December 24, 2003
The Ministry of the Environment summarized the state of enforcement in FY 2002 of the Water Pollution Control Law, the Law concerning Special Measures for Conservation of the Environment of the Seto Inland Sea and the Law concerning Special Measures for Conservation of Lake Water Quality.
The number of factories and business establishments subject to effluent control (hereinafter referred to as the “specified business establishments”) totaled approximately 300,000, out of which hotels and inns comes on top with approximately 73,000 establishments, comprising approximately 25% in FY 2002. The number of on-site inspections of these specified business establishments was approximately 55,000 cases. Administrative guidance was conducted in approximately 8,000 cases. Administrative orders to improve the situation were conducted in 40 cases, administrative orders to suspend the operation were conducted in two cases and eight arrests were made for infringement of effluent standard.
| 1. | Number of the specified business establishments |
The total number of the specified business establishments was approximately 300,000, which was slightly decreased compared to FY 2001.
| Total number of the specified business establishments | |||||
| Specified business establishments |
Specified business establishments |
||||
| which discharge effluent 50m3/day or above | Specified business establishments using toxic substance | which discharge effluent less than 50m3/day | Specified business establishments using toxic substance | ||
| FY 2002 | 296,157 | 38,292 | 4,582 (2) | 257,865 | 10,975 (5) |
| FY 2001 | 297,973 | 38,751 | 5,091 (5) | 259,222 | 11,892 (17) |
| Notes: | 1. | Effluent standards relevant to living environment items are not applied to the specified business establishments which discharge effluent less than 50m3/day. |
| 2. | Figures in parentheses are numbers of specified business establishments in which specified underground infiltrated water is infiltrated into the ground. This figure is included in the total. |
Among specified business establishments sorted by types of business, hotels and inns accounts for most, followed by stock breeding farms and automated car washers.
| First place | Second place | Third place | |
| FY 2002 | Hotels and inns 72,656 |
Stock breeding farms 34,420 |
Automated car washers 28,844 |
| FY 2001 | Hotels and inns 72,456 |
Stock breeding farms 34,351 |
Automated car washers 28,491 |
| 2. | Application of administrative orders to improve the situation and penalties |
| (1) | On-site inspection (Article 22 of the Water Pollution Control Law) and administrative guidance |
The number of administrative guidance increased while total number of on-site inspection decreased, compared to FY 2001.
| Total number of on-site inspection | Administrative guidance |
|||
| Daytime | Night time | |||
| FY 2002 | 55,332 | 54,672 | 660 | 8,519 (85) |
| FY 2001 | 59,980 | 59,267 | 713 | 7,807 (110) |
| Note: | Figures in parentheses are related to underground infiltration and the figures are included in the total. |
| (2) | Administrative orders to improve the situation (Article 13 of the Water Pollution Control Law) |
Total number of administrative orders issued to improve the situation related to the structure and usage of specified facility, and wastewater treatment method increased compared to FY 2001. Also, the number of administrative orders issued to suspend the use of specified facility or discharge of effluent increased compared to FY 2001.
Number of administrative orders to improve the situation of structure and usage of specified facility for underground infiltration and the wastewater treatment method was zero. There was no suspension order regarding the use of specified facility for underground infiltration and underground infiltration of the specified underground infiltration water.
| Discharge of effluent to the public water areas (Para. 1 of Article 13) | Underground infiltration (Para. 1 of Article 13-2) | Order to take measures for purification of ground water (Article 14-3) | |||
| Administrative order to redress the situation | Administrative order to suspend operation | Administrative order to improve the situation | Administrative order to suspend operation | ||
| FY 2002 | 40 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| FY 2001 | 38 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| (3) | Application of penalty (Article 31 and others of the Water Pollution Control Law) |
The number of arrests of violation of effluent standard increased compared to FY 2001. There was no violation of other provisions.
| Violation of effluent standard | Violation of other provisions | Total | |
| FY 2002 | 8 | 0 | 8 |
| FY 2001 | 3 | 0 | 3 |