City in Hebei accused of collecting pollution fee  

河北安国曝每家收100元空气污染费 与暖气费绑定

25日，有网友向河北新闻网爆料称，保定安国每家每户收100元空气污染费，绑定暖气费一起收。记者与安国市政府办一位工作人员核实了解到，今年首次按户收取空气污染费，每户100元。[查看全文]

(ECNS) -- A city in Beijing's neighboring Hebei province was accused of collecting fees for air pollution from each household, hebnews.cn reported.

A netizen in Anguo city, a county-level city under the administration of Hebei's Baoding city, said on Monday that he was asked to pay 100 yuan ($16.40) for air pollution when paying his heating bill. His relatives and friends also paid the fees, he said, and wondered why citizens are paying the bill, as the government has offered financial rewards to fight pollution.

The local urban construction bureau, which is in charge of the heating system, said they didn't know about the fee.

A staffer from city government said the city started collecting the fees this year, 100 yuan a year for each household, like trash fees. But he didn't reveal what the fees would be used for.

The central government said last month it is offering 5 billion yuan ($818 million) in financial rewards to Beijing and its neighboring provinces to fuel their fight against air pollution, according to Xinhua News Agency.

The Ministry of Finance announced that the special budget is up for grabs among Beijing, Tianjin and the surrounding areas of Hebei, Shanxi and Shandong provinces as well as the Inner Mongolia autonomous region, where the air quality did not meet national standards for nearly two-thirds of August.