Discussion on time effectiveness of environmental impact assessment (EIA) of coal mining projects in China

The mineral resource exploitation plays an important role in China's economic development, but it also causes many environmental problems, especially ecological problem. In coal mining, in order to achieve sustainable use of these resources, we must pay special attention to eco-environmental protection. This article first briefly introduced the current status of environmental impact assessment (EIA) in China; it then discussed the time effectiveness of EIA through the analysis of its current status, using EIA and environmental protection check and acceptance in coal mining projects. The authors consider that one-time assessment of environmental impact on the coal projects and “three simultaneous” acceptance of the coal projects implemented in china currently is not reasonable. Long-term environmental impact can not be clearly described in coal project whose production period is up to several decades. In addition, many environmental impacts in the current acceptance stage are not truly reflected; at last, the authors proposed that EIA and environmental protection check and acceptance of coal mining projects which belong to ecological projects should be carried out by stages.