From September, 100% Eco-Friendly Construction Machinery Mandatory at Private Construction Sites... Complete Ban on Old Machines

Seoul City to Fully Ban Use of Old Construction Equipment at Public Construction Sites Over 10 Billion Won and Extend to Private Sites
Goal to Complete Low-Emission Measures Including Engine Replacement for 3,144 Units of 5 Types of Old Construction Equipment, Achieving 48% Completion

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] The Seoul Metropolitan Government is significantly strengthening low-emission measures for old construction machinery, which is considered one of the sources of fine dust emissions in Seoul among Grade 5 diesel vehicles.

On the 11th, Seoul announced that it will enhance low-emission measures for old construction machinery, focusing on "strengthening support for low-emission measures," "mandatory 100% use of eco-friendly construction machinery at private construction sites," and "on-site management inspections at government construction sites." According to the 2019 Seoul Institute’s contribution to fine dust emissions by source in Seoul, the sources were "transportation (vehicles) 26%," "heating (fuel combustion) 31%," "construction machinery, etc. 18%," "fugitive dust 22%," and "others 3%."

First, the types of old construction machinery subject to mandatory low-emission measures will be expanded from the existing 5 types to 7 types (adding rollers and loaders). Among 3,144 old construction machinery vehicles of 5 types, excluding those without developed devices, low-emission measures such as engine replacement and attaching particulate filters will be completed this year for 1,510 vehicles, which is 48%. A total budget of 26.1 billion KRW will be invested.

For early scrapping subsidies for three types of road-use construction machinery?dump trucks, concrete pump trucks, and concrete mixer trucks?the maximum support will be increased from 30 million KRW to 40 million KRW. Starting this year, a pilot project for low-emission measures such as engine replacement will be promoted for the newly added old rollers and loaders.

From September, construction sites subject to environmental impact assessments for fugitive dust generation (buildings over 100,000㎡, development areas between 90,000㎡ and 300,000㎡) must use 100% eco-friendly construction machinery. Seoul plans to revise the environmental impact assessment review standards for buildings and maintenance projects to expand the current mandatory use rate of eco-friendly construction machinery from over 80% to 100%.

From April, restrictions on the use of old construction machinery at all government-commissioned construction sites ordered by the city and autonomous districts will be strengthened. A cooperative system with related departments will be established to conduct regular and ad-hoc inspections of construction progress and site management from the contract stage to completion. To ensure the livelihood of old construction machinery owners, Seoul grants a first grace period of six months upon the owner's request for deferment. In cases where low-emission measures are technically impossible due to undeveloped devices, if a certificate of impossibility issued by the device manufacturer is attached, the deferment period can be extended for one year from the application date.

Meanwhile, in May last year, Seoul revised the Ordinance on the Promotion and Support for Air Quality Improvement in Seoul to include old construction machinery (5 types) among the targets of low-emission orders for existing Grade 5 diesel vehicles. Since the start of the low-emission project for old construction machinery in 2013, 526 vehicles have undergone engine replacement and DPF installation, and 202 vehicles have been scrapped early, completing low-emission measures for a total of 4,025 vehicles. This has resulted in an annual reduction of 7.9 tons of fine particulate matter (PM-2.5) and 116.4 tons of nitrogen oxides (NOx).

Lee Sa-hyung, Director of Vehicle Pollution Reduction Division at Seoul City, said, "As the mandatory use rate of eco-friendly construction machinery at private and public construction sites expands and on-site inspections strengthen, we ask old construction machinery owners to actively participate in the engine replacement and DPF installation support projects." He added, "We urge everyone to join in creating a clear and clean Seoul through air quality improvement projects."

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