On the 7th, People Power Party lawmaker Kim Mi-ae said she led the introduction of a bill to partially amend the Urban Gas Business Act that clearly defines urban gas supply facilities as public utilities and allows the use or expropriation of land when necessary.
The current law defines urban gas as energy essential to people's daily lives. However, actual pipeline installation relies on negotiations with land owners, leading to cases where projects are halted. In some areas, pipeline installation has been delayed for years, causing inconvenience to residents and forcing them to bear the cost of using high-priced fuel.
There has also been ongoing criticism that the relationship between the current law and other statutes regarding the use or expropriation of land for installing urban gas supply facilities is unclear. As a result, administrative and legal confusion is arising during the project implementation process.
The amendment introduced by Kim recognizes projects to install urban gas supply facilities as public utilities. In such cases, the use or expropriation of land is allowed after following the procedures under the Act on the Acquisition of and Compensation for Land, etc. for Public Works Projects. If losses occur, compensation is to be provided by applying that law mutatis mutandis.
Kim Mi-ae said, "Urban gas is essential infrastructure to sustain people's basic daily lives, and the delay of construction projects due to some malicious refusals to negotiate is a serious problem that causes great inconvenience to residents in the affected areas," adding, "On the premise of just compensation, we must balance public interest and property rights to guarantee people's right to access energy."