Scientific Instruments for Environmental Protection during the 13th Five-Year Plan Period

National Environmental Protection Standards "13th Five-Year Plan" Development Plan (Draft for Comments)

This plan details the goals, tasks, and priority levels of the formulation and revision of environmental protection standards during the "13th Five-Year Plan" period. According to the plan, from 2016 to 2017, my country will release 769 environmental protection standards, including 11 environmental quality standards, 86 pollutant emission (control) standards, 403 environmental monitoring specifications, 6 environmental basic standards, 145 management specifications, 46 nuclear and electromagnetic radiation environmental protection standards, 38 engineering technical specifications, and 25 implementation evaluation standards. Instrument Information Network reminds everyone to pay special attention to: surface water environmental quality standards, soil environmental quality standards, urban sewage treatment plant pollutant emission standards, integrated sewage discharge standards, and integrated air pollutant emission standards…

The Ministry of Environmental Protection plans to release 769 standards (including formulation and revision) during the 13th Five-Year Plan period.

The plan comprehensively stipulates the main measures for ecological and environmental protection in my country during the "13th Five-Year Plan" period.

In terms of instruments, we will develop key technologies for ecological and environmental monitoring and early warning, support the research and development of environmental monitoring and early warning network systems and key technical equipment for ecology, soil, atmosphere, and greenhouse gases, and support the research and development of technologies for monitoring, early warning, and emergency response to sudden ecological and environmental accidents, remote sensing monitoring technologies, data analysis and service products, and high-end environmental monitoring instruments.

In terms of standards, we will study and formulate environmental benchmarks, revise soil environmental quality standards, improve the volatile organic compound (VOC) emission standard system, and strictly enforce pollutant emission standards; accelerate the formulation, revision, and implementation of emission standards for motor vehicles and non-road mobile sources, and fuel product quality standards; revise emission standards for in-use motor vehicles, and strive to implement the National IV emission standard for non-road mobile machinery.

In terms of atmospheric monitoring, we will thoroughly implement the "Air Pollution Prevention and Control Action Plan," significantly reduce emissions of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and particulate matter, fully launch VOC pollution prevention and control, and conduct pilot projects for atmospheric ammonia emission control; construct remote sensing monitoring points for ship air pollutant emissions and oil quality monitoring points, and build an environmental compliance supervision system for motor vehicles, ships, and oil products; and accelerate the construction of a regional motor vehicle emissions monitoring platform. In water quality monitoring methods, a basin-wide water environment quality target management system will be implemented, based on control units as the spatial foundation, cross-sectional water quality as the management objective, and the discharge permit system as the core. The monitoring network for control unit water quality cross-sections will be optimized. Regarding soil monitoring, the role of industry monitoring networks will be fully utilized, and local governments will be supported in adding monitoring points according to local conditions, increasing the number of characteristic pollutant monitoring items, and improving monitoring frequency. By the end of 2017, the establishment of national-level soil environmental quality monitoring points will be completed, a national soil environmental quality monitoring network will be established, and basic soil environmental monitoring capabilities will be formed. By 2020, soil environmental quality monitoring points will achieve full coverage of all counties (cities, districts). Regarding pollution source monitoring, all polluting enterprises will fully implement online monitoring. Local governments at all levels should improve the alarm mechanisms for excessive pollutant emissions and abnormal emissions from key polluting units, and gradually achieve unified collection and public release of industrial pollution source emission monitoring data.

The "13th Five-Year Plan" for Environmental Monitoring Quality Management

The plan outlines the need to promote the promulgation of the "Environmental Monitoring Management Regulations," revise the "Environmental Monitoring Management Measures," the "Environmental Monitoring Quality Management Measures," and the "Measures for Determining and Handling Falsification of Environmental Monitoring Data," formulate relevant regulations for the quality management of ambient air, surface water, and soil environmental monitoring, improve the professional standards for environmental monitoring technicians, and establish systems for the management of standard samples used in the environmental protection industry and the supervision and management of social environmental monitoring institutions, ensuring that environmental monitoring quality management is conducted in a regulated and legally sound manner.

