Soil Contamination Countermeasures Law Takes Effect

The Soil Contamination Countermeasures Law took effect in Japan on February 15, 2003. The purpose of the law is to grasp the situation on soil contamination caused by hazardous substances and to prevent human health from being damaged by the contamination.

Under the law, if there is a polluted site that can damage the public health, prefectural governors can order its landowner to investigare the land for soil contamination.
If it is contaminated, the governor can designate it as a polluted site and order the polluter, or its landowner in case the polluter is unidentified or nonexistent, to clean the site.

To ensure credibility in the examination of soil contamination, the Environment Minister designates technically-capable investigators as certified bodies.


- Law Enacted to Prevent Soil Contamination (Related JFS article)
http://www.japanfs.org/db/97-j

Posted: 2003/04/15 08:45:29 AM
Japanese version