China Adds Environmental Impact Restrictions to Western Coal Mining Projects

摘要

China will now require proposed coal mining projects in western parts of the country with an annual production capacity of 1.2 million metric tons and above to have their environmental impact assessments approved at the central government level by the Ministry of Environmental Protection. The new rule rescinds a notice the ministry issued in 2011 on EIAs for western areas that let local jurisdictions review the impact assessments for new coal mining projects less than 5 million metric tons of production annually. The move is an effort to reign in overex-pansion of such projects and to provide better supervision, the ministry said May 13.