NDRC Accelerates the Comprehensive Utilization of Crop Straw to Promote Industrial Development
Notice on Further Accelerating the Comprehensive Utilization of Crop Straw and the Prohibition of Open Burning
Fa Gai Huan Zi [2015] No. 2651
To the Development and Reform Commissions (Economic and Information Commissions), Finance Departments (Bureaus), Agriculture (Animal Husbandry, Rural Economy) Departments (Commissions, Bureaus), and Environmental Protection Departments (Bureaus) of Provinces, Autonomous Regions, Municipalities Directly under the Central Government, and Cities with Independent Planning Status; and to the Development and Reform Commission, Finance Bureau, Agriculture Bureau, and Environmental Protection Bureau of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps:
Since the General Office of the State Council issued the Opinions on Accelerating the Comprehensive Utilization of Crop Straw (Guo Ban Fa [2008] No. 105) in 2008, all regions and departments have actively adopted effective measures, and positive progress has been made in the comprehensive utilization of crop straw (hereinafter referred to as straw) and the prohibition of open burning (hereinafter referred to as the burning ban). The level of comprehensive utilization has risen somewhat, and the number of open burning fire points has decreased markedly. However, because society as a whole lacks sufficient awareness of the harmfulness of straw burning and because incentive policies for the comprehensive utilization of straw are not in place, open burning of straw still occurs repeatedly in some areas, resulting in wasted resources, environmental pollution, and even fires that endanger traffic safety. The situation remains very serious. In order to further strengthen the comprehensive utilization of straw and the burning ban, the relevant matters are hereby notified as follows:
I. Overall Requirements, Objectives, and Tasks
(1) Overall requirements. Implement the strategic deployment of vigorously advancing ecological civilization construction proposed by the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, adhere to the basic national policy of conserving resources and protecting the environment, and follow the principles of government guidance, market operation, diversified utilization, combining blocking with guiding, and giving priority to guidance. Improve the straw collection and storage system, further advance the utilization of straw as fertilizer, feed, fuel, substrate, and raw material, accelerate the industrialization of comprehensive straw utilization, intensify the straw burning ban, further implement the responsibilities of local governments, continuously improve the level of burning-ban supervision, and promote farmers' income growth, environmental improvement, and sustainable agricultural development.
(2) Main objectives. Strive to achieve a national comprehensive straw utilization rate of more than 85% by 2020; reduce the number of straw burning fire points or the burned area by 5% compared with 2016; and basically eliminate open burning of straw in densely populated areas, around airports, along major transportation lines, and in areas designated by local governments.
II. Promote Industrial Development and Broaden Channels for Straw Utilization
(3) Improve the efficient collection system. Based on local farmland distribution, cropping systems, and the current situation of straw generation and utilization, all regions should encourage farming households and new agricultural business entities to equip straw chopping-and-returning or pickup-and-baling equipment when purchasing crop harvesting machinery, improve incentive measures, strengthen service networks, and carry out straw return-to-field and collection-storage services. Technical guidance for harvesting operations should be strengthened, standards such as mechanized straw return-to-field operations and stubble height should be promoted, and straw should be returned to the field on site or collected as fully as possible.
(4) Establish a specialized storage and transportation network. All regions should actively support the development of straw collection, storage, and transportation service organizations, establish standardized straw storage sites, and promote the subsequent utilization of straw. All regions should introduce policies and measures that facilitate straw transportation and improve straw transport efficiency. Enterprises and social organizations with the capacity to do so should be encouraged to form specialized straw collection, storage, and transportation institutions, social capital should be encouraged to participate in straw collection and utilization, and commercialized straw collection, storage, and supply capacity should be gradually formed so as to achieve specialization and marketization of straw collection, storage, and transportation.
(5) Raise the level of agricultural use of straw. In accordance with the principles of combining planting and breeding and giving priority to agriculture, all regions should further increase the intensity of straw return-to-field, vigorously promote biochar return-to-field soil improvement technology, actively carry out circular utilization models such as straw-livestock breeding-energy utilization-biogas fertilizer return and straw-biogas-biogas fertilizer return, increase the intensity of mechanized straw chopping and return and rapid decomposition and return, encourage livestock and poultry farms (households) and communities as well as feed enterprises to use straw to produce high-quality feed, and guide large-scale production of edible fungi using straw substrate. Pilot demonstrations of the agricultural circular economy should be carried out, reasonable combinations and organic coupling models of comprehensive straw utilization methods should be explored, and full utilization of straw in a region should be promoted.
(6) Broaden comprehensive utilization channels. All regions should make overall plans, adhere to the direction of market-based development, provide support in policy, funding, and technology, and, by establishing an interest-oriented mechanism, support the industrialization of new technologies such as straw as a wood substitute, fiber raw material, clean pulping, biomass energy, and commercial organic fertilizer, improve supporting industries and downstream product development, and extend the comprehensive straw utilization industrial chain. In areas where large amounts of straw are produced and difficult to utilize, based on the quantity and distribution characteristics of straw resources, scientific planning should be carried out for straw cogeneration of heat and power as well as direct-combustion power plants such as circulating fluidized beds and water-cooled vibrating grate boilers; straw power generation should be given priority access to the grid and should not be subject to generation limits.
III. Improve the Working Mechanism and Strengthen Supervision of the Straw Burning Ban
(7) Strengthen basic capacity building and assessment. Strengthen the application of satellite remote sensing, unmanned aerial vehicles, and other technologies to improve the efficiency and level of monitoring straw burning fire points. Improve the statistics and evaluation system for straw resource assessment, comprehensive utilization, and burning monitoring. Gradually establish evaluation, assessment, and reward-and-penalty mechanisms for the straw burning ban centered on burned area, burning quantity, and comprehensive utilization quantity.
