State media reports from China say the government will release new standards, in late February, for the mining of rare earth minerals, including measures to reduce water pollution and set energy consumption limits. The new standards will raise the cost of mining rare earths, according to Huang Xiaowei of the National Engineering Research Center for Rare Earth Materials. Many products, such as hybrid electric vehicles, wind turbines, and other green technologies, are dependent upon rare earth metals. Extraction companies would have one to two years to meet the new requirements, according to an announcement on the Ministry of Environmental Protection website. The People’s Daily reported that about 90 percent of the companies would be unable to meet the new standards if they became effective immediately. The Chinese government also plans to form a “rare earth industry association” to oversee production and mining of the materials, as well as spread knowledge of best practices within the industry.