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In recent years, illegal discharge and excessive discharge of pollutants have occurred from time to time. The Ministry of Ecology and Environment made public a number of typical cases related to unlicensed emissions. What other arrangements will the Ministry of Ecology and Environment make to fully implement the pollutant emission permit system and build a system to regulate stationary pollution sources with the pollutant emission permit as the core? Thank you.

Ye Min:

Thank you for your concern about the pollutant emission permit system. A while ago, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment brought out a number of typical cases of emission permit violations. The purpose was to lead enterprises to abide by the law and guide law enforcement at the grassroots level, which has received a positive response from society. The pollutant emission permit system is an important component of the national environmental governance system. In recent years, guided by Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment firmly implemented the decisions and arrangements of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council and continued to promote reforms of the emission permits. The work can be summarized in the following aspects:

First, system establishment. The pollutant emission permit system has been incorporated into a number of laws on air, water, soil, solids, and noise. China has issued the regulations on the administration of pollutant emission permits, formulated a catalog for systematic management, and established 76 technical specifications for pollutant emission permits and 45 guidelines for self-monitoring.

Second, full coverage. More than 3.3 million stationary pollution sources in China have all been included in the management of the pollutant emission permit system. Among these sources, over 350,000 pollutant emission permits have been issued, more than 2.94 million permits have been registered, and over 6,000 notices have been issued for rectification within a certain time. These have covered all pollutant emission permits under environmental supervision.

Third, system integration. For over 40 industries with low emission levels, we have combined the work for environmental impact assessment registration and pollutant emission permit registration. This reduced the burden on enterprises. We have worked with tax authorities to harmonize the calculation methods of pollutant emissions for environmental protection taxes. And we have steadily aligned pollutant emission permit system with environmental monitoring, statistics, and other systems.

Fourth, strict supervision. In 2021, more than 3,500 pollutant permit cases were investigated and dealt with, and over 300 million yuan in penalties were handed out. Authorities at central and local levels  have continued to make public typical cases of violations, which has had a deterrent effect. Furthermore, we have carried out tasks for improving the quality of the emission permits and for increasing the submission rate of implementation reports.

Fifth, good services. We have established a unified national information platform for the management of pollutant emission permits of stationary pollution sources. We have also introduced standards for the electronic copy of the emission permits so that all applications, including inter-provincial ones, can be conducted online throughout the entire progress.

As the next step, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment will take the pollutant emission permit system as a core, align various environmental management systems for stationary pollution sources, and implement the Guidance on Strengthening the Law Enforcement and Supervision of Pollutant Emission Permits. We will comprehensively promote the one-certificate management and strive to build a new law enforcement pattern in which enterprises could be licensed to discharge pollutants, supervised by the government in accordance with the law, and jointly monitored by the society. At the same time, it is necessary to strengthen publicity, training, and guidance and improve the awareness and ability to know and abiding by the law for the pollutant discharge units so that the supervision is powerful but considerate.