The National Development and Reform Commission ("NDRC") has recently issued the Administrative Measures for Permits for Installation (Repair and Testing) of Power Facilities (Revised Draft for Comment) (the "Draft for Comment") for public comment by December 9, 2019.
This round of revisions involves 27 articles, including 23 amended and adjusted, three completely removed and one newly added. As a result, the Draft for Comment is now comprised of 46 articles in seven chapters, including "categorization and grading", "application, acceptance, examination and decision-making", "alteration and expansion", "supervisory checks", and "legal liability". The proposed revisions mainly focus on three aspects as below. The first is shortening the list of application documents and reducing the time frame required. The second is providing clarifications on regulatory duties and highlighting the role of credit-based regulation. And the third is strictly observing laws and regulations and making improvement to the punishment measures. Among others, the Draft for Comment removes the previous requirements stated in the older version regarding net assets, business place, etc.; and shortens the time frame required for licensing matters handled by applicants, such as reporting changes to the registered items and applying for a replacement permit in case that the original one is destroyed or lost.