Clarify that the pollution discharge according to the certificate and the supervision according to the certificate greatly increase the cost of illegal discharge
"Certificate of Pollution Discharge" to urge enterprises to consciously abide by the law
● Pollution discharge permit means that the environmental protection department shall, in accordance with the application and commitment of the pollutant discharging unit, use the form of a legal document for the issuance of a pollutant discharge permit, regulate and restrict the discharge of pollutants in accordance with laws and regulations, and clarify environmental management requirements, and implement the pollutant discharge permit on the basis of the pollutant discharge permit. Environmental management system for supervision and law enforcement
● In the past, pollutant discharge permits were reviewed and issued by local governments. The content of pollutant discharge permits in many places was simple, and the emission source requirements such as production process facilities directly related to pollutant discharge behaviors were not included in the scope of permit management, and the corporate governance process was not included. Detailed requirements for the process, pollutant discharge location, discharge method, discharge destination, etc., resulting in lack of basis for follow-up supervision and law enforcement
● The "Regulations on the Administration of Pollution Discharge Permits" changed the previous government-run and nanny-style management practices, allowing the main body responsible for pollution control to return to the enterprise.
The issuance of pollutant discharge permits further clarifies the main responsibility of the enterprise and the supervision responsibility of the management department, and urges the enterprise to change from "I want to abide by the law" to "I want to abide by the law."
□ reporter Wang Yang
"On the environmentally friendly LED display at the entrance of the factory, the names of the main pollutants, emission methods, emission concentration and total amount, excessive emission, and the construction and operation of pollution prevention facilities are clear at a glance." said Zhu Shuangquan, chairman of Dinglong Co., Ltd. , Browsing environmental protection data every day is one of his important tasks.
The monitoring of environmental protection data referred to by Zhu Shuangquan is one of the highlights of the "Regulations on the Administration of Pollution Discharge Permits" that came into effect on March 1.
The "Regulations on the Administration of Pollution Discharge Permits" make clear requirements for the main responsibilities of pollutant discharge units.
The pollutant discharge unit shall operate and maintain pollution prevention facilities, build standardized pollutant discharge outlets, and monitor and keep original monitoring records in accordance with the requirements of ecological environment management. The retention period of original monitoring records and environmental management accounts shall not be less than 5 years.
Experts interviewed by a reporter from the Rule of Law Daily believe that my country has an Environmental Impact Assessment Law and the “Regulations on the Environmental Protection Management of Construction Projects” to regulate the environmental assessment and approval of the project construction stage, but it can only rely on water, Separate laws such as air, sound, solid, soil, and sea are supervised. Project supervision, which is more important than project approval, is not managed by administrative regulations.
After the "Regulations on the Administration of Pollution Discharge Permits" was promulgated, this shortcoming was just filled.
Multi-head management leads to chaos
Undocumented sewage is widespread
The so-called pollutant discharge permit means that the environmental protection authority shall, in accordance with the application and commitment of the pollutant discharging unit, adopt the legal document form of issuing the pollutant permit, regulate and restrict the pollutant discharge behavior of the pollutant discharge unit in accordance with the law and clarify the environmental management requirements, and apply the pollutant discharge permit to the polluting unit Implement an environmental management system for supervision and law enforcement.
The history of my country's exploration of establishing a pollutant discharge permit system can be traced back to the 1980s.
In 1987, some cities in my country began to explore the basic environmental management system for pollutant discharge permits, and the state successively organized pilot projects for the permit system for water and air pollutants discharge.
In March 1988, the former National Environmental Protection Agency issued the "Interim Measures for the Administration of Water Pollutant Discharge Permits", which listed the "Discharge Permit System" as a separate chapter for the first time, proposing that on the basis of centralized control, pollutant discharge declaration, registration and Review, issue water pollutant discharge permits to enterprises, and gradually implement total volume control.
In July 1989, with the approval of the State Council, Article 9 of the Rules for the Implementation of the Water Pollution Prevention and Control Law issued by the former National Environmental Protection Agency stipulated that enterprises and institutions that discharge pollutants into water bodies shall implement pollution discharge permit management.
In 1995, Article 19 of the "Interim Regulations on the Prevention and Control of Water Pollution in the Huaihe River Basin" issued by the State Council stipulated that units holding a pollutant discharge permit in the Huaihe River Basin should ensure that their total pollutant discharge does not exceed the total pollutant discharge control target specified in the pollutant discharge permit.
He Xiaojun, director of the Jingmen Municipal Bureau of Ecology and Environment in Hubei Province, told the reporter of Rule of Law Daily that, on the whole, the local government has a certain role in the management of pollutant discharge permits, but because the law at that time did not clarify the legal responsibilities of pollutant discharge units, and the law enforcement system according to the license has not yet been established. , The main responsibility of the pollutant discharge unit is not in place, and the phenomenon of unlicensed discharge is widespread. Different regions have different license objects, permit requirements, and validity periods. It is difficult to be uniform and fair. There are also cross-duplications, lack of licenses, and lack of licenses due to multi-management. Issues such as single license content.
