Polluters given deadline to clean up emissions
From March 1, new coal-fired power plants and steel mills will have to meet "special limits" on emissions to gain approval from the Ministry of Environmental Protection, the ministry's China Environment News said in an online report. It did not give details.
Beijing has set timetables for emission limits on some polluting industries, in the latest move to improve air quality in big cities.
From March 1, new coal-fired power plants and steel mills will have to meet "special limits" on emissions to gain approval from the Ministry of Environmental Protection, the ministry's China Environment News said in an online report. It did not give details.
Petrochemical, non-ferrous metals and cement plants and coal-fired industrial boilers will also be subject to emission limits, the report said, without specifying an implementation timeline. The deadlines were set at a meeting on Tuesday chaired by Environmental Protection Minister Zhou Shengxian.
In addition, existing coal-fired power plants in the main urban areas of 47 cities will be subject to "special" emission limits on particulates from July 1 next year.
Steel mills' iron ore dust sintering facilities would also be bound by "special" particulates emission limits from January 1, 2015, the ministry said.
News of the schedules came a day after the publication of an article by the Finance Ministry's head of tax policy, Jia Chen, which said Beijing should impose a tax on carbon dioxide emissions to help meet emission control goals. It also came just over a week after the State Council set deadlines for petrol and diesel producers to meet tougher motor fuel emission standards on their products.