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On Jan 10th, 2018, Chinese Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP) published the Measures of the Management on Pollutants Emission Permit (Trial)（排污许可管理办法（试行）） and the Measures took effect immediately.
After publishing the Implementation Program of Pollutants Emission Permit System in Nov 2016 and designating the permits system as the core regulatory mechanism in China’s environmental protection legal framework, MEP issued the Interim Provisions of the Management on Pollutants Emission Permit（排污许可证管理暂行规定） to guide the implementation. Under the Interim Provisions, more than 20 thousand enterprises in 15 different industries have obtained the emission permits by the end of 2017. The newly published Measures are a further development on the basis of the Interim Provisions and have made some amendments to the Interim Provisions, including:
The content of the emission permit is supplemented. Enterprises are now required to provide a letter of commitment and further specifies the responsibilities of enterprises in emission control.
The Measures provide detailed requirements on the calculation of the emission concentration and the total emission amount.
The Measures stipulate that the emission permits should be reviewed and approved by local environmental protection authorities at municipal level.
The Measures specify the legal accountability of both the enterprises and the local environmental protection authorities.
The requirements on self-monitor, ledger records, implementation report, and information transparency are further specified.
The previous management priority of the emission control is the supervision on the emission concentration. The Measures start to focus on both the emission concentration and the total emission amount.
The Measures are the succession and development of the Interim Provisions and the latter are not repealed. However, if enterprises encounter any conflict between the two in practical cases, the requirements in the Measures shall prevail. According to an MEP spokesman, another regulation on the emission permit that has even higher legal power is under development now and is named Regulations on the Management of Pollutants Emission Permit.
