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Measures for the Environmental Management Registration of Hazardous Chemicals (Trial) (a.k.a. MEP Order 22) entered into force on Mar 1, 2013, since then the implementation of the environmental management registration of hazardous chemicals has progressed steadily but slowly. The Solid Waste and Chemicals Management Center of China Ministry of Environmental Protection (SCC-MEP), as the major technical support institution of MEP Order 22, has held numerous trainings, seminars and discussions in a bid to gather and address the practical questions of local environmental administrations and chemical enterprises. In 2015, the Pollution Prevention and Control Division of MEP launched a sub-project to revise the Measures for the Environmental Management Registration of Hazardous Chemicals and commissioned SCC to carry out the revision and research work. Three revision goals were set including:
To promote the national implementation of environmental management registration of hazardous chemicals – to simplify the formalities and provide feasible guidance
To help fulfill MEP’s responsibilities in accordance with State Council Decree 591
To implement State Council’s decision to streamline administrative procedures
The first draft revision to MEP Order 22 was published on Oct 19, 2015, proposing significant changes to the obligations and responsibilities of enterprises manufacturing or using hazardous chemicals in China.
1. Timeline
Oct 10, 2012 | Measures for the Environmental Management Registration of Hazardous Chemicals (Trial) (MEP Order 22) was promulgated. |
Mar 1, 2013 | MEP Order 22 entered into force. |
Mar 22, 2013 | Supporting documents related to the registration were issued, including:
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Jul 15, 2013 | Supporting documents related to post-registration reporting obligations were issued, including:
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Apr 4, 2014 | Catalogue of Hazardous Chemicals of Priority Environmental Concern (HCPEC 2014) was published. |
Jun & Aug, 2014 and Jul 2015 | SCC-MEP held trainings on environmental risk assessment of HCPECs. |
May, 2015 | Revision work commenced. |
Oct 19, 2015 | Measures for the Environmental Management Registration of Hazardous Chemicals (Revision for Public Consultation) and its supporting documents were released. |
2. Comparison
2.1 Legislative Purpose
MEP Order 22 (2012) | Draft Revision (2015) |
For the purpose of strengthening environmental management on hazardous chemicals, preventing and reducing the impacts on human health and the ecosystem from hazardous chemicals, controlling environmental risks, as well as fulfilling the obligations under international conventions | For the purpose of strengthening environmental management on hazardous chemicals, as well as evaluating and preventing environmental and health risks posed by hazardous chemicals |
The draft revision further clarifies the environmental management registration scheme’s goal of collecting data of hazardous chemicals, evaluating their environmental and health risks and providing reference data for taking risk prevention and control measures and making chemical environmental management policies. In addition, the draft revision proposes to delete Chapter 3 Environmental Management Registration for Import and/or Export of Hazardous Chemicals. Therefore, the purpose of “fulfilling the obligations under international conventions” is deleted as the “international convention” specifically refers to the Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent Procedure for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade.
2.2 Registration: Administrative Approval or Record Filing ?
The draft revision clarifies that the nature of environmental management registration for manufacturing or usage of hazardous chemicals is a record filing regime. To emphasize this point, registration certificates will not be issued any more. Instead, the list of successful registrants will be regularly published by environmental protection administrations at provincial level. Meanwhile, articles related to the issuance, modification, expiry and renewal of the certificates are deleted, and the approval procedure is simplified to a large extent.
After this adjustment, local environmental protection administrations will not be responsible for checking the authenticity of the materials submitted by chemical enterprises. The enterprises should be fully accountable for all the data and associated compliance actions.
2.3 Clarified Scope and Deadline
According to the draft revision, enterprises subject to the environmental management registration scheme are clarified to be manufacturers and users of:
Any hazardous chemicals of priority environmental concern (HCPEC) ≥100 kg/yr
Any hazardous chemicals (excluding HCPEC) ≥1 ton/y
Usage of active ingredients or the primary active ingredients in pesticide formulations is exempted.
Currently, enterprises manufacturing and using hazardous chemicals should carry out environmental management registration in accordance with MEP Order 22. When the draft revision is finalized and implemented, any new project (including new construction, reconstruction and extension falling under the regulatory scope should finish registration within 6 months from commencement of commercial operations. There is no special renewal requirement for previously registered projects.
