The Implementation Program of Pollutants Emission Permit System was published by Chinese State Council in late 2016. The Implementation Program designates the pollutants emission permit system as the fundamental regulatory mechanism in China’s environmental protection legal framework. On Jan 1st 2017, the Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP) launched an online information system of the pollutants emission permit where enterprises could apply for the permits.
All the emission information including emitted pollutants, emission amount, the exact location of the emission points, etc. will be included in the system under the enterprise’s account and open to public, as the following picture shows.
The issued permit will expire in 3 years. All the application, change of information, extension of the permit should be conducted through this online system. Before receiving the permit, the information submitted by the enterprise will be open in the system for public feedback. At present, more than 2,000 enterprises have already created their accounts and more than 200 submitted their application information. 23 of them have received an emission permit. It should be noted that some enterprises have already obtained emission permits before from local government based on local regulations. These permits are still valid. However, enterprises still need to submit their information using the online system in order to change their permits to the new ones.
