Shandong, China, issues Notice on enforcement of Ordinance for Pollutant Discharge Permits management 
On April 9, 2021, Department of Ecological Environment of Shandong Province issued the “Implementation opinions (trial) on the ‘Regulations on the administration of pollutant discharge permits’ ” (hereinafter referred as the “Opinions”). The “Opinions” were formulated to thoroughly implement “Regulations on the administration of pollutant discharge permits” (hereinafter referred as the “Regulations”) and promote the reform of the pollutant discharge permit system. The “Opinions” clearly states the need to thoroughly implement the requirements related to the administration of pollutant discharge permits, and to further strengthen management supervision and crackdown.
Overall Requirements
The following requirements are stated.
- To fully implement the relevant requirements of the “Regulations” and further strengthen efforts to fully promote the fixed source pollutant discharge permit system.
- To strengthen the management after the issuance of pollutant discharge permits.
- To strengthen supervision and enforcement, and establish a regular supervision and enforcement work system mainly based on pollutant discharge permits.
- To promote the coordination and integration of pollutant discharge permits with relevant environmental management systems and data, clarify the role of environmental competent departments, fulfill the responsibility of management and supervision, and strengthen the responsibility of environmental pollutant discharge departments.
Strengthen the management after the issuance of pollutant discharge permits
Conduct quality re-examination of issued pollutant discharge permits. Order pollutant discharge entity, which was found having problems during the re-examination, to change their permits or reapply immediately.
Implement control requirements of pollutant emission
Self-monitoring
Urge pollutant discharge entity to develop self-monitoring plans and report self-monitoring data.
Ledger records
Require pollutant discharge entity to establish an environmental management ledger system and record important information such as operation status of production and pollution control facilities.
Report
Urge pollutant discharge entity to submit reports on time and in accordance with regulations.
Information disclosure
Urge pollutant discharge entity to disclose information on pollutant emissions in accordance with the law.
Strengthen management and supervision
Based on information such as the environmental credit grade of pollutant discharge entity, relevant competent departments should formulate inspection work plans after the issuance of permits. On-site inspections and off-site inspections based on information such as on-run monitoring data will be utilized to improve the efficiency of the crackdown and inspection work. Inspections will be carried out based on the actual pollutant emission status of the pollutant discharge entity, the consistency between the registration details and the actual production status, or the submission of implementation reports.
Strengthen disclosure of supervision information
Strengthen the disclosure of punishment information. In particular, pollutant discharge entity that is found discharging pollutants without obtaining a permit, illegally discharging pollutants that violate permit-related requirements, failing to install automatic monitoring equipment as required by law, and failing to submit reports, will be cracked down and related information will be disclosed.
For the original text of the above “Opinions”, please refer to the following URL (in simplified Chinese)
http://xxgk.sdein.gov.cn/zfwj/lhz/202104/t20210416_3580082.html