Reconstruction or expansion will not require new registration, although updated environmental risk assessment reports shall be submitted during annual reporting and record filing.
According to the latest information disclosed during CRAC 2015, further amendments are being made to extend the exemption.
2.4 Simplified Registration Application Form
Under MEP Order 22 the application form consists of 7 tables. 3 have been retained in the draft revision namely:
Basic information of the enterprise (simplified)
Information of the Hazardous Chemicals (substance, state, quantity, use, etc.) (simplified)
Characteristic pollutants release information.
Requirements on the annexes to the registration form are also reduced to only include:
Environmental impact assessment report
Official review opinions of the assessment report
Acceptance decision on the completion of environmental protection facilities.
2.5 Modifications to the Risk Assessment System
2.5.1 Cancellation of the accreditation of agencies compiling environmental risk assessment report
The draft revision proposes to cancel the compulsory requirement of appointing a qualified third party to compile environmental risk assessment report for HCPECs, as well as the requirement on training of the report writers. In other words, companies can either conduct risk assessment by themselves or commission a third party.
2.5.2 Qualitative risk assessment → quantitative risk assessment
Guidance for Compiling the Environmental Risk Assessment Report of HCPECs (Trial) -2013 | Draft Revision 2015 |
Provides a method to grade the supervisory levels of HCPEC manufactures/users based on qualitative risk assessment result and the companies’ risk controlling capability by 2 weighted summations and 4 grading matrixes. | Develops quantitative method to assess the environmental risk brought by daily production/use and determines whether the risk is at an acceptable level. While the chemical flow analysis requires calculation of the HCPECs released or transferred to the atmosphere, water and soil, the ecological risk assessment only focuses on the risk to surface aquatic environment. |
The change of the assessment method reduces subjectivity and places more emphasis on HCPECs’ exposure assessment. The rationale of the new method is more straightforward but the calculation is technically more complicated.
2.6 Mitigated Requirements on Supervision
MEP Order 22 (2012) | Draft Revision (2015) |
Environmental protection administrations at or above the county level are responsible for supervision and routine inspection of Hazchem manufactures and users in term of environmental management. | Environmental protection administrations at or above the county level are responsible for supervision on the completion of environmental management registrations of local Hazchem manufacturers and users, as well as HCPEC PRTR report. |
The manufacturers and users of HCPECs shall monitor the emissions of the HCPECs and the associated typical pollutants during their manufacturing and/or using processes and disclose in every Jan the annual monitoring report. | Deleted |
Registered enterprises should submit the following documents before every Jan 31: • Form for PRTR of HCPECs • Environmental Risk Control Plan (for HCPECs)
| Registered enterprises should submit the following documents before Jan 31 every year: • Form of Annual Record Filling • Form for PRTR of HCPECs • Environmental Risk Control Plan (for HCPECs) New environmental impact assessment report should also be submitted if the production involves any new HCPEC or a new construction/ reconstruction project has been put into use in the previous year. |
3. Transitional Period
Before the draft revision is finalized, environmental registration should be carried out in accordance with MEP Order 22 (Trial). Registered enterprises are not required to re-register themselves under the new regulation unless they have been involved in a new construction project. (Refer to Paragraph 2, Chapter 2.3 ) Registration certificate is no longer issued as the State Council has announced the cancellation of environmental management registration as an administrative approval.
About the Author
Ms. Renee Liang majored in chemistry and environmental science for more than 9 years and obtained her doctorate from Zhejiang University. During the study, she had an unforgettable experience of taking part in a significant research project at the University of California Riverside to investigate the synthesis and application of heterogeneous catalysts.
Dr. Liang joined REACH24H in November 2011 as regulatory specialist, since when she has been committed to advocating chemical regulatory compliance in China and had rich experience on industry’s best practices. So far, she has been involved in more than 50 projects for developing comprehensive compliance solutions and strategies for clients to cope with China’s regulations concerning chemicals management, including new chemical substance notification, hazardous chemicals registration, risk assessment of high concerns chemical substance, waste disposal management, occupational health management, VOC management, etc.
