Shanxi will restrict coal mining with high sulfur and ash content

According to China Taiyuan Coal Transaction Center, the Regulations on Prevention and Control of Air Pollution in Shanxi Province was revised and approved by the 7th meeting of the Standing Committee of the 13th People's Congress of Shanxi Province on November 30, 2018. On December 7, the Standing Committee of Shanxi Provincial People's Congress held a press conference to interpret the revised Regulations on the Prevention and Control of Air Pollution in Shanxi Province.
 
Shanxi Province is a major coal producing province. Coal-fired emissions are the main source of atmospheric pollutants. In order to effectively reduce coal-fired pollution and improve the quality of the atmospheric environment, the regulations control coal-fired pollution from the source. This revision adds the following contents: First, the province implements the total coal consumption control system in order to gradually adjust the energy structure and reduce the proportion of coal in primary energy consumption. Second, the people's governments at all levels should restrict the exploitation of high-sulfur and high-ash coal. Newly-built coal mines should be equipped with coal washing facilities at the same time to make the sulfur and ash content of coal meet the prescribed standards. Third, special regulations were imposed on the coal-prohibition zone, and it was clarified that the people's governments at the municipal and county’s levels could delimit the coal-prohibition zone.
 
The Regulations stipulates that high-emission and high-pollution projects such as iron and steel, coking, building materials, chemicals, and non-ferrous metals in urban built-up areas should be renovated, transformed, relocated or withdrawn within a time limit.