Ms Mao Yan from CRC-MEP at Shanghai CRAC on 21 Oct, 2013.
To combat the current environmental information deficiency which is the direct source of many unknown environmental risks, China MEP promulgated the “Measures for the Environmental Management Registration of Hazardous Chemicals” (trial version), (a.k.a MEP Order 22), which came into force on Mar 1st this year.
By implementing MEP Order 22, Chinese authority would be able to gather data on enterprises’ environmental risk control capabilities, commented by Ms. Mao Yan from CRC-MEP during her presentation on the REACH24H Chemical Regulatory Annual Conference (CRAC 2013) concluded in Shanghai on the 22nd of Oct.
As one of the main formulators of the “Measures on the environmental management of hazardous chemicals” (MEP Order No. 22), Ms Mao introduced the legislative background, namely the 12th five year plan chemical risk control plan, which is the 1st ever document focusing on the environmental management issued by the State Council, said Ms Mao.
The Pollutant Release and Transfer Report (PRTR) is a characteristic post-registration obligation to fulfill as stipulated under MEP Order 22. Although being an internationally-recognized approach to track the chemicals throughout their life cycle, the incorporation of the PRTR for hazardous chemicals of priority environmental concern will definitely create burden on the industry stakeholders. The risk control management plan is also required to be submitted prior to Jan 31st every year after the environmental registration. Chemical companies’ capability to manage risk control and prevention will be subject to evaluation and subsequent grading by the authority who will conduct inspection over enterprises based on evaluation outcome.
For all hazardous chemicals listed in the inventory of hazardous chemicals (search ChemLinked inventory toolbox), environmental registration is needed. Environmental risk assessment report is required for those of priority environmental concern, which needs to be compiled by qualified institutions. (see Chemlinked news release for the detailed list of requirements).
The implementation of MEP Order 22 will be carried out on four main levels of the environmental protection agencies, namely, county, city, province, and central. To obtain the registration certificate, the company needs to go through application materials review by county, city and province environmental protection bureaus, as well as on-site verification. It is the chemical environmental management institutions entrusted by environmental protection bureaus above the country level that will take over the practical registration work.
Ms Mao concluded her presentation by commenting that “The government is trying to gather comprehensive and accurate information relating to environmental hazards created by the chemical enterprises in a dynamic way.”
