On December 19, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment issued a letter to solicit public opinions on the Regulations on Eco-environmental Monitoring (Draft for Opinions). The deadline for consultation is January 19, 2025. The main contents related
to the cement industry are as follows:
Article 16 Pollutant discharge units shall carry out self-monitoring of the pollutants discharged according to law and keep the original monitoring records. The original monitoring records shall be kept for no less than 5 years. Article
17 Self-monitoring by pollutant discharge units may be carried out by means of manual monitoring, automatic monitoring or a combination of manual monitoring and automatic monitoring, and the actual methods adopted shall be consistent with the contents specified in the pollutant discharge permit. Key pollutant discharge units and pollutant discharge units that implement key management of pollutant discharge permits shall install, use and maintain automatic monitoring equipment for pollutant discharge (hereinafter referred to as automatic monitoring equipment), and shall be networked with the monitoring equipment of the competent department of ecological environment. Other pollutant discharge units are encouraged to install, use and maintain automatic monitoring equipment. Article
18 If a pollutant discharge unit finds that the discharge of pollutants exceeds the standard by its own monitoring, it shall report to the competent department of ecological environment at or above the county level in a timely manner and take measures to prevent or mitigate pollution. If the competent department of ecological environment finds that the pollutant discharge concentration of the pollutant discharge unit exceeds the permitted discharge concentration, it shall require the pollutant discharge unit to provide relevant materials such as self-monitoring data for verification, and may organize on-site monitoring when necessary. Article
19 Pollutant discharge units shall, in accordance with the provisions of pollutant discharge permits, truthfully publicize the development of self-monitoring work and monitoring data on the national information platform for the management of pollutant discharge permits. Article
25 No unit or individual may commit any of the following acts of tampering with or forging monitoring data:
(1) replacing, concealing or abandoning monitoring samples, or changing the concentration, composition, state and other properties of pollutants in monitoring samples by changing sampling points and time without authorization; Interfere with the sampling environment or sampling activities;
(2) Deliberately omit the monitoring items, alter the monitoring conditions or alter the testing methods without authorization;
(3) To tamper with or forge monitoring data by means of abnormal operation or destruction of monitoring equipment and auxiliary facilities, improper modification of monitoring instruments and equipment parameters, and the use of software and hardware cheating tools;
(4) Directly issuing monitoring reports without carrying out substantive ecological environment monitoring activities, and fabricating original records or information such as monitoring data and monitoring time;
(5) Other acts of tampering with or forging monitoring data. Article
37 In case of any of the following circumstances, the competent department of ecological environment shall order a pollutant discharging unit to make corrections and impose a fine of not less than 20,000 yuan but not more than 200,000 yuan; if it refuses to make corrections, it shall be ordered to stop production for rectification:
(1) failing to carry out self-monitoring of the pollutants discharged in accordance with the law or failing to keep the original monitoring records in accordance with the provisions;
(2) The self-monitoring fails to meet the requirements of the norms and standards for ecological environment monitoring;
(3) The technical means actually adopted for self-monitoring are inconsistent with the contents specified in the pollutant discharge permit;
(4) Using monitoring equipment that does not conform to the relevant national standards or failing to verify, calibrate and compare monitoring equipment in accordance with the relevant provisions of the State;
(5) Failing to install, use and maintain automatic monitoring equipment in accordance with the provisions and networking with the monitoring equipment of the competent department of ecological environment;
(6) The monitoring site or monitoring station is not equipped with video monitoring equipment and connected to the competent department of ecological environment in accordance with the regulations, or the video is not kept in accordance with the regulations;
(7) It is found that the pollutant discharge exceeds the standard or the data transmitted by the automatic monitoring equipment is abnormal and it is not reported to the competent department of ecological environment;
(8) Failing to disclose or failing to truthfully disclose information on the implementation of self-monitoring work and monitoring data in accordance with the provisions;
(9) Failing to establish and improve the quality control system of monitoring data in accordance with the provisions;
(10) Entrusting monitoring institutions without corresponding technical capabilities to carry out ecological environment monitoring, or failing to arrange special persons to witness the on-site monitoring activities of the monitoring institutions entrusted by them and to sign and confirm the relevant original records. Article
39 Where a pollutant discharging unit or monitoring institution tampers with or forges the ecological environment monitoring data, the competent department of ecological environment or the relevant department shall order it to make corrections and impose a fine of not less than 500,000 yuan but not more than 2 million yuan; if the directly responsible person in charge and other directly responsible persons are public officials, they shall be punished according to law; If the circumstances are serious, it shall be ordered to stop production or stop business for rectification, and the market supervision and management department may revoke the certificate of inspection and testing qualification of the monitoring institution engaged in ecological environment inspection and testing activities. If a
monitoring institution is punished for the illegal acts specified in the preceding paragraph, the person in charge directly responsible and other persons directly responsible shall be fined not less than one time but not more than three times the income obtained from the institution in the previous year, and shall be prohibited from engaging in ecological environment monitoring activities within three years. If the income obtained is less than 50000 yuan, it shall be calculated as 50000 yuan; If the circumstances are serious, it is forbidden to engage in ecological environment monitoring activities for life. If
a pollutant discharge unit requests, instigates or implies that the monitoring institution entrusted by it tampers with or forges the monitoring data or affects or interferes with the monitoring results, it shall be punished in accordance with the provisions of the first paragraph of this article.