(8) Strengthen information disclosure and law enforcement. All regions should intensify law enforcement inspections of the straw burning ban, promptly disclose relevant information on illegal straw burning, strictly investigate and handle according to law cases in which straw burning causes fires, personal injury, or traffic accidents, and pursue criminal liability where a crime is constituted. A target responsibility system should be implemented, an accountability mechanism should be activated for areas with serious straw burning and low comprehensive utilization rates, and the responsibilities of relevant responsible persons and directly responsible persons should be pursued.
IV. Promote Technological Progress and Improve the Level of Collection and Utilization
(9) Actively support research and development of new technologies and equipment. All regions should effectively strengthen innovation in new technologies in the fields of straw return-to-field, feed utilization, energy utilization, and raw material utilization, and support and guide grassroots agricultural technology departments and socialized service systems in promoting and applying advanced and applicable comprehensive straw utilization technologies. Enterprises and scientific research institutions engaged in comprehensive straw utilization should be encouraged to introduce and develop advanced and practical new equipment such as straw chopping and return, pickup and baling, solidification and molding, and combined production of charcoal, gas, and oil, promote small-scale and mobile equipment that realizes resource conversion of straw on site or nearby, and advance the industrialization and application of comprehensive straw utilization equipment.
(10) Improve the standards system for comprehensive straw utilization. Relevant departments should accelerate the formulation of standards for the construction of the straw collection, storage, and transportation system, improve quality standards and technical specifications such as straw biochar production, mechanized straw chopping and return operations, and straw biochar return-to-field soil improvement, gradually establish a product standards and quality inspection system for comprehensive straw utilization, and achieve standardization of equipment, products, and process operations.
V. Improve Support Policies and Build an Effective Incentive Mechanism
(11) Improve and implement economic policies conducive to straw utilization. In terms of fiscal input: all regions may, according to actual conditions, coordinate funds from various sources to increase subsidies for straw organic fertilizer, straw return-to-field, and straw feeding of livestock, and to support comprehensive straw utilization projects. Areas with serious straw burning should increase financial support for the comprehensive utilization of straw and the burning ban. In terms of tax incentives: implement the tax incentive policies for comprehensive straw utilization and effectively promote the resource utilization of straw. Study including eligible comprehensive straw utilization products in the government procurement list of energy-saving and environmental protection products and the catalogue of comprehensive resource utilization products. In terms of financial credit: banking financial institutions should be encouraged, in light of the characteristics of comprehensive straw utilization projects, to innovate financial products and services and, in accordance with the principles of controllable risk and commercial sustainability, actively provide financial credit support to enterprises engaged in straw collection, storage, and processing utilization.
(12) Implement land and electricity policies conducive to straw utilization. Land policy: land for straw collection and storage facilities should, as far as possible, use existing construction land, idle land, and abandoned land, and in principle should be managed as temporary land use; where permanent occupation is involved, examination and approval procedures should be handled according to law and regulations as construction land. In terms of electricity price: electricity used for preliminary processing such as straw pickup, baling, cutting, chopping, and briquetting in major grain and cotton production areas and key areas for air pollution prevention and control should be included in the scope of agricultural production electricity price policy, so as to reduce the cost of preliminary straw processing.
VI. Strengthen Publicity and Training and Raise Awareness of Resource and Environmental Protection
(13) Carry out education and training on comprehensive straw utilization. All regions should strengthen awareness of the straw burning ban and straw utilization, increase the promotion of practical technologies for comprehensive straw utilization and the training of operators in agricultural vocational education and new professional farmer training, and raise the technology popularization rate. All regions should give full play to the role of relevant industry societies and associations and existing rural grassroots organizations and service organizations, organize various forms of standardized training on agricultural machinery operations and straw collection, storage, and transportation, vigorously promote practical and mature technologies for comprehensive straw utilization, and improve farmers' technical capacity for comprehensive straw utilization.
(14) Give full play to the guiding and publicity role of public opinion. All regions should make full use of media such as radio, television, and the Internet to carry out special series reports on straw utilization and the burning ban, vigorously publicize the significance of comprehensive straw utilization, policies and measures, and typical experiences as well as the harmfulness of open burning, and adopt vivid forms oriented to the grassroots and close to farmers to popularize relevant knowledge and technologies and gradually raise the whole society's awareness of and conscientiousness regarding comprehensive straw utilization.
VII. Strengthen Organizational Leadership and Implement Tasks and Responsibilities
(15) Clarify tasks and strengthen responsibilities. All regions should strengthen leadership over the comprehensive utilization of straw and the burning ban, clarify objectives and tasks, and strengthen primary responsibilities; improve relevant laws, regulations, and rules, issue supporting policies, clarify law enforcement subjects, implement work duties, establish assessment mechanisms, and strictly enforce reward and punishment measures; implement a target responsibility system for comprehensive straw utilization and the burning ban, break down tasks and assign them to departments, townships, and villages and groups, clarify division of labor, assign responsibilities to individuals, and build a work pattern led by the government, with departmental coordination and farmer participation.
(16) Strengthen departmental coordination and cooperation. Give full play to the role of the overall coordination mechanism for comprehensive straw utilization, and relevant departments should, according to their division of duties, study in a coordinated manner and advance major issues in comprehensive straw utilization and the burning ban, put forward policy recommendations to promote comprehensive straw utilization, strengthen supervision and guidance of local comprehensive straw utilization work, expand the scale of utilization, raise the technical level, promote the construction of the straw collection, storage, and transportation system, and improve the atmospheric environment.
National Development and Reform Commission
Ministry of Finance
Ministry of Agriculture
Ministry of Environmental Protection
November 16, 2015