According to the website of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, the ministry recently issued the "Notice on Printing and Distributing the List of Significant Changes for Construction Projects in Five Industries, Including Starch" (hereinafter referred to as the "Notice"), which clearly defines the circumstances constituting significant changes in five industries—starch, water treatment, fertilizer manufacturing, magnesium-titanium smelting, and nickel-cobalt-tin-antimony-mercury smelting—and specifies the types of changes that require re-submission of environmental impact assessment documents for construction projects in these industries.
　　The issuance of this “Notice” aims to effectively strengthen the supervision and management of environmental impact assessments, address current issues such as the lack of quantitative indicators for defining significant changes in construction projects across certain industries, difficulties in achieving uniformity in environmental management standards, and excessive administrative discretion. It seeks to standardize the environmental management of significant project changes, ensure the effective implementation of the EIA system, and support the application for and issuance of pollution discharge permits.
　　To ensure consistency and coherence in management, the principles for defining “major changes” set forth in this Notice are identical to those outlined in Document No. 52 [2015] issued by the Environmental Protection Bureau and Document No. 6 [2018] issued by the Environmental Protection Bureau’s Environmental Impact Assessment Division. According to law, a change in any one or more of the following five factors—project nature, scale, location, production processes, and environmental protection measures—that could lead to significant alterations in environmental impacts (particularly exacerbation of adverse environmental effects) shall be deemed a major change. First, if there is a change in the types of raw and auxiliary materials, product plans, or production processes of a project, resulting in the addition of new pollution sources or an increase in pollutant emissions, such a change shall be considered a major change. Second, if the scale of a project expands, leading to increased pollutant emissions and a worsening of adverse environmental impacts, this shall also be classified as a major change. Third, if a change in the project’s location results in alterations to environmentally sensitive targets, assessment scope, or protective distance requirements, thereby intensifying adverse environmental impacts, this shall be defined as a major change. Fourth, if there is a change in emission methods or discharge destinations, indirect emissions are converted to direct emissions, or significant changes occur in environmental protection measures (especially when such measures are weakened), these situations shall be regarded as major changes. The list further strengthens the integration between environmental impact assessments and the pollutant discharge permit system; specifically, any reduction of more than 10% in the height of the primary exhaust stack subject to discharge permit management will be included as a major change under the environmental impact assessment framework.
　　The list of five major changes in industries released this time highlights the differences in process characteristics and pollutant emission profiles across various industries, thereby enhancing the practicality of identifying significant changes.
　　The list of significant changes for starch industry construction projects highlights situations involving alterations in the discharge destination of wastewater. Given that starch-producing enterprises may use their production wastewater for irrigation or directly for land utilization, the regulations explicitly define as significant changes those instances in which the discharge destination is altered to agricultural irrigation or land utilization that complies with relevant national or local laws, regulations, standards, and technical specifications.
　　The list of significant changes for water treatment construction projects highlights changes in influent water quality. In this industry, the influent water is equivalent to “raw materials” in other industries; changes in the influent water will lead to corresponding changes in pollutant discharge. Therefore, any alteration in the quality or quantity of wastewater influent constitutes a significant change. In the water treatment industry, solid waste primarily consists of sludge. The list of significant changes specifically identifies as significant changes those alterations in the sludge generation volume or in the capacity and methods for on-site sludge treatment that may have adverse environmental impacts.
　　A list of significant changes to fertilizer industry construction projects—strengthening control over total phosphorus pollutants and enforcing strict regulations. Chemical fertilizer Control requirements for significant changes in the medium-phosphorus fertilizer construction project; clearly list the scenarios in which process changes lead to significant environmental impacts, including the shift in the wet-process phosphoric acid production from the hemihydrate-dihydrate or dihydrate-hemihydrate method to the dihydrate method, and the change in the compound fertilizer (complex fertilizer) production process from a physical blending method to a chemical method.
　　The list of major changes for magnesium and titanium smelting projects has been expanded to include enhanced oversight of projects that use magnesium chloride as a feedstock to produce electrolytic magnesium and rutile as a feedstock to produce sponge titanium. The requirements for major changes in magnesium smelting projects have been tightened, and specific scenarios involving significant changes to facilities such as sponge titanium chlorination furnaces and magnesium electrolysis cells, as well as their corresponding emission outlets, fuel types, solid waste disposal capacity, and disposal methods, have been clearly defined.
　　A list of significant changes for nickel, cobalt, tin, antimony, and mercury smelting projects has been strengthened. Control over projects involving the disposal of metal-containing waste has been enhanced, and requirements for controlling scale changes in mercury smelting projects have been tightened. At the same time, the circumstances under which major changes occur—such as those affecting the primary emission outlets, production facilities, solid-waste disposal capacity, and disposal methods—have been clearly defined.