The written record shall be signed or stamped by the parties or their agents after verification. If the parties or their agents refuse to sign or stamp, the presiding hearer shall indicate in the transcript.
Article 48 After the hearing is completed, the ecological environment regulatory department shall make a decision based on the hearing records and in accordance with the provisions of Article 53 of these Measures.
Section 5 Legal Review and Collective Discussion
Article 49: In any of the following circumstances, before the person in charge of the ecological environment department makes an administrative penalty decision, the institution or legal reviewer responsible for the legal review of major law enforcement decisions by the ecological environment department shall conduct a legal review; No decision shall be made without legal review or approval:
（1） Involving significant public interests;
（2） Directly related to the significant rights and interests of the parties or third parties, and subject to hearing procedures;
（3） The case is difficult and complex, involving multiple legal relationships;
（4） Other situations where legal review is required by laws and regulations.
The ecological and environmental supervisory departments at or above the city level with districts may, based on the actual situation, make specific provisions on the scope of cases that should undergo legal review in accordance with the law.
Personnel who engage in legal review of administrative penalty decisions for the first time shall obtain legal professional qualifications through the national unified legal professional qualification examination.
Article 50: The content of legal review includes:
（1） Whether the administrative law enforcement subject is legal and exceeds the legal authority of law enforcement agencies;
（2） Whether administrative law enforcement personnel have law enforcement qualifications;
（3） Whether the administrative law enforcement procedures are legal;
（4） Whether the facts of the case are clear and whether the evidence is legal and sufficient;
（5） Whether the applicable laws, regulations, and rules are accurate, and whether the use of discretionary benchmarks is appropriate;
（6） Whether the administrative law enforcement documents are complete and standardized;
（7） Whether the illegal act is suspected of committing a crime and needs to be transferred to judicial authorities.
Article 51: Legal review shall mainly be conducted in writing. For cases with complex circumstances and significant legal disputes, the ecological environment regulatory department can organize symposiums and expert argumentation meetings to conduct review work.
When the ecological environment regulatory department conducts a legal review, it may request written opinions from relevant experts and legal advisors in the field.
After conducting a legal review of the proposed punishment decision, the following opinions should be presented in writing based on different situations:
（1） If the main facts are clear, the evidence is sufficient, the procedure is legal, the content is appropriate, and no obvious legal risks are found, provide a consent opinion;
（2） If the main facts are unclear, the evidence is insufficient, the procedures are inappropriate or the application basis is insufficient, and there are obvious legal risks, but they can be improved or improved, point out the existing problems and propose suggestions for improvement or improvement;
（3） If there are obvious legal risks and it is difficult to improve or improve, point out the existing problems and propose a review opinion that disagrees.
Article 52: If an administrative penalty is imposed on a complex or major illegal act, the person in charge of the ecological environment regulatory department that made the penalty decision shall collectively discuss and decide.
If one of the following circumstances occurs, it belongs to a case where the circumstances are complex or a major illegal act is subject to administrative punishment:
（1） The situation is difficult and complex, involving multiple legal relationships;
（2） Those who intend to impose fines, confiscate illegal gains, or confiscate illegal property with an amount exceeding 500000 yuan;
（3） Those who intend to revoke their licenses and are not allowed to apply for administrative licenses within a certain period of time;
（4） Planned to order suspension of production and rectification, suspension of production and business, closure, restriction of employment, or prohibition of employment;
（5） Other cases that the head of the ecological environment regulatory department believes should be submitted for collective discussion.
The collective discussion should be recorded.
If there are other provisions in local regulations or local government regulations, they shall prevail.

