Opinions on further optimizing the work of environmental impact assessment

Departments (bureaus) of ecology and environment of all provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government, and the Bureau of Ecology and Environment of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps:

　　In order to implement the decisions and arrangements of the Party Central Committee and the State Council, further strengthen the guarantee of environmental impact assessment (hereinafter referred to as EIA) elements, continue to release the effectiveness of reform, and promote high-quality economic development with high-level protection, the following opinions are hereby put forward on further strengthening the cohesion and linkage of the EIA system and optimizing the EIA work.

　　1. General requirements

　　(1) Guiding ideology. Guided by Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, fully implement the spirit of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China and the spirit of the National Conference on Ecological and Environmental Protection, thoroughly implement Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization, based on the new stage of development, completely, accurately and comprehensively implement the new development concept, serve the construction of a new development pattern, adhere to comprehensive governance, systematic governance, and source governance, adhere to pilot first, steady progress, and timely promotion, and improve ecological and environmental zoning control, environmental impact assessment, and pollutant discharge permits. Law enforcement supervises the closed-loop environmental management system, gives full play to the joint force of the system, and coordinates the promotion of high-quality economic development and high-level protection of the ecological environment.

　　(2) Working principles

　　Strengthen linkage and improve efficiency. Promote the efficient linkage of ecological and environmental zoning control, environmental impact assessment, and pollutant discharge permit systems, give full play to the joint force of the system, expand the space for reform, optimize the management of environmental impact assessment, and improve the effectiveness of source prevention.

　　Improve the process and ensure development. Coordinate various management requirements from macro to micro and from source to process, optimize the management process, strengthen the guarantee of environmental impact assessment, improve the efficiency and quality of environmental impact assessment, and serve high-quality development.

　　Green leads, keep the bottom line. Adhere to the concept of ecological priority, green and low-carbon, strengthen macro control, strict access to the ecological environment, lead and promote the green development of the industry, and keep the bottom line of ecological and environmental protection.

　　Strictly supervise and pay attention to practical results. Strengthen the linkage with the law enforcement and supervision of the ecological environment, strictly supervise and manage, promote the implementation of responsibilities, and ensure that the implementation of the system and the requirements of ecological and environmental protection are in place.

　　(3) Main objectives. By 2025, the overall completion of various reform pilot tasks, the integration of ecological environment zoning control, environmental impact assessment, pollutant discharge permits, law enforcement supervision and other systems will be smoother, the ability of grassroots approval and assessment will be further improved, the level of information support will be significantly enhanced, the level of supervision during and after the event and the awareness of enterprises to implement EIA responsibilities will continue to improve, and the EIA work will be further optimized. By 2027, positive progress will be made in the standardization and institutionalization of pilot results, the joint efforts of the system will be further exerted, and the role of source prevention will be further improved, so as to guard the first line of defense of lucid waters and lush mountains.

　　2. Strengthen the cohesion and linkage of systems

　　(4) Give full play to the guiding role of zoning and control of the ecological environment. Accelerate the digital management of ecological environment zoning management and control results, build and improve the ecological environment zoning management and control information platform, strengthen sharing and sharing, develop functions such as environmental access research and judgment, site selection and route selection, environmental rationality analysis, and service planning and project investment promotion and other scientific decision-making. Encourage the development of web and mobile terminals of information platforms, and share the results related to ecological and environmental zoning management and control with enterprises, the public, and third-party technical institutions.

　　(5) Optimize the environmental impact assessment of industrial park planning in combination with the zoning control of the ecological environment. The EIA of industrial park planning should make full use of the results of ecological and environmental zoning control, and simplify the compliance and coordination analysis with the laws, regulations, policies, and industrial development and other relevant plans already included in the results. Fully connect the identification and constraints of major ecological and environmental problems in regions, river basins and sea areas, and the analysis of resource and environmental carrying capacity in the results. Strengthen the analysis and demonstration of the current situation and change trend of environmental quality in industrial parks, the potential for pollutant emission reduction and total control, environmental protection infrastructure, and environmental risk prevention measures. Combined with the planning of industrial development tasks, further clarify the requirements for ecological environment access and tracking and monitoring of industrial parks, and put forward countermeasures and suggestions for planning optimization and adjustment.

　　(6) Connecting pollutant discharge permits, exploring and promoting the "integration of two permits for examination and approval". The agricultural and sideline food processing industry, food manufacturing industry, wine and beverage manufacturing industry, textile and garment industry, clothing industry, footwear industry, printing industry, general equipment manufacturing industry, special equipment manufacturing industry, refueling and gas stations, repair and maintenance industry of automobiles and motorcycles, tap water production and supply, natural gas boilers and other 12 types of construction projects with relatively single production process, small environmental impact, short construction period and environmental impact report form shall be prepared according to the provisions of the enterpriseBefore the start of construction of the project, continue to go through the procedures of environmental impact assessment and pollutant discharge permit. If there is a major change in the EIA during the construction process, the EIA and the pollutant discharge permit shall be re-applied in accordance with the law; if it is not a major change, there is no need to re-apply for the EIA, and the pollutant discharge permit shall be changed at one time before the pollutant discharge.

