Beijing, Oct. 29 (Xinhua) -- The Decision of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Further Comprehensively Deepening reform and Promoting Chinese-style Modernization proposes to establish a system for coordinated treatment of new pollutants and environmental risk management and control. This puts forward clear requirements for deepening reform in related fields and further promoting coordinated treatment of new pollutants and environmental risk management and control.

New pollutants refers to a class of chemical substances that can be detected in the environment and natural ecosystems and can bring greater risks and hidden dangers to human health and environmental safety even if they enter at low doses. New pollutants of widespread concern outside China mainly include persistent organic pollutants (pops), endocrine disruptors, antibiotics and microplastics controlled by international conventions, which are generally characterized by serious hazards, hidden risks, environmental persistence, wide range of sources and complex governance. In recent years, China has made solid progress in the treatment of new pollutants, actively promoted the construction of relevant regulations and standards, established and improved the mechanism for promoting the work, organized and carried out environmental risk investigation, strengthened the management and control of environmental risks at the source, carried out various forms of publicity and education, and strictly prevented and controlled prominent environmental risks closely related to the health and safety of the people.

The work of controlling new pollutants and preventing and controlling environmental risks is long-term, complex and arduous, and the existing foundation for our work is still weak. The main reason is that the mechanism for controlling new pollutants urgently needs to be strengthened, and relevant systems are not yet sound enough. The environmental risk base has not been fully grasped, and it is urgent to carry out systematic environmental risk assessment; Scientific and technological support needs to be further strengthened, and research and development needs to be strengthened at the national level. The establishment of a legal guarantee system needs to be accelerated to provide a guarantee for effectively managing the environmental risks of new pollutants.

To promote the coordinated treatment of new pollutants and the management and control of environmental risks, we must adhere to the principle of putting the people first, problem-oriented, reform and innovation, joint governance and shared benefits, and strive to realize the "five transformations" : From quantity and quality management to environmental risk management, from end-stage management to whole-life cycle management, from extensive decision-making management to refined priority management, from single governance to collaborative governance, and from pollution prevention to the building of a community of life. To implement the decisions and arrangements made by the CPC Central Committee, we need to focus on the following tasks.

First, we will improve the management system for treating new pollutants. Relying on the strength of existing institutions, we will establish "1+7" technology centers for the treatment of new pollutants at the national and regional river basin levels, coordinate the environmental investigation, hazard identification and risk assessment of new pollutants, and formulate and organize the implementation of environmental risk control policies for the whole life cycle of new pollutants. It has implemented environmental management registration for new chemical substances and new pollutants under priority control, so as to ensure that they should be managed and approved, and actively undertakes the work of implementing relevant international conventions. We will strengthen the local management system under which provinces assume overall responsibility and cities and counties implement the system.

Second, we will promote the rule of law in the treatment of new pollutants. We have promulgated regulations on the environmental risk management of toxic and harmful chemicals, established an environmental risk management system for new pollutants that prohibit, restrict and limit their discharge throughout their life cycle, improved the environmental risk assessment system for new pollutants, the risk management system and the environmental management registration system for new chemical substances, clarified the legal responsibilities of various legal entities, and strengthened policy convergence in various fields and links. We will intensify law enforcement inspections and promote the implementation of relevant laws and regulations on new pollutants.

Third, we will improve support for the treatment of new pollutants. We will accelerate the implementation of science and technology projects for the treatment of new pollutants, and focus on solving the "bottleneck" scientific and technological problems in the environmental risk assessment and control of new pollutants. We will improve the technology system for assessing and controlling environmental risks of new pollutants. China has implemented a project to integrate ecotoxicology and health toxicology data for new pollutants, carried out a special campaign to survey environmental information about new pollutants and build capacity for environmental monitoring, built a national environmental risk assessment and management information system for new pollutants, and built a national big data platform for computing toxicology and exposure prediction for new pollutants.

Fourth, we will work together to implement key tasks for controlling new pollutants. We will continue to take action to tackle new pollutants and work hard to solve difficult problems. Tens of thousands of chemical substances produced and used in China have been systematically investigated and monitored, identified for ecotoxicity and health toxicity, and screened and assessed for environmental risks. We will accurately anchor new pollutants that should be under key control, carry out economic and social impact assessments of control measures, and scientifically formulate environmental risk control measures for the whole life cycle.

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