China releases implementation plan for pollutant discharge permit system

The Ministry of Ecology and Environment has recently released an implementation plan for pollutant discharge permit system.

The plan focuses on improving ecological and environmental quality by controlling pollutant emissions and implementing a regulatory framework for fixed pollution sources.

The plan proposes to enhance the legal, regulatory, and standards framework, optimize the management system for pollutant discharge permits, promote the inclusion of industrial noise, industrial solid waste, and marine engineering in the permit management scope. Additionally, the plan seeks to explore pathways for incorporating groundwater pollution prevention measures, electromagnetic radiation controls, and ammonia emissions from livestock farming into the permit management system. This aims to achieve coordinated management of multiple pollutants from fixed pollution sources, ensuring comprehensive oversight of pollutant discharge units, environmental management elements, and emissions control.

The plan adopts a "one certificate" management approach, focusing on the responsibilities of pollutant discharge units, regulatory departments, and the general public to foster an effective environmental governance system. For pollutant discharge units, it underlines their primary responsibilities for self-application, self-commitment, self-monitoring, self-recording, self-reporting, and self-disclosure, thereby promoting the development of an environmental management system based on pollutant discharge permits. 

The plan emphasizes the importance of regulatory departments’ joint supervision of pollutant discharge permits, environmental monitoring, and enforcement of environmental laws, enhancing resource sharing and information communication, while innovating in information-based regulatory methods to improve intelligent management levels. 

The plan also advocates for mechanisms that facilitate environmental law compliance and credit information sharing among the public, aimed at building an environmental credit supervision system that safeguards the public's right to oversee environmental governance.