The Environmental Protection Department of Zhejiang Province has recently issued the "Notice on Doing a Good Job in the Total Control of Volatile Organic Compounds (Draft for Public Comment)"
The Environmental Protection Department of Zhejiang Province has recently issued the "Notice on Doing a Good Job in the Total Control of Volatile Organic Compounds (Draft for Public Comment)". The document requires accelerating the control of VOCs pollution and carrying out the total control work of VOCs. The notice also states that it is necessary to fully recognize the significance of the work, promptly formulate plans, deepen the treatment of VOCs, and effectively strengthen the monitoring and supervision of VOCs pollution.
Notice on Doing a Good Job in the Total Control of Volatile Organic Compounds
All Prefecture-level Environmental Protection Bureaus:
To accelerate the pollution control of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and ensure the completion of the national "13th Five-Year Plan" target of VOCs total emission reduction, and to improve the environmental air quality, in accordance with the requirements of the "Notice of the Zhejiang Provincial People's Government on Issuing the Comprehensive Work Plan for Energy Conservation and Emission Reduction in the 13th Five-Year Plan" (Zhejiang Government Document No. 19 [2017]) and the "Zhejiang Province's 13th Five-Year Plan for Air Pollution Prevention and Control" (Zhejiang Development and Reform Commission Document No. 250 [2017]), our department has drafted the "Notice on Doing a Good Job in the Total Control of Volatile Organic Compounds (Draft for Public Comment)". In accordance with the management regulations for administrative normative documents, we are now soliciting public opinions. If you have any suggestions or comments for revision, please submit them to our department before June 12, 2017.
Notice on Doing a Good Job in the Total Control of Volatile Organic Compounds
All Prefecture-level Environmental Protection Bureaus:
To accelerate the pollution control of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), ensure the completion of the national "13th Five-Year Plan" target of VOCs total emission reduction, and effectively improve the environmental air quality, in accordance with the requirements of the documents such as the "Notice of the Zhejiang Provincial People's Government on Issuing the Comprehensive Work Plan for Energy Conservation and Emission Reduction in the 13th Five-Year Plan" (Zhejiang Government Document No. 19 [2017]) and the "Zhejiang Province's 13th Five-Year Plan for Air Pollution Prevention and Control" (Zhejiang Development and Reform Commission Document No. 250 [2017]), the following are the instructions on doing a good job in the total control of VOCs:
1. Fully recognize the significance of implementing the total control of VOCs
The provincial Party Committee and the provincial government attach great importance to the work of air pollution prevention and control. The provincial government has listed the control of smog as one of the ten major livelihood projects for four consecutive years, effectively ensuring the implementation of the air pollution prevention and control action plan. Through efforts, the air pollution prevention and control work in Zhejiang Province has significantly improved, the air quality has continuously improved, and it has withstood the tests of major events such as the G20 Summit and the World Internet Conference, achieving important results. However, compared with the continuous decline in the concentration of fine particulate matter (PM2.5), the concentration of ozone (O3) has been increasing year by year, and it has become the main pollutant affecting the air quality in summer and autumn in our province. VOCs are important precursors to the formation of O3 and PM2.5 pollution, and are the key factors restricting air quality. During the "13th Five-Year Plan" period, the country has included our province and 16 other provinces in the assessment of VOCs emission reduction, and all regions should, from the political height of completing the national mandatory assessment tasks, from the overall situation of following the decisions and deployments of the provincial Party Committee and government and the expectations of the people, fully recognize the significance of the total control and deepening treatment of VOCs, and earnestly implement the work.
2. Quickly formulate the total control plan for VOCs
In accordance with the requirements of the "13th Five-Year Plan" comprehensive work plan for energy conservation and emission reduction of the provincial government, each city should, in accordance with the air quality improvement goals, promote total control in key areas, key industries, and key enterprises, implement the comprehensive compliance plan for industrial pollution sources, and vigorously promote the implementation of key emission reduction projects. By 2020, the total VOCs emissions in the province should be reduced by 20% compared to 139.2 million tons in 2015, with 25.5 million tons of emission reduction from key projects. All regions should formulate and implement total control and reduction plans for VOCs in key industries and key fields. The targets for VOCs emission reduction should be decomposed layer by layer to the next-level governments, key industries and key enterprises. The responsibilities for VOCs treatment and reduction should be clearly defined. A three-level VOCs emission reduction management system at the provincial, municipal and county levels should be established. Key projects for emission reduction should be prioritized. Differential management based on zones and categories should be implemented. Regions with heavier air quality improvement tasks should undertake more emission reduction responsibilities. An environmental management system for industrial enterprises based on the排污许可 system should be established. The legal responsibilities for holding licenses and operating within the license should be implemented to ensure the completion of key VOCs emission reduction projects.
