On December 09, 2020, the China State Council adopts the Regulations on the Administration of Pollution Discharge Permits”. They are set to come into force on March 1, 2021.
Key Features of the Regulations (Compliance perspective) are discussed below:
- Pollutant discharging units that produce or discharge pollutants or have a greater degree of impact on the environment must implement key pollution discharge permit management;
- Pollutant discharge unit must apply for a pollutant discharge permit from the competent department of ecological environment of the local people’s government at or above the city level where its production and business site is located;
- For pollutant discharge units that implement simplified management of pollutant discharge permits, the examination and approval department shall make an examination and approval decision within 20 days from the date of accepting the application; issue pollutant discharge permits for eligible pollutant discharge permits;
- Validity period of the pollution discharge permit is 5 years;
- Pollutant discharge unit shall conduct self-monitoring in accordance with the provisions of the pollutant discharge permit, and keep original monitoring records;
- Pollutant discharge units that implement the key management of pollutant discharge permits shall install, use and maintain automatic pollutant discharge monitoring equipment in accordance with the law, and network with the monitoring equipment of the competent department of ecological environment;
- Pollutant discharge unit shall establish an environmental management ledger record system, and truthfully record the operation of main production facilities and pollution prevention facilities, as well as the concentration and amount of pollutants discharged, in accordance with the format, content and frequency specified in the discharge permit.
- Enterprises, public institutions, and other producers and operators with a small amount of pollutants generated, discharged, and impact on the environment shall fill in a pollutant discharge registration form and do not need to apply for a pollutant discharge permit.
- In violation of these Regulations, if a pollutant discharging unit commits one of the following acts, the competent department of ecological environment shall order it to correct or restrict production, stop production for rectification, and impose a fine of 200,000 to 1 million.
Read the Regulations Here