Section 6 Decisions
Article 53: After review, the person in charge of the ecological environment regulatory department shall make the following decisions based on different circumstances:
（1） If there is indeed an illegal act that should be subject to administrative penalty, administrative penalty decisions shall be made based on the severity of the circumstances and specific circumstances;
（2） If the illegal act is minor and administrative punishment may not be imposed according to law, administrative punishment shall not be imposed;
（3） If the illegal facts cannot be established, no administrative penalty shall be imposed;
（4） If an illegal act is suspected of committing a crime, it shall be transferred to a judicial authority.
Article 54 Administrative penalty decisions such as warnings, orders to suspend production or business, temporary suspension or revocation of licenses that have been made in accordance with the law before the competent ecological environment department transfers suspected cases of ecological environment crimes to judicial organs shall not be suspended.
The transfer period for suspected criminal cases shall not be included in the administrative penalty period.
Article 55: If a decision is made to impose administrative penalty, a written decision on administrative penalty shall be made.
For two or more environmental violations committed by the same party, administrative penalty decisions may be made separately or included in the same administrative penalty decision.
If a decision is made not to impose administrative penalty in accordance with the provisions of Article 53 (2) of these Measures, a written decision on not to impose administrative penalty shall be made.
Article 56: The administrative penalty decision shall include the following contents:
（1） Basic information of the parties, including their names, resident ID card numbers or unified social credit codes, addresses or domiciles, and names of their legal representatives (persons in charge);
（2） Facts and evidence that violate laws, regulations, or rules;
（3） The adoption and reasons of the parties' statements and defenses; If the conditions for the hearing are met, the situation of the hearing should also be stated;
（4） The types and basis of administrative penalties, as well as the reasons and basis for the application of administrative penalty discretion standards;
（5） The implementation method and deadline of administrative penalties;
（6） The channels and deadlines for applying for administrative reconsideration or filing administrative litigation if one refuses to accept the administrative penalty decision;
（7） The name of the ecological environment regulatory department that made the administrative penalty decision and the date of the decision, with a seal affixed.
Article 57: The competent ecological environment department shall make a decision on the handling of the case within 90 days from the date of filing. If a decision cannot be made within the prescribed time limit due to the complexity of the case or other reasons, an extension of 30 days may be granted with the approval of the head of the ecological environment regulatory department. If the case is particularly complex or there are other special circumstances, and a decision cannot be made after the extension, the head of the ecological environment regulatory department shall collectively discuss and decide whether to continue the extension. If the decision is made to continue the extension, the extension period shall not exceed thirty days.
During the process of handling a case, the time for suspension, hearing, announcement, monitoring (testing), evaluation, appraisal, identification, and delivery shall not be included in the case handling period referred to in the preceding paragraph.
Article 58: The administrative penalty decision shall be delivered to the parties on the spot after its announcement; If the party is not present, the administrative penalty decision shall be served on the party within seven days.
The ecological environment regulatory department may, as needed, copy the administrative penalty decision to the units and individuals related to the case.
Article 59: The competent ecological environment department may serve law enforcement documents through legal methods such as direct delivery, retention delivery, entrusted delivery, mail delivery, electronic delivery, transfer delivery, and public announcement delivery.
The service of administrative penalty documents should use a service receipt and be archived.
Article 60: If the parties agree and sign a confirmation letter, the ecological environment regulatory department may use electronic means such as fax, email, mobile communication, etc. to confirm their receipt to deliver the law enforcement documents, and record them through photography, screenshots, audio recordings, video recordings, etc. The delivery date refers to the date when fax, email, mobile communication, etc. arrive at the specific system of the party involved.
 

Section 7 Information Disclosure
Article 61: The competent ecological and environmental department shall publicly disclose its decisions on ecological and environmental administrative penalties in accordance with the law.
Article 62: The competent ecological environment department shall publicly disclose the following information on the administrative penalty decision for ecological environment in accordance with the law:
（1） Administrative penalty decision document number;
（2） The name of the punished citizen, the name of the punished legal person or other organization, the unified social credit code, and the name of the legal representative (person in charge);
（3） Major illegal facts;
（4） Administrative penalty results and basis;
（5） The name of the ecological environment regulatory department that made the administrative penalty decision and the date of the decision.
Article 63: Information related to state secrets or information prohibited by laws and administrative regulations from being disclosed, as well as information on administrative penalty decisions that may endanger national security, public safety, economic security, and social stability after being disclosed, shall not be made public.
Article 64: When making public administrative penalty decisions, the following information shall be concealed:
（1） Portrait of citizens, resident ID card number, home address, communication method, birth date, bank account number, health status, property status and other personal privacy information;
（2） Names of citizens, legal persons or other organizations, unified social credit codes, and names of legal representatives (responsible persons) other than those specified in Article 62 (2) of these Measures;
（3） The bank account number of the legal person or other organization;
（4） The names of minors and other information that may identify them;
（5） Information related to trade secrets such as the production formula, process flow, purchase and sales prices, and customer names of the parties involved;
（6） Other information that should be concealed according to laws and regulations.
Article 65: The decision on administrative penalties for ecological environment shall be made public within seven days from the date of its making. If there are other provisions in laws and administrative regulations, such provisions shall prevail.
Article 66: If a public administrative penalty decision is changed, revoked, confirmed illegal or confirmed invalid in accordance with the law, the ecological environment regulatory department shall withdraw the information of the administrative penalty decision and publicly explain the reasons within three days.

