A Progress Report on China’s Air Pollution Action Plan Findings show that 85% of industry in Jiangsu and Hebei provinces has exceeded government emissions standards in 2014
Summary Greenpeace East Asia (hereafter “Greenpeace”) recently tracked and assessed 351 key state-monitored enterprises in the two provinces of Jiangsu and Hebei on their air pollution emissions standards in 2014. Greenpeace chose these two provinces for this study because they are both key provinces in two pollution focus areas – Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei and the Yangtze River Delta. On the other hand, industry accounts for 85% of all kinds of emissions from Jiangsu's; while 82% of Hebei's emissions come from industry (data from the 2014 China Statistical Yearbook on Environment). The results show that: •
85% of industry in Jiangsu and Hebei provinces has exceeded government emissions standards in 2014
•
Only six companies met their emissions standards in 2014;
•
A third of those companies were still “seriously exceeding” their air pollution emissions standards in 2014.
Jiangsu and Hebei’s progress on controlling industrial air pollution will have a major impact on whether those two key regions can meet their 2017 fine particulate matter emissions reduction targets as set out in the Air Pollution Action Plan ((Action Plan on Prevention and Control of Air Pollution): that is 25% for Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei and 20% for the Yangtze River Delta from 2013 levels. In light of this situation, Greenpeace believes that if the current excessive emissions are not improved soon, then Jiangsu will find it very difficult to meet its 20% emissions reduction target by 2017, and Hebei will also struggle to shake off its reputation as being a heavily polluted province.
Methodology & Data Sources Greenpeace collected data from the key state-monitored industries emission monitoring data platforms for companies in Jiangsu and Hebei. We took hourly figures from 2014 on total emissions from coal power, iron and steel and cement companies and classified them according to the following definitions: •
To exceed emissions standards: In our study a company is considered to have
"exceeded emissions standards" if its average hourly emissions concentration in 2014 of a particular air pollutant as calculated from the data provided by the key industries’ emission monitoring data platform is greater than the emissions standard. •
To seriously exceed emissions standards: a company is said to have "seriously exceeded its emissions standards" if the total number of hours that a particular air pollutant exceeded emissions standards in 2014 was more than 5% of that particular air pollutants’ effective number of hours as calculated from the data provided by the key industries’ emissions monitoring data platform.
•
Effective number of hours: We define this as being the total number of hours a particular air pollutant was emitted for a particular company according to data Greenpeace was able to extract from the key state-monitored industry emissions data platform in 2014.
•
Emissions standard exceeded hours: A factory’s average hourly air pollutant emissions exceeds its industrial emission standard number of hours.
Case Study 1 - Jiangsu: Just four companies meet emissions standards: “Air pollution is out of control” After consolidating our data, Greenpeace calculated that out of the 168 key companies monitored by the government from the coal power, iron and steel, and cement sectors: •
Only four met their emissions standards in 2014
•
69 companies, that’s one third of those key state-monitored enterprises, were still seriously exceeding air pollution emissions standards in 2014;
•
The majority of companies in Jiangsu that seriously exceeded emissions standards were from the coal power sector. In 2014, there were 54 companies – or 46.7% of all coal power companies tracked – that were seriously over-polluting.
•
The main pollutants discharged from these over-polluting coal companies were nitrous oxides. 23.4% of total operational hours didn’t reach the emission standard on nitrous oxides.
Table 1: Key state-monitored coal power, iron & steel, and cement companies’ record on meeting emissions standards in Jiangsu, 2014
No. of
No. that met
No. that
No. that
Data
companies
emissions
failed
seriously
unavailable
standards
emissions
exceeded
standards
emissions
standards
Coal power
137
3
131
64
3
Iron & Steel
20
1
17
2
2
Cement
11
0
10
3
1
Total
168
4
158
69
6
Case Study 2 - Hebei: Just two companies met emissions standard, more than 20% did not disclose their emissions data Hebei, a province of “steel cities”, has been sharply criticized in the past for the frequency of its heavy haze days. After consolidating our data, Greenpeace calculated there were 183 key state-monitored companies in the coal power, iron and steel and cement industries in Hebei in 2014. Greenpeace statistics show that: •
Only two of those met their emissions standards in Hebei;
•
As many as 56 companies seriously exceeded their emissions standards, that’s 30% of the total. Additionally, another 42 companies did not disclose their emissions data;
•
The key industries exceeding emissions standards are in the iron and steel and the coal power sectors;
•
In 2014, 36.4% of the coal power companies and 28.7% of the iron and steel companies in Hebei seriously exceeded their emissions standards.
Table 2: Key government monitored coal power, iron and steel, and cement companies’ record on meeting emissions standards in Hebei, 2014
No. of
No. that
No. that
No. that seriously
Data
companies
met
failed
exceeded
unavailable
emissions
emissions
emissions
standards
standards
standards
Coal power
77
1
62
28
14
Iron & Steel
87
1
60
25
26
Cement
19
0
17
3
2
Total
183
2
139
56
42
Industrial over-pollution is widespread; environmental bureau monitoring is inadequate The severity and pervasiveness of industry exceeding emissions standards reflects the low costs of flouting environmental laws. Faced with the choice between economic benefits and protecting the environment, most companies chose to exceed emissions standards. Furthermore, some companies are failing to comply with legally mandated monitoring information, which reflects that industry is indifferent towards environmental protection laws. Greenpeace believes that since industry is the main source of air pollution, industry has an obligation to meet legally mandated emissions standards and to make public data on their emissions. At the beginning of March 2015, Greenpeace compiled a report on the most serious offenders in Hebei and Jiangsu. The vast majority of monitoring on these companies by local environmental protection bureaus was inadequate. Firstly, local environmental bureaus were protective of their industry. When responding to Greenpeace, they used the terms “legal emissions” and “reasonable emissions”. Secondly, We also discovered that local environmental bureaus are not able to ensure the accuracy of the emissions data that is published. Finally，environmental bureau also tend to “pass the buck” when it comes to publicly demonstrating supervision of over-polluting industries.
Policy Recommendations: Industry is the main source of air pollution in China. Therefore, supervision and good governance of industry is key to improving air quality. In relation to the problems with environmental bureaus and industry routinely exceeding emissions standards, Greenpeace believes: •
Online monitoring data should be used as evidence in environmental law enforcement; this can mobilize the public to really participate in environmental monitoring and environmental protection work, as well as reducing law enforcement challenges faced by environmental protection bureaus.
•
There is still room for improvement both in terms of policy and law enforcement by environmental protection bureaus.
•
Finally, highly-polluting provinces, such as Jiangsu and Hebei, should focus on making industry meet emissions standards and they should also strictly control any plans for new coal, iron and steel and cement projects in their jurisdiction.
Disclaimer: All emission data in this analysis report was collected from local environmental protection bureaus platforms. Greenpeace shall not be held liable for any inaccuracy or negligence derived therefrom.
Appendix 1 IMAGES：
Billowing smoke can be seen coming from the furnaces of Hebei’s Wu’an Jinan Iron and Steel Groups, Wenfeng Iron and Steel plant. According to online monitoring platform records, Wenfeng Iron and Steel plant excessive hours totaled 3472. Photo was taken on October 31, 2014.
Hebei’s Qian’an City’s Jiujiang Wire LLC discharges a large volume of dust, Sulphur dioxide and other pollutants daily, turning the sky into a two-tone pallet of blue and grey and causing a thick haze. According to online monitoring platform records, this factory exceeded emissions standards by 1323 hours in 2014. Photo taken on October 17 2014.