Chapter II Prevention

Article 10 The local people's governments at or above the county level shall organize the local meteorological institutions and relevant departments to conduct surveys on meteorological disasters within their respective administrative areas, including type, frequency, intensity of the disasters and losses caused by the disasters; they shall establish their own databases of meteorological disasters, conduct risk assessments on meteorological disasters in terms of their types, and define risky areas for meteorological disasters in terms of their distributions and the risk assessment results.

Article 11 The competent meteorological institution of the State Council shall, jointly with the relevant departments of the State Council and in terms of risk assessment results and risky areas of meteorological disasters, formulate a national plan for prevention of and preparedness for meteorological disasters, and report the same to the State Council for approval and organize its implementation upon approval.

The local people's governments at or above the county level shall, in accordance with the plans for prevention of and preparedness for meteorological disasters formulated by the people's government at the next higher level and the characteristics of local meteorological disasters, organize relevant departments to work out plans for prevention of and preparedness for meteorological disasters within their respective administrative areas.

Article 12 The plan for prevention of and preparedness for meteorological disasters shall include such contents as occurrence, development stages and current situation of the disasters, principles and objectives in prevention of and preparedness for the disasters, areas and periods that are prone to the disasters, construction and management of the facilities used in prevention of and preparedness for the disasters, and preventive and preparedness measures, etc.

Article 13 The relevant departments of the State Council and the local people's governments at or above the county level shall, in accordance with the plan for prevention of and preparedness for meteorological disasters, strengthen construction of necessary facilities, and well carry out the work in prevention of and preparedness for meteorological disasters.

Article 14 When developing construction standards for infrastructure projects such as electric power, telecommunications, etc, the relevant departments of the State Council shall take into account the impacts of meteorological disasters.

Article 15 The competent meteorological institution of the State Council shall, jointly with relevant departments of the State Council and in light of the needs for prevention of and preparedness for meteorological disasters, formulate a national emergency response plan for meteorological disasters, and shall report the same to the State Council for approval.

The local people's governments at or above the county level and relevant departments shall, in accordance with the plan for prevention of and preparedness for meteorological disasters and in light of the characteristics of local meteorological disasters and their possible damages, formulate the emergency response plans for meteorological disasters within their respective administrative areas, and shall report the same to the people’s governments at the next higher level and the relevant departments for the record.

Article 16 The emergency response plan for meteorological disasters shall include such contents as the standards for launching the plan, the system for organizing and commanding emergency responses and the related responsibilities, the prevention and early-warning mechanisms, the measures for handling unexpected events and the guarantee measures.

Article 17 The local people's governments at various levels shall, in light of the characteristics of local meteorological disasters, organize emergency response exercises to improve their capabilities for emergency rescue and relief. Urban residents' and rural villagers' committees, enterprises and institutions shall assist the local people's governments to well carry out the publicity of knowledge about prevention of and preparedness for the disasters and the emergency exercises against meteorological disasters.

Article 18 The local people's governments at various levels and relevant departments in the areas where heavy wind (sandstorm) and tornado frequently occur shall strengthen the constructions of protective forests and emergency shelters, and organize supervision and inspection of wind prevention and risk avoidance of buildings (structures) on a regular basis. The local people's governments at various levels and relevant departments in the areas where typhoons frequently occur shall strengthen the construction of seawalls, dikes, wind-avoidance harbors, protection forests, shelter anchorage and emergency shelters, etc., and well carry out preparatory work of personnel relocation in light of typhoon situations.

Article 19 The local people's governments at various levels and relevant departments and units shall, in light of local rainfall, inspect various drainage facilities on a regular basis, dredge rivers and drainage networks in a timely manner, reinforce ill-conditioned reservoirs and strengthen the patrol inspection of such key dangerous parts as geological disaster-prone areas and embankments.

Article 20 The local people's governments at various levels and relevant departments and units shall, in light of local snowfall and icing conditions, strengthen the patrol inspection of electric power and telecommunication lines, and well carry out the work of directing traffic flows, snow and ice removal, line maintenance, etc.

Relevant units and individuals shall, in light of local snowfall, well carry out the preparatory work of reinforcing infirm and old houses, reserving food and fodder, relocating livestock, etc.

Article 21 The local people's governments at various levels and relevant departments and units shall, before the coming of high temperature, well carry out the preparatory work of electric power supply, water supply, heatstroke medicines, and appropriately arrange working hours.

Article 22 The local people's governments at various levels and relevant departments and units located in fog- and haze-prone areas shall strengthen the constructions of fog and haze monitoring facilities at important sites and traffic arteries such as the airports, seaports, highways, navigation channels and fishing areas, and well carry out the preparatory work of traffic direction, arrangements and safeguard thereof.

Article 23 Lightning protection devices installed on buildings (structures), facilities and at venues shall conform to the provisions of the State on lightning protection standards.

In reviewing design documents for new, renovated or expanded buildings (structures), advices shall be sought from a competent meteorological institution with respect to the design of lightning protection devices. When new, renovated or expanded buildings (structures) are checked for acceptance upon completion, the lightning protection devices shall be checked for acceptance at the same time and the competent meteorological institution shall participate in such check. Where it needs to install individual lightning protection devices in a mining zone or a scenic spot of the place where lightning is prone, or on buildings (structures) or facilities that have been put in use, the relevant design documents shall be reviewed and their installation shall be check for acceptance by the local competent meteorological institution at or above the county level.

Article 24 Units specialized in design, construction and testing of lightning protection devices shall meet the following conditions and obtain qualification certificates issued by the competent meteorological institution of the State Council or the competent meteorological institution at the level of provinces, autonomous regions, or municipalities directly under the Central Government: (1) having status of a legal person; (2) having a fixed business place and necessary equipment and facilities; (3) having corresponding specialized technicians; (4) having a sound system for technical management and quality control; and (5) meeting other qualifications as prescribed by the competent meteorological institution of the State Council.

The units engaged in testing of lightning protection devices for electric power and telecommunication facilities shall obtain qualification certificates jointly issued by the competent meteorological institution of the State Council and the departments in charge of electric power or telecommunication of the State Council. The units that have obtained qualification certificates for designing and conducting construction projects may, within the scope of certified qualifications, engage in design and installation of lightning protection devices for construction projects.

Article 25 The local people's governments at various levels and relevant departments shall, in light of situations of the local meteorological disasters, enhance the construction of the infrastructures for meteorological disaster prevention, monitoring, information dissemination, etc. in rural areas, and take comprehensive measures to effectively prevent and prepare for the meteorological disasters in such areas.

Article 26 The competent meteorological institutions at various levels shall carry out, in light of actual conditions and under the leadership and coordination of the people's governments at the corresponding level, carry out weather modification and mitigate the impacts of meteorological disasters. Article 27 In the national major construction projects, key regional economic development projects, large-scale projects for developing and utilizing such climatic resources as solar and wind energies, and in formulating urban and rural planning, the relevant departments of the people's governments at or above the country level shall give a comprehensive consideration to climate feasibility and risks of meteorological disasters so as to avoid and mitigate the impacts of meteorological disasters.