The General Office of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment ("MEE") has recently issued the Regulations on the Administration of Pollutant Discharge Permits (Draft for Comment) (the "Draft for Comment") for public comment by December 6, 2018.

The Draft for Comment, comprised of 87 articles in seven chapters, is designed to establish the "one-permit" management mode, realize the coverage of all stationary pollution sources, clearly specify the core task of improving the environmental quality, and enable pollutant discharge entities to fulfill their subject responsibilities. As for the application for and issuance of permits, among others, the Draft for Comment clarifies what materials need to be provided by enterprises and what information should be disclosed by them, during a full cycle ranging from the application for, examination of applications for, to the issuance of, pollutant discharge permits, and also provides procedures for competent authorities of ecology and environment to accept such applications, requirements for their examination, and provisions on the issuance of permits. Meanwhile, the Draft for Comment clearly specifies the contents of a pollutant discharge permit, proposes principles to determine the permissible amount and the permissible concentration of pollutants, sets out environmental management requirements on the pollutant discharge permit, and makes clear the validity period of a pollutant discharge permit.

(Source: MEE)