The Ministry of Ecology and Environment will launch a nationwide environmental inspection campaign covering the pesticide and chemical industries.

Release Date:

2020-05-20

The Ministry of Ecology and Environment has planned to launch inspections of industrial parks, enterprise clusters, and key regulated enterprises across the country to accurately assess volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions. Currently, days with ozone as the primary pollutant account for 41.8% of all days exceeding air quality standards, second only to PM2.5 at 45%, while VOCs are the main precursor to ozone formation.

On May 19, the author learned from the Ministry of Ecology and Environment that the relevant action plan for tackling key environmental challenges has now been put out for public consultation.

“In recent years, ozone pollution has become increasingly prominent and has emerged as a major factor affecting summer air quality nationwide,” said Liu Youbin, spokesperson for the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, at the ministry’s regular April press conference held recently. Starting in June, the ministry will focus on key regions—including the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei area and its surrounding regions, the Fenwei Plain, the intersection of Jiangsu, Anhui, Shandong, and Henan, the Yangtze River Delta, and the urban agglomerations along the middle reaches of the Yangtze River—to launch supervisory and support efforts aimed at preventing and controlling summer ozone pollution, while comprehensively advancing the effective management and precise control of volatile organic compounds.

At the press conference, Liu Bingjiang, Director-General of the Department of Atmospheric Environment at the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, stated that over the past two years, national air quality has continued to improve; however, ozone concentrations have risen instead of falling, with a year-on-year increase of 6.5% in 2019 across 337 cities nationwide.

Liu Bingjiang stated that from July to September last year, numerous provinces across the country experienced high temperatures and scarce rainfall, leading to a substantial year-on-year increase in ozone concentrations and a marked rise in the number of days exceeding air quality standards. Should similar meteorological conditions recur this summer, they would significantly undermine efforts to achieve the target for the proportion of good‑quality air days.

Liu Bingjiang analyzed that ozone precursors are nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds. After years of pollution control, significant progress has been made in reducing nitrogen oxide emissions from stationary sources; however, emissions from mobile sources and large industrial furnaces have not declined markedly. Meanwhile, VOC emissions stem from numerous, dispersed sources and remain poorly controlled, with a weak regulatory and management foundation.

According to the “2020 Action Plan for Tackling Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) Emissions (Draft for Public Comment),” effective July 1, 2020, the production, sale, and use of marine coatings and floor coatings must comply with the newly promulgated national limit standards for hazardous substances in products. In the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei region, architectural coatings and adhesives must meet the requirements of the “Limit Values for Volatile Organic Compound Content in Architectural Coatings and Adhesives.” Anti-corrosion, waterproofing, and anti-rust coatings applied in industrial facilities should be avoided during the summer months or replaced with low-VOC formulations.

According to the plan, ecological and environmental authorities will guide enterprises in sectors such as petrochemicals, chemicals, coal‑chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and agrochemicals to rationally schedule shutdowns and maintenance. By the end of June, all localities are to complete inspections of industrial parks, enterprise clusters, and key regulated entities that involve volatile organic compounds, establishing individual management records for each. The inspections will focus on enterprise clusters dominated by industries including pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals, coatings, inks, adhesives, dyes, daily chemical products, and chemical auxiliaries, as well as 30 other sectors such as textile printing and dyeing and injection molding.

“Under the current circumstances, the focus is on urging enterprises to comply with laws, regulations, and emission standards, ensuring that pollution-control facilities operate effectively and that all regulatory requirements are fully met,” said Liu Bingjiang. Starting July 1, ecological and environmental authorities across the country will launch targeted enforcement campaigns, imposing penalties in accordance with the law and relevant regulations on enterprises that fail to maintain stable compliance with emission standards or fail to meet uncontrolled‑emission control requirements.

To incentivize enterprises to address volatile organic compounds (VOCs), the aforementioned action plan (draft for public comment) proposes strengthening fiscal support by directing central special funds for air pollution control and provincial environmental protection funds toward VOC management, with priority given to including VOC‑control projects, comprehensive remediation of industrial parks and enterprise clusters, and the development of monitoring and surveillance capabilities in the project pipeline.

Source: China Business News

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