Forestry authorities from Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Anhui have jointly issued the Yangtze River Delta Forestry Administrative Penalty Discretionary Power Exercise Regulations, aiming to resolve issues of inconsistent penalty standards and imbalanced enforcement scales in cross-regional cases. The regulations consist of two complementary components: general provisions on the exercise of discretionary power and a dedicated benchmark table for penalty discretion.

By unifying enforcement rules, the framework strictly controls discretionary authority. It adopts a multi-factor comprehensive discretion model that evaluates core elements such as the consequences of the violation, the area of implementation, the means and methods used, subjective fault, and rectification efforts. A graded scoring system with quantitative calculations and penalty determinations based on value is employed to minimize discretionary space, achieving the principle of "same case, same penalty; penalty proportionate to the offense."

The regulations also standardize penalty standards by targeting high-frequency violations. A dedicated benchmark table has been established for nine categories of frequent illegal acts in the forestry sector, clarifying violation scenarios, discretionary factors, tiered scores, and penalty ranges. This gives forestry administrative enforcement both a "ruler" for reference and "graduations" for measurement.

Innovation is pursued with a focus on ecological restoration. The scope for penalty mitigation is quantified: in general cases, mitigation shall not exceed 50% of the statutory minimum fine; where three or more mitigating circumstances exist, the reduction shall not exceed 80%; and if the statutory minimum fine is zero, no fine is imposed. A comprehensive mechanism for lighter and heavier penalties is refined, with distinct tiers for aggravating and mitigating circumstances. Where both mitigating and aggravating factors coexist, a score-stacking method is applied for calculation. Standards for replanting trees are standardized to strictly implement the requirement that "forest area does not decrease and forest quality does not decline." The number of replanted trees is determined based on the total value of illegally felled, excessively logged, or damaged trees, with simultaneous verification to confirm that the replanting multiple complies with legal provisions.

The regulations balance guidance with flexibility, serving as an open and advisory framework. Future updates will be made dynamically through supplementary releases of dedicated benchmark tables, gradually incorporating more enforcement matters into the unified discretion system to continuously enhance the demonstration effect of integrated forestry law enforcement in the Yangtze River Delta. Under the guidance of the Yangtze River Delta Territorial Spatial Plan (2023-2035) and the Yangtze River Delta Beautiful China Pilot Zone Action Plan, unifying enforcement standards in forestry—a key area for joint ecological conservation—has become imperative. Starting in March 2025, the four provinces and municipalities initiated a baseline survey of forestry penalty discretion standards; substantive drafting began in June of the same year, following a path of "Shanghai leading the draft, maximum consensus among the four parties, expert validation to bridge differences, and quadripartite consultation to finalize results." The process included three rounds of written feedback, one public consultation, one expert review meeting, and two face-to-face discussions among the four regions, collecting a total of 145 comments that were addressed one by one to reach consensus. The regulations will take effect on October 1, 2026, with a validity period of five years. Leveraging the implementation of these regulations, the forestry authorities of the four regions will strengthen enforcement collaboration, regularly consult on difficult cases, share case-handling experience, and continue to advance unified enforcement standards, setting a demonstration benchmark for national urban clusters.