Question 1: What are the background and basis for the Three-year Action Plan of the Beijing Municipal Government for Protecting the Blue Sky?
Answer: Three-year Action Plan for Protecting Beijing's Blue Skies has been formulated according to decisions of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council to identify the overarching objectives, key tasks and measures for the fight on air pollution for the three years from 2018 to 2020.
At the national level, the 19th National Congress of the CPC identified pollution control as one of the three tough battles to fight and win in order to build a relatively well-off society in an all-round way. Recently, the CPC Central Committee and the State Council issued the Guidelines on Enhancing the Protection of Environment in an All-round Way and Fighting the Tough Battle of Pollution Prevention and Control and the Three- year Action Plan to Protect the Blue Sky. For this purpose, air pollution prevention and control activities will take place on a regular basis, with focus on Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei and surrounding areas, the Yangtze River Delta and the Fenhe and Weihe Plains.
At the municipal level, through comprehensive treatment in recent years, air quality has been improved continuously. In 2017, the annual average concentration of fine particulate matters (PM2.5) decreased by 35.6% compared with 2013 and the number of days of heavy pollution dropped by 60%, which made people a lot happier with the quality of air. However, there are still gaps compared with the requirements of the central government, the nation- al standards and the expectations of local residents. The annual average concentration of PM2.5 is 0.66 times higher than the accepted standard, remaining the most prominent problem at present. According to the latest analysis of PM2.5 sources, while the total amount of pollutants is declining, pollution caused by dust and mobile sources is increasing. While pollution from coal combustion and industrial sources is de- creasing, residential non-point source emissions have become more prominent.
To sum up, with intensified emission reduction through large-scale treatment projects in the past five years, the sources and characteristics of air pollution in Beijing indicate a change from industrial to urban and residential sources. In this new stage, the battle of air pollution control must be fought through meticulous management and broad participation. It will be a long, complex and difficult process to fundamentally improve air quality. Therefore, we must have both the determination to win the battle and the patience to engage in a protracted war. We shall seize each and every day and reduce pollution one microgram after another in a sustained and lasting manner.
Question 2: What are the characteristics of the Three-year Action Plan?
Answer: The Three-year Action Plan of the Beijing municipal government is a follow-up to the Five- year Clean Air Action Plan (2013-2017), providing the continuity needed in our efforts to fight air pollution. Based on the successful experience and best practices during the implementation of the previous plan and in view of the current pollution profile, targets have been set for significant progress in four areas, i.e. lowering the concentration of PM2.5; reducing the number of days of heavy pollution; improving ambient air quality; and enhancing people’s satisfaction with air quality. Beijing intends to achieve, by 2020, an ambient air quality much better than the target set in the 13th Five-year Plan. To achieve the set objectives, we will update laws and regulations, take targeted actions and encourage broad participation. We will make coordinated efforts to reduce emissions in five areas: transport, industrial production, energy, land use and urban services. We will in particular target heavy-duty diesel trucks, dust, and volatile organic compounds (VOCs).
The Three-year Action Plan has the following features. First, it targets specific issues. Bearing in mind the goal for air quality improvement and the findings of the new round of PM2.5 source analysis, the plan focuses on heavy-duty diesel trucks, dust, VOCs and non-point pollution sources. Second, it stresses broad participation. Both the CPC committees and governments at all levels must take up the responsibility for pollution control, with measures to improve such mechanisms as air quality and pollution ranking, notification, assessment and advising so that people involved will have a stronger sense of responsibility and pressure. Education and advocacy will be enhanced to encourage the participation of the whole society. Third, it stresses the need to treat both symptoms and root causes of pollution, the latter in particular. Problems must be tackled at the source through further structural transformation and upgrading and controlled through a total process management involving tighter criteria for market entry, strict controls and effective treatment. Fourth, the plan highlights the need for meticulous management. As the means of emission reduction change from treatment projects to stronger regulation, greater attention is paid to regulations, standards, economic tools and technology in a combination of measures for pollution control. Emphasis is also put on innovation of systems and institutions, closed-loop management, as well as government leadership, enterprise ownership and public oversight. Fifth, the plan highlights the need for scientific and technological innovation as a means to sustain the fight on air pollution. Scientific researches should be conducted and new technologies applied in a way that will provide support to the monitoring and regulatory systems and help build up regulatory capacity, thus contributing to better and more effective pollution control.
