The Ministry of Environmental Protection recently announced that the revised version of the Ambient Air Quality Standard will be publicly solicited for the second time from November 16, incorporating the disputed PM2.5 and ozone (8-hour concentration) into the conventional air quality evaluation, and tightening the PM10, Nitrogen oxides and other standard limits. This is also the first time to develop PM2.5 standards.

The person in charge of the Science and Technology Standards Department of the Ministry of Environmental Protection stated that according to the current ambient air quality evaluation system, the ambient air quality evaluation results in some regions and cities in my country are not completely consistent with the subjective feelings of the people. Putting PM2.5 into the scope of mandatory pollutant monitoring "not only solves the needs of environmental management such as haze, but also helps to improve the scientific level of environmental air quality evaluation, and helps to eliminate or alleviate the phenomenon that the public's self-perception is not completely consistent with the monitoring and evaluation results."

Air monitoring issues raise concerns

Since the beginning of autumn this year, haze weather has occurred frequently in many cities in northern China, which has triggered a debate on environmental testing standards among the people and environmental monitoring institutions at home and abroad. The World Meteorological Organization stipulates that atmospheric visibility is less than 10 kilometers and relative humidity is less than 90%. In recent years, haze has become the biggest pollution problem faced by many cities in China, and PM2.5 is the key. According to the evaluation standards of the World Health Organization, the number of cities that meet the national air quality standards will drop from the current 80% to 20%.

At the "International Symposium on Regional Air Quality Management" held recently, Zhang Lijun, the deputy minister of the Ministry of Environmental Protection, said frankly that at present, my country's urban atmospheric environmental quality is poor, and there is a certain gap with the World Health Organization's ambient air quality guidance value. The current air quality evaluation factor is relatively low, and the urban air quality is still at a low level.

Analysts pointed out that for the treatment of a pollutant, it is necessary to accurately monitor it, and the monitoring results must have complete evaluation standards.

On November 1, the Ministry of Environmental Protection issued the "Ambient Air PM10 and PM2.5 Determination Weight Method". The new regulation regulates the determination standard of fine particulate matter PM2.5 for the first time, preparing for the inclusion of PM2.5 in the air quality evaluation and assessment system. However, in the recent revision of the Ambient Air Quality Standard, the Ministry of Environmental Protection did not include PM2.5 in the mandatory monitoring indicators.

The Ministry of Environmental Protection encourages early implementation

The new standard is intended to be fully implemented on January 1, 2016. The relevant person in charge of the Ministry of Environmental Protection proposed that before 2016, there are two ways to implement this standard in advance: one is to designate some areas to implement this standard in advance according to the requirements of the State Council; the other is that the provincial governments voluntarily implement this standard in advance according to the actual situation and regional environmental protection needs.

The person in charge also said that due to the complexity of the implementation work and many factors involved, necessary preparation time should be allowed from release to implementation. In addition, the level of regional economic development in my country is uneven, and the preparations for the implementation of the new standards will be fast or slow. Some regions have a good economic and technological foundation for the implementation of the standards, and areas with more prominent composite air pollution problems can take the lead in implementing this standard. "Of course, we encourage all localities to take the initiative to implement the new standards in advance."

Professor Shao Min, deputy dean of the School of Environmental Science and Engineering of Peking University, said that due to the different levels of monitoring in different regions, the national authorities will not compulsorily require localities to monitor PM2.5 for the time being, but the Ministry of Environmental Protection has gradually liberalized qualified areas., And conduct pilot projects in some areas. In some mountainous areas of the Pearl River Delta, the state is beginning to monitor PM2.5. "Monitoring PM2.5 is not technically more difficult than PM10."

In order to cooperate with the implementation of the new standard, the Ministry of Environmental Protection is revising the original air quality evaluation system. The new system is called "Ambient Air Quality Index". In order to be in line with international standards, the evaluation factors have been added from the original three indicators to six, and the evaluation factors of ozone, carbon monoxide and PM2.5. The head of the Standards Department of the Ministry of Environmental Protection said that in addition, the index classification and classification will be adjusted to better match the description of the impact of the corresponding level of air conditions on human health.

Related companies take the lead

At present, China has a relatively mature PM2.5 monitoring technology, but there is a large gap in equipment. In this regard, the relevant person in charge of the Ministry of Environmental Protection said that when the new standards are fully implemented in 2016, the Ministry of Environmental Protection will strive to ensure that all localities have the ability to carry out ambient air quality monitoring of new indicators such as PM2.5. Research institutions such as Tianxiang Investment, Ping An Securities, and China Investment Securities pointed out in recent investment analysis that in the upcoming wave of air testing equipment upgrades and purchases, some listed companies are expected to take the lead and benefit in advance.

It is reported that A shares of listed companies involved in environmental monitoring business mainly involved in the first river environmental protection, concentrating technology and so on. Liu Yuanrui, an analyst at Changjiang Securities, pointed out in the research report: "the first environmental protection atmospheric testing equipment in China is the most capable to compete with foreign manufacturers. Therefore, after the relevant plans are issued, governments at all levels will begin to formulate procurement plans. At that time, the company is expected to usher in a new round of growth."