The impact of the 2015 new policies on environmental impact assessment and approval processes

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http://www.chinacoalchem.com/news.asp?id=60095 The impact of the new policies in 2015 on environmental impact assessments and the approval process for coal chemical projects. Starting from the end of 2014, the State Council, the National Development and Reform Commission, and the Ministry of Environmental Protection issued a series of policies regarding project approvals, environmental impact assessments, and water pollution control. The overall approach is that, regarding project approval, the State Council requires the delegation of powers as much as possible ； Regarding environmental impact assessment approvals, the Ministry of Environmental Protection will strengthen supervision. Under this policy framework, there have been significant changes in the approval process for coal chemical projects, and environmental impact assessments for such projects have become extremely important. Water resources, environmental protection, and wastewater treatment will become key issues in the next phase of the development of coal chemical industry. Unit, Time, File Name, Main Topic: State Council, April 2015 – “Action Plan for Water Pollution Prevention and Control”; provides guidance on water treatment in various industries, including coal chemical industry. Ministry of Environmental Protection, March 2015 – “List of Construction Projects Requiring Environmental Impact Assessment Approval by the Ministry of Environmental Protection (2015 Edition)”; specifies the authorities responsible for approving environmental impact assessments for projects such as those in the coal chemical industry. State Council, March 2015 – “Decision on Canceling and Adjusting a Number of Administrative Approval Items”; 90 administrative approval items were canceled or delegated to lower-level authorities. National Development and Reform Commission, December 2014 – “Notice on Prohibiting the Use of Enterprise Operational Autonomy Issues as Prerequisites for Approving Enterprise Investment Projects”; 18 types of documents, including those containing review opinions on feasibility studies, were removed from the list of prerequisites for approving enterprise investment projects. In accordance with the notice issued by the National Development and Reform Commission in December 2014, 18 such supporting documents were no longer required as prerequisites for approving enterprise investment projects. The content is as follows: 1. Bank loan commitment ； 2. Letter of Intent for Financing ； 3. Financial credit certificate ； 4. Shareholder Capital Contribution Commitment ； 5. Supporting documents regarding the allocation of other funds ； 6. Review comments on the feasibility study report ； 7. Review comments on the planning and design scheme ； 8. Opinions on grid connection ； 9. Comments on the access system design review ； 10. Suggestions on the connection of railway dedicated lines ； 11. Raw material transportation agreement ； 12. Fuel Transportation Agreement ； 13. Water supply agreement ； 14. Intent agreement on comprehensive utilization of by-product resources signed with relevant enterprises ； 15. Raw material supply agreements and similar documents signed with relevant suppliers ； 16. Letters of intent, agreements, and framework agreements signed with partners (excluding Sino-foreign joint ventures and cooperative projects) ； 17. Matters such as agreements, commitments, and contracts that can be resolved through inter-enterprise negotiations and market mechanisms ； 18. Other matters falling within the scope of an enterprise’s independent decision-making. At the same time, the Ministry of Environmental Protection’s Catalogue of Construction Projects Requiring Environmental Impact Assessment (2015 edition) specifies the authorities for approving environmental impact assessments for projects related to the petrochemical and coal chemical industries. Matters subject to approval by the Ministry of Environmental Protection include: 1. Coal mines: **Coal development projects with an additional annual production capacity of 1.2 million tons or more within the planned mining area ； 2. Oil and gas transmission networks (excluding oil field gathering and transmission networks): Cross-border and inter-provincial (regional, municipal) main pipeline network projects ； 3. Petrochemicals: New oil refining projects and expansions of existing oil refining facilities (excluding those expansion projects included in the **energy development plan and petrochemical industry planning framework approved by the State Council) ； 4. Chemicals: Coal-to-natural gas projects with an annual production of over 2 billion cubic meters ； Coal-to-oil projects with an annual production of over 1 million tons ； Coal-to-methanol projects with an annual production of over 1 million tons ； A methanol-to-olefins project with an annual production capacity of over 500,000 tons of coal. Among these, issues such as water resource problems, crystalline salt problems, treatment of wastewater, waste gas, and solid waste, as well as the level of clean production in manufacturing processes, will be the key points in environmental impact assessment approvals. In addition, in accordance with the State Council’s Action Plan for Water Pollution Prevention and Control issued in April 2015, also known as the “Ten Measures for Water Protection,” the following requirements are set: 1. Fully control pollutant emissions; 2. Promote the transformation and upgrading of the economic structure; 3. Make efforts to conserve and protect water resources; 4. Strengthen scientific and technological support; 5. Make full use of market mechanisms; 6. Enforce strict environmental regulations; 7. Effectively strengthen water environment management; 8. Go all out to ensure the safety of water ecosystems; 9. Clarify and implement responsibilities for all parties involved; 10. Enhance public participation and social oversight. It is specified that by the end of 2016, in line with laws and regulations on water pollution prevention and control, all small-scale production facilities that cause severe water pollution, such as those involved in papermaking, leather processing, printing and dyeing, dye production, coking, sulfur processing, arsenic processing, oil refining, electroplating, and pesticide manufacturing, and that do not comply with industrial policies, must be shut down. Ten key industries targeted for special rectification: papermaking, coking, nitrogen fertilizers, non-ferrous metals, printing and dyeing, processing of agricultural and sideline products, manufacturing of active pharmaceutical ingredients, leather processing, pesticides, and electroplating. Industrial wastewater within the industrial cluster must be pre-treated to meet the requirements for centralized treatment before it can be fed into the centralized wastewater treatment facilities. Fully consider the carrying capacity of water resources and the water environment, and determine urban development, land use, population size, and production levels based on water availability. Strict control is exercised over the development of water-intensive and highly polluting industries in areas facing water shortages, areas with severe water pollution, and sensitive regions; for new, renovated, or expanded projects in key industries, measures are implemented to reduce emissions of major pollutants. Along the main streams of the seven key river basins, it is necessary to strictly control the environmental risks associated with activities such as petroleum processing, the production of chemical raw materials and chemicals, pharmaceutical manufacturing, chemical fiber production, non-ferrous metal smelting, and textile dyeing. Production facilities as well as storage facilities for chemicals should be arranged in a rational manner. Yahua Consulting believes that industries such as coking and nitrogen fertilizers belong to the traditional coal chemical industry, and are key areas for pollutant emissions as mentioned in the State Council’s document. In the field of new coal chemical industries, industrial wastewater within the industrial clusters must undergo pretreatment to meet the requirements for centralized treatment before it can be sent to centralized wastewater treatment facilities, which indicates the direction in which water treatment should develop in large-scale coal chemical parks. Furthermore, the State Council’s “Ten Measures on Water” clearly states that it is necessary to give full play to the role of market mechanisms. Yahua Consulting believes that this will lead to a \"replacement of water resources\" in the regions where coal chemical industry development is active” ； Business model innovation and application for the outsourcing of wastewater treatment in large-scale coal chemical plants ； The introduction of an environmental pollution insurance system for large-scale projects will also play an important guiding role. Yahua Consulting believes that the overall approach of these policies is that, regarding project approval, the State Council calls for as much streamlining of procedures and delegation of authority as possible ； Regarding environmental impact assessment approvals, the Ministry of Environmental Protection will strengthen supervision. Under this policy framework, there have been significant changes in the approval process for coal chemical projects, and environmental impact assessments for such projects have become extremely important. Water resources, environmental protection, and wastewater treatment will become the key focuses in the next phase of the development of coal chemical industry. Innovation and application in technology and business models will be key to addressing the challenges facing the development of the coal chemical industry.