Punishment for Unrecorded Pollutants Reduced from 5 Years Imprisonment and 50 Million Won Fine to 3 Million Won Fine

Ministry of Environment Prepares Amendment to the Air Environment Conservation Act
Prison Sentence of 5 Years and Fine of 50 Million Won → Fine of 3 Million Won

The Ministry of Environment is significantly lowering the penalty level for businesses that fail to record and store pollutant measurement results. This measure aims to reduce the excessive burden on private companies. However, some argue that voluntary pollutant management by companies should be established first.

According to related ministries on the 13th, the Ministry of Environment plans to prepare an amendment to the "Air Environment Conservation Act" containing these details. The amendment focuses on imposing a fine of up to 3 million KRW when measurement results from air pollutant emission facilities are not recorded or preserved. Previously, violators faced imprisonment of up to five years or fines up to 50 million KRW. The Ministry of Environment explained, "This is to alleviate difficulties in private economic activities caused by excessive penalties."

This is the first push to ease pollutant emission regulations in five years. In 2019, the Moon Jae-in administration raised the fine from 5 million KRW to the current level, citing that the penalty for businesses violating regulations was too low. The excess charge for pollutant emissions exceeding permitted standards was also strengthened from a maximum of 1.2 times to 10 times. At that time, the Ministry of Environment stated, "We expect stronger management of illegal activities occurring at business sites."

The Ministry of Environment believes that lowering the penalty level will not cause significant side effects. A ministry official explained, "If measurement results are falsified, penalties will be imposed as before," adding, "Since most data is submitted electronically, violations are rare." The official also said, "Fines take a long time because they involve prosecution, but administrative fines can be imposed immediately by officials."

However, violations of pollutant emission regulations at business sites, such as excessive emission of hazardous substances or falsification of records, have not been eradicated. In January, executives and employees of Hyundai Motor Company's Ulsan plant who falsified records of hazardous substances like phenol were sentenced to suspended prison terms and fines. In August last year, a company in Incheon was caught falsifying measurements despite no pollutant emissions, and in Daegu, it was revealed that measurements were not conducted at all.

Since the Yoon Suk-yeol administration took office, controversy has continued as environmental monitoring has been eased to reduce regulations on companies. In August last year, at the "4th Regulatory Innovation Strategy Meeting," when the Ministry of Environment referred to the "Act on the Registration and Evaluation of Chemicals (Chemicals Control Act)" as a killer regulation, the civic group Korea Federation for Environmental Movements issued a statement criticizing the ministry for treating the system they created as a bulky regulation. Regulations on paper cup usage, single-use plastics, and transport packaging materials were also eased or enforcement was postponed.

Minister of Environment Han Hwa-jin has reaffirmed the position that this is an "effort to further develop environmental policy." She intends to induce voluntary changes in the private sector rather than imposing strong regulations. Earlier this year, when meeting reporters at the government complex in Sejong, Minister Han responded to questions about whether the Ministry of Environment had abandoned its original role by saying, "I cannot agree," emphasizing, "The process of properly operating various policies and systems that have been made non-functional in the field is not a regression."

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