The “Jiangsu Province Plan for the Safety, Environmental Protection, and Upgrading of the Chemical Industry” has been released, setting out a timetable for the phase-out of enterprises and industrial parks.

Release Date:

2019-05-07

On April 27, Jiangsu Province officially released the “Jiangsu Province Plan for the Safety and Environmental Remediation and Upgrading of the Chemical Industry” (hereinafter referred to as the “Plan”). A previous draft of the plan had proposed reducing the number of chemical industrial parks across the province from 50 to 20, and cutting the total number of chemical enterprises to 2,000 by the end of 2020—ultimately aiming to further reduce that figure to 1,000—sparking widespread controversy within the industry. Although the newly released official version does not specify concrete numerical targets, it does outline clear criteria and a timetable for plant closures. Which chemical enterprises are required to exit by 2020? The Plan stipulates that facilities failing to meet safety and environmental standards or posing significant risks will be shut down.

On April 27, Jiangsu Province officially released the “Jiangsu Province Plan for the Safety and Environmental Remediation and Upgrading of the Chemical Industry” (hereinafter referred to as the “Plan”). A previously issued draft of the plan had proposed reducing the number of chemical industrial parks across the province from 50 to 20, and cutting the total number of chemical enterprises to 2,000 by the end of 2020—ultimately aiming to further reduce that figure to 1,000—sparking widespread controversy within the industry. Although the newly released official version does not specify concrete quantitative targets, it nonetheless sets out clear criteria and a timetable for phasing out non‑compliant operations.

Which chemical enterprises are required to exit by 2020?

The Plan proposes closing chemical production enterprises that fail to meet safety and environmental standards or pose significant risks; phasing out and shutting down, within a specified timeframe, chemical enterprises or production units employing outdated technologies listed in the national phase-out catalog; accelerating the exit from or transformation of overcapacity and low‑demand production facilities for conventional chemical products; abolishing chemical parks (or concentrated zones) with inadequate safety and environmental infrastructure and poor management; and substantially reducing low‑end, backward‑technology chemical production capacity.

In accordance with the “Four Batches” special campaign for chemical enterprises and the safety production and environmental management standards set forth in this plan, all chemical production enterprises shall be assessed. Those that fail to meet the requirements shall be immediately ordered to suspend operations and given a deadline for rectification; those that lack the conditions for rectification or fail to achieve compliance within the prescribed timeframe shall be shut down. Furthermore, industrial enterprises rated as Class D in the comprehensive evaluation of resource‑intensive utilization shall be expedited toward closure and exit. The procedures for re‑opening and acceptance inspections of enterprises undergoing suspension and rectification shall be strictly enforced.

In principle, all chemical production enterprises located within 1 kilometer of the main and tributary waterways of the Yangtze River and outside designated chemical industrial parks shall be phased out or relocated by the end of 2020. For enterprises that genuinely cannot be relocated, conduct safety and environmental risk assessments on a case-by-case basis and promptly implement upgrading and transformation measures tailored to each facility. Within chemical industrial parks, assess each enterprise individually and formulate appropriate disposal recommendations; any enterprise lacking industrial chain linkages with the park and posing significant safety or environmental risks shall, by the end of 2020, be shut down and phased out in accordance with the law. The construction of new or expansion of existing chemical industrial parks and chemical projects within one kilometer of the main and tributary streams of the Yangtze River is strictly prohibited.

Reduce the number of chemical production enterprises located in environmentally sensitive areas. Enterprises located within the first-level protection zone of Lake Tai, within 1 kilometer on either side of the Beijing–Hangzhou Grand Canal (Eastern Route of the South-to-North Water Diversion Project) and the Tongyu River’s clear-water corridor, as well as those situated in environmentally sensitive areas such as ecological red-line zones, nature reserves, and drinking-water source protection areas, By the end of 2020, essentially all such facilities will have been shut down or relocated. 。

Accelerate the relocation and upgrading of hazardous chemical production enterprises located in densely populated urban areas. . Enterprises that fail to meet the prescribed safety and health protection distance requirements must undergo rigorous, case-by-case review and assessment; any that do not comply with the relevant safety, environmental, and hygiene standards shall… Close and phase out in accordance with the law by the end of 2020. ; Enterprises that local authorities deem genuinely unable to shut down or relocate, All residents within the safety and health protection zone must be relocated by the end of 2020. For enterprises that meet the prescribed safety and health protection distance requirements, it is necessary to strengthen regulatory oversight of safety and environmental compliance and actively guide and encourage them to upgrade and transform their operations or relocate to new sites.

Reduce the number of chemical production enterprises located outside industrial parks. . Intensify efforts to rectify, reduce, relocate, and transform enterprises located outside industrial parks, particularly those with high safety risks, poor environmental management, and low technological standards. All will be shut down and phased out by the end of 2020. . Promote the relocation of enterprises with high industrial linkages that meet safety and environmental standards into industrial parks, and enhance the industrial chain of chemical parks.

Reduce the number of chemical production enterprises below a certain scale. . Conduct further surveys and assessments of enterprises below the designated size to evaluate their safety and environmental risks, All enterprises that fail to meet the standards will be shut down and phased out by the end of 2020. out Enterprises that meet the standards are encouraged to locate in chemical industrial parks (concentration zones) for development.

Which chemical industrial parks are slated for closure?

The Plan states that the number of chemical industrial parks (concentration zones) will be reduced. Revoke the designation of chemical industrial parks that are small in scale, have low industrial linkages, lack adequate infrastructure, face significant safety and environmental concerns, and are located in areas with a high density of sensitive surrounding targets. . In industrial parks (or concentrated zones) that have been delisted from the chemical industry designation, the construction of new chemical projects is strictly prohibited, and the number of existing enterprises must be significantly reduced.

The Plan explicitly stipulates the need to strictly manage chemical industry clusters. Prohibit the establishment of enterprises or projects that produce or use chemicals listed in the Catalogue of Hazardous Chemicals and possessing explosive properties. , phasing out low-end, outdated, high-risk, energy-intensive, and highly polluting chemical projects . Reconfirm the safety distances between production and storage facilities within the designated area and densely populated areas as well as key protected targets. Non‑compliant items must be rectified immediately; those that remain non‑compliant after the deadline will be shut down and phased out. Large-scale chemical enterprises located outside the park shall be managed in accordance with the relevant requirements applicable to chemical parks (concentration zones).

Source: Petroleum and Chemical Industrial Park

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