　　3. Deepen the pilot reform of environmental impact assessment

　　(7) Implement linkage reforms in accordance with procedures. The provincial ecological environment department should refer to the "Opinions on Further Strengthening the Environmental Impact Assessment of Industrial Park Planning" (EIA [2020] No. 65) of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment to further refine the requirements for industrial parks that carry out the linkage between planning EIA and project EIA. Clarify the procedures for the application, follow-up evaluation, and withdrawal of industrial parks included in the pilot, form a directory of the park and report it to our department, and disclose it to the public. Projects involving key industries involving heavy metals, toxic and harmful pollutant discharge, and new pollutant discharge shall not be included in this reform, and management requirements shall not be simplified.

　　(8) Pilot promotion of a batch of registration forms exempted from filing formalities. Five types of construction projects, including urban roads, urban pipe networks and pipe corridors, distributed photovoltaic power generation, primary medical and health services, urban drainage river sluices, and drainage pumping stations, which should be filled in the environmental impact registration form in the pilot industrial parks, can be exempted from EIA filing management. The Ministry of Ecology and Environment will summarize the pilot experience in a timely manner and include it in the revision of the "Catalogue of Classified Management of Environmental Impact Assessment of Construction Projects".

　　(9) Promote the approval of a batch of report forms "bundling". Nine types of construction projects, including textile and garment, apparel industry, wood processing and wood, bamboo, rattan, palm and grass products, furniture manufacturing, cultural, educational, art, sports and recreational goods manufacturing, plastic products, general equipment manufacturing, special equipment manufacturing, instrument manufacturing, metal products, machinery and equipment maintenance industry, and other projects that are concentrated in the relocation report form in the industrial park, as well as other projects that are concentrated in the relocation report form, can carry out the EIA "bundling" approval of similar projects, and clarify the environmental protection responsibilities of the corresponding enterprises. The production facilities and pollution prevention and control facilities in the industrial parks included in the pilot projects remain unchanged, and only the raw materials and products have changed, and the type and amount of pollutant emissions and emissions confirmed by the ecological environment department with the right to approve do not exceed the original EIA, do not need to go through the EIA again.

　　(10) Simplify the content of a batch of reports (tables). During the planning period, the EIA of the project can simplify the analysis of policy planning compliance, the environmental rationality and feasibility demonstration of site selection, and the current environmental monitoring data and ecological environment investigation content that meet the timeliness requirements in the planning EIA can be directly quoted. If the central heating, transportation and other infrastructure supported by the construction project in the industrial park have been constructed and operated in accordance with the requirements of the park planning environmental impact assessment, the project environmental impact assessment can simplify the analysis of the relevant supporting facilities. If the decision on the establishment of the sewage outlet into the river has been obtained, the content of the relevant water-related demonstration report that meets the technical requirements of the EIA guidelines can be appropriately simplified by citing conclusions and other forms.

　　(11) Pilot optimization and improvement of the review and management of the total EIA indicators of a number of projects. Make full use of the key guarantee policies of the total amount of indicators, and include the construction projects approved or approved by the Party Central Committee and the State Council, and when the total amount of indicators within the prefecture-level administrative area is insufficient, on the basis of meeting the requirements of regional environmental quality improvement, it can be supported by the overall deployment within the provincial-level administrative area, and the specific measures shall be formulated by the provincial-level ecological environment department. Prioritize construction projects, and give priority to projects that meet the advanced level of environmental protection indicators and can be put into operation or reach production during the 14th Five-Year Plan period. For coal-fired power projects, the total amount of air pollutants can be derived from quantifiable clean energy substitution and emission reductions caused by the elimination of outdated production capacity in the industry or non-power industries。 In the industrial parks included in the pilot, if the single new annual emissions of nitrogen oxides, chemical oxygen demand and volatile organic pollutants are less than 0.1 tons, and the ammonia nitrogen is less than 0.01 tons, the construction unit is exempted from submitting a description of the total source of major pollutants in the environmental impact assessment and approval of the project, and the local ecological environment department will coordinate the total amount of the target to replace the source and include it in the management account.

