Problem overview:

     Policies and measures: Implementing action plans for the environment require specific, detailed plans of actual projects designed to improve environmental conditions. In this example, we see how China decides which pollutants to control and how to control them.

Background:

      Planning for sustainable development

      The Ninth Five Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development and Long-Term Objectives through the Year 2010 proposes the goals to be attained for environmental protection during 1996-2000:

      By 2000, the trend of accelerated pollution of the environment and ecological degradation must basically be brought under control and the environmental quality in selected cities and regions must improve.

      That document also proposes that ceilings be set for controlling the discharge of pollutants. To that end, with the approval of the State Council, the present Plan is formulated and published.

Basic principles for controlling the discharge of pollutants

     Principles for selection of pollutants

• Major pollutants that cause great damage to the environment and are on the top of the government's watch list;
• Pollutants that can be supported by monitoring and statistical facilities;
• The ones total discharge can be controlled.

      Based on the above principles, the following 12 pollutants will be controlled during 1996-2000 for total discharge:

• Atmospheric pollutants (3): smog, industrial dust, sulfur dioxide.
• Waste water pollutants (8): chemical oxygen demand (COD), oils, cyanogen compound, arsenic, mercury, lead, cadmium, sexavalence chromium.
• Solid wastes (1): industrial solid wastes.

Principles for total discharge control

1. Compliance with overall goal.
   • By 2000, the total discharge of leading pollutants should be controlled at the mid-1990s level; no breakthroughs will be tolerated.
   • Reductions in selected regions: These regions, high on top of the government's watch list for discharge of acid rain and sulfur dioxide, include the three rivers (Huaihe, Haihe and Liaohe) and three lakes (Taihu, Dianchi and Chaohu).
   
   
   
2. Differentiated approaches.
   
        Considerations should be given to regional differences in economic and environmental conditions. The eastern region should strive to reduce discharge further from the mid-1990s level; the central region should try to control discharge at the mid-1990s level, while the western region may, depending on circumstances, be exempted from certain requirements.
   
        Strict controls must be imposed on toxic pollutants that cause great hazards, such as cyanogen compound, arsenic, and heavy medal, to the effect that their discharge by 2000 will decrease from the mid-1990s.
   
        Discharge of smog, industrial dust, COD, oils and industrial solid wastes must be controlled at the mid-1990s level, and great efforts must be made to control the discharge of sulfur dioxide at the mid-1990s level in areas targeted for acid rain and sulfur dioxide controls.
   
   
3. Preferential treatment.
   • Preferential policies should be granted to projects that seek to:
   • Rationally allocate resources,
   • Implement the government's industrial policy,
   • Promote technical progress in enterprises, and
   • Enhance pollution control.
   
   
   When assigning quotas for pollutant discharge to enterprises, it is imperative that the enterprises meet standards first.

Basic practices

1. Verify the discharge base of 1995 for provincial-level enterprises based on reports by the provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities.
   
   
2. Draft a national plan for controlling pollutant discharge after balancing regional differences;
   
   
3. Assign compulsory quotas for discharge control during 1996-2000 to the provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities.
   
   
4. The provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities in turn sub-divide the quotas among their subordinate units and control the discharge volume at each level.
   
   
5. Industrial departments with greater discharge volumes should strive to increase output without increasing pollution.
   
   
6. Make annual plans.
   
   
7. Conduct annual examinations and reviews and publicize at regular intervals, discharge control information of various localities.
   
   
8. Institute a system, in accordance with the Law on Prevention of Water Pollution, to control the total discharge of leading pollutants into water bodies with serious pollution. That system should specify
   • Water quality standards that the water bodies are supposed to reach,
   • Indexes for measuring pollutant discharge that should be stricter than this Plan.
   • In addition, a verification system needs to be instituted for enterprises required to reduce their discharge volume.