A reporter from the "Rules of Law Daily" sorted out and learned that the practices of pollution permits vary greatly from place to place, and the certificate specifications, application procedures and punishment measures also vary from place to place.
Some areas require all pollutants to apply for pollutant discharge permits; some areas only require major pollution sources to apply for permits; some places only issue water pollutant discharge permits; some places issue water and air pollutant discharge permits; License management is implemented for air, sound, and scum.
According to Chen Yong, a lawyer from Hubei Best Law Firm, he has handled many environmental protection cases. According to him, in the past, pollution discharge permits were reviewed and issued by various localities. The contents of pollution discharge permits in many places were very simple and did not involve the discharge of pollutants. The production process facilities and other emission sources directly related to the behavior are required to be included in the scope of license management, and detailed requirements are not set for the corporate governance process, pollutant discharge location, discharge method, discharge destination, etc., which leads to lack of basis for follow-up supervision and law enforcement.
In addition, the local version of the pollutant discharge permit lacks an effective connection with other environmental management systems such as environmental impact assessment, total volume control, pollutant discharge fees, environmental monitoring, and environmental statistics.
Multiple management systems are parallel, overlapped, and repetitive, causing a certain amount of waste of administrative resources and even increasing the burden on many enterprises.
Pollution permit system reform
Significantly improved supervision efficiency
In 2015, large areas of smog appeared in many parts of the country.
At the same time, the emission of pollutants from enterprises has also become an "old problem". The unclear number of pollution sources and the inadequate management and control are a shortcoming of environmental protection.
On September 11, 2015, the "Overall Plan for the Reform of Ecological Civilization System" (hereinafter referred to as the "Plan") approved by the Politburo of the CPC Central Committee clearly requires "improvement of the pollutant discharge permit system. The establishment of a unified, fair, and comprehensive system across the country as soon as possible All enterprises with fixed pollution source discharge permits are issued according to law. Pollutants must hold a permit to discharge pollutants, and it is prohibited to discharge pollutants without a license or discharge pollutants not in accordance with the provisions of the permit."
After the "Plan" was issued, the reform of the pollution permit system came into being.
Therefore, many people think that 2015 is a turning point for China's environmental protection industry.
Before and after, laws such as the Air Pollution Prevention and Control Law, the Environmental Protection Law, and the Water Pollution Prevention and Control Law were successively revised to clearly propose the implementation of a pollution discharge permit management system.
According to the analysis by Hu Gongqun, a legislative consultant expert from the Standing Committee of the Beijing Municipal People’s Congress, the focus of the reform of the "Plan" is to build the pollutant discharge permit system into a core system for environmental management of fixed pollution sources, linking with the environmental impact assessment system, and integrating systems such as total control.
The reformed pollutant discharge permit system has shifted from on-site supervision and inspection to enterprise self-certification and compliance, from multi-angle supervision to one-license supervision, and from the end-of-pipe discharge supervision to the whole-process supervision of production and operation, which improves supervision efficiency and promotes the passive acceptance of enterprises. Supervision shifts to independent implementation of all-round environmental management.
In November 2016, the "Notice of the General Office of the State Council on Issuing the Implementation Plan for the Control of Pollutant Discharge Permit System" (hereinafter referred to as the "Implementation Plan") was issued, indicating that the national-level pollutant discharge permit system has begun to be implemented.
On December 23 of the same year, the former Ministry of Environmental Protection issued a notice on the "Interim Provisions on the Management of Pollution Discharge Permits", which regulated the procedures for the application, review, issuance, and management of pollutant discharge permits.
A reporter from the "Rules of Law Daily" found that since the second half of 2016, the pollutant discharge permits that were previously reviewed and issued by various localities began to be declared on the national pollutant permit information platform as required.
In the past, a pollutant discharge permit was a piece of paper, and when an enterprise applied for it, it had to go to the department to submit the materials.
Now you can apply online, using the national uniform code, divided into the main certificate and the secondary certificate.
The original certificate is printed with certificate number, address and other information. After scanning the QR code on the certificate, you can enter the network platform to display the company's production and operation location, main pollutant category, use and transaction of pollution rights and other information.
The copy is a thick book, which not only specifies the basic information of the pollutant discharge unit, but also stipulates the technical indicators such as the allowable limits and permit conditions for pollutant discharge. The requirements for self-monitoring, management ledger, and information disclosure are also listed. .
More importantly, all of this information is disclosed to the public and is subject to the supervision of the whole society. In addition to scanning the QR code, you can also see this information when you log in to the National Pollutant Discharge Permit Information Disclosure System.
Li Zhongan, the environmental protection director of Hubei Xinshengyuan Biological Engineering Co., Ltd., said that after obtaining the national pollution discharge permit, the responsibility has become heavier.
