On October 20, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment issued a letter soliciting public opinions on the Guiding Opinions on Further Optimizing the Early Warning Mechanism for Heavily Polluted Weather (Draft for Opinions). The deadline for soliciting opinions is October 27, 2023. In
the Guiding Opinions on Further Optimizing the Early Warning Mechanism for Heavily Polluted Weather (Draft for Comments), it is pointed out that all localities should not arbitrarily start the early warning of heavily polluted weather, raise the level of early warning and extend the response time of early warning on the grounds of achieving the goal of air quality improvement.
In addition, contingency plan at all levels should clarify the division of labor among departments and strengthen the cooperation among departments to form a joint force to deal with heavy pollution weather. In the heavily polluted weather caused by the concentrated discharge of fireworks and firecrackers, the control over the discharge of fireworks and firecrackers should be strengthened in accordance with the relevant national and local regulations, so as to avoid taking measures such as stopping production by enterprises, stopping work at construction sites and other measures to disturb social activities. Contingency plan at all levels should fully consider the needs of ensuring people's livelihood and the normal operation of the city, so as to minimize the impact on the normal production and life of the people.