Initial Allocation of Pollution Discharge Rights: A Case Study in Huaihe River Basin
流域排污权初始分配模式选择

At present, the trade of water pollution discharge rights plays an increasingly important role in pollution control in the world, and a pilot project has also been launched in China. The initial allocation of pollution discharge rights (IAPDR) is the premise and basis of the trade of pollution discharge rights (TPDR). In the early stage of establishing the TPDR system, it is impractical to adopt paid allocation modes entirely, so unpaid allocation is the main method of. Equity and efficiency are the basic principles of the actual IAPDR in Huaihe River basin in China. Since the TPDR between the upper and lower reaches of the basin involves the interest of third parties, it is easier to use administrative region as the unit of TPRD than to use enterprises as the unit when local consultation mechanism is adopted. The approach of administrative region as the unit of TPDR can reduce the transaction cost of trade, so it is recommended that administrative region can be the unit in IAPDR in a large basin. Five different allocation models are established, including distribution model according to needs, improved same-rate reduction model, emission performance model, integration model and environmental capacity model. In the integrated allocation model, the influencing factors can be divided into four categories, including present condition of environment, economic development, social justice and scientific and technological achievements. The IAPDR in different basins should choose their respective models which are in accordance with their particular development features. These models should be adopted in the initial allocation, with consideration of the total restricted pollution discharge amount (COD: 38.20ten thousand t/a,NH3-N: 2.66 ten thousand t/a) suggested by Huaihe River Commission of Ministry of Water Resources, which have considered the assimilative capacity in water function areas and presented pollution discharge amount as the total target amount. In addition, COD and NH3-N are regarded as the objects of initial allocation, and the provinces in Huaihe River basin as the units of initial allocation. The results of initial allocation vary in different models due to the distinguished basic principles on initial allocation. It is concluded that integrated allocation model should be a better choice at the current development stage of economy in Huaihe River basin, but in regard to the feasibility of such policies, same-rate reduction scheme should be used as a transitional policy before integrated allocation scheme is introduced.