Structure of emission standards system for stationary sources of air pollution: principle, framework and approach.

Taking into consideration of the overall trend of system reform and social transformation, combined with the basic pattern of multiple standard setting subjects, the coexistence of mandatory and recommended effects determined by the Standardization Act of 2018, based on the theory of environmental regulation, referring to the experience and lessons of the United States and the European Union and combined with the rapid progress of China's emission permit system reform and the established better information mechanism compared to that of the United States and of the European Union, this study constructs the framework of China's fixed source air pollutant emission standards system, which is composed of mandatory national emission standards, recommended national emission standards, group emission standards and enterprise emission standards, so as to meet the needs of emission permit system implementation, air quality management and environmental protection technology progress. In specific, the framework incorporates the following aspects: 1 Mandatory national emission standards are based on the existing state-of-the-art technology as the bottom line emission standards, not directly linked with the ambient air quality. 2 The recommended national emission standards are based on advanced technology, and are more stringent than the mandatory national emission standards. They are regulated by the state, but the local governments select the appropriate emission limits through the permit procedure, which focuses on the improvement of local ambient air quality. 3 Group emission standards and enterprise emission standards are the most stringent, but they have more freedom in the standard-setting procedures and the presentation of emission limits. Market entities should formulate and implement emission standards, so that the supply of emission standards should be greatly increased. These standards should be the main driving force to promote fixed source technology innovation and environmental protection technology progress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]