On July 26, Liu Youbin, spokesman for the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, said that the Ministry of Ecology and Environment plans to list enterprises that have fully achieved ultra-low emissions as Class A. Such enterprises do not need to take emission reduction measures such as limiting production or stopping production when dealing with heavy pollution this winter, so as to set up benchmark enterprises and promote the improvement of industry governance level.

In other words, as long as the steel mills and foundries are listed as Class A, during the period of heavy pollution this winter, the company can produce normally and will no longer be affected by the suspension of production restrictions. This is different from the environmental protection and production restriction policies in previous years. It is the first time that three types of production restriction measures A, B, and C are proposed at the national level to implement "differentiated management" for enterprises with different environmental protection levels.

This means that at the national level, the adjustment and optimization of the environmental protection and production restriction policy in autumn and winter is being strengthened, and the production restriction policy tends to be more scientific and rational, especially with more consideration of fairness, and it is obviously more favorable to those steel enterprises with more investment and remarkable results in ultra-low emission transformation. But at the same time, it should be noted that the implementation of classified production restrictions does not mean the relaxation of environmental protection production restrictions.

In Liu Youbin's view, this will help promote the formation of a level playing field of "good money driving out bad money" and the high-quality development of key industries.

According to the "Air Pollution Prevention and Control Law", local governments at or above the county level shall promptly initiate emergency plans based on the warning level of heavy pollution weather, and may take emergency measures such as ordering relevant enterprises to suspend production or limit production according to emergency needs. In order to guide all localities to deal with heavy pollution weather, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment is currently formulating technical guidelines for emergency emission reduction measures for key industries in heavy pollution weather.

The Ministry of Ecology and Environment plans to divide enterprises into three categories: A, B, and C according to environmental performance levels such as process equipment, governance measures, organized emission limits, unorganized control measures, and transportation methods, and adopt different heavy pollution early warning levels. Intensity, inform the company in advance, guide the company to arrange production reasonably, while protecting the health of the public, minimize the impact on the company's economic activities.

Liu Bingjiang, director of the Atmospheric Department of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, said that we divide companies into A, B, and C levels, and classify companies that achieve ultra-low emissions as A levels, and others as B and C levels. Among them, A- level enterprises have fewer or no restrictions, C- level enterprises have more restrictions, and emission reduction measures at all levels have widened the gap.

"We should let enterprises that invest more in environmental protection taste the sweetness, not suffer losses, help the superior and eliminate the inferior, reward the superior and punish the inferior, and form a level playing field in which good money drives out bad money." Liu Bingjiang said, "Supervision should not make enterprises with excellent environmental performance 'worry', but make these enterprises more excellent. We must set up environmental protection benchmark enterprises. Whether we can achieve ultra-low emissions is the key to the normal production and operation of steel enterprises."

The head of the environmental protection department of a large state-owned iron and steel enterprise also expressed the same expectation to the reporter of the economic observation network. He said frankly, "the state has proposed classified production restriction measures, which are fairer and more beneficial to our enterprises. Because we have invested 4 billion yuan in the ultra-low emission transformation alone since the beginning of this year, if the government does not have differentiated management in the future, it will still impose restrictions on enterprises to suspend production as in previous years, or even adopt a'one size fits all' approach, or as a state-owned enterprise, let us Take on more responsibility for limiting production, which will have a great impact on our profits."

He said that the implementation of classified and differentiated management of enterprises with different levels of environmental protection is an improvement in the national environmental protection policy. However, in the process of implementation and implementation, local governments still face many tests, and they must do so to avoid the emergence of environmental protection "one size fits all" problems.

In April this year, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, the Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Finance, and the Ministry of Transport jointly issued the Opinions on Promoting the Implementation of Ultra-low Emissions in the Iron and Steel Industry (hereinafter referred to as the Opinions) to guide Iron and steel companies carry out ultra-low emission transformation. This is a major measure to promote the high-quality development of steel enterprises.

The Opinions propose that by the end of 2020, significant progress will be made in the ultra-low emission transformation of steel enterprises in key regions, and efforts will be made to complete the transformation of about 60% of production capacity, and the ultra-low emission transformation of steel enterprises in other regions will be promoted in an orderly manner. By the end of 2025, the ultra-low emission transformation of steel enterprises in key regions will be basically completed, and the country will strive to complete the transformation of more than 80% of production capacity.

At present, the ultra-low emission transformation of the steel industry is still stepping up, but steel companies are also facing the embarrassment of a "dilemma" and there are some concerns.

The person in charge of the environmental protection department of the above-mentioned iron and steel enterprise told the Economic Observer Network: "on the one hand, it is impossible to transform without investing money. Under the big policy environment, we have no choice, otherwise we will be shut down. On the other hand, if a large amount of money is invested, the effect will not appear so quickly. In the later stage, due to market, operation, cost and other problems, or local implementation of classified production restriction policy is not in place, There are major risks, the enterprise will face greater difficulties."

Liu Bingjiang said, "We will never allow companies with low environmental protection and low investment and companies with high environmental protection and large investment to compete in the same environment. If there is such a phenomenon, it is a dereliction of duty in the supervision work, which is not in line with the principle of fair supervision. We are not only concerned about whether there is excess steel capacity, but also whether there is enough clean capacity. If government supervision cannot allow companies with high environmental performance to produce more and earn more money, it is not real supervision."

In recent years, my country's atmospheric environmental quality has continued to improve. In the first half of this year, the national air quality has shown a steady improvement trend. However, in autumn and winter, due to the combined effects of total pollutant emissions and adverse weather conditions, it may cause heavy pollution in some places. Frequent.

Liu Youbin said that this winter, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment will actively promote the ultra-low emission transformation of the steel industry and the response to heavy pollution weather in accordance with laws and regulations such as the Air Pollution Prevention and Control Law, and strive to let the people enjoy more blue sky and white clouds. At the same time, continue to adhere to the legal emission reduction, scientific emission reduction, precise emission reduction, the Ministry of ecological environment will not be unified organization of the industrial sector, including steel enterprises to limit production or stop production. If the local government has clear regulations on the production of industrial enterprises in winter, it shall be implemented in accordance with local laws and regulations.