Although complaints from residents continue to arise as waste treatment facilities produce dust, noise, or odor or discharge pollutants in their surrounding areas depending on their type and scale and create concerns for adverse effects on residents’ health, complaints have been made that waste treatment facilities are concentrated in particular areas due to transport convenience and location cost-effectiveness.

Even though waste dischargers are responsible for restoring the polluted environment, which is caused by their discharged waste, in principle under the current law, it has been pointed out that it is greatly concerning that if waste is left unattended and not properly treated and waste dischargers do not take action directly although the environment is polluted, it may infringe on local residents’ right to health.

In this regard, this Act aims to explicitly state the State’s responsibility to ensure that waste treatment facilities are not concentrated in particular areas, take action directly for any actual or potential harm due to unattended waste, find waste dischargers after the fact, and seek compensation, and increase the upper limit of administrative fines imposed on dischargers violating applicable laws from 3 million won to 5 million won to strengthen the supervision of waste discharge and treatment (Articles 4 (5), Article 58-3 newly inserted, Article 68 (2), and Article 68 (3)).

Increase the upper limit of administrative fines imposed on dischargers violating applicable laws from 3 million won to 5 million won (Article 4 (5), Article 58-3 newly inserted, Article 68 (2), and Article 68 (3)).