Quartz news reports local weather bureaus in China can no longer issue smog warnings to the public. But they can still alert citizens to the “pollution scapegoat” fog.

Echo Huang for Quartz news reports smog warnings will now be a centralized event following a notice issued by China’s Meteorological Administration on January 17.

The directive requires “all local weather bureaus to stop issuing smog warnings” writes Huang.

The administration will instead issue those warnings “after discussions with the environmental bureau, weather forecast bureau, and other related departments, a staff member told Shanghai-based news agency the Paper (link in Chinese).”

The notice comes weeks after a Chinese app called Air Matters, which collects air quality information, was told by the government to stop releasing data exceeding official records.

Huang reports citizens “livid about the changes” are concerned about heightened safety risks.

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