The blue skies surrounding Beijing’s largest military parade early September has been coined the term ‘parade blue’, bringing a celebratory atmosphere to the occasion. The clear air also drew public attention back to the issue of China’s air pollution control. In fact, the NPC (National People's Congress) recently approved the new Law of the People’s Republic of China on the Prevention and Control of Atmospheric Pollution (Air Law) on August 29, 2015, which will be put in action starting January 1, 2016. (see a CAAC translated version of the new Air Law here .)
Since the previous version, the new Air Law has expanded from seven chapters 66 clauses to eight chapters 129 clauses, with thorough revision to the its content. One of the biggest breakthrough changes of the new Air Law involves promoting air quality attainment plans. The topic was previously mentioned in a second-level clause, and has developed to form a Chapter II of the Air Law that also includes air pollution control standards. The new chapter stipulates more detailed regulations around air quality attainment plan implementation, revising processes, and the assessment and measurement of urban air quality in China.
In addition to detailed planning, air quality attainment management calls for an environmental management model that regularly proposes updates for environmental protection requirements. European countries and the United States have successfully implemented air quality management for years. The State Implementation Plan (SIP) in the United States and the Local Air Quality Management (LAQM) in the UK are both examples of successful air quality management systems that have significantly impacted air quality. By dedicating a section to attainment planning within allotted times, China’s new Air Law greatly increased compliance and planning pressures, creating a more comprehensive, enforceable regulatory system to push for cleaner air.
A complete management system calls for a local government that is held responsible to reach air quality standards. The government entity will be expected to manage urban air quality by designing and evaluating air quality improvement measures continuously to achieve objectives. Attaining air quality standards may influence urban energy, transport and industrial development, to set the path to consistently improve local air quality. |
To assist the new Air Law’s revision process, the Clean Air Alliance of China (CAAC) introduced cases and experiences of other countries establishing air quality attainment management models to the Ministry of Environmental Protection, the State Council, and the National People’s Congress (NPC). CAAC also organized professional forums on technological tools to support attainment planning, pollutant emission permits, and information disclosure. To solidify these efforts, CAAC published a report in February 2015 titled, ‘China Air Law’ Revision Suggestions, that raised the suggestions below to the revision of the new Air Law: 1) to clarify requirements for cities to establish air quality attainment management systems; 2) to allocate sufficient personnel and capital to support attainment management; 3) to design urban transport, energy and other plans to support air quality attainment objectives; and 4) to publicly release supporting regulations and technical documents related to air quality attainment management.
In addition to recommendations on constructing urban air quality attainment management models, the Revision Suggestions also includes 10 core suggestions, 7 sections, and 3 articles of recommendations from local environmental protection bureaus, NGOs and international experts.
Glad to announce that, The Law is translated into English by the CAAC and is ready for download here .