Question 3: The Three-year Action Plan prioritizes heavy-duty diesel trucks, dust and VOCs. What new measures will be taken to ad- dress mobile sources of pollution?
Answer: According to the latest PM2.5 source analysis results, mobile sources represent the largest contributor of PM2.5, accounting for 45% of local emissions. Diesel trucks only account for about 4% of the total number of motor vehicles but 69% and 90% of the nitrogen oxides and exhaust particulate matters emitted by all motor vehicles. For this reason, the Three-year Action Plan focuses on mobile sources and identifies measures in the following four areas.
The first is to improve and optimize the transportation structure. A special implementation plan for this purpose will be developed to reduce the pressure on roads and increase railway transportation of goods for logistics and industrial parks as well as of building materials, automobiles and petrochemical products. By 2020, 10% of the transportation in Beijing should be delivered by rail.
The second is to vigorously promote electrification. New energy vehicles will be the first choice when new vehicles are added to fleets for public transit, public sanitation, post, taxi, commuting service, light logistics and distribution, as well as fleets operating at airports and railway freight yards. By 2020, the following fleets will operate on electric vehicles only: post and courier services within the city; light trucks for environmental sanitation (below 4.5 tons), light logistics and distribution vehicles with truck permits (below 4.5 tons), and buses operating in the central districts and the sub-center of Beijing. By then, there will be around 400,000 new energy vehicles in the city.
The third is to tighten regulation and inspection to speed up the phase-out of high-emission vehicles. A policy will soon be announced to expand the low-emission zone from within the Sixth Ring Road to the entire administrative area of Beijing. There will be intensified efforts to investigate into and punish violations of restrictions on vehicle use. Municipal government departments, public institutions and state-owned enterprises will basically eliminate diesel trucks on GB3 by the end of 2019.
And the fourth is to strengthen management and control of non-road mobile machinery. By the end of 2019, we will have formulated policies for the management of non-road mobile machinery regarding their registration filing and environmental labelling, in order to promote the elimination of old and worn-out non-road mobile machinery, and encourage the use of electric or other non-road mobile machines that meet the GBIV[1] emission standards. In 2020, the low-emission zones for non-road mobile machinery will be further expanded to key areas in the outer sub-urban districts. [1] a Chinese national standard for vehicle emissions.
Question 4: The Three-year Action Plan identifies dust control as the second battle to fight for the protection of the blue sky. What measures will be taken in dust pollution control in the next stage?
Answer: Remote sensing data revealed that there were 224.5 square kilometers of bare land in Beijing in spring 2017, accounting for 1.4% of its total area. The total area of construction has been high for many years, with about 200 million square meters un- der construction every year in the last few years. The latest source analysis results show that dusts account for 16% in the total amount of PM2.5 from local sources, the second largest source of pollution. Dust is thus a prominent problem which requires meticulous controls.
The first is to put in place a sound oversight mechanism for dust control, which combines central control with decentralized measures, sectoral supervision with localized responsibility and hierarchical management. The Municipal Environmental Protection Bureau leads the development of mechanisms for information sharing, supervision and inspection, and penalty, and conducts monitoring, evaluation and performance assessment. The Municipal Commission of Housing and Rural-Urban Development leads the development of dust control protocols for various construction sites. The departments of housing and rural-urban development, urban management, transport, water, landscape and park services will exercise oversight of construction sites in their respective sectors. The municipal bureau of city administration and administrative law enforcement enforces the relevant laws and regulations through on-site inspections. Each district is responsible for dust control in its own administrative area, making sure that the coverage of dust control measures is complete and without omissions.
