Attention! Ministry of Environmental Protection experts: dangerous waste eight red lines!

The newly revised Law on the Prevention and Control of Environmental Pollution by Solid Waste (hereinafter referred to as the New Solid Waste Law) involves six types of enterprises, mainly including enterprises that produce hazardous waste, enterprises that manage hazardous waste (including centralized disposal of medical waste), enterprises that produce industrial solid waste, domestic waste and sewage treatment enterprises, electronic product manufacturers and e-commerce, express delivery and take-out enterprises.

Among them, the enterprises that produce hazardous waste are involved in the most responsibilities in the new solid waste Law, and Chapter 6 provides for "hazardous waste", from articles 74 to 91, a total of 18 articles, which is the chapter with the most clauses except Chapter 2 "supervision and Management" (a total of 19 articles) and Chapter 8 "Legal responsibility" (a total of 23 articles). Enterprises that produce hazardous waste are the top priority of solid waste supervision by ecological and environmental authorities.

For the new solid waste law and air, water, soil and other ecological environmental protection laws and regulations, the common responsibility requirements for these enterprises, such as environmental impact assessment, application for emission permits, environmental protection completion acceptance, clean production audit, etc., will not be repeated. This article will focus on the red line issues that the new solid waste law needs to pay attention to for enterprises that produce hazardous waste, involving the following eight aspects.

Article 78 of the new Solid Waste Law stipulates that units producing hazardous waste shall first formulate hazardous waste management plans in accordance with the relevant provisions of the State; Secondly, the hazardous waste management plan should be reported to the ecological environment department where the hazardous waste is produced. The contents of the hazardous waste management plan shall include measures to reduce the amount of hazardous waste generated and the harmfulness of hazardous waste as well as measures for the storage, utilization and disposal of hazardous waste.

If there is no hazardous waste management plan or declaration of hazardous waste related information, it is necessary to punish the unit that produces hazardous waste in accordance with Article 112 of the new Solid Waste Law, that is, the competent department of ecological environment shall order correction, impose a fine of 100,000 to 1 million yuan, and confiscate the illegal income; If the circumstances are serious, it shall be reported to and approved by the people's government with the power of approval and may be ordered to suspend business or close down.

Article 78 of the new Solid Waste Law stipulates that units producing hazardous waste shall establish a hazardous waste management ledger, truthfully record the relevant information, and declare the type, production volume, flow direction, storage, disposal and other relevant information of hazardous waste to the local ecological environment authorities through the national hazardous waste information management system.

If the hazardous waste management ledger is not established and truthfully recorded, the unit that produces hazardous waste shall be punished in accordance with Article 112 (2) of the new Solid Waste Law, that is, the competent department of ecological environment shall order correction, impose a fine of 100,000 to 1 million yuan, and confiscate the illegal income; If the circumstances are serious, it shall be reported to and approved by the people's government with the power of approval and may be ordered to suspend business or close down.

Article 80 of the new Solid Waste Law stipulates that units producing hazardous waste are prohibited from providing or entrusting hazardous waste to units without licenses or other producers and operators for collection, storage, utilization and disposal activities.

If hazardous waste is provided or entrusted to units without licenses or other producers and operators to engage in business activities, it shall be punished in accordance with Article 112 (4) of the new Solid Waste Law, that is, the competent department of ecological environment shall impose a fine of 3 to 5 times the required disposal cost on the unit that produces hazardous waste, and if the required disposal cost is less than 200,000 yuan, it shall be calculated as 200,000 yuan.

If it causes serious environmental pollution and does not constitute a crime, the public security organ shall, in accordance with the provisions of Article 120 of the new Solid Waste Law, detain the legal representative, the principal person in charge, the person in charge directly responsible and other responsible persons for 10 to 15 days; If the circumstances are minor, he shall be detained for 5 to 10 days.