Chapter 4 Summary Procedure

Article 67: If the illegal facts are confirmed and there is a legal basis, and an administrative penalty of not more than 200 yuan is imposed on a citizen, or a fine or warning of not more than 3000 yuan is imposed on a legal person or other organization, a summary procedure may be applied and an administrative penalty decision may be made on the spot. If the law provides otherwise, the provisions shall prevail.
Article 68: When making an administrative penalty decision on the spot, the following summary procedures shall be followed:
（1） Law enforcement personnel shall present valid law enforcement documents to the parties involved;
（2） On site investigation of the illegal facts of the parties involved and obtaining evidence in accordance with the law;
（3） Explain the illegal facts to the parties, the types and basis of administrative penalties to be imposed, the amount, time, and location of fines, and inform the parties of their right to state and defend themselves;
（4） Listen to the parties' statements and arguments. If the facts, reasons, or evidence proposed by the parties are valid, they shall be adopted;
（5） Fill in an administrative penalty decision form with a predetermined format, numbered, and stamped with the seal of the ecological environment regulatory department, signed or stamped by law enforcement personnel, and deliver the administrative penalty decision form to the parties on the spot; If the party refuses to sign for it, it shall be indicated in the administrative penalty decision;
（6） Notify the parties involved that if they are dissatisfied with the administrative penalty decision made on the spot, they may apply for administrative reconsideration or file an administrative lawsuit in accordance with the law, and inform them of the channels and deadlines for applying for administrative reconsideration or filing an administrative lawsuit.
The above process should be recorded in writing.
The administrative penalty decision made by law enforcement personnel on the spot shall be reported to the competent ecological and environmental department for record within three days from the date of the decision.

Chapter 5 Execution

Article 69: The parties shall fulfill the penalty decision within the time limit specified in the administrative penalty decision.
If an application for administrative reconsideration or an administrative lawsuit is filed, the execution of the administrative penalty decision shall not be suspended, except as otherwise provided by law.
Article 70: If a party fails to pay a fine upon expiration, the ecological environment regulatory department that made the administrative penalty decision may impose an additional fine of 3% of the amount of the fine on a daily basis, and the amount of the additional fine shall not exceed the amount of the fine.
Article 71 If a party fails to apply for administrative reconsideration or file an administrative lawsuit within the statutory time limit, and fails to comply with the administrative penalty decision, the ecological environment regulatory department that made the penalty decision may, within three months from the expiration of the time limit, apply to the people's court for compulsory execution in accordance with the law.
Article 72: Before making a compulsory execution decision to impose fines or applying to the people's court for compulsory execution, the ecological environment regulatory department shall urge the parties to fulfill their obligations in accordance with the law.
Article 73: If a party commits an illegal act and is punished by fines, confiscation of illegal gains, or confiscation of illegal property, and in the event of enterprise division, merger, or other asset restructuring, the legal person or other organization that bears the rights and obligations of the party shall be the person to be executed.
Article 74: If there are indeed economic difficulties and it is necessary to extend or pay the fine in installments, the parties shall submit a written application for extension or installment payment to the ecological environment regulatory department that made the administrative penalty decision before the payment deadline specified in the administrative penalty decision expires.
If a party is approved to postpone or pay the fine in installments, a notice of agreement to postpone or pay the fine in installments shall be made and sent to the party and the institution that collected the fine.
If the ecological environment regulatory department approves the extension or installment payment of fines, the deadline for applying to the people's court for compulsory execution shall be calculated from the day when the suspension or installment payment of fines ends.
Article 75: Illegal property confiscated in accordance with the law shall be dealt with in accordance with national regulations.
Destruction of items shall be handled in accordance with relevant national regulations; If there are no regulations, with the approval of the head of the ecological environment regulatory department, two or more law enforcement personnel shall supervise the destruction and make a record of the destruction.
A list should be made for handling items.
Article 76: Fines, confiscated illegal gains, or proceeds from the auction of confiscated illegal property shall all be turned over to the national treasury, and no unit or individual shall intercept, privately divide, or privately divide in any form.
The fines, confiscated illegal gains, or the proceeds from the auction of confiscated illegal property shall not be directly or indirectly linked to the assessment and evaluation of the ecological environment regulatory department and its staff that made the administrative penalty decision.

