The new Technical Specifications for the Application and Issuance of Petrochemical Pollutant Discharge Permits Have Been Released.

Recently, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment revised and issued six national ecological and environmental standards, including the “Technical Specification for Application and Issuance of Pollutant Discharge Permits—Petrochemical Industry,” to streamline the application and issuance processes for discharge permits in key industries.

An official from the Environmental Impact Assessment Department of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment stated that the most significant feature of this revision is the more comprehensive and precise control of pollutant emissions.

The revised standard comprehensively regulates emissions of wastewater, exhaust gases, industrial solid waste, and industrial noise across relevant sectors, as well as their impacts on the soil and ecological environment. It effectively aligns with various environmental management requirements, thereby strengthening the foundation for “one‑permit” management of stationary pollution sources.

　　Comprehensive control refers to the full‑scope permitting of pollutant emissions. Building on the previous approach, which only accounted for major emission points, new regulatory requirements have been introduced for minor emission points and fugitive emissions, establishing a comprehensive permitting accounting system that encompasses “major emission points, minor emission points, and fugitive emissions.” This ensures that emissions are calculated on a point‑by‑point, item‑by‑item basis and aggregated by category. The methodology for calculating actual emissions has been refined, with clear prioritization among the measured‑emission method, the pollution‑generation‑coefficient method, and the mass‑balance method. Compliance assessments are conducted within comparable process units, resulting in more precise regulatory requirements that are easier to implement at the grassroots level. Taking the petrochemical industry as an example, permitted emission limits for major emission points are determined by pollutant type, while those for minor emission points are set as plant‑wide totals. For fugitive emissions, the permissible concentration at the enterprise boundary is specified, along with annual permitted emission limits for volatile organic compounds associated with equipment and pipelines, the storage and loading of organic liquids, wastewater treatment facilities, and other relevant processes.

　　Precision-based regulation refers to the stringent setting of permitted pollutant discharge limits and linking these permits to improvements in environmental quality. First, for new, renovated, or expanded projects, permitted discharge volumes must be rigorously determined in accordance with technical standards for pollution discharge permits, environmental impact assessment documents, and total‑quantity control requirements, with detailed management protocols for daily permitted discharge levels during specific periods. Second, permit management should be closely integrated with ultra‑low‑emission retrofitting; industries such as boiler operations are encouraged to apply for discharge permits based on ultra‑low emission limits, while supporting measures—such as feasible pollution‑control technologies—should be refined and strengthened. Third, for facilities that directly discharge wastewater and are subject to key regulatory controls, particularly in river basins and marine areas where water quality fails to meet standards, permit‑based discharge performance targets stricter than the applicable emission standards should be established.

This revision of the standard is closely aligned with actual industry production conditions, optimizing the reporting logic and streamlining and consolidating relevant reporting items throughout the production process. Specifically, the previous practice of reporting detailed equipment parameters and general emission‑point information on a per‑unit basis has been replaced by a consolidated overview reported on a per‑system basis. At the same time, the indicators and frequency for environmental management ledgers and compliance‑reporting records have been refined—for example, shifting from shift‑based recording to daily recording.

This revision draws on the design of unified information reporting forms for ecological and environmental statistics and pollutant discharge permitting in key sectors such as thermal power, iron and steel, and papermaking, thereby promoting the deep integration and data convergence of these two systems.

It is reported that, to ensure the comprehensive implementation and precise enforcement of the six standards, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment will, in the next phase, coordinate and advance publicity and interpretation, professional training, implementation guidance, and follow-up evaluation.

(Source: China Chemical Industry News Official Account, September 4, 2026)