THE MINISTRY OF ECOLOGY and Environment has finished the soliciting of public opinions on a directory of toxic and harmful atmospheric pollutants, which is expected to be published soon. Beijing Youth Daily comments:

This will be the first directory of its kind since the revised Law on Atmospheric Pollution Prevention and Control took effect last year. The directory lists and ranks a batch of major atmospheric pollutants, including methylene chloride and formaldehyde, six kinds of volatile organic compounds such as chloroform, along with cadmium, chromium, mercury, lead and their compounds. It will be updated in the future.

According to the ministry, the proportion of blue-sky days of 338 major cities nationwide last year was 79.3 percent on average, up 1.3 percentage points year-on-year, and the density of PM2.5, or airborne pollutant particles with a diameter below 2.5 micrometers, was down by 9.3 percent on average. Despite this, there is still a long way to go in eliminating smoggy days.

The directory aims to provide the environmental protection departments and governments with a more detailed and targeted reference to strengthen their risk management capabilities and improve the accuracy and timeliness of their early warnings of air pollution.

It is believed the directory will prompt polluters to take their obligations seriously by reducing their emissions of the listed pollutants through technological improvements, and strengthening their environmental risk assessments and the regular monitoring of discharge ports and the surrounding environment.

The directory will also give the environmental protection supervisors more specific pollutants to monitor and track down and help raise people's awareness of air pollution sources, making it easier for the public to supervise the polluters.

Punishments for polluters, which have long been symbolic and transformed into a form of discharge fee in some cases, will be meted out in a more accurate way to reflect the environmental costs polluters have to pay. Which means the polluters will have to shoulder their due responsibilities.