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Press Release

Bill Partially Amending the Waste Management and Public Cleansing Law

March 7, 2005

A Bill partially amending the Waste Management and Public Cleansing Law shall be adopted by the Cabinet on March 8, 2005 and submitted to the 162nd Session of the Diet. The bill covers revision of administrative procedures for municipalities with health care centers, enhancement of the system of control manifest of industrial waste manifest and establishment of attempted and propaedeutic offenses of unconfirmed waste export. This bill aims to enhance the measures against inappropriate waste management and to establish more appropriate administration system for waste management, coping with cases such as large scale illegal waste dumping in Gifu City and export of waste plastic for recycling to China by a Japanese enterprise which included non-recycling waste plastic.

<Outline of Revision>

1.Countermeasures for large scale illegal dumping
  • The government revised the current system which provides municipalities having health care centers to handle administrative procedures for industrial waste, and provide ordinance designated municipalities to undertake the procedure. (The same revision shall be made for the Law concerning Special Measures against PCBs)
  • Introduction of disclosure and order for action for those not complying with advice given for violating the system of control manifest of industrial waste. Those operators transporting or disposing industrial waste shall be obliged to keep the manifest.
  • Stringent penalty* shall be imposed to corporate bodies for unauthorized operation, unauthorized change of business scope, etc.

2.Enhancement of regulation of unconfirmed export
  • Attempted and propaedeutic offenses of unconfirmed export shall be established to effectively prevent unconfirmed export of waste during export clearance procedure or the like.
  • Statutory penalty for unconfirmed waste export shall be strengthened and stringent penalty* shall be imposed on corporate bodies.

3.Measures to solve institutional issues
  • Final disposal sites which started waste disposal prior to June 1998 shall be also subjected to the Reserve Fund for Maintenance.
  • Licensing system shall be tightened, such as addition of illegitimate acquisition of license to the reasons for license revocation.
  • Necessary measures shall be taken for the abolition of subsidies given to local municipalities for municipal solid waste disposal sites as a result of National Subsidy Reform.

* For the dual liability, fine imposed on corporate bodies shall be higher than fines imposed on the doer of the offense. In this revision, individual doer of the offense shall be fined maximum of ¥10 million and corporate bodies shall be fined maximum of ¥100 million.

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