OECD Global Forum on Sustainable Development
2-3 December, 2004, Paris
Optimizing Compliance
Monitoring and Enforcement:
Japanese Experience in Water
Pollution Control
Hidefumi IMURA
Nagoya University
Japan
Water Environment in Japan
•Much rainfall: 1,700 mm / year
•Many small rivers
•Semi-closed water bodies such as Tokyo Bay, Ise Bay
and Seto Inland Sea
•Long Coastal lines
•Many lakes and reservoirs
•Pollution by Industrial Waste Water
•Urbanization and Pollution by Domestic Waste Water
•Agriculture and Pollution by Non-Point Sources
•Health Damage, e.g., Minamata Disease
•Degradation of Living Environment and Amenities
•Damage on Fisheries
Water Pollution in Japan
Minamata Disease
Water Pollution Control in Japan
1. Environmental Quality Standards
 EQS for Protecting Human Health・・・26 substances
(heavy metals, PCBs and other toxic chemicals)
 EQS for Protecting the Living Environment ・・・pH,
BOD (COD), SS, DO, total coliform; Classification of
rivers, lakes, and seas according to the type of water
use.
2. Effluent Regulation and Standards
 National Uniform Effluent Standards
 More Stringent Prefectural Effluent Standards
3. Total Pollutant Load Control
 Eg. Tokyo Bay, Ise Bay, Seto Inland Sea, Designated
Lakes
Monitoring of Water Quality
Automated water quality monitoring
 125 points operated by prefectures and
designated cities
 199 points in 93 major waterways
operated by River Management Office
of MLIT (Ministry of Land, Infrastructure
and Transport)
Compliance Rate of EQS (1)
Compliance Rate of EQS (2)
Effluent Regulations
1. Laws

Water Pollution Control Law

Special Law for Environmental Preservation of Seto Inland Sea

Law of Special Measures for Lake Water Quality

Prefectural and municipal ordinances

[Sewerage Law]
2. Designation of “specified facilities”

300, 000 factories and other commercial facilities (hotels, stock
raising, cleaning, night soil treatment, etc.)

Large facilities (more than 50 m3/day) 13%

Small facilities (less than 50 m3/day) 87%
3. Role of prefectures and designated cities

Request reports from specified facilities

On-site inspections to monitor compliance

Take administrative action such as “improvement order”
Total Pollution Load Control (1)
Total Pollution Load Control (2)
Source of Pollution Load
600
400
1979
1984
1989
1994
1999
300
200
100
Tokyo B ay
Ise B ay
O thers
Industry
H ousehold
O thers
Industry
H ousehold
O thers
Industry
0
H ousehold
C O D loading (t/day)
500
Seto Inland sea
Total Pollution Load Control (3)
Enforcement
Minister of the Environment
Basic Policy for Areawide Total Pollution Load Control
for Each Designated Water Body
Prefectural Governors
Areawide Total Pollution Load Control Plan
Reduction Target and Measures to Achieve the Target
Control Measures
• Regulation
• Guidance
• Project Implementation, e.g., improvement of
Sewerage systems
Water Pollution Control of
Lakes and Reservoirs (1)
Minister of the Environment
Designation of Lakes and Reservoirs
Prefectural Governors
Water Quality Conservation Plan
Control Measures
1. Projects for water quality improvement,
e.g., construction of sewerage treatment plants
2. Regulations, e.g., control of new building or
expansion of factories and other commercial facilities
3. Guidance, advice and recommendations to
non-compliance facilities
Water Pollution Control of
Lakes and Reservoirs (2)
Designated Lakes and Reservoirs
Japanese Approach (1)
Reporting
Specified facilities
Submit a plan prior to new installation
or modification of specified facility
Environmental Offices of
Prefectures and Municipalities
Inspect submitted document
Order to change the plan
or take prior measures
Compliance
Japanese Approach (2)
Inspection and Monitoring
Specified Facilities
Environmental Office of
Prefectures and Municipalities
Effluent
On-site Inspection
Public Waters
Environmental
Monitoring
Non-Compliance
Order remedy
Penalty
National Compliance Monitoring
in 2002
300,000 specified facilities
 40 issues of improvement order
 8,434 issues of administrative
guidance
 55,332 visits for on-site inspection
 (daytime 54,672, nighttime 660)

