Ministry of Ecology and Environment: Effective from the date of this announcement, environmental impact assessment qualifications have been officially revoked!

Release Date:

2019-01-25

　　The Decision of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress on Amending the Labor Law of the People’s Republic of China and Six Other Laws (Presidential Order No. 24 of the People’s Republic of China), promulgated and put into effect on December 29, 2018, amended the Environmental Impact Assessment Law of the People’s Republic of China by abolishing the administrative licensing requirement for qualifications in environmental impact assessment of construction projects. In accordance with the relevant provisions of the law, our Ministry is currently formulating supporting documents, including regulatory measures for the preparation of environmental impact reports (forms) for construction projects (hereinafter referred to as “environmental impact reports (forms)”) and guidelines for capacity building, which will be made public in the near future for public comment. Pending the official issuance of these documents, in order to maintain market order in the environmental impact assessment technical services sector, ensure the quality of environmental impact report (form) preparation, and standardize related practices, the following requirements are hereby announced:
　　I. Effective from the date of issuance of this announcement, the Measures for the Administration of Environmental Impact Assessment Qualifications for Construction Projects (Order No. 36 of the Ministry of Environmental Protection, hereinafter referred to as “Order No. 36”) shall cease to be in force; the Announcement on the Issuance of Supporting Documents to the Measures for the Administration of Environmental Impact Assessment Qualifications for Construction Projects (Ministry of Environmental Protection Announcement No. 67 of 2015) is hereby repealed. As of December 29, 2018, our Ministry will no longer accept applications for environmental impact assessment qualifications for construction projects; applications that have been accepted but have not yet completed review will no longer be processed. Furthermore, the Information Management System for the Professional Status of Environmental Impact Assessment Engineers under our Ministry will no longer accept submission of application materials; any materials already received but for which a registration number has not yet been issued will no longer be assigned such a number.
　　II. The project proponent may entrust a technical entity to prepare the environmental impact report (form); alternatively, if the project proponent possesses the requisite technical capabilities, it may prepare the report itself. The preparing entity must be an independent legal person and hold a unified social credit code. For the time being, technical entities commissioned to prepare environmental impact reports (forms) for project proponents shall be legally registered corporate legal persons or institutional legal persons in the nuclear industry, as well as in the aviation and aerospace sectors. The following entities are prohibited from preparing environmental impact reports (forms).
　　(1) A corporate legal person funded by a public institution established by the ecological and environmental authorities;
　　(2) Corporate legal persons established with investment from social organizations whose business supervising or sponsoring entity is the ecological and environmental protection authority;
　　(3) Corporate entities entrusted by the ecological and environmental authorities to conduct technical assessments of environmental impact assessment reports (forms);
　　(4) Corporate legal persons that have invested in enterprises as stipulated in the preceding three items.
　　III. For the time being, the environmental impact assessment report (form) shall be prepared under the leadership of a full-time staff member who has obtained the professional qualification of an environmental impact assessment engineer, serving as both the chief preparer and a principal drafter.
　　IV. The Environmental Impact Report (Form) shall be accompanied by a table detailing the preparing entity and the preparers. The content and format are set forth in the Appendix. The project proponent, the preparing entity, and the relevant personnel shall affix their seals or signatures in the corresponding spaces on the table.
　　V. The project proponent shall be responsible for the content and conclusions of the environmental impact report (form); the technical entity entrusted with preparing the environmental impact report (form) shall bear corresponding responsibility for the report it has prepared.
　　6. When the project proponent entrusts a technical entity with the preparation of an environmental impact report (form), it shall designate a single technical entity to take the lead in its preparation. The rights, obligations, responsibilities, and fees between the project proponent and the entrusted technical entity shall be stipulated in a contract.
　　7. The project proponent shall promptly file the environmental impact assessment report (form) and its approval documents. The entity preparing the environmental impact assessment report (form) shall establish a complete set of records for the preparation process, which shall include, but not be limited to, the report (form) and its approval documents, on-site inspection records and photographic documentation, as well as quality review and control records. Where baseline environmental quality monitoring or scientific experiments are conducted, the corresponding monitoring reports and experimental reports shall also be filed. If the project proponent commissions a technical entity to prepare the environmental impact assessment report (form), both parties shall separately file the commissioning contract.
　　VIII. By December 29, 2018, ecological and environmental authorities at all levels shall, in accordance with Order No. 36, continue to enforce previously issued decisions requiring relevant entities or individuals to implement corrective measures within a specified time limit and prohibiting them from serving as project leaders or principal drafters for a period of three years, provided that the respective time limits have not yet expired.
　　9. During the acceptance and approval of environmental impact assessment reports (forms), ecological and environmental authorities at all levels shall strengthen oversight of the compliance of these documents with relevant standards and their overall quality, and conduct random inspections of the preparing entities and personnel as appropriate. Environmental impact assessment reports (forms) that do not meet the requirements set forth in Articles 2 through 4 of this Notice shall be accepted only after the project proponent has made corrections or submitted supplementary materials. For reports falling under the circumstances specified in Article 11 of the Regulations on Environmental Protection Management of Construction Projects, approval shall be denied. If an environmental impact assessment report (form) exhibits any of the situations enumerated in Articles 28 and 32 of the Law of the People’s Republic of China on Environmental Impact Assessment, the relevant entities and individuals shall be subject to strict disciplinary action in accordance with the law. Entities and principal preparers who fail to comply with the requirements stipulated in Articles 2 and 3 of this Notice, or who have not fulfilled the prescribed time limits set forth in Article 8, shall be placed on a “blacklist” of integrity and their names shall be publicly disclosed. Furthermore, project proponents and preparing entities that do not meet the requirements set forth in Articles 6 and 7 of this Notice shall be publicly criticized and their records entered into the integrity archive, with such information made available to the public.