Urban ambient air quality monitoring will be conducted through a model of entrusting social environmental monitoring institutions with operation and maintenance; surface water environmental quality monitoring will be conducted through a model of entrusting social environmental monitoring institutions with monitoring (operation and maintenance) or joint monitoring by upstream and downstream environmental protection systems; soil environmental quality monitoring will be conducted through a model where local environmental protection system environmental monitoring institutions collect samples, and the China National Environmental Monitoring Centre entrusts capable laboratories to centrally prepare, label, and analyze the samples. The China National Environmental Monitoring Centre is responsible for the transmission and review of national network monitoring data, monitoring key parameters of monitoring instruments, and ensuring that national network operation and maintenance institutions use open communication protocols and share monitoring data with local authorities. Local environmental protection departments are responsible for ensuring the operation and maintenance of the national environmental protection network, but will no longer participate in data review.

National Environmental Protection "13th Five-Year Plan" Science and Technology Development Outline

Water Environment Monitoring: Conduct research on key technologies such as automated analysis flow paths and quantitative detection. Develop miniaturized designs for conventional water quality analysis instruments, rapid mobile online detection integrated devices, and online water quality volatile organic compound (VOC) detection instruments centered on mass spectrometers. Develop new in-situ water environment monitoring methods based on gradient diffusion thin film (DGT) technology, as well as new ecological risk assessment models and processes.

Atmospheric Environment Monitoring: Develop systems capable of integrated rapid measurement of atmospheric fine particulate matter (PM2.5) mass concentration, particle size distribution, and chemical composition; three-dimensional distribution monitoring technology for atmospheric PM2.5 gaseous precursors; sampling and monitoring technology for low-concentration gaseous pollutants and particulate matter in flue gas; online monitoring instruments and supporting equipment for heavy metals with multi-element simultaneous monitoring capabilities applicable to air and exhaust gases; new devices for industrial exhaust gas sample collection and pretreatment; online monitoring equipment for atmospheric VOCs; odor gas pretreatment technology and online monitoring equipment; and online and portable analytical instruments for multi-component gases.

Soil and Groundwater Environmental Monitoring: Develop high-precision, multi-functional sample collection and specialized monitoring instruments for soil and groundwater pollution; establish soil and groundwater environmental monitoring methods based on sensors, remote sensing technology, and biomarkers; and strengthen the application of satellite remote sensing technology. Develop miniaturized on-site monitoring equipment for heavy metals in soil. Conduct research on long-term monitoring methods after contaminated site remediation.

13th Five-Year Plan for National Urban Wastewater Treatment and Reuse Facilities Construction (Draft for Comments)

This document details the construction tasks, technical requirements, and investment budget for my country's drainage monitoring platform during the 13th Five-Year Plan period.

Task Requirements: During the 13th Five-Year Plan period, construct 1 national-level drainage and wastewater treatment monitoring station, 38 provincial-level monitoring stations, and 288 municipal-level monitoring stations. All prefecture-level cities should have drainage and wastewater treatment monitoring capabilities.

Technical Requirements: National and provincial monitoring stations should possess full-indicator monitoring capabilities and mobile detection capabilities for major indicators. Municipal monitoring stations should possess the capability for wastewater pipe network investigation and testing, and analysis of basic control items and some optional control items for wastewater treatment plants. Wastewater treatment plant monitoring stations should possess daily indicator detection capabilities to meet the needs of government supervision and enterprise operation management.

Investment Estimate: The estimated investment for national wastewater treatment monitoring stations is 0.68 billion yuan; for existing provincial monitoring stations whose monitoring capabilities do not yet reach full-indicator detection, their monitoring capabilities should be upgraded, with an estimated investment of 0.1 billion yuan per station; for newly built provincial monitoring stations, an estimated investment of 0.15 billion yuan per station; for municipal monitoring stations, in addition to basic control items, they should also possess the capability to monitor some Class I pollutants and some optional control items, with an estimated investment of 0.1 billion yuan per station; wastewater treatment plant monitoring stations should possess the capability to monitor basic control items, with an estimated investment of 0.03 billion yuan per station.

Of course, the automated control and automatic drainage monitoring of wastewater treatment plants also require considerable instrument support.