Enlarge the Move! Improving the Level of Environmental and Economic Policy Regulation Through Three Enhancements

In order to implement the implementation plan of the provincial "two reductions, six treatments, and three improvements" special action, and in accordance with the requirements of the "Notice of the Provincial Government on Implementing the Fiscal Policy Linked to the Total Pollutant Emissions", the Jiangsu Provincial Department of Finance, together with the Jiangsu Provincial Department of Environmental Protection, recently formulated the "Implementation Measures for the Collection, Return, and Reward of Pollution Emission Coordination Funds and Environmental Quality Standards", and officially released and implemented it, providing institutional guarantees for promoting the "263" special action, improving the level of environmental and economic policy regulation, and implementing fiscal policies linked to the total pollutant emissions.

Main content of the Measures

1. The unified settlement of pollution emission pooling funds is handled through the provincial and municipal finances in the general public budget, and the procedures for collecting, returning, and rewarding environmental quality standards for pollution emission pooling funds have been refined, clarifying the settlement details.

2. Highlighted the key focus of funding support for pollution emission coordination, and strengthened financial support for cities and counties to complete various emission reduction tasks in accordance with regulations.

3. Refined the assessment requirements for the reward funds for environmental quality standards, with assessment rewards for each project and cancellation of corresponding rewards for incomplete individual items.

Interpretation of the Measures

1. What methods are used to collect, return, and reward the pollution emission pooling funds? The collection, return, and environmental quality compliance rewards of pollution emission pooling funds are respectively targeted at each prefecture level city (only referring to urban areas) and county (city), and are uniformly handled through the provincial and city county financial settlement in the general public budget.

2. How to collect funds for pollution emission coordination? Based on the total amount of pollutants emitted by each city and county in the previous year and the overall planning standards determined by the provincial government, the provincial finance department calculates and determines the amount of pollution emission overall planning funds that each prefecture level city (only referring to urban areas) and county (city) should submit for the current year, and collects them through the "Other Settlement Settlement - Pollution Emission Overall Planning Funds Settlement" settlement project.

3. What are the return standards for pollution emission pooling funds? The finance department calculates and determines the amount of pollution emission pooling funds that each prefecture level city (only referring to urban areas) and county (city) should return based on the pollutant emission reduction assessment results of the previous year provided by the provincial environmental protection department and the return ratio specified in the "notice". Among them, those who complete the various pollutant emission reduction tasks stipulated in the "Notice" shall be refunded 40% of the total amount of pollution emission coordination funds collected in the region; If there is an unfinished task, the return ratio will be reduced by 5 percentage points, and so on. The return of funds will be processed through the "Settlement Subsidy Income - Pollution Emission Coordination Fund Return and Reward" settlement project.

4. How to determine the reward for achieving environmental quality standards in cities and counties? The provincial finance department calculates and determines the amount of environmental quality achievement rewards for each prefecture level city (only referring to urban areas) and county (city) based on the completion of environmental quality indicators and tasks in the previous year provided by the provincial environmental protection department, as well as the reward ratio specified in the "notice". Among them, for indicators such as the concentration of fine particulate matter (PM2.5), the proportion of days with excellent air quality, and the compliance rate of assessment sections that meet the provincial tasks, rewards will be given at 10%, 10%, and 20% of the pollution emission pooling funds collected in the region, respectively; If one item fails to meet the provincial task, the corresponding reward will be cancelled. The reward funds will be issued through the settlement project of "Settlement Subsidy Income - Pollution Emission Coordination Fund Return and Reward".