III. Actively Promote Deep Treatment of VOCs
Each city should， in accordance with the requirements of the "13th Five-Year Plan" for air pollution prevention and control in Zhejiang Province， carry out VOCs pollution treatment in depth. Vigorously promote comprehensive treatment of VOCs in key areas， key industries and key enterprises. Petrochemical and continuous production chemical enterprises should conduct leak detection and repair (LDAR). Implement "source reduction， process control， and end treatment" measures throughout the process to promote the substitution of low-VOCs content raw materials and process technology upgrades. Establish the "one factory， one plan， one file" system. Focus on promoting VOCs treatment in 16 provincial key air pollution areas and key industries such as petrochemicals， packaging and printing， pesticides， pharmaceuticals， synthetic resins， chemical fibers， rubber and plastic products manufacturing， industrial painting， synthetic leather， shoe manufacturing， and textile printing and dyeing. Accelerate the implementation of stricter new vehicle emission standards， strengthen emission control of in-use vehicles， and continue to promote the elimination of old vehicles. Comprehensively improve fuel quality and accelerate the implementation of the national VI gasoline standard. Vigorously develop green transportation， implement the road畅通 project， and promote urban rail transit and public transportation construction. Promote oil vapor recovery treatment at crude oil and refined oil terminals， transportation vessels， oil storage depots and gas stations. Promote VOCs treatment in the auto repair industry， carry out exhaust gas treatment in urban dry cleaning industries， and strengthen the treatment of cooking fumes in urban catering services.
IV. Strictly Control the Increase in VOCs Emissions from Construction Projects
New， modified and expanded projects that emit VOCs must be constructed in accordance with the principles of "first-class design， first-class equipment， first-class pollution control， and first-class management". Strictly implement the reduction and substitution system for construction projects. In accordance with relevant regulations such as the "Interim Measures for the Review and Management of Main Pollutant Emission Total Amount of Construction Projects" (EPA [2014] No. 197) and the "13th Five-Year Plan for Industrial Pollution Prevention and Control" (Zhejiang Environmental Development [2016] No. 46)， for cities such as Hangzhou， Ningbo， Wenzhou， Huzhou， Jiaxing， Shaoxing， Jinhua， Quzhou and Taizhou where air quality has not reached the national secondary standard， the new VOCs emissions from construction projects within the region shall be replaced by a 2-fold reduction amount within existing sources. In Zhejiang and Lishui， a 1.5-fold reduction amount shall be implemented. Based on the principle of "determining the increase amount based on reduction"， combined with the VOCs total control plan formulated by local regions， implement dynamic management of VOCs indicators and strictly control regional VOCs emissions.
V. Effectively Strengthen Monitoring， Supervision and Law Enforcement
Accelerate the construction of VOCs monitoring systems. Conduct comprehensive environmental air automatic monitoring， laboratory analysis capabilities， online monitoring of components， law enforcement equipment， monitoring and control platforms， etc. for VOCs monitoring and control and early warning. Key enterprises should install online monitoring systems for VOCs at the factory boundary and emission outlets. Provincial key areas and other key treatment parks should be equipped with continuous automatic monitoring systems for VOCs. A point， line and surface combination VOCs monitoring and control system should be formed. Establish an enterprise self-monitoring， ledger recording and regular reporting system， and strengthen information disclosure. Strengthen regulatory enforcement, fulfill the main responsibility of enterprises for governance, accelerate the implementation of the pollutant discharge permit system for enterprises involved in VOCs, enhance the charging for VOCs emissions, strictly enforce relevant atmospheric pollutant emission standards, conduct VOCs monitoring on key enterprises, increase the frequency of monitoring, and promote the attainment of discharge standards for VOCs in both organized and unorganized forms as well as total control. Establish a mechanism of "strict prevention at the source, strict supervision during the process, and strict punishment for consequences", carry out special law enforcement actions on VOCs, and severely crack down on all kinds of environmental violations.
