China to Initiate a Summer Action Plan for VOCs Management

During Summer 2020, China will further strengthen the management of VOCs emission. The measures, including promoting the implementation of relevant standards, setting up a platform to record data and stakeholder activities, improving pollution control capabilities, etc. The government established a positive list system and, based on this list, will implement policies designed to promote enterprises that deal with low-VOC products.

Update: The Action Plan is officially issued on June 24, 2020. (MEE Notice)

On May 18, 2020, China Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE) issued a notice ^[1] to solicit public comment on the draft 2020 Action Plan for VOCs Management. Ten major measures are specified in the Action Plan, as well as the key regions and focused enterprise clusters. The consultation will conclude on May 27, and comments shall be submitted in written form.

The Three-year Action Plan on Defending the Blue Sky ^[2] is now in its last year. Controlling and preventing the emission of VOCs is China’s priority air pollutant prevention target. During summer, VOC emission is the main cause of pollution in many cities, including the Yangtze River Delta Region and the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Region. Also, the mandatory national standard for controlling fugitive emission of VOCs (GB 37822-2019 ^[3]) will be effective for all existing facilities on July 1, 2020. For these reasons, the 2020 Action Plan for VOCs Management is formulated.

Ten measures are specified in the Action Plan, as well as the list of key regions and enterprise clusters in annexes. According to the Action Plan, the petrochemical, chemical engineering, industrial painting, packaging, printing, and storage, transport, and sale of oil are the key target industries expounded in the Action Plan. Industrial parks, enterprise clusters, and key enterprises in VOC emission will be the main focus. Enterprises and administrations will finish the first round of preliminary investigations on VOC emissions in June.

The Action plan also includes incentive policies to promote better VOC emissions management. The enterprises that fully use low-VOC raw materials and auxiliary materials that meet the national requirements will be included in a positive list and the government green procurement list. The frequency of on-site inspections for enterprises in the positive list will be reduced too.

The Action Plan is scheduled to be implemented in June, meaning the final version is also expected before this. Stakeholders should prepare to align with the broad targets outlined in the Action Plan.