Those who engage in the business activities of collection, storage, utilization and disposal of hazardous waste without hazardous waste licenses and seriously pollute the environment shall be convicted and punished in accordance with the provisions of Article 6 of the Judicial Interpretation of the "two high levels" handling of environmental pollution criminal cases in accordance with Article 338 of the Criminal Law for "polluting the environment crime"; If it also constitutes the crime of "illegal business operation" in Article 225 of the Criminal Law, it shall be convicted and punished in accordance with the provisions of heavier punishment.

Those who knowingly provide or entrust others without hazardous waste licenses to collect, store, utilize or dispose of hazardous waste, seriously polluting the environment, shall be punished as joint crimes in accordance with the provisions of Article 7 of the Judicial Interpretation of environmental pollution criminal cases handled by the "two high levels".

Article 79 of the new Solid Waste Law stipulates that units producing hazardous waste shall store, utilize and dispose of hazardous waste in accordance with the relevant provisions of the State and the requirements of environmental protection standards, and shall not dump or pile up hazardous waste without authorization.

If the hazardous waste is dumped or stacked without authorization, it shall be punished in accordance with Article 112 (3) of the new Solid Waste Law, that is, the competent department of ecological environment shall impose a fine of 3 to 5 times the required disposal cost on the unit producing hazardous waste, and if the required disposal cost is less than 200,000 yuan, it shall be calculated as 200,000 yuan.

If it causes serious environmental pollution and does not constitute a crime, the public security organ shall, in accordance with the provisions of Article 120 of the new Solid Waste Law, detain the legal representative, the principal person in charge, the person in charge directly responsible and other responsible persons for 10 to 15 days; If the circumstances are minor, he shall be detained for 5 to 10 days.

Whoever illegally discharges or dumps hazardous waste amounting to more than three tons (including three tons) shall have committed a crime and shall be convicted and punished in accordance with Article 338 of the Criminal Law for "the crime of polluting the environment" and sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years or criminal detention and shall also, or shall only, be fined; If the consequences are especially serious, he shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of 3 to 7 years and shall also be fined.

It should be noted that according to the judicial interpretation of the "two high" handling of environmental pollution criminal cases, those who discharge, dump, and dispose of hazardous waste through hidden pipes, seepage Wells, seepage pits, crevices, karst caves, perfusion and other ways to escape supervision, or who have been punished twice or more for illegal discharge, dumping, and disposal of hazardous waste within two years and then commit another offense, are identified as "seriously polluting the environment". That is, he shall be convicted in accordance with Article 338 of the Criminal Law for "the crime of polluting the environment" and sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years or criminal detention and shall also, or shall only, be fined; If the consequences are especially serious, he shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of 3 to 7 years and shall also be fined.

Article 82 of the new Solid Waste Law stipulates that the transfer of hazardous waste shall be completed and run in accordance with the relevant provisions of the State. If the hazardous waste is transferred across provinces, it must apply to the provincial ecological environment department where the hazardous waste is removed. After the provincial ecological environment department at the removal place agrees with the provincial ecological environment department at the receiving place in time, it shall approve the transfer of the hazardous waste within the prescribed time limit, and notify the relevant provincial ecological environment department and transportation department of the approval information. No transfer shall be made without approval.

If not in accordance with the relevant provisions of the State, the operation of hazardous waste transfer joint form, or unauthorized transfer of hazardous waste, will be punished in accordance with the new solid waste Law Article 112 (5), that is, by the ecological environment department ordered to correct, fined 100,000 to 1 million yuan, confiscation of illegal income; If the circumstances are serious, it shall be reported to and approved by the people's government with the power of approval and may be ordered to suspend business or close down.

Those who transfer hazardous waste without approval shall, in accordance with Article 120 of the new Solid Waste Law, be detained by the public security organ for 10 to 15 days for the legal representative, the main person in charge, the person in charge directly responsible and other responsible persons; If the circumstances are minor, he shall be detained for 5 to 10 days.

