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On October 2nd, 2020, the Chinese Ministry of Emergency Management (MEM) published the new draft Law on Safety of Hazardous Chemicals [1] to solicit public comments and suggestions.
The initiative of drafting the Law was first launched in the wake of the 2015 Tianjin blasts, and then resumed and accelerated in June 2019, following the institutional reform of the Chinese government and the 2019 Xiangshui chemical plant explosion. From January to May this year, an older version of the draft was released to a limited range of entities (including emergency management administrations at various levels, relevant departments of the State, some central enterprises and industry associations, etc.) for an internal consultation.
Background
China, one of the world’s major chemical powerhouses, is home to over 200,000 businesses which are engaged in the production and operations of hazardous chemicals, 96,000 chemical manufacturers and more than 300 chemical parks at or above the provincial level. However, the sizable industry faces less-than-reassuring safety situations, which are partly attributed to challenges associated with hazardous chemicals.
In China, hazardous chemicals are principally regulated under the Regulations on the Control over Safety of Hazardous Chemicals, an administrative regulation which is also known as Decree 591 [2]. Despite the overall stable safety situation over the past nearly two decades (Decree 344, the predecessor of Decree 591, was introduced in 2002), some serious accidents with devastating consequences still have happened.
Moreover, the regulation of hazardous chemicals safety involves various authorities as well as a number of laws and regulations, which results in blank spots and overlaps in the regulatory practices. Therefore, the central government has reckoned it both necessary and urgent to establish a State-level law to fundamentally unify and enhance legislative measures for ensuring safety of hazardous chemicals.
Major Highlights
With a focus on clearly dividing responsibilities and guarding against safety risks at the source, the draft Law may wield a tremendous amount of influence over the chemical sector. It mainly includes the following eight highlights.
I. Clarify the responsibilities of different authorities concerned
The draft Law defines the regulatory responsibilities of different authorities involved, including those for emergency management, public security, market regulation, ecology and environment, transport, etc. throughout all steps in the industry chain of hazardous chemicals, from production and waste disposal. Meanwhile, a specific provision is added to stipulate that authorities, other than those specified in the Law, should assume their respective responsibility with regard to hazardous chemical safety.
II. Enhance the planning and safety management of chemical parks
The draft Law provides the requirements and approval procedures for establishment of chemical parks, specifies that a safe distance should be kept between chemical parks and urban built-up areas, densely populated areas, important facilities and sensitive objects. Great efforts are pledged to coordinate the planning for the production and storage of hazardous chemicals, and ensure that chemical enterprises and parks are established at suitable places.
III. Employ strict safety management measures on manufacture, storage, transport and R&D of hazardous chemicals
Enterprises which produce or store hazardous chemicals should establish a safety risk assessment and disclosure system, and must not use any obsolete technology or equipment which may undermine workplace safety. The draft Law explicitly prohibits the online sale of highly toxic chemicals and explosive precursors. Rules are also provided targeting the R&D and road transport of hazardous chemicals.
IV. Strengthen the management of use safety of hazardous chemicals
In order to protect personnel engaging in the use of hazardous chemicals in workplaces as well as the general public, the draft Law requires organizations to provide such personnel with SDSs and hazardous chemicals, and specifies safety requirements for organizations which use hazardous chemicals, like colleges, scientific research establishments and health facilities, and relevant individuals.
V. Clarify the regulatory responsibility for safe disposal of hazardous chemicals
The safe disposal of hazardous chemicals is a new addition in the draft. It makes clear that the ecology and environment administration should be responsible for supervising and managing the disposal of waste hazardous chemicals. Meanwhile, entities which produce waste hazardous chemicals are required to establish plans and records for the management of such chemicals, and report the information to local administrations of ecology and environment through the national hazardous waste information management system.
VI. Appropriate adjustments to the administrative approval system of hazardous chemicals
The draft Law clearly proposes that the license for production safety of hazardous chemicals, license for use safety of hazardous chemicals and license for operation safety of hazardous chemicals will be integrated into one. The review procedures for the safety conditions and facility design of hazardous chemical construction projects will also be integrated to make the process simpler and more efficient. Where hazardous chemical manufacturers pose relatively low risks and use simple technical processes which do not involve any chemical reaction, they will be subject to filing management.
VII. IT-enabled approaches to the regulation of hazardous chemical safety
The administration of industry and information technology under the State Council and other departments shall jointly establish the chemical information management system, so as to realize electronic identification of hazardous chemicals and IT-enabled management throughout their lifecycles. Enterprises which produce, store or use hazardous chemicals should follow the requirements of the State or industry standards to install relevant systems and facilities to enhance the IT-based monitoring and early-warning of safety risks.
VIII. Exercise harsher punishments against violations
The draft increases the varieties of administrative penalties against entities which violate the Law as well as their primary responsible persons, vowing to raise the cost for violators and prevent relevant risks and accidents.
