Environment | Mainland emissions standards aim to tackle air quality issue

The Environmental Protection Bureau (DSPA) is introducing mainland containment control standards for oil depots and power stations, reportedly in order to improve Macau’s air quality, the bureau’s acting director, Ip Kuong Lam, said yesterday during a press conference. The new standards will limit the emissions of air pollutants by Macau’s two power stations and one oil depot.

The Executive Council held the press conference to announce two administrative regulation drafts on the emission control of oil depots and power stations.

The two bills require oil depots to improve their facilities and management, gasoline storage tanks, oil loading and oil recovery equipment, among other amendments.

In future they will need to meet the standards in force in mainland China, even though air quality on the mainland is regularly reported far worse than the ideal levels set out in the World Health Organization’s air quality guidelines.

Oil depot owners must submit a test report issued by an accredited organization to DSPA every 12 months. A fine between MOP200,000 and MOP300,000 has been proposed for any violation.

Regarding electricity substations, power plants should install a gas emission detection system. Every six months, owners of power plants will need to submit a report to DSPA and such a report must be accredited by qualified organizations. Tighter emission standards regarding contaminants correspond to another main regulation in the two bills.

Standards of emissions were solely or majorly adopted by standards from mainland China, according to DSPA’s acting Director.

Currently, Macau has one oil depot and two power stations.

“For one of the power stations and the oil depot, the standards are completely adopted from mainland China. For the other power station, standards of both mainland China and other neighboring regions were referred to,” said Ip.

“Mainland China’s standards are more specific and comprehensive in terms of supervision. Monitoring is stricter,” said Ip, adding that “in order to protect Macau’s environment, we recommend adopting mainland standards.”

According to Ip, once the bill is implemented, it is expected that there will be a reduction in pollutant emissions generated by oil depot and power stations of between 24% and 64%.

“Power stations and transportation are the main sources of Macau’s pollution. Petrol filling stations [are another major pollutant], for which the government already came up with regulations last year,” said Ip.

In order to meet the new standards, the relevant companies need to change facilities, and the local government will not provide any subsidies to the relevant owners, according to Ip.

Emission regulations on power stations and oil depots, which are being implemented, were established in 2000, and the regulation does not propose any penalty.

“The [new] regulation is a lot more [restrictive] than the current one,” said Ip. “The oil depot and power stations will certainly need to purchase new equipment in order to meet new standards.”

“Some of the current equipment cannot meet the new requirements. The government is giving a transition period for the power stations and the oil depot to change their equipment,” said Ip.

According to the DSPA’s latest environment report, in 2018, the main air pollutant in Macau was ground-level ozone, and was affected by factors such as emissions from vehicles and local power generation. The annual average concentration of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) in 2018 exceeded the standard value on the roads of Macau and the city’s high-density residential areas.