[The Hwankyung Ilbo] The Seoul Metropolitan Government said it will expand financial support and tighten legal regulations to reduce fine dust emitted from old construction machines.

A total of 49,000 units of 27 construction machinery are registered with the Seoul Metropolitan Government. Five types, including double dump trucks, account for the majority with 35,000 units (71 percent).

According to the 2015 national data on air pollutant emissions, the amount of fine dust generated by the transportation sector is about 48,000 tons per year, of which construction equipment generated 12,000 tons, or about 26%.

As of December 2015, the number of registered construction machinery (446,000 units) compared to automobiles (20.99 million units) was about 2%, 0.88 tons of fine dust per thousand vehicles and 27.35 tons per thousand construction machines were emitted.

Seoul will exempt the vehicle owner's self-pay in full if they attach emission reduction devices to old construction machines or replace them with new (low pollution) engines.

Information on the measures for low pollution of old construction equipment and subsidies can be found on the website of the Seoul Metropolitan Government.

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