"In the past, companies were passively subject to supervision. Now there are corporate responsibilities clearly put forward by the environmental protection department, and there is supervision by the whole society, urging us to take more initiative to protect the environment."
In 2017, the former Ministry of Environmental Protection reviewed and approved the "Measures for the Management of Pollution Discharge Permits (Trial)", which was announced on January 10, 2018, as an important basic document for the implementation of the "Implementation Plan" and the implementation of the pollution permit system. Raise to the level of departmental regulations.
The "Implementation Plan" authorizes the former Ministry of Environmental Protection to formulate and publish a list of classified management of pollutant discharge permits according to law.
The "Implementation Plan" also stipulates the principles and time frame for the step-by-step implementation of the permit system.
The time frame for the step-by-step implementation of the permit system is: take the lead in issuing pollution permits for thermal power and paper industry enterprises, and complete the Air Pollution Prevention Action Plan and the Water Pollution Prevention Action Plan in 2017 for key industries and overcapacity industries. The issuance of pollution permits will be basically completed nationwide in 2020.
Zhang Yunshu, a professor at the Law School of Anhui University of Finance and Economics, believes that the process of changing pollution discharge permits from "paper" to "book" is essentially a change in the application of laws, regulations and normative documents. Therefore, the content of the permit includes what enterprises and institutions need to perform. All statutory duties related to the discharge of pollutants.
Zhang Yunshu proposed that as the reformed and perfected national version of the pollution permit, it should not only assume the role of the basic system of fixed pollution source management, but also need to embody scientific and information management on a unified national information platform, and at the same time undertake the management of various fixed pollution sources. The core role of system integration is not only to realize the control of the entire process of pollution sources, but also to connect with the environmental impact assessment system and integrate with systems such as total volume control and emissions trading.
Clarify the main responsibility of the enterprise
Self-monitoring and self-certified compliance
From March 1, 2021, the "Regulations on the Administration of Pollution Discharge Permits" will be officially implemented.
According to the relevant person in charge of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, the regulations have changed the previous government-managed and nanny-style management practices, allowing the main body responsible for pollution control to return to the enterprise.
Enterprises must self-certify and abide by the law and prove that their pollutant discharge behavior meets the requirements of a pollutant discharge permit.
The issuance of pollution permits further clarifies the main responsibility of the enterprise and the supervision responsibility of the management department, and urges the enterprise to change from "I want to abide by the law" to "I want to abide by the law."
According to the "Regulations on the Administration of Pollution Discharge Permits", in the application process, the pollutant discharge unit shall prepare the required materials and take the initiative to apply for a pollutant discharge permit at the competent department of ecological environment of the people's government at or above the districted city level.
The application materials include basic information of the unit, environmental assessment approval documents or filing procedures, pollution prevention facilities, discharge outlet settings, discharge methods, self-monitoring plans, etc.
Before submitting an application, the pollutant discharging unit shall disclose basic information and the matters for which it intends to apply for a permit through the national pollutant discharge permit management information platform.
In the pollution management link, the pollutant discharge unit shall establish an internal environmental management system.
Carry out emission monitoring on its own and keep the original monitoring records.
The pollutant discharge unit shall be responsible for the authenticity and accuracy of the self-monitoring data, and shall not tamper or forge it.
According to Zhou Shuihua, chief engineer of the Hubei Provincial Department of Ecology and Environment, my country's top-level design in the field of environmental protection requires that the front-end management of the project relies on the environmental assessment system, and the back-end supervision of the project relies on the permit system.
The pollutant discharging unit shall 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 requirements stipulated in the pollutant discharge permit.
In accordance with the requirements of the content, frequency and time of the pollution discharge permit, submit a pollutant discharge permit implementation report to the approval department, and truthfully report the pollutant discharge behavior, discharge concentration, discharge volume, etc.
“This means that in the future, all pollutant companies will discharge pollutants with certificates and discharge pollutants according to certificates. If they discharge pollutants without a pollutant discharge permit, the ecological environment department will impose continuous penalties on a daily basis, with a fine of up to 1 million yuan. Order to restrict production, shut down and other penalties and compulsory measures." Zhou Shuihua said.
Some insiders admitted that the implementation of the "Regulations on the Administration of Pollution Discharge Permits" is tantamount to an "earthquake" for most sewage companies.
Xiao Fuhai, deputy director of the Suixian Sub-bureau of the Ecological Environment Bureau of Suizhou City, Hubei Province, said that during previous inspections, he had no idea about different companies, especially those with complex processes and many discharge outlets.
Although environmental protection personnel often visit the enterprise site and sometimes make surprise "night inspections", after all, not everyone is an expert, and it is easy to be "fudged" by the enterprise.
The current process of issuing pollution permits can help managers sort out the basic equipment, technological processes, and processes of production and discharge nodes in each industry.
These clear and checkable contents have been stated on the pollution discharge permit, which will greatly improve management efficiency and transparency.