Chinese Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE) issued the 1st ministry order on Apr 28th, 2018 and revised the management categories regarding the environmental impact assessment of certain construction projects.
Under the current legal framework of environmental impact assessment, the construction projects are managed and regulated based on the level of impact they impose on the environment and surroundings. Enterprises are required to prepare and submit one of the following three types of environmental impact assessment documents:
For the construction projects that may cause major environmental influences, enterprises should prepare the environmental impact assessment report book and conduct a thorough assessment of the impacts;
For the construction projects that may cause mild environmental influences, enterprises should prepare the environmental impact assessment report form and conduct certain assessments of the impacts;
For the construction projects that cause little environmental influences, enterprises should prepare the environmental impact assessment registration form and don’t have to conduct the environmental impact assessment.
MEE Order No.1 adjusted the requirements of the above assessment documents on some industries. The requirements of report books were degraded to report forms for the manufacture of the display equipment of computers and electronics, and the printing of circuit boards. However, the requirement of registration forms was upgraded to report forms for the construction of dust extraction VOCs control facilities.
China’s Law of Environmental Impact Assessment was revised in mid-2016 in order to simplify some administrative procedures. MEE claimed that the revision of the catalogue was another response to the State Council’s appeal of cutting red tape and lifting burden for enterprises. The approval procedure and time for many construction projects would be greatly decreased. However, there are worries that the simplification of administration procedures would lead to ineffective supervision, especially for the electronics industry, which often causes water and soil pollution. The environmental impact assessment system should be linked up with the pollutants emission permit system.
