A draft of China's new environmental tax law is expected to be submitted to the National People's Congress (NPC) for deliberation in August, Economic Information Daily reported on Tuesday. The law may be officially enacted before the end of this year.

An initial draft, formulated by authorities in finance, taxation and environmental protection, was first released on June 10, 2015 for public opinion. A final draft will be submitted to the State Council after further amendments.

The new law will put emphasis on the adjustment of tax rates. Experts have said that the tax will use pollution discharge fees for reference in establishing taxation thresholds. The tax will be levied based on the quantity of discharge and emissions. Taxpayers in heavy-pollution industries including thermal power, steel, cement, electrolytic aluminium, textile and tanning will be assigned higher rates.

In addition, the draft sets no upper limit for tax rates in consideration of developmental differences between each region. Provincial governments can raise the rate based on a given region's environmental capacity, current emissions and economic, social and ecological development goals. However, in order to levy a tripled tax rate, approval must first be granted by the State Council.

Many experts agree that the environmental tax law is a major step forward for China, but they also stress that more efforts are needed to ensure the implementation of the law. In addition, one environmental law is not capable of addressing all environmental issues.