The second is to strengthen dust control with the employment of human, material and technological resources. Control protocols and construction dust emission standards are formulated. For major construction sites, video surveillance and on-line particulate matter monitoring are conducted simultaneously. With regard to road dusts, strict standards are followed for road cleaning and owners and users of muck transport trucks that do not meet the standards or drop things behind will be punished. With regard to dust on bare ground, satellite remote sensing and other technical means are used for dynamic dust monitoring on a monthly basis, with follow-up advice on its rectification. For dust falls affecting larger areas, a coarse particulate matters monitoring network extends to all townships and residential districts. It operates in real-time and the results are evaluated and circulated on a monthly basis.
Through the above measures, the volume of dust is expected to decrease by about 30% in 2020 as com- pared with 2017.
Question 5: What measures will be taken next in industrial pollution control as Beijing now works to renew the city by relocating non-essential functions and taking measures to upgrade its industries?
Answer: From 2013 to 2017, Beijing's industrial structure had been continuously optimized and upgraded, in line with its position as the nation's capital. 1992 manufacturing and polluting enterprises in printing, foundry and furniture were either restructured or closed down, and 11,000 businesses that were polluting or operating without proper licenses were investigated or closed down. According to the latest PM2.5 source analysis results, the proportion of industrial sources in total local emissions has decreased from 18% to 12%, an indication of effective pollution control and emission reduction. In the next stage, there will be well organized efforts to control VOCs, bearing in mind Beijing's strategic positioning as the national capital, and its plan to continue shifting its non-capital functions out of the city and develop an economic structure centering on high-end, precision and advanced industries.
First, greater efforts will be made to promote green industrial development by strictly implementing the Catalogue for the Prohibition and Restriction of New Businesses, with tightened entry criteria for industrial projects with large VOC emissions, and further efforts to improve resources recycling and quality and efficiency in the Zhongguancun National Innovation Demonstration Zone and its 16 hi-tech parks.
Second, general manufacturing and polluting enterprises will be restructured and closed down. By relocating, eliminating, consolidating and upgrading these factories, we hope to create room in those towns and villages for businesses and industries with better quality and efficiency. By the end of 2020, we will close down another 1000 general manufacturing and polluting enterprises that are inconsistent with the strategic positioning of the capital city. These are largely businesses that have large pollutant discharge, high energy consumption, or backward industrial processes.
Third, in-depth treatment of industrial pollutions will be advanced across different sectors. There will be special inspections for VOCs in key industries such as petrochemical, automobile, packaging and printing, furniture, machinery and electronics with a view to promoting technological transformation and clean production for environmental protection and further reducing the emission of VOCs. VOCs emissions from key enterprises in the petrochemical industry will be cut by 10% year by year.
Fourth, mechanisms and means will be improved to manage all industrial sources in order to meet emission standards. A 'single permit' regime for pollutant discharge will be introduced for a total process management of pollutant discharging units. In 2020, the regime will cover all the industries under the national catalogue of pollutant discharge management.
Question 6: The Three-year Action Plan proposes to reduce coal consumption. What measures will be taken to adjust the energy mix?
Answer: As Beijing adheres to a clean energy strategy through its implementation of the Clean Air Action Plan for 2013-2017, it has built four gas-fired thermal power plants to replace coal-fired ones, retrofitted coal-fired boilers for clean energy, and regulated bulk coal burning in rural areas. Efforts were made to reduce coal consumption for industrial production, heating and residential use, targeting first large users in urban areas and then smaller ones in rural areas, in order to build up a clean energy system that relies mainly on electricity and natural gas, being supplemented with geothermal and solar energy. Over the past five years, coal-fired boilers with a total capacity of 39,000 T/h have been either upgraded with clean energy or dismantled. Coal-fired boilers of 10 T/h with- in the city or those of 35 T/h or less in built-up areas have been basically eliminated. As a result, there is basically no industrial coal combustion. Over 1,800 villages in the plain areas have had their coal-fired boilers retrofitted to use clean energy. With these measures, coal consumption dropped to below 5 million tons in 2017. According to the latest PM2.5 source analysis results, the share of coal burning in the total amount of PM2.5 from local sources has dropped to 3%. In 2017, the annual average SO2 concentration dropped for the first time to a single digit, at a level comparable to that in big cities with no heating services in south China, which was another proof of the effectiveness of coal reduction measures.
