The Environmental Protection Bureau is a functional department of the government, but its employees include civil servants and career establishment. Moreover, each level of government has a corresponding environmental protection department, and the establishment may be different according to the level of the department or place.

The Environmental Protection Agency is the original government functional department. In 20 18, the Ministry of Environmental Protection was renamed the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, the provincial environmental protection departments were renamed the Department of Ecology and Environment, and the Environmental Protection Bureau was renamed the Bureau of Ecology and Environment.