　　(12) Continue to carry out pilot environmental impact assessments of greenhouse gas emissions in key areas and key industries. We will further promote the integration of pollution reduction and carbon reduction into the pilot work of ecological environment zoning control, industrial park planning and environmental impact assessment, and environmental impact assessment of key industry construction projects, and form a number of replicable and generalizable cases. Based on the improvement of the existing EIA system, we will promote the formation of EIA technical methods and management systems that integrate the management of pollutants and greenhouse gases, connect with the existing carbon emission management system, and effectively play the source prevention role of the EIA system in reducing pollution and carbon emissions. Strict implementation of the requirements for the control of ozone-depleting substances and hydrofluorocarbons. Explore the implementation of methane control studies in the environmental impact assessment of projects in industries such as coal mining, oil and gas extraction, landfill, and sewage treatment.

　　Fourth, firmly adhere to the bottom line of ecological and environmental protection

　　(13) Strictly abide by the bottom line of environmental access. Adhere to the general requirements of ecological priority and green development, and work together to promote carbon reduction, pollution reduction, green expansion and growth, adhere to the approval in accordance with laws and regulations, and refuse to approve the environmental impact assessment of projects that do not comply with laws and regulations, adhere to the bottom line that the quality of the ecological environment can only improve and not deteriorate, continue to improve the environmental quality, and continuously improve the diversity, stability and sustainability of the ecosystem. For the "two high and one low" projects, it is necessary to resolutely curb blind development, pay attention to the environmental impact analysis and the effectiveness of pollution prevention and control facilities and regional reduction measures for major pollutants, promote the synergy of pollution reduction and carbon reduction, and study and promote the environmental impact assessment of new pollutants For ecologically sensitive projects, priority should be given to avoiding environmentally sensitive areas, focusing on the impact analysis and countermeasures on ecological protection red lines, nature reserves, drinking water source protection areas and other statutory protection areas, as well as various environmental protection objectives; and for projects with a high degree of social concern, it is necessary to pay attention to public opinion, respond in a timely manner, and prevent and resolve environmental and social risks.

　　(14) Strengthen the management of environmental impact assessment of ecological impact construction projects. For railway, highway, rail transit and airport projects, we should focus on the ecological and environmental protection measures and their implementation in environmentally sensitive areas, take effective noise and vibration control measures, and strengthen noise pollution prevention and control. For water conservancy and hydropower projects, attention should be paid to measures and their implementation, such as ecological flow discharge, fish flow, breeding and release, stratified water intake, habitat protection, and ecological restoration. For coal, ferrous metal mines, non-ferrous metal mines, and chemical ore mining and dressing projects, attention should be paid to soil and groundwater protection measures and their implementation, and coal and oil and gas exploitation projects should also pay attention to measures such as prohibition and restriction of mining, coal gangue, mud and sewage disposal and comprehensive utilization, ecological restoration, methane control and utilization, and clean transportation. For tailings pond projects, it is necessary to strengthen the site selection demonstration, and focus on the impact of seepage prevention, drainage (backwater) and dust on the surrounding and downstream soil, water bodies and environmentally sensitive areas. For projects involving hazardous waste, attention should be paid to the generation and utilization and disposal of hazardous waste. For port and terminal projects, we should focus on measures such as aquatic ecological protection, air pollution prevention and control, and environmental risk prevention and control, and their implementation, promote the construction of a clean collection and distribution system, and reduce the emission pollution caused by transportation.

　　Strengthen the assessment and protection of biodiversity. Strictly implement the requirements of the "Technical Guidelines for Environmental Impact Assessment - Ecological Impact", strengthen the investigation of the current status of ecological background, strengthen the investigation, monitoring and impact analysis of biodiversity, pay attention to the impact of construction projects on the integrity and stability of ecosystem structure and function, put forward scientific and effective protection measures for rare, endangered, protected species and species with very small populations and their habitats, and strengthen the monitoring of ecologically sensitive targets during the construction and operation period of the project. For construction projects within the scope of desertified land, the relevant content of desertification prevention and control shall be included in the environmental impact assessment in accordance with the law, so as to mitigate the impact on desertified land. Encourage exploration and research on biodiversity assessment methods and conservation measures, and strengthen conservation effectiveness.

