Inner Mongolia sets new standards on pollution discharge

(chinadaily.com.cn)

Updated: 2015-09-10

Polluters in Inner Mongolia autonomous region may face doubled fees in the future, after the province's development and reform commission, departments of finance and environmental protection jointly adjusted the pollution discharge fees .

According to?the new policy, the fee for discharging nitrogen oxide was increased from 0.906 yuan ($0.1423) per pollutant equivalent value or 0.9563 yuan per kilogram to 1.26 yuan per kilogram. Fees for waste water pollutants, including chemical oxygen demand (COD), ammonia nitrogen and five major heavy metal pollutants (lead, mercury, chromium, cadmium and metal arsenic) were doubled from 0.7 yuan to 1.4 per pollutant equivalent.

The adjusted policy requires that each outfall of waste water must be charged for the five major heavy metal pollutants. Meanwhile, the region has mapped out the discharge fee standard for industrial dust, which is to be charged 2.4 yuan per kilogram emitted.

Moreover, a differentiated fee standard was set up for pollution emission. Fees are doubled if pollution concentration or total volume exceed limit prescribed by national or regional environmental authorities. If an enterprise’s emission exceeds both the limits on concentration and volume, it has to pay a triple fee.

On the other hand, companies that discharge less than 50 percent of the standards will enjoy a 50 percent cut in discharge fees.

The new policy also included regulations on equipment, techniques and products, and has corresponding measures for those lagging behind.