Number of Persons in Charge of Environmental Management
• National (Ministry of the Environment) 1,000
• Local (Prefectures and Large Cities) 6,400
* Including Air, Water, and Others
Compliance Monitoring
Case of Kitakyushu City
Industrial City with a population of 1
million people
 Monitoring and Inspection based on
two systems

(1) Water Pollution Control Law and Seto
Inland Special Law
(2) Sewerage Law

Operated by a small unit (about 5
officials)
Monitoring and Inspection
by Water Pollution Control Law
Case of Kitakyushu City, 2002
 242 specified facilities
 0 issues of improvement order
 4 issues of administrative guidance
 91 visits for on-site inspection
(daytime 83, nighttime 8)
 Operated by a small unit (about 5
officials)
Monitoring and Inspection
by Sewerage Law
Case of Kitakyushu City, 2003
 1,071 facilities releasing effluent to urban
sewerage system (average waste water
volume 62.1m3 / day)
 515 facilities under monitoring
 434 visits for on-site inspection
 3,791 measurement samples, 21 noncompliance samples (0.6%)
 1,078 self-measurement samples, 17 noncompliance
Japanese Approach (1)
Government









Basic Policy formulated by National Government
Decentralized enforcement system operated by
prefectural and municipal governments
Technical expertise accumulated in prefectures
and municipalities
Environmental Research and Monitoring Centers
Automated monitoring
Financial assistance to SMEs
Policy-based financing
Tax incentives
Public investment in urban sewerage systems
Industrial Response (1)

Large Factories

Specified facilities with a volume of effluent more than 10,000
m3/day must have pollution control managers who are qualified by
the relevant law

SMEs

Reporting and guidance by local environmental authorities
Subject to monitoring and inspection by prefectures and
municipalities
Financial assistance by JEC (Japan Environmental Corporation) and
local governments
Relocation to industrial parks with collective treatment systems



Industrial Response (2)
Effluent standard
Local
government
company
Plan
Inspection
Sewage tariff
Tax incentive
National
government
Tax incentive
Low interest loan
Self monitoring
1965
1967
1969
1971
1973
1975
1977
1979
1981
1983
1985
1987
1989
1991
(m illion U S$ constant value 1995)
Loan for Pollution Control
investment
7,000
6,000
5,000
4,000
3,000
N FC
JA SM E
JD B
JEC
2,000
1,000
-
Domestic Waste Water
Improvement of urban sewerage
systems
 Improvement of decentralized
treatment systems (“Jokaso”) in rural
areas

Urban Sewerage System in
Kitakyushu city
(%)
100
(B O D m g/l)
16
90
14
80
12
70
60
50
40
30
10
B O D sam pled near
Katsuyam a B ridge
D iffusion rate of sew age
system
20
8
6
4
2
0
0
19
64
19
66
19
68
19
70
19
72
19
74
19
76
19
78
19
80
19
82
19
84
19
86
19
88
19
90
19
92
19
94
19
96
19
98
20
00
20
02
10
Diffusion ratio of Urban
Sewerage system
Major cities (2002)
0.0
O saka
Tokyo 23 W ards
Yokoham a
20.0
40.0
60.0
Japan total (1961-2003)
80.0
100.0
70
60
50
Sapporo
Kyoto
40
Fukuoka
Kitakyushu
Kobe
30
20
Kwasaki
Nagoya
10
Sendai
C hiba
0
19
61
19
64
19
67
19
70
19
73
19
76
19
79
19
82
19
85
19
88
19
91
19
94
19
97
20
00
Hiroshim a
Optimization According to
Japