Jomyungrae "Fine Dust Act Amendment Must Be Finalized... Basis for Crackdown on Grade 5 Vehicles in the Seoul Metropolitan Area"

On December 10, when the ultrafine dust concentration reached a poor level, the downtown area of Seoul appeared hazy due to fine dust and fog. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bo-kyung] The government's plan to enforce restrictions on the operation of Grade 5 emission vehicles in the Seoul metropolitan area starting next month has encountered setbacks. The delay in the passage of the Fine Dust Act amendment has prevented the establishment of a legal basis for enforcement.

Delay in Fine Dust Act prompts postponement of private Grade 5 vehicle enforcement

On the 16th, the government, in a joint announcement with the Ministry of Environment and related ministries, released the results of the first month of the fine dust seasonal management system implemented since December last year. The fine dust seasonal management system is a policy that strengthens comprehensive management and supervision of fine dust emissions from transportation, power generation, and workplaces for four months from December to March, when high concentrations of fine dust occur.

According to the seasonal management system, the Ministry of Environment planned to begin enforcement of restrictions on private Grade 5 emission vehicles in the Seoul, Incheon, and Gyeonggi metropolitan areas starting February. They had been preparing with local governments to conduct awareness and promotional activities until this month and to begin full enforcement from February.

However, the delay in the passage of the Fine Dust Act amendment in the National Assembly has made it difficult to proceed as planned. The amendment was proposed in August last year and passed the Environment and Labor Committee in December but remains pending in the Legislation and Judiciary Committee.

A government official stated, "The enforcement of restrictions on Grade 5 vehicles in the metropolitan area, scheduled to begin this February, is expected to be postponed due to legislative delays." He added, "Seoul, Incheon, and Gyeonggi are already working on enacting related ordinances and are awaiting the prompt revision of the Fine Dust Act."

In this regard, Minister of Environment Cho Myung-rae also urged the National Assembly to "swiftly complete the amendment process of the Fine Dust Act, which provides the legal basis for restricting the operation of Grade 5 vehicles."

One-month results of seasonal management system announced... Strengthened workplace inspections and support for vulnerable groups

During the first month of the seasonal management system, the government conducted special inspections on 247 suspected high fine dust emission workplaces and detected 59 violations. This was achieved using advanced monitoring equipment such as drones, mobile measurement vehicles, and airships deployed by the National Institute of Environmental Research and eight regional environmental offices.

Additionally, about 670 public-private joint inspection teams operated by cities and provinces inspected approximately 2,600 workplaces and 4,500 construction sites, resulting in administrative actions against 14 sites and the imposition of 41 fines.

Support projects for installing pollution control facilities were also carried out for 1,961 small-scale and micro businesses (90% national and local government funding, 10% self-payment).

The government reported that air purification devices have been installed in 94.3% of classrooms in kindergartens, elementary schools, and special schools nationwide, and 80.8% of classrooms in middle and high schools, with plans to complete installations in remaining classrooms during the winter vacation.

Furthermore, the government distributed masks to vulnerable and sensitive groups affected by fine dust, providing 84 million masks to low-income households, 3.15 million masks to outdoor workers in small businesses, 500,000 masks to farmers, and 20,000 masks to fishery workers.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.