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New regulations during the 15th Five-Year Plan: Mining compliance supervision has been comprehensively tightened, and ecological restoration and heavy metal prevention have become legally binding
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Article author：Yingting Lawyers Group | Update time：2026-07-07 | Reading times：108
The State Council recently officially issued the "15th Five-Year Plan for Building a Beautiful China" (Guofa [2026] No. 20). As a programmatic document to guide the construction of ecological civilization in the next five years, the plan puts forward more stringent legal requirements for the compliance operations of mining and mining companies. In light of the recently promulgated Ecological and Environmental Code and relevant policies of the Ministry of Natural Resources, mining companies need to be highly vigilant about legal risks in areas such as restoration of historical mines, traceability of heavy metal pollution, and supervision of tailings ponds, and lay out a green transformation compliance system in advance.
1. Legalization of “clearance” and “repair while mining” of ecological restoration of historical mines
The plan clearly includes "ecological restoration of abandoned historical mines" as a major national ecological project, and sets the goal of "accelerating the ecological restoration of abandoned historical mines." At the same time, we will promote the implementation of the "mining and repairing at the same time" system in production mines.
【Compliance Tips】Mine ecological restoration has been elevated from “advocative policy” to “legal obligation”. Mining companies must fulfill their obligations in mining geological environment protection and land reclamation in accordance with the law, and fully accrue and use mining geological environment management and restoration funds. If you fail to implement "repair while mining" or if the repair fails to meet standards, you will face the legal risk of administrative penalties or even the revocation of your mining license.
The plan clearly includes "ecological restoration of abandoned historical mines" as a major national ecological project, and sets the goal of "accelerating the ecological restoration of abandoned historical mines." At the same time, we will promote the implementation of the "mining and repairing at the same time" system in production mines.
【Compliance Tips】Mine ecological restoration has been elevated from “advocative policy” to “legal obligation”. Mining companies must fulfill their obligations in mining geological environment protection and land reclamation in accordance with the law, and fully accrue and use mining geological environment management and restoration funds. If you fail to implement "repair while mining" or if the repair fails to meet standards, you will face the legal risk of administrative penalties or even the revocation of your mining license.
2. “Source prevention and control” of soil and groundwater pollution and management and control of vacated land
The plan requires the in-depth implementation of soil pollution source prevention and control actions, the control and restoration of key soil pollution supervision units, and the promotion of green transformation. Particular emphasis is placed on strengthening soil pollution control in plots vacated by coking and other enterprises, and implementing actions to remediate groundwater pollution in chemical industry parks.
【Compliance Tips】When mining companies suspend production, relocate or withdraw mining rights, they must carry out soil and groundwater environmental condition surveys in accordance with the law. For historically contaminated land parcels, companies must bear statutory risk management and restoration responsibilities to avoid environmental infringement disputes and huge repair costs caused by the transfer or vacation of land parcels.
The plan requires the in-depth implementation of soil pollution source prevention and control actions, the control and restoration of key soil pollution supervision units, and the promotion of green transformation. Particular emphasis is placed on strengthening soil pollution control in plots vacated by coking and other enterprises, and implementing actions to remediate groundwater pollution in chemical industry parks.
【Compliance Tips】When mining companies suspend production, relocate or withdraw mining rights, they must carry out soil and groundwater environmental condition surveys in accordance with the law. For historically contaminated land parcels, companies must bear statutory risk management and restoration responsibilities to avoid environmental infringement disputes and huge repair costs caused by the transfer or vacation of land parcels.
3. Tailings pond hierarchical supervision and “dynamic balance” of the entire solid waste chain
The plan proposes optimizing the classification and grading environmental supervision system for tailings ponds and carrying out dynamic pollution assessment, monitoring and early warning; it requires strengthening the full chain management and control of industrial solid waste, completing the treatment of more than 60% of historical solid waste storage sites, and controlling the proportion of hazardous waste landfill disposal within 10%.
【Compliance Tips】Tailings ponds are areas with high incidence of criminal risks in the mining environment. Mining companies must strictly implement the dual main responsibilities of tailings pond safety and environmental protection, and improve online monitoring and early warning systems. For illegal dumping and unauthorized changes in tailings disposal methods, the relevant responsible persons may face criminal liability for "environmental pollution crimes" in the Criminal Law.
The plan proposes optimizing the classification and grading environmental supervision system for tailings ponds and carrying out dynamic pollution assessment, monitoring and early warning; it requires strengthening the full chain management and control of industrial solid waste, completing the treatment of more than 60% of historical solid waste storage sites, and controlling the proportion of hazardous waste landfill disposal within 10%.
