Kwonikwi "Construction Business Operators' Environmental Impact Assessment Compliance Must Be Enforced and Reassessed"

by Lee Jieun

Published 19 Dec.2024 09:46(KST)

A judgment has been made that local governments should reconsider the obligation to conduct environmental impact assessments against developers facing bankruptcy due to forced compliance with such assessments.

Kwonikwi "Construction Business Operators' Environmental Impact Assessment Compliance Must Be Enforced and Reassessed"

The Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission (ACRC) expressed the opinion that local governments should reconfirm whether the assessment obligation applies in order to assist developers who have made progress in their projects through compliance with environmental impact assessments.

Recently, a real estate development corporation filed a grievance with the ACRC, stating that before receiving permission in August to build a 48-story officetel, the local government demanded compliance with an environmental impact assessment. The corporation was found to have purchased the site in 2017 and was paying approximately 30 million KRW in daily interest on a project financing (PF) loan.

According to the ACRC investigation, the local government demanded compliance after the Ministry of Government Legislation issued a legal interpretation this year that differed from the previous interpretation by the Ministry of Environment. The Ministry of Environment's 2020 interpretation explicitly stated that buildings inside and outside the project area subject to environmental impact assessment are excluded from the assessment.

The ACRC judged that the corporation in question was not subject to the assessment based on the Ministry of Environment's interpretation. It also considered the long time elapsed between the Ministry of Environment's interpretation and the Ministry of Government Legislation's legal interpretation. Under the Administrative Procedures Act, it is deemed impermissible to retroactively apply the assessment based on the Ministry of Government Legislation's interpretation.

The ACRC stated, "We hope that the permitting authorities will proceed swiftly with procedures to prevent cases where complainants suffer due to delays caused by forcing unnecessary procedural compliance."