The government has created a special provision allowing contaminated soil to be taken off-site for remediation before groundbreaking on public dwellings and semiconductor clusters, according to reports on the 18th. Under the land environment conservation act, the principle is to remediate contaminated soil where it is found. As a result, construction was often halted. If remediation can be done off-site, the construction period could be shortened by as little as two years and as much as seven years.
The Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment gave advance notice on the 31st of last month of a partial amendment to the enforcement rule of the soil environment conservation act reflecting this content. It plans to proceed with advance notice through Aug. 12 and enforce it after review by the Ministry of Government Legislation. Under the draft amendment, public dwelling projects under the Special Act on Public Dwellings and semiconductor cluster development projects under the Special Act on Reinforcing Competitiveness of the Semiconductor Industry and Providing Support may remove contaminated soil off-site for remediation even before groundbreaking.
Contaminated soil remediation is a measure based on the land environment conservation act. Large-scale development projects must undergo environmental impact assessments. Among the assessment items is land contamination level. If the land contamination level exceeds a certain threshold, remediation measures must be taken. Both the public dwelling supply project at Yongsan Children's Park that the government is reviewing and the Honam semiconductor cluster development project are expected to require contaminated soil remediation.
Under the land environment conservation act, to take contaminated soil to another location or facility for remediation, exception requirements must be met. These include cases where contaminated soil is found after construction has begun or where the contaminated soil is to be used for research purposes. It also applies when the head of the competent local government recognizes that remediating the contaminated soil on-site would have a significant impact on the surrounding environment.
In the draft amendment, the government also eased the requirements for off-site remediation. It changed the current standard of "when the head of the competent local government recognizes that the impact on the surrounding environment is significant" to "when the head of the competent local government recognizes that the impact on the public interest and the surrounding environment is significant." An official at the climate ministry said, "The aim is to keep the door open so that project operators can push projects forward quickly while carrying out necessary measures such as environmental impact assessments and contamination remediation."