【Compliance Tips】Tailings ponds are areas with high incidence of criminal risks in the mining environment. Mining companies must strictly implement the dual main responsibilities of tailings pond safety and environmental protection, and improve online monitoring and early warning systems. For illegal dumping and unauthorized changes in tailings disposal methods, the relevant responsible persons may face criminal liability for "environmental pollution crimes" in the Criminal Law.
4. Upgrading of heavy metal pollution prevention and control: “One enterprise, one policy” and reduction of high-risk ores
The plan separates heavy metal pollution prevention and control, requires the promotion of environmental safety hazard investigation and risk assessment, and implements "one enterprise, one policy" and "one location, one policy" systematic management. It is clearly proposed to "reduce the use of ore raw materials high in thallium, high cadmium, and high arsenic" and promote enterprises in key industries to carry out automatic monitoring of heavy metal pollutant emissions.
【Compliance Tips】Mining companies involving heavy metals need to immediately conduct internal environmental compliance audits to investigate the use of highly toxic ore raw materials. Those who fail to install automatic monitoring equipment in accordance with the law, tamper with monitoring data, or emit heavy metals beyond the standard will not only face high fines, but may also trigger "daily continuous penalties" and ecological and environmental damage compensation lawsuits.
The plan separates heavy metal pollution prevention and control, requires the promotion of environmental safety hazard investigation and risk assessment, and implements "one enterprise, one policy" and "one location, one policy" systematic management. It is clearly proposed to "reduce the use of ore raw materials high in thallium, high cadmium, and high arsenic" and promote enterprises in key industries to carry out automatic monitoring of heavy metal pollutant emissions.
【Compliance Tips】Mining companies involving heavy metals need to immediately conduct internal environmental compliance audits to investigate the use of highly toxic ore raw materials. Those who fail to install automatic monitoring equipment in accordance with the law, tamper with monitoring data, or emit heavy metals beyond the standard will not only face high fines, but may also trigger "daily continuous penalties" and ecological and environmental damage compensation lawsuits.
5. Full-chain resource conservation and full-process supervision of mining projects
The plan emphasizes strengthening the whole-process management and whole-chain conservation of minerals and other resources, and clearly strengthens the whole-process supervision of projects with major ecological impacts to effectively manage and control high-energy-consuming and high-emission projects.
【Compliance Tips】The legality review of preliminary procedures such as environmental impact assessment and water conservation during the mining rights transfer and project approval stages will be more stringent. When promoting new construction, renovation and expansion projects, mining companies must ensure that they strictly implement the "three lines and one list" (ecological protection red line, environmental quality bottom line, resource utilization upper line and ecological environment access list) zoning control requirements to prevent the legal risk of the project being stopped due to touching the ecological red line.
The plan emphasizes strengthening the whole-process management and whole-chain conservation of minerals and other resources, and clearly strengthens the whole-process supervision of projects with major ecological impacts to effectively manage and control high-energy-consuming and high-emission projects.
【Compliance Tips】The legality review of preliminary procedures such as environmental impact assessment and water conservation during the mining rights transfer and project approval stages will be more stringent. When promoting new construction, renovation and expansion projects, mining companies must ensure that they strictly implement the "three lines and one list" (ecological protection red line, environmental quality bottom line, resource utilization upper line and ecological environment access list) zoning control requirements to prevent the legal risk of the project being stopped due to touching the ecological red line.
[Suggestions from Yingting Lawyer]
The implementation of the "15th Five-Year Plan for the Construction of a Beautiful China" marks the entry of mining supervision into a new stage of "accurate, scientific and law-based pollution control". It is recommended that mining companies:
The implementation of the "15th Five-Year Plan for the Construction of a Beautiful China" marks the entry of mining supervision into a new stage of "accurate, scientific and law-based pollution control". It is recommended that mining companies:
- Conduct comprehensive compliance physical examinations: Focus on investigating hidden dangers of historical solid waste, tailings ponds and heavy metal emissions;
- Improve emergency and compensation plans: Improve the cross-regional and cross-departmental emergency response system for environmental emergencies, and assess the risks of ecological and environmental damage compensation in advance;
- Promote green transformation in accordance with the law: Make full use of the country’s incentive policies on green mine construction and comprehensive utilization of resources to achieve industrial upgrading on the premise of legal compliance.
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