[The Hwankyung Ilbo] The Minister of Environment Myung Rae Cho announced that the ‘Special Act on the Reduction and Management of Fine Dust (also referred as Fine Dust Act)’ will be amended and revised in the State Assembly meeting on March 24th and will be publicized and carried out by the end of March. This amendment will be applied in full-scale in December in accordance with the “Special Measures to High-Density Dust Concentration” which announced, from the last November’s joint ministries, that the Seasonal Management System would be institutionalized by this December. The Fine Dust Seasonal Management Period will be December 1st to March 31st of the following year.

Until now, there were no specific standards for the seasonal management term. However, as there seems to be concrete measures on seasonal management, there are some hopes that it would be regularized every year, rather than a one-time establishment.

In addition to this new act, province officers will be given authority to the fine dust seasonal management. Following the current law, the Minister of Environment has limited access to waste management and operation rate. There has been an expansion of the Minister’s jurisdiction to request change: operation rate of air pollutant emission facilities, improvement of efficiency in air pollution prevention facilities, and reduction of fugitive emission of dust at business sites. Despite this new expansion, its role is limited.

In such, province officers are given authority to oversee the seasonal management system as they can easily change their rate and managements in accordance with their providences. Specifically, officers can restrict the operation of cars in response to the air quality of the province, along with other legislative actions. To carry out these actions, they are supported financially. For instance, they can financially support carrying out farming residue disposals to improve air quality.

Chijung Park Reporter  chijungpark@hkbs.co.kr

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