The Law on Marine Environmental Protection, first promulgated in 1982, was revised in December 1999 and the revised version of the law was ratified by the NPC Standing Committee and went into effect in April 2000. The revised law emphasizes the functions of marine administration departments, and provides detailed regulations on the monitoring, supervision, investigation, assessment and scientific research of the marine environment, the building of marine projects and marine waste dumping control. One of the clean ocean projects being undertaken in recent years is the Green Bohai Bay Action Plan. The Plan provided limitations on offshore oil and gas fields, discharge of wastes into the sea by ships, and dumping of wastes into the ocean.
