BEIJING, Feb. 22-MEP held a video conference in Beijing today on the deployments of the thematic inspection on air quality in the first quarter of the year. Minister Chen chaired and spoke at the conference.

The Ministry is scheduled to launch the thematic inspection between Feb. 15 and Mar. 15, together with six provinces and municipalities-Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, Henan, Shandong, and Shanxi, in an effort to implement the requirements of the eighth meeting of the regional cooperation team on air pollution control in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei and adjacent area, and urge local Party committees and governments to fulfill the air pollution control responsibilities. The main purpose of the inspection is to urge local Party committees and governments to fulfill the air pollution control responsibilities, respond to the frequent heavy air pollution in the key cities in this area during the heat supply season, and lay groundwork for achieving the objectives set for the first-stage implementation of the Action Plan for Prevention and Control of Air Pollution.

Chen said that the inspection teams should lay emphasis on the Party committees, governments and relevant departments at the county/district level, follow the inspection plans, focus on the problems, pass on the stress from upper levels, take solid measures, and make a list of tasks and responsibilities and make sure they are feasible, verifiable, and accountable. They should adhere to the problem-oriented principle, hold the persons concerned accountable for the problems found, and push for their solutions. Also, they should, based on the local performances in completing the tasks in 2016 and the 2017 work plan for the air pollution control and the list of concrete measures to be taken, carry out inspections and random checks in separate teams, to check whether the local areas have developed the work plans as required, whether the measures are pertinent and feasible, and whether they have well-defined their responsibilities, especially the plans made by the governments, whether the departments have made deployments, specified the measures, and implemented them satisfactorily, whether the industries have been informed of those plans and mapped out specific implementation plans, and taken actions to the letter.

Chen emphasized that the thematic inspection, to be specific, is to keep a close eye on pressing problems, and specify, deepen, and consolidate the solutions: first, about the preparation and implementation of the emergency preparedness plans, the inspection is to check whether the prefectural cities concerned have organized the drafting of the contingency plans for heavy air pollution, as well as the scientific nature, authenticity, and feasibility of the measures and reduction lists in the contingency plans; second, to check how the local areas have treated the “scattered, disorderly, and polluting” enterprises, especially the small enterprise clusters sitting across the county boundaries; third, to check how the small boilers have been straightened out and eliminated, figure out the progress in such elimination, and the fact sheets and distribution of the in-service coal-fired boilers; fourth, to check how the industries have attained their emission standards, and combined with the implementation of the attainment plans of industrial pollution sources and the hotspot grids of air pollution in key cities, establish a list of local key pollution sources and a list of “scattered, disorderly, and polluting” enterprise clusters, and lay the emphasis on inspecting how the industries have attained emission standards, and how the nonattainment enterprises have been punished by law; fifth, to check how the local governments have controlled the flying dust, and in accordance with the flying dust control plans developed by the government, lay the emphasis on checking whether the relevant measures have been implemented satisfactorily; sixth, to check how the enterprises have halted operations in peak pollution season; seventh, to check the quality of online monitoring data, and lay the emphasis on the quality assurance measures of the online monitoring data and the authenticity of the data.

Chen required that the inspection teams should further improve the inspection approaches, launch cross-checking, and intensify the secret and night inspections. Also, they should strengthen the communications with local environmental protection departments, and take the inspection as a cutting point to urge local governments to fulfill their responsibilities, to facilitate compliance by industry, and to solve pressing environmental problems. Moreover, they should disclose more information and release to the public the problems found in the inspection.

Vice Minister Zhao Yingmin attended the conference. Hebei Provincial Environmental Protection Department and the inspection teams heading for Beijing, Xingtai, Linfen, and Zhengzhou briefed the meeting on the latest work progress. Heads of relevant internal departments of the Ministry attended the conference at the main venue. Director Generals of the environmental protection departments (bureaus) of the provinces (municipalities) concerned also participated. The mayors and the environmental protection directors of the prefectural cities concerned, as well as the inspection team members attended the conference in the environmental protection bureaus of the cities concerned.