Shanghai, China carries out special law-enforcement inspection on chemical industry wastewater 
On February 9, 2022, the Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Ecology and Environment released the “Notice on Carrying Out Special Law-enforcement Inspection of Wastewater Discharge in the Chemical and Pharmaceutical Industries”. According to the Notice, this special inspection will focus on key operators (designated in the list in the attached document) in the chemical and pharmaceutical industries in Shanghai. The inspection will include the status of wastewater discharges in compliance with standards. For companies not on the list, random sampling inspections will be conducted. According to the inspection work schedule, companies should conduct self-inspection by the end of February 2022, the departments in charge of each district will inspect the target companies by the end of April, and the relevant organizations in the city will conduct sampling inspections by the end of May.
Inspection targets
Key operators in the chemical and pharmaceutical industries in Shanghai.
For companies not listed on the list, random sampling inspections will be conducted using “inspect randomly, disclose promptly” method (an inspection method in which inspection personnel and inspection targets are selected at random, and inspection and disciplinary action results are promptly disclosed to the public).
Key operators: The list in Appendix 1 lists 142 companies. The list includes well-known companies such as Johnson & Johnson (China) Corporation, Kao (Shanghai) Chemical Co, Toho Chemical (Shanghai) Corporation, Mitsui Chemicals Effective Composite Plastics (Shanghai) Corporation, and Shanghai Sinopec Mitsui Chemicals, Co., Ltd.
Inspection Contents
The following contents will be inspected:
1.Basic status of the company.
2.Whether all of the company’s wastewater is collected and treated.
3.Whether the company’s wastewater treatment facilities are in good working condition.
4.Whether the sampling water quality at the discharge outlet meets the discharge standard.
5.Whether wastewater on-line monitoring facilities are in good working condition.
6.Status of disposal of pollutants such as solid waste, hazardous waste, and waste gas.
Materials to be reviewed at the time of inspection
An examination will be conducted on the following materials:
1.Environmental impact assessment permit and inspection acceptance documents: The nature and scale of production, construction methods, and locations will be checked. In the case of significant changes in pollution prevention and ecosystem damage prevention measures, whether they are consistent with the review permit opinions will also be checked.
2.State compliance regarding pollutant discharge requirements and related management requirements as permitted by the pollution discharge permit。
3.Whether or not a water pollution prevention management record has been prepared. 4.Whether or not the water consumption and drainage are balanced. Whether or not the operation records are in order.
5.Other materials related to environmental management and pollution prevention.
Inspection Schedule
Self-inspection by companies: Conducted by each company before the end of February.
Inspections by the departments in charge of each district: Relevant departments will conduct a comprehensive inspection of the target companies by the end of April. If any serious problems are found, they will be immediately reported to the Municipal Bureau of Ecology and Environment.
Inspections by relevant city organizations: By the end of May, sampling inspections will be conducted on previously inspected enterprises in each ward.
Illegal act related to ecological environment
According to the Notice, in the event that an illegal act related to ecological environment is discovered during a special crackdown inspection, in situations where administrative detention can be applied, the principal or person directly responsible for the act will be transferred to a public security agency for administrative detention punishment. In cases of suspected environmental pollution crimes, they shall be handed over to judicial authorities to pursue their criminal responsibility.
The original text of the above article can be viewed at the following URL (in simplified Chinese).
https://sthj.sh.gov.cn/hbzhywpt2025/20220209/9058be9ab1d34e0bb1b27a8c1e37b22a.html