Article 83 of the new Solid Waste Law stipulates that the transportation of hazardous waste must first comply with the provisions of the State on the management of the transportation of dangerous goods, and take measures to prevent environmental pollution. Secondly, it is prohibited to carry hazardous waste on the same transport vehicle as passengers.

The transportation of hazardous waste to comply with the national provisions on the management of the transport of dangerous goods, that is, the "Measures for the Safety Management of Road Transport of Dangerous Goods" (Ministry of Transport Order No. 29, 2019), this method is the Ministry of Transport, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, the Ministry of Emergency Management, the General Administration of Market Supervision and Administration and other six ministries and departments. Jointly promulgated on November 10, 2019 and effective as of January 1, 2020. The hazardous wastes that are clearly exempted from management in the transfer and transportation links in the National List of Hazardous Wastes do not apply this method, and are managed by the ecological environment and other competent departments according to their duties.

If hazardous waste is discarded or left along the way during transportation, it will be punished in accordance with Article 112 (11) of the new Solid Waste Law, that is, the competent department of ecological environment will impose a fine of 3 to 5 times the required disposal cost on the unit that produces hazardous waste, and if the required disposal cost is less than 200,000 yuan, it will be calculated as 200,000 yuan.

If the hazardous waste and passengers are carried on the same transport vehicle, it will be punished in accordance with Article 112 (8) of the new solid Waste Law, that is, the ecological environment department shall order correction, impose a fine of 100,000 to 1 million yuan, and confiscate the illegal income; If the circumstances are serious, it shall be reported to and approved by the people's government with the power of approval and may be ordered to suspend business or close down.

Article 85 of the new Solid Waste Law stipulates that units producing hazardous waste shall formulate preventive measures and emergency plans for accidents, and file with the local ecological environment authorities and other departments responsible for the supervision and management of the prevention and control of environmental pollution by solid waste.

If there is no hazardous waste accident prevention measures and emergency plans, it is necessary to punish in accordance with Article 112 (12) of the new solid Waste Law, that is, the ecological environment department shall order correction, impose a fine of 100,000 to 1 million yuan, and confiscate illegal income; If the circumstances are serious, it shall be reported to and approved by the people's government with the power of approval and may be ordered to suspend business or close down.

Article 5 of the revised Solid Waste Law clarifies the principle of "responsibility for pollution", requiring units and individuals that produce solid waste and hazardous waste to take measures to prevent or reduce the pollution of solid waste and hazardous waste to the environment, and bear responsibility for the environmental pollution caused by the law.

Article 113 of the new Solid Waste Law stipulates that if the hazardous waste produced by the hazardous waste producer fails to dispose of the hazardous waste in accordance with the provisions and refuses to correct after being ordered to correct, the competent ecological environment department shall organize the disposal on behalf of the hazardous waste producer, and the disposal cost shall be borne by the hazardous waste producer; Those who refuse to bear the expenses for disposal shall be fined 1 to 3 times the expenses for disposal.

Article 86 of the new Solid Waste Law requires that units that cause serious environmental pollution by hazardous waste due to accidents or other sudden incidents shall immediately take effective measures to eliminate or reduce the pollution hazards to the environment, promptly notify units and residents that may be affected by pollution hazards, and report to the local ecological environment authorities and relevant departments for investigation and treatment.

At the same time, Article 118 clearly stipulates that, in addition to bearing the liability for compensation, imposing a fine and ordering the adoption of treatment measures within a specified time limit, those who have caused a major or extremely large environmental pollution accident may also be reported to the people's government with the power of approval and ordered to close down.

If a general or major environmental pollution accident is caused, a fine shall be calculated on the basis of 1 to 3 times the direct economic losses caused by the accident; If a major or extremely large environmental pollution accident is caused, a fine shall be calculated on the basis of three to five times the direct economic losses caused by the accident, and the legal representative, the principal responsible person, the person in charge directly responsible and other responsible persons shall be fined not more than 50% of the income obtained from the unit in the previous year.