When acquiring, inheriting, or merging business sites with pollution-causing facilities, it will be possible to check records of administrative dispositions for environmental crimes.
The Ministry of Environment said on 16th that, with the Cabinet's approval of the Act on the Control and Aggravated Punishment of Environmental Offenses, it has become possible to check whether there were administrative dispositions for violations before acquiring a business site.
The enforcement decree newly establishes an "administrative disposition history verification procedure" and "standard forms" that allow a transferee, an heir, a surviving corporation after a merger, and a newly established corporation after a merger to check administrative disposition records under the Environmental Crime Control Act during the process of acquiring a business site.
This enforcement decree follows the amendment to the Environmental Crime Control Act that takes effect on 26th of this month. The amendment requires transferees and others to verify the administrative disposition records of former operators when acquiring, inheriting, or merging illegal emission facilities.
According to the enforcement decree, transferees and others must verify whether there were administrative dispositions for violations of relevant laws by the former operator before acquiring a business site. To this end, if an "administrative disposition history verification request" is submitted to the competent authority, the authority must issue an "administrative disposition history certificate" within five days. In addition, the forms for the "administrative disposition history verification request" and the "administrative disposition history certificate" are provided in the annex of the enforcement decree.
Meanwhile, the application and issuance of administrative disposition history verification have been delegated to the mayors and provincial governors and the heads of the regional environmental offices, who have the authority to impose such administrative dispositions. This measure aims to enhance on-site accessibility and work efficiency. However, integrated permit emission facilities under the Act on the Integrated Control of Pollutant-Discharging Facilities, for which the Minister of Environment is the disposing authority, were excluded from the delegation.
Kim Eun-kyung, Inspector General at the Ministry of Environment, said, "With this enforcement decree, being able to verify administrative disposition histories in advance during the process of acquiring a business site will enhance investment stability and predictability and has laid the institutional groundwork to protect good-faith transferees and others."