　　(15) Promote supervision during and after the event. Establish and improve the linkage mechanism of environmental impact assessment, pollutant discharge permit and law enforcement supervision, further improve the operability of the implementation of project EIA approval, and explore a key law enforcement list covering the implementation standards of pollutant discharge, ecological and environmental protection facilities and countermeasures, and pollutant emissions. To consolidate the responsibility of territorial supervision, the implementation and operation effect of ecological and environmental protection facilities and measures proposed in the project environmental impact report (form) and approval documents should be included in the daily supervision and law enforcement of "double random, one open", increase the intensity of environmental impact assessment, "three simultaneous" and independent acceptance supervision and inspection, and increase the investigation and punishment of illegal acts such as "construction before approval", "investment before inspection" and non-implementation of environmental impact assessment requirements. For industrial parks and steel, coking, thermal power and other projects in the inter-provincial border zone, strictly implement the requirements of planning and project environmental impact assessment, and strengthen source prevention and control and law enforcement supervision. Where countermeasures such as the reduction of major pollutant areas, habitat protection, ecological scheduling, and environmental protection relocation are not implemented or the implementation progress is slow, a notification, interview, or approval restriction shall be carried out in accordance with law. If the regional and industrial problems are prominent, and the implementation of the planning and environmental impact assessment requirements is not effective, resulting in the decline of regional environmental quality and the degradation of ecological functions, it shall be included in the ecological and environmental protection supervision according to the relevant requirements. Encourage the use of advanced technologies such as satellite remote sensing and big data to carry out off-site supervision, and promote water conservancy and hydropower projects to promptly connect monitoring data such as ecological flows, stratified water intakes, and fish passing to relevant information platforms.

　　5. Strengthen grassroots capacity-building

　　(16) Strengthen guidance and assistance for the grassroots level. Encourage deepening the study of the linkage mechanism of ecological and environmental zoning control, environmental impact assessment, pollutant discharge permits and other management systems. Strengthen targeted training on grassroots environmental impact assessment management, and unify grassroots administrative examination and approval departments into the scope of policy guidance and business training. Make full use of the national EIA technical assessment service consultation platform and technical assessment expert database, promote remote assistance and "online consultation", and guide and help solve the difficulties encountered in the management of grassroots EIA approval.

　　Strengthen the supervision of grassroots environmental impact assessment and approval. Strengthen the supervision of the quality of EIA documents and the quality of approval through daily inspections and reviews, unify the grassroots administrative examination and approval departments into the supervision work system, and strengthen the accountability of the whole chain. Establish and complete review work mechanisms, carry out reviews on a quarterly or regular basis, and promote standardization and institutionalization. Strengthen the management of third-party technical institutions engaged in technical assessment and review, promote the strengthening of technical capacity building, and in principle, should be required to be equipped with personnel who have obtained the professional qualification certificate of environmental impact assessment engineers, and bear corresponding responsibility for the technical assessment and review conclusions. Promote the online handling of the whole process of environmental impact assessment and approval, and implement the whole process of acceptance, assessment, and approval traces and information disclosure.

　　(17) Enhance the technical capacity of the grassroots level. The provincial ecological environment department should organize and carry out the combing of the environmental impact assessment and approval authority and the assessment of the effect of undertaking to ensure that it matches the grassroots capacity. Strengthen the construction of technical assessment capacity, encourage provincial assessment departments to carry out technical assessment services for the environmental impact assessment and approval of major projects in various cities, and encourage municipal ecological and environmental departments to coordinate the use of the city's approval and technical assessment forces. The municipal department of ecology and environment shall organize the county-level department of ecology and environment to carry out technical assessment of the report items and more complex report form items, and include the assessment fee in the financial budget. Encourage various forms of environmental impact assessment and pollutant discharge permit skills competitions, and continuously improve the ability and level of grassroots management.

　　Improve the ability and level of informatization at the grassroots level. Accelerate the promotion and application of the unified declaration and approval system for environmental impact assessment of national construction projects, coordinate the login system to carry out online approval, and the Unicom system to carry out data sharing, and promote classified policies, so as to basically achieve full coverage of the national environmental impact assessment and approval departments by the end of 2024. Accelerate the application of intelligent review of EIA documents in grassroots EIA approval, and promote the quality and efficiency of approval. Continue to do a good job in data sharing with local governments, provide data support for territorial supervision, strengthen data mining and application, and carry out analysis and judgment on relevant trends and emerging issues.

　　(18) Strengthen organization and implementation. The provincial ecological environment department should attach great importance to it, strengthen the organization and implementation, refine the work requirements in a timely manner, and strengthen the guidance and supervision of the grassroots level to ensure the smooth development of all work. Adapt measures to local conditions, refine the specific scope and requirements of reform pilots, and simultaneously strengthen effect evaluation and supervision during and after the event. Increase assistance to the grassroots, accelerate the promotion and application of the unified declaration and approval system for environmental impact assessment of national construction projects, and do a good job in human, technical and financial guarantees. Promptly summarize and condense relevant experiences, practices, and typical cases, strengthen publicity and promotion, create a good atmosphere, and promptly report on relevant work progress and experience and practices.

　　The relevant reform pilots in these Opinions are valid from the date of issuance to December 31, 2025.

　　Ministry of Ecology and Environment

　　September 19, 2023

　　(This item is open to the public)

　　Cc: Environmental Engineering Assessment Center, Ministry of Ecology and Environment.

　　Ministry of Ecology and Environment办公厅2023年9月20日印发