On the afternoon of May 19, Vice Minister Zhao Yingmin chaired a symposium to advance the implementation of the permitting system for pollutant emission control, schedule the nationwide pollutant emission permitting work and make plans for the priority tasks at the next stage.
Since the State Council announced the Implementation Plan of the Permitting System for Pollutant Emission Control, MEP has made earnest effort in implementation of the system, released the Interim Measures on Pollutant Emission Control Permits, in addition to the soon released inventory for the category-specific management of such permits, and announced the Technical Specifications for the Application for and Approval of Pollutant Emission Control Permit-Thermal Power and Paper Industries, and the self-monitoring guidelines for pollution sources, including the general provisions, the guidelines for the thermal power generation industry and for the paper industry. As a result, a fairly complete, initial framework of regulations and technical specifications has been put in place to support the applications for and the approval of the permits. A national information platform for the management of the permits has been set up and put into use, and the permits for the thermal power and paper industries have been applied and granted on this platform, making the convenient, precise, and effective IT-based management approach possible. So far, the applications for the permits have been open to the thermal power and paper industries. The local environmental protection departments have been enthusiastic about this, making plans and organizing the process. By May 18, 6,073 enterprises across the country had registered with this platform, the permits applied by over 1,500 enterprises are being reviewed, and 68 nationally coded permits had been issued by the environmental protection departments.
Zhao stressed that to implement the permitting system for pollutant emission control is an integral part of the institutional reform launched by the CPC Central Committee and the State Council for promoting ecological progress, and the core task for reforming and improving the stationary source management system. The purpose of improving the stationary source management system is to focus on the pollutant emission permitting, take into consideration and balance all factors, and enable the environmental management regimes to be complementary and integrated.
Zhao pointed it out that the approval and issuance of the pollutant emission control permits has progressed smoothly but is still behind the schedule. Some of the local areas have not given adequate attention to this and need to become technically stronger. In the meantime, with the considerable workload to promote complementarity among the environmental regimes, some of the local areas still have doubts about the permits, which has slowed the progress.
Zhao required that it is imperative to move forward with the following four aspects. First, the local environmental protection departments should attach great importance to the approval and issuance of the pollutant emission control permits, deeply understand the thoughts on reforms, reform and improve the total pollutant load control and the emission right trading, and build the pollutant emission control permitting system into the core fundamental system for the environmental management of stationary pollution sources.
Second, it is imperative to, integrated with the reform tasks and the specific tasks concerning the approval, issuance, and regulation of pollution permits, do better in defining the functions, specify the competent departments in charge of pollution permitting, define the tasks and assessment goals, and establish working mechanisms.
Third, it is imperative to strengthen the scheduling, which will be more frequent starting May. Local environmental protection departments at all levels should enhance the awareness raising activities, take the initiative to walk the enterprises through the application process, and through the practices in the pollution permitting of thermal power and paper industries, establish teams, explore the experience, make protocols, straighten out the institutions, and pave the way for the approval and issuance of such permits in 13 key industries in the next six months of this year.
Fourth, it is imperative to step up the assessment, inspection, and enforcement. The Ministry will soon release the plan for the compliance inspection on pollutant emission control permits in the thermal power and paper industries, making plans in June and launching the inspection in July targeting enterprises that discharge pollution without permits. Efforts should be made to work out an enforcement plan and carry out the compliance inspection as soon as possible, and gradually regulate the pollution discharge of enterprises and public institutions by pollution permits. Moreover, the Ministry will work faster to make plans for applying pollution control permits in 13 key industries in the next six months.
Finally, Zhao emphasized that to reform and improve the pollution emission control permitting system is a vital task for capacity building of the environmental protection departments in environmental governance. Therefore, the local environmental protection departments should attach great importance to it, make strenuous efforts and build the pollution emission control permitting system into the core system for the environmental management of stationary sources, and substantially improve the environmental quality.
Persons-in-charge with the environmental protection departments of the provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities, as well as Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, and the heads of relevant internal departments and affiliated institutions of MEP attended the symposium.