Chapter 6 Closing and Filing

Article 77: In any of the following circumstances, law enforcement personnel shall prepare a closure approval form, which shall be approved by the head of the ecological environment regulatory department before the case is closed:
（1） The decision to order correction and administrative penalty has been fulfilled by the parties involved;
（2） The ecological environment regulatory department applies to the people's court for compulsory execution of administrative penalty decisions in accordance with the law, and the people's court accepts them in accordance with the law;
（3） Not subject to administrative penalties or other enforcement measures;
（4） Terminating the investigation of a case in accordance with Article 36 of these Measures;
（5） Completing the transfer of a case in accordance with Article 17 of these Measures, and no further administrative penalty decision is required by the ecological environment regulatory department in accordance with the law;
（6） The administrative penalty decision has been revoked in accordance with the law;
（7） Other situations that the ecological and environmental regulatory authorities believe can be closed.
Article 78: For closed administrative penalty cases, the case materials shall be filed and archived in accordance with the following requirements:
（1） Each case has one file, which can be divided into main and secondary files;
（2） All types of documents are complete and procedures are complete;
（3） Use a signing pen, pen, or print to write documents;
（4） The binding of case files should be standardized and orderly, in accordance with document requirements.
Article 79: The main volume shall be bound in the following order:
（1） Administrative penalty decision letter and service receipt;
（2） Filing and approval materials;
（3） Investigation and evidence collection and evidence materials;
（4） Legal documents such as advance notice of administrative penalty, hearing notice, hearing notice, and service receipt;
（5） Hearing transcripts;
（6） Property handling materials;
（7） Execution materials;
（8） Closing materials;
（9） Other relevant materials.
The secondary volumes are bound in the following order:
（1） Complaints, appeals, reports and other source materials;
（2） Materials related to trade secrets of the parties involved;
（3） Hearing report;
（4） Review opinions;
（5） Legal review materials and collective discussion records;
（6） Other relevant materials.        
Article 80: After the filing of the case file, no unit or individual shall modify, add, or extract the case file materials. The storage and retrieval of case files shall be carried out in accordance with relevant regulations on archive management.
Article 81: The ecological environment supervisory department shall establish a statistical system for administrative penalty cases and report the administrative penalty situation of its administrative region to the superior ecological environment supervisory department in accordance with the relevant environmental statistics regulations of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment.

Chapter 7 Supervision

Article 82: The superior ecological environment supervisory department is responsible for supervising and inspecting the administrative punishment work of the subordinate ecological environment supervisory department.
Article 83: The competent ecological environment department shall establish an administrative penalty filing system.
The lower level ecological environment supervisory department shall file a punishment case supervised by the higher level ecological environment supervisory department with the higher level ecological environment supervisory department within 20 days after the closure of the case.
Article 84: The competent ecological environment department shall accept social supervision when implementing administrative penalties. Citizens, legal persons, or other organizations have the right to appeal or report administrative penalties imposed by ecological and environmental authorities; The ecological environment regulatory department should carefully review and proactively correct any errors found.
Article 85: If the ecological and environmental competent department discovers that there are errors in wording, writing, or calculation in the administrative penalty decision, as well as missing parts of the administrative penalty decision, but it does not harm the legitimate rights and interests of citizens, legal persons, or other organizations, it shall make supplementation or correction.
The supplementation or correction shall be made in a timely manner through a written decision.
Article 86: If the ecological and environmental competent department finds that the administrative penalty decision of the lower level ecological and environmental competent department is illegal or manifestly unfair through receiving appeals and reports, or through filing and reviewing, it shall urge them to correct it.
Administrative penalties should be imposed in accordance with the law, but if the relevant ecological and environmental authorities do not impose administrative penalties, the superior ecological and environmental authorities with the power to impose penalties may directly make administrative penalty decisions.
Article 87: The competent ecological environment department may evaluate and assess the work of administrative penalties through case assessment or other means, strengthen supervision and inspection of administrative penalties, and standardize and ensure the implementation of administrative penalties. Units and individuals who have made significant achievements in administrative penalty work may be commended and rewarded in accordance with relevant national or local regulations.

Chapter 8 Supplementary Provisions

Article 88: If a party has illegal gains, except for those that should be refunded or compensated according to law, they shall be confiscated. Illegal gains refer to the funds obtained from the commission of illegal acts.
If there are other provisions in laws and administrative regulations regarding the calculation of illegal gains, such provisions shall prevail.
Article 89: The term "relatively large amount" and "relatively large value" referred to in Article 46 of these Measures refers to citizens with a value of RMB (or equivalent value of goods) exceeding 5000 yuan, and legal persons or other organizations with a value of RMB (or equivalent value of goods) exceeding 200000 yuan.
If there are other provisions on "larger amounts" and "greater values" in local regulations or local government regulations, their provisions shall prevail.
Article 90: The provisions of "three days", "five days", and "seven days" in these Measures refer to working days, excluding statutory holidays.
The start date of the period is not counted. If the last day of the expiration of the period is a holiday, the first day after the holiday shall be the date of the expiration of the period. The period does not include transit time, and if the administrative penalty document is mailed before the expiration date, it is deemed to be within the validity period.
Article 91 Other matters not specified in these Measures shall be governed by relevant laws, regulations, and rules such as the Administrative Penalty Law of the People's Republic of China and the Administrative Compulsory Law of the People's Republic of China.
Article 92: These measures shall come into effect from July 1, 2023. The "Environmental Administrative Penalty Measures" (Order No. 8 of the Ministry of Environmental Protection) issued by the former Ministry of Environmental Protection shall be abolished simultaneously.