June 6, 2005
The Cabinet will adopt a Cabinet Order Partially Amending the Enforcement Order of the Air Pollution Control Law on June 7. Coinciding with the promulgation of this Cabinet Order scheduled to be around June 10, a Ministerial Ordinance Partially Amending the Enforcement Regulation of the Air Pollution Control Law and a Notification of the Ministry of the Environment on Measurement Method for Concentration of Volatile Organic Compounds shall be introduced. These instruments provide an emission control system for volatile organic compounds (VOCs) based on the Air Pollution Control Law amended on May 26, 2004.
The situation of air pollution caused by suspended particulate matters (SPMs) and photochemical oxidant is still grave, and SPMs are currently feared to give adverse impacts on human health. As for photochemical oxidant, many cases of human health damage have been reported and urgent countermeasures are demanded. With these as backgrounds, VOCs, which is one of the causes for SPMs and photochemical oxidant, generated from factories became the target to comprehensive emission suppression. A Bill Partially Amending the Air Pollution Control Law (hereinafter referred to as "the revised law") was enacted during the 159th Diet Session in 2004 and was promulgated on May 26, 2004.
The basic approach taken under the revised law to suppress VOCs emission is an optimum combination of regulatory and voluntary measures (a best-mix method). As for regulation, businesses owning the VOCs emitting facilities are obliged to submit report on facilities emitting VOCs and to comply with emission standards.
Based on this regulation, the Minister of the Environment requested the Central Environment Council, on July 1, 2004, to study the designation of VOCs emitting facilities, emission standards, and measuring methods for VOCs concentration. After the deliberation at the affiliated expert committees and public comment procedure on a draft report, the Council submitted the report entitled "Requirements for Implementing Emission Control System of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs)" on April 8, 2005. The Cabinet Order and the Ministerial Ordinance to be enacted are based on this report.
| 1. | Contents of the legislation |
| (1) |
Cabinet Order Partially Amending the Enforcement Order of the Air Pollution Control Law |
| - |
Obligation of the party installing VOCs emitting facilities to report and matters concerning on-site inspection. |
| - |
Size of municipality to which the authority of VOCs emission control will be delegated. |
| (2) |
Ministerial Ordinance Partially Amending the Enforcement Regulation of the Air Pollution Control Law |
| - |
Emission standards for VOCs. |
| - |
Items to be reported to prefectural governors on VOCs emitting facilities. |
| (3) |
Notification of the Ministry of the Environment on Measurement Method for Concentration of Volatile Organic Compounds |
| - |
Sample collection equipments. |
| - |
Analysis instruments. |
| - |
Measurement procedures. |
| Cabinet meeting: |
June 7, 2005 |
| Promulgation: |
Junes 10, 2005 (planned) |
| Enforcement: |
April 1, 2006 |
| Note: |
The Cabinet Order Partially Amending the Enforcement Order of the Air Pollution Control Law adopted by the Cabinet on May 24, 2005 and promulgated May 27, similar to the Cabinet Order mentioned in this article, is related to the VOCs emission control system and provides the scope of VOCs emission facilities subject to the control, etc. Its enforcement date is June 1, 2005. Due to the difference in enforcement dates, the two cabinet orders were adopted in different Cabinet meeting. |
Tax privilege and the special loan system for VOCs emission control equipment were commenced on June 1, 2005.
| - |
Special depreciation system. |
| - |
Preferential measure for taxation standards for property and business tax. |
| - |
Special loaning system by the Japan Finance Corporation for Small Business, Public Finance Corporation, and Development Bank of Japan. |
