Changwon City Reports 14,511 Cases of Illegal Activities by Air Quality Measurement Agencies... Full Effort to Eradicate Illegality

Lee Jeong-geun, Director of the Environment and Urban Bureau of Changwon City, is giving a briefing on measures to manage air quality measurement agencies and eradicate illegal activities. (Photo by Changwon City)

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kang Sharon] Changwon City, Gyeongnam Province, recently announced on the 6th that it will make every effort to eradicate repetitive practices and illegal activities of measurement agencies by preparing measures to strengthen the management of air quality measurement agencies amid various suspicions surrounding measurement agencies reported by the media.

The self-measurement system is a system established for pollutant-emitting facilities to measure the concentration emitted during operation and to improve the emission process or prevention facilities on their own if the standard is exceeded.

If the measurement of pollutants emitted from air pollution sources is inadequate, it negatively affects the improvement of air quality, including fine dust.

Last year, the Board of Audit and Inspection conducted audits on 174 air quality measurement agencies nationwide and confirmed that most agencies signed measurement contracts beyond their measurement capabilities and issued false measurement records.

Among 27,363 cases from five agencies registered with the city, 14,511 cases (53%) of false records were issued, resulting in the agencies being reported and receiving a six-month business suspension.

Additionally, the Board of Audit and Inspection pointed out issues such as the absence of a system to verify false measurement records despite regular guidance and inspections and requested the Ministry of Environment to improve the system.

Following the audit, the Ministry of Environment plans to establish an Environmental Measurement Analysis Information Management System in August that inputs and manages the entire measurement process in real-time to fundamentally block false and fraudulent measurements.

Institutional measures have been established to verify measurement agency performance, including the establishment of a new measurement agency management institution that evaluates and discloses the measurement capabilities of agencies.

Penalties for false measurements have been significantly strengthened, including cancellation of registration upon first detection and suspension of qualifications for up to one year for technical personnel involved in fraudulent measurements.

Meanwhile, five measurement agencies in the jurisdiction are expected to be simultaneously suspended in August following administrative litigation rulings, which may cause an imbalance in the supply of measurement teams, making it difficult for companies to find measurement agencies, and small-scale businesses are expected to bear the burden of increased measurement fees compared to before the audit.

The city recognized these issues and held a meeting with representatives of 10 measurement agencies on the 22nd of last month to explain the strengthened legal amendments and inform them that strict legal action will be inevitable if violations are found in the future. The city also requested cooperation from five newly registered agencies after the audit to ensure that local emission facilities are not hindered in self-measurement.

Furthermore, for companies unable to perform self-measurement due to the inability to find measurement agencies, the city proposed to the Ministry of Environment through the province to postpone the imposition of fines, and prepared measures to support fee burdens to protect businesses from increased measurement fees.

Lee Jeong-geun, Director of the Environment and Urban Bureau, stated, "To secure administrative enforcement power over measurement agencies, we will regularly hold meetings with agency representatives to eradicate poor measurements and provide job training on inspection techniques and administrative sanctions to inspection officials. Centered on the Environmental Policy TF team, we will strengthen monitoring to preemptively block irregularities that may occur during self-measurement agency services and ensure the self-measurement system is solidified."

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