The Ministry of Environmental Protection Has Revised 20 National Pollutant Emission Standards

To implement the *Environmental Protection Law of the People's Republic of China* and the *Air Pollution Prevention and Control Law of the People's Republic of China*, and to improve national air pollutant emission standards, the Ministry of Environmental Protection has specifically organized the drafting of 20 amendments to national pollutant emission standards. Recently, the Ministry of Environmental Protection officially issued a letter soliciting opinions on the draft amendments to 20 national pollutant emission standards, including the *Air Pollutant Emission Standards for Iron and Steel Sintering and Pelletizing Industries*.

The main amendments include:

Amending the pollutant emission standards for industries such as iron and steel, building materials, non-ferrous metals, thermal power, boilers, and coking (see the table below for details) and the *Integrated Emission Standard for Air Pollutants* (GB16297-1996), comprehensively adding requirements for fugitive emission control measures for material (including waste residue) transportation, loading and unloading, storage, transfer and conveying, as well as production processes.

The following amendments have been made to the emission standards: The "Emission Standard for Air Pollutants from Iron and Steel Sintering and Pelletizing Industry" (GB28662-2012) has been revised, adding a baseline oxygen content requirement for sintering flue gas; the "Emission Standard for Air Pollutants from Flat Glass Industry" (GB26453-2011) and the "Emission Standard for Pollutants from Ceramic Industry" (GB25464-2010) have also been revised, adding special emission limits for air pollutants; and the "Emission Standard for Air Pollutants from Brick and Tile Industry" (GB29620-2013) has been revised, adding special emission limits for air pollutants and baseline oxygen content requirements.

The announcement details the revised industry emission standards.

It is understood that the requirements for fugitive emission control measures for newly constructed projects will be implemented from the date of the amendment's issuance. The requirements for fugitive emission control measures for existing enterprises will be implemented from January 1, 2019, except for cities in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei air pollution transmission corridor, which will be implemented from October 1, 2017.