A new standard related to steel air pollutants and coking chemical materials will go into effect in North China's Hebei province at the beginning of next year, according to Hebei authorities recently.

The emission restrictions on coal-made pellet smoking gas will be much more stringent than the current national standard, which also reached the strictest level of the country's standard, the Hebei environmental and quality supervision authorities said on Sept 30.

The new emission standard is also the first national coking chemical standard in the country that strengthens the control of coking particles, with the lowest emission restriction at 10 milligrams per cubic meter.

Companies in the industries will follow those rules starting Oct 1, 2020, and the newly established firms will follow the regulations since Jan 1, 2019.

According to a three-year action plan released by the provincial government at the end of August, steel companies in Hebei province satisfying the standard of renovation will achieve the lowest emission standard by 2020.

By October 2020, the coking industry in Hebei will complete advanced treatment to achieve the lowest emission standard.

There are 359 steel projects in the province that need to be improved in three years, said Li Hongyan, deputy director of the technology department at the Hebei Provincial Environmental Protection Department.

Of these projects, 83 have entered the beginning stage with 171 under construction, Li said.