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On March 4, 2019, the Chinese Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE) issued a notice [1] soliciting comments on the draft of its new standard, Technical Specification for Application and Issuance of Pollutant Discharge Permit for the Waste Resources Processing Industry. The standard will, along with other standards in the same series, help to strengthen the implementation of the pollutant discharge permit system and ensure the technical attainability of environmental management goals.
Application Scope
According to the instructions on the draft, this standard majorly involves sectors in the industry which have been developing on a relatively large scale, including entities engaged in processing of waste electric and electric equipment, waste batteries, waste motor vehicles, metal and electrical appliance scraps, waste plastics, waste mineral oil, waste ships, waste tires, and others.
Meanwhile, it is only applicable to the pollutant discharge permit management of processing enterprises or manufacturing facilities which depend solely on waste resources as raw materials.
Technical Guidance and Requirements
The standard provides requirements for entities discharging pollutants on seven aspects, including:
Filing of basic information
Relevant enterprises should fill in a basic information form which is part of the Application Form of Pollutant Discharge Permit on the National Information Platform for Pollutant Discharge Permit Management. They will be held accountable for the authenticity, legality, and integrity of submitted materials.
Discharge outlets at pollutant-producing sites and methodology for determining pollutant discharge limits
Relevant enterprises are required to submit basic information of the discharge outlets at pollutant-producing sites. The limits for discharge concentration should be strictly determined in accordance with national or local standards in this regard, and the limits for discharge amount should be strictly determined in line with the total discharge quota of pollutants as well as this standard.
Feasible technical requirements for pollution prevention and control
Based on investigations, information gathering, and expert opinions, this standard clarifies feasible technologies which can be used to address pollutions caused by particulates, sulfur dioxide, oxides of nitrogen, etc. and proposes operation and management requirements for organized gathering and treatment and unorganized control of waste gases.
Management requirements for self-monitoring of enterprises
The standard also provides guidance for enterprises in the formulation of self-monitoring programs. By practicing self-monitoring, entities discharging pollutants can prove that they have acted in accordance with requirements concerning discharge outlets, pollution treatment facilities, discharge limits, etc. in their pollutant discharge permits.
Requirements for formulation of environmental management accounts and implementation reports
The formulation of environmental management accounts is aimed at regulating enterprises’ environmental management and offering true reflections of how entities discharging pollutants operate as well as their pollution control. With these accounts, enterprises can prove that they have practiced environmental management and discharged pollutants in line with requirements in the pollutant discharge permits. Implementation reports are an important way for entities discharging pollutants to prove their compliance with relevant laws and regulations, as well as significant basis for governments’ post-issuance management.
Methodology for calculating actual pollutant discharge amount
According to the standard, the actual charge amount of waste gas pollutants and waste water pollutants during the calculation period equals the sum of the actual charge amount in both normal and abnormal circumstances. As for the actual discharge amount of solid wastes, it generally equals the combined amount of solid wastes which are subject to unregulated storage, unregulated disposal by enterprises themselves, and unregulated disposal by other commissioned parties.
Methodology for regulatory compliance reviews
The standard states that regulatory compliances reviews will be conducted to check if entities discharging pollutants have acted in accordance with the approval items and environmental management requirements stipulated in their pollutant discharge permits. To be more specific, approval items involve the location and quantity of discharge outlets, direction of discharged pollutants, discharge limits, etc., and environmental management requirements involve those concerning self-monitoring, environmental management accounts, implementation reports, information disclosure, etc.
The public consultation is set to end on April 4, 2019. Any interested parties can submit their comments and suggestions to the MEE via the contact information listed in the link below.
