—— We will strengthen environmental oversight of unused land within areas affected by mining and oilfield activities, and strictly control industrial and mining pollution.

The “Action Plan for Soil Pollution Prevention and Control,” recently issued by the State Council (hereinafter referred to as... “ Ten Measures for Soil Pollution Prevention and Control ” ) Clearly, by 2020 In recent years, the trend of worsening soil pollution nationwide has been preliminarily curbed, and the overall quality of the soil environment has remained stable, with soil environmental risks brought under basic control. To this end, it is essential to strengthen the protection of uncontaminated soils, enhance oversight of pollution sources, and strictly control the addition of new soil contamination. It is worth noting that many of these measures involve activities related to the exploration, development, and utilization of mineral resources.

“ Ten Measures for Soil Pollution Prevention and Control ” It was proposed that, in the future, environmental oversight over unused land within areas affected by mining and oilfield activities—such as mineral resource extraction—will be strengthened, and industrial and mining pollution will be strictly controlled. Localities should, based on the distribution of industrial and mining enterprises and their pollution emission levels, identify a list of key enterprises subject to stringent soil environment monitoring, update this list dynamically, and publicly disclose it to the public. Enterprises included on the list must conduct annual soil environment monitoring on their own premises. Relevant environmental protection authorities are required to carry out regular monitoring around key regulated enterprises and industrial parks; the results will serve as crucial evidence for environmental law enforcement and risk early warning.

“ Ten Measures for Soil Pollution Prevention and Control ” Clearly, strictly prevent mineral resource development from polluting soil. Since... 2017 Starting from [year], regions in Inner Mongolia, Jiangxi, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Guangdong, Guangxi, Sichuan, Guizhou, Yunnan, Shaanxi, Gansu, Xinjiang, and other provinces (autonomous regions) where mineral resource development activities are concentrated will implement special emission limits for key pollutants. We will carry out comprehensive remediation of historically遗留 tailing ponds, improving measures for addressing potential hazards—including covering with film, compacting soil, draining floodwaters, and reinforcing dams—and ensuring proper closure procedures. Enterprises with key regulated tailing ponds must conduct environmental risk assessments, upgrade their pollution control facilities, and stockpile emergency supplies. We will strengthen radiation safety oversight over the exploration and utilization of mineral resources; relevant enterprises must annually conduct radiation environmental monitoring of soils within their mining areas.

In terms of pollution prevention and control in industries involving heavy metals, “ Ten Measures for Soil Pollution Prevention and Control ” It was proposed to strictly enforce emission standards for heavy-metal pollutants and implement relevant total-amount control targets. Inspection and supervision efforts will be stepped up, and enterprises that still fail to meet the standards after rectification will be ordered by law to suspend operations or shut down. We will continue phasing out outdated production capacity in key industries involving heavy metals, further refine entry conditions for industries related to heavy metals, and prohibit the approval of new projects in industries with outdated capacity or severe overcapacity. 2020 The key heavy metal emissions from key industries in the year will be higher than... 2013 Year-on-year decline 10%。

In the area of industrial waste treatment, “ Ten Measures for Soil Pollution Prevention and Control ” It was proposed to comprehensively rectify the storage sites of tailings, coal gangue, industrial byproduct gypsum, fly ash, red mud, smelting slag, calcium carbide slag, chromium slag, arsenic slag, as well as solid wastes generated from desulfurization, denitrification, and dust removal processes. We will improve facilities designed to prevent dust dispersion, loss, and leakage, develop remediation plans, and implement them in an orderly manner. Furthermore, we will strengthen the comprehensive utilization of industrial solid wastes.

“ Ten Measures for Soil Pollution Prevention and Control ” It was also proposed to advance legislation on soil pollution prevention and control, and to establish and improve a comprehensive system of laws and standards. 2017 Departmental regulations on soil environmental management for industrial and mining land will be issued before the end of the year. By... 2020 In recent years, a basic legal and regulatory framework for the prevention and control of soil pollution has been established. Supervision and law enforcement have been comprehensively strengthened. Particular attention is being paid to monitoring heavy metals such as cadmium, mercury, arsenic, lead, and chromium, as well as organic pollutants like polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and petroleum hydrocarbons in soils. Key industries under intensified supervision include nonferrous metal mining and beneficiation, nonferrous metal smelting, oil extraction, oil refining, chemical industry, coke production, electroplating, and leather processing.

“ Ten Measures for Soil Pollution Prevention and Control ” It was clarified that a comprehensive investigation into soil environmental quality will be carried out in depth. 2018 By the end of the year, determine the extent and distribution of soil contamination in agricultural land, as well as its impact on the quality of agricultural products. 2020 By the end of the year, we will have a grasp of the distribution of contaminated sites within land used by key industry enterprises, as well as their associated environmental risks. We will establish a regular survey system for the status of soil environmental quality, conducted every... 10 Conduct annually 1 Next. 2017 By the end of the year, complete the establishment of nationally controlled monitoring sites for soil environmental quality and build a national soil environmental quality monitoring network. Strive to... 2018 Complete the establishment of a basic database for soil environmental conditions and build a nationwide information-based management platform for soil environment by the end of the year. □