The new minister of the Ministry of Environmental Protection offers suggestions for "air pollution control" in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region: leveraging environmental protection inspections
Recently, some cities in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, including Beijing, experienced mild air pollution. The main reason was that the ozone levels in the air exceeded the standard. On July 1st, the Ministry of Environmental Protection reported on the results of the intensified environmental protection supervision in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei and surrounding areas. It was stated that 28 supervision teams intensified their supervision of enterprises that emitted volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and a total of 47 enterprises were found to have problems with VOCs treatment.
According to the deployment of the Ministry of Environmental Protection, the intensified environmental protection supervision in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei and surrounding areas needs to be carried out for one year. What should be done in the remaining 7 months of this longest-ever air pollution prevention and control large-scale supervision? Which areas should be given priority? On June 27th, Li Ganjie, the new minister of the Ministry of Environmental Protection, proposed his ideas and requirements.
Li Ganjie believes that there is still room for improvement in "supervision of governance". At the same time, he proposed that the intensified environmental protection supervision in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei and surrounding areas can draw on the support of the central environmental protection inspections. Li Ganjie said: "We will conduct irregular, targeted and special central environmental protection inspections on places with serious problems and those that have been delaying without solving them, and strictly and severely hold accountable and investigate those responsible, to launch a 'package of measures'."
47 enterprises have problems with VOCs treatment
Regarding the issue of high ozone concentration in the air quality in recent days, the Ministry of Environmental Protection said that the 28 supervision teams intensified their supervision of VOCs-emitting enterprises and found that problems were more prominent in industries such as rubber, machinery manufacturing, plywood, and packaging printing. Some enterprises had not built or were idle or shut down the VOCs treatment facilities.
Among them, on June 30th, the 28 supervision teams of the Ministry of Environmental Protection inspected 391 enterprises (units) and found that 183 enterprises had environmental problems. The Ministry of Environmental Protection stated that among the enterprises with problems, 44 were "scattered and polluting" issues, 42 did not install pollution treatment facilities, 14 had non-normal operation of pollution treatment facilities, and 47 had problems with VOCs treatment.
Regarding the VOCs treatment issue, the Ministry of Environmental Protection exposed some problems of enterprises. The Ministry of Environmental Protection named that Beijing Airen Machinery Co., Ltd. in Yanqing District, Beijing had 8 heat treatment furnaces without VOCs treatment facilities; Zhongfu Bottle Core Co., Ltd. in Binhai New District, Tianjin had an injection workshop without VOCs treatment facilities; Hongxing Shoe Factory in Zhengding County, Hebei Province had the exhaust gas treatment facilities for the melting and injection process of the factory stopped; Shanxi Province Xiangshan Printing Industry Co., Ltd. in Urban District, Jinzhong City had 8 printing machines without VOCs treatment facilities; Hebei Xiangfu District Hebei Guan Tong Plastic Materials Co., Ltd. had no VOCs treatment facilities in the polyethylene and polyvinyl chloride production workshops, and organic waste gas was directly discharged.
From the supervision situation reported by the Ministry of Environmental Protection on June 30th, the problems of not installing pollution treatment facilities and not operating were prominent. Therefore, the Ministry of Environmental Protection required the 28 supervision teams to intensify their supervision of problems related to incomplete and non-normal operation of pollution treatment facilities and to urge local governments to strictly and severely investigate and punish illegal polluting enterprises in accordance with the law.
Using severe measures to tackle air pollution
As of the end of June, the intensified environmental protection supervision in the "2+28" cities in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region has been carried out for nearly 3 months and completed five rounds. The intensified environmental protection supervision has achieved positive results. Li Ganjie pointed out that the air quality in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region has improved significantly compared to the previous three years in the same period.
2017 is the final assessment year of the first phase of the "Air十条" issued by the State Council. Li Ganjie believes that the situation of air pollution prevention and control in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei and surrounding areas is "still very serious， the task is very heavy， and the time is very urgent. We must fully carry out the intensified supervision."
He demanded that all regions should seize the golden window period before the heating season and strictly implement the "2017 Air Pollution Prevention and Control Work Plan for the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei and Surrounding Areas". They should exert greater efforts, with greater determination, take tough measures, enforce strict laws and regulations, and implement hard strategies to complete the tough tasks and accelerate the improvement of environmental air quality in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region.
To deal with localities that have serious problems and have been delaying their solutions for a long time
The one-year-long inspection is undoubtedly a rare opportunity for the improvement of air quality in the "2+26 cities" of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region. The top-level design is crucial. Therefore, Li Ganjie proposed a set of ideas. He said that a special inspection mechanism should be established, adopting the "five-step method" of inspection, assignment, inspection,约谈， and special inspection， to ensure the connection between the inspection and the central environmental protection inspection， and further exert the role of "supervising the government".
"For the problems discovered during the inspection， they should all be transferred to local governments for a deadline solution and made public. Regular follow-up inspections should be conducted， and those who do not work hard or move slowly should be subject to约谈." Li Ganjie pointed out that the pressure should be transmitted to the local Party committees and governments and their relevant departments to ensure that all environmental protection deployments are implemented effectively.
At the same time， the focus should be further placed on the environmental violations and illegal activities of key industries and enterprises related to air pollution. Li Ganjie proposed that a "systematic" inspection should be carried out on the completion of the air pollution prevention and control tasks and the implementation of responsibilities by local Party committees and governments. Tasks such as the elimination of small boilers， the substitution of coal for firewood， the pollution control of motor vehicles， and the governance and restoration of mining development should be included in the inspection contents， and a high-pressure situation should be maintained without relaxation.
"During this process， the problems discovered during the inspection and the matters assigned should be made public." Li Ganjie required that the results of the rectification and implementation should also be made public and subject to public supervision.