In the next stage, Beijing will build on these achievements with sustained effort to reduce coal burning in plain areas and strive to be the first city in northern China to solve the problem of pollution from coal burning.
First, we will accelerate the upgrading of power grids in rural areas to facilitate the use of electricity instead of coal for heating. In 2018, 450 villages in the plain areas shifted from coal to a cleaner energy. Energy-saving renovation of rural residential buildings were carried out in parallel as part of the effort to remove coal from energy consumption in the plain areas. Efforts will be made to use a clean energy to replace coal in mountain villages in an orderly manner.
Second, with uninterrupted heating guaranteed for residents in the winter, Yanqing and other districts will complete the clean energy transformation of coal- fired boilers used for central heating supply.
With these measures, the proportion of quality energy will increase to 95% by 2020.
Question 7: Compared with the Clean Air Action Plan 2013-2017, this Three-year Action Plan includes some reduction targets in domestic and agricultural pollution sources. What are the specific targets?
Answer: According to the latest PM2.5 source analysis results, domestic pollution accounts for about 12% of the PM2.5 from sources, the same as industrial pollution. For this reason, on top of what was already in the clean air action plan, this plan includes also measures targeting domestic pollution sources. In addition, relevant requirements are set for the control of pollution from agricultural source.
Specifically, it includes the following targets.
The first is to promote the use of low-VOC building paints and consumer products, such as adhesives used in the construction and maintenance of buildings, roads and bridges, and in urban environmental protection projects, railway maintenance and other activities in the city.
The second is to regulate the use of VOCs in automobile repair. Garages will be classified and man- aged with specific requirements for upgrading and quality improvement. Incentives will be introduced for the creation of centralized sheet spray centers outside the Sixth Ring Road. By the end of 2020, all categories 1, 2 and 3 garages will all have completed standard treatment and renovation for the control of spray paint pollution. Shops in the central area of the capital and key areas of the sub-center will have closed their sheet metal and spray paint processes.
The third is to reduce cooking smoke. Catering businesses without proper license or certificate will be closed down. Assistance will be provided to legitimate operations to help them with process upgrading, and catering operators with major issues will be given notice for rectification. Policies will be made to incentivize the use of highly efficient lampblack purification equipment and third-party oversight of pollution control will be explored as an approach to helping catering businesses meet emission standards.
The fourth is to control ammonia emissions from agricultural sources. There will be reduced use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides. Small farmers of commercial livestock and poultry are encouraged to cease their operations on a voluntary and orderly basis in areas where grazing is restricted or banned. There will be emphasis on the use of straw for multiple purposes, with a strict control on the burning of crop straws, withered grass leaves or garbage.
Compared with other sources, residential and agricultural pollution comes from a wide range of sources, in large quantities. As such, it is difficult to manage and there is limited potential for emission reduction. Various measures must be taken, therefore, including policies and standards. We are exploring and using new technologies, surveillance methods and policy measures, and we hope to hear input from the public and see more people involved in the efforts to control air pollution.
Question 8: In terms of regional cooperation for emission reduction, the focus is on stronger emergency response to heavy air pollution. What are the new measures and requirements for the next three years?
Answer: PM2.5 pollution is apparently a regional issue as it exists in the air for a long time and is trans- ported over long distances covering wide areas. No city on its own can be safe from the pollution, which therefore calls for stronger joint efforts for protection and control. With a good understanding of the patterns of atmospheric pollution transmission, Beijing is working with the surrounding provinces under the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Coordinated Development Plan on actions to reduce emissions. We have completed important projects such as removing obsolete production capacity, adopting clean energy, regulating bulk coal burning and phasing out unserviceable vehicles. As a result, air quality in the region has been significantly improved.
According to the latest PM2.5 source analysis results, regional transmission on average accounts for about one third of the total pollution. In terms of heavily polluted days, its contribution could be as high as 55%—75%. In this connection, there will be stronger efforts across the region for coordinated actions on emission reduction, to improve air quality in the region.
First, regional collaboration will be further deepened. We will have in place a more effective early warning system for regional pollution transmission. There will be unified planning and standards across the region with information sharing, joint protection and control, and law enforcement activities, including in particular joint effort to check vehicles for overloading and excessive emissions.
