The Law on Protection of the Ocean Environment was promulgated in 1982, amended in 1999 and put into effect in April 2000. The amended law applies to the supervision and management of the ocean environment; to the surveying, monitoring, assessing and conducting of scientific research of the ocean environment, to construction projects for control of ocean pollution, and to ending pollution through ocean dumping. One action taken to clean up the sea has been the "Blue Sea Action Program" in the Bohai Sea, off the coast of North China, which is one of the country's most populous and developed areas. This program aims to halt discharge of industrial wastes, to monitor environmental pollution and to restore damage done to the ecological system. According to the SEPA, at least 55.5 billion yuan (US$6.7 billion) in total investment will make the 15-year program the biggest ever effort of China to improve the ocean environment.
