Results of FY 2020 Survey of the Implementation of the Act to Prevent Soil Contamination on Agricultural Land

The Ministry of the Environment, Japan (MOEJ), has been promoting countermeasures against soil contamination on agricultural land with the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF), and compiled the results of the FY 2020 Survey of the Implementation of the Act to Prevent Soil Contamination on Agricultural Land. Under the Act, each prefectural governor shall continuously monitor the condition of agricultural land regarding soil pollution caused by Hazardous Substances (cadmium, copper and arsenic), and prefectural governors can designate areas for countermeasures when the concentration of hazardous substances exceeds the limit.

Summary of the survey results:

(1) As a result of the continuous monitoring, the regulatory standard for cadmium was exceeded in 3 areas.

(2) There was no newly designated area for countermeasures. There was no area where a plan for countermeasures was newly formulated or modified. There was no newly canceled area. As of the end of FY 2020, 73 areas have been designated in total. Among those areas, designation was canceled in 57 areas and is still in place in 16 areas.

(3) As of the end of FY 2020, the countermeasures have been completed for 7,144 ha (94.1%) of all areas where the concentration of hazardous substances exceeds or is extremely likely to exceed the limit.

Please refer to the following URL to access the survey results (Japanese):

For Japanese

Attached File:

• Please refer to the following URL to access the survey results (Japanese): [PDF 979 KB]