Second, fall and winter campaigns for pollution control will continue, with focus on reducing heavy air pollution. We will increase efforts for pollution control in sectors and areas and specific time periods during the day that may be activity intensive. Proper planning will be done to make sure production and transportation activities in pollution prone industries take place during off peak times.
Third, we will coordinate efforts to cope with heavy air pollution. Efforts will be made to improve our emergency response plans, develop a “3+1” emergency response system (cities, districts, towns/sub-districts plus businesses) that is adaptive to changes in meteorological conditions and environmental capacity, and refine and implement emergency emission reduction measures so as to bring down pollution peaks and slowing down its spread.
Question 9: It is often said that the prevention and control of air pollution cannot be successful without extensive participation by all citizens. What new initiatives are introduced in the Three-year Action Plan in terms of universal participation?
Answer: Air pollution comes from production and life, and therefore must be tackled through joint efforts involving the citizens, the government, and industries with each doing their respective parts in the process. Objectives of the Clean Air Action Plan for 2013–2017 were successfully accomplished mainly because of the collaborated efforts by all, with government leadership, industry actions and public participation. People are rallied behind a broad consensus on air pollution prevention, with higher environmental awareness and effective channels for engagement.
As the next step, we will fully implement the guidelines set by the CPC Beijing Municipal Committee and the People's Government of Beijing on strengthening environment protection and pollution prevention and control. At the government level, both the CPC and the government should take up the responsibility for pollution prevention and control. As the first persons responsible in their respective districts, the principal district leaders should provide proper organization and leadership, conduct investigation and research, and make the necessary decisions and plans. A working mechanism will be created with overall planning at the municipal level, implementation by districts, oversight by townships/sub-districts, and inspection by villages/communities, through which irregularities are detected and reported in a timely manner.
Businesses, on their part, should be aware of the importance of green development, with positive actions to meet emission standards. They must carry out upgrading and renovation for pollution free production and willingly accept public oversight, thus becoming resource-saving and environment-friendly corporate citizens. They should be proactive in adopting advanced production processes and pollution control technologies and meeting advanced international emission standards as leaders of green production.
The public should be encouraged to develop environment awareness and actively participate in air pollution prevention and control. Both traditional and new media should be used, in a positive and comprehensive manner, for timely and accurate reporting on air quality, progress in the fall and winter pollution control campaigns, investigations of environmental violations and the penalties thereof. We will ensure people's right to know by promptly responding to issues and problems of public concern. We will maintain un- interrupted operation of the complaint and reporting hotlines, such as 12345, 12369 and 96310, and employ new media outlets that would allow public oversight through multiple channels, in an effective pollution control structure with broad public participation.
Question 10: Beijing has taken the lead to create environment ombudsmanship at the municipal level. How will the system help Beijing in air pollution prevention and control?
Answer: The environment ombudsmanship already covered all 16 districts of Beijing in 2017. It plays a very important role in the implementation of environmental accountability.
To help Beijing prevent and control air pollution, the municipal environment ombudsmanship will focus on specific problem as it carries out oversight and inspection activities over all districts, municipal departments and municipal state-owned enterprises. It will be supported by a system with proper resources, institutional structure, methods and concepts, and a list of priorities. It consists of different mechanisms for oversight, task assignment, inspection tours, admonishment meetings and special oversight in a way that the pressure is felt across the board and accountability is defined at all levels for effective environmental protection. The environment ombudsmanship will mainly focus on the objectives and tasks as proposed in the action plan to protect the blue sky. It exercises oversight in a few areas: first, on accountability, to review the performance of duty; second, on implementation, to check if measures are all implemented; third, on issues, to conduct random or targeted inspections to see if major issues have been addressed properly; fourth, on rectification, to learn if the ombudsman's advices from both the central and municipal governments have been promptly and effectively implemented, and if lessons are learned and efforts have been made to tackle both the symptoms and root causes; and fifth, on the effect of control, to find out if air quality has truly been improved.
翻译：北京第二外国语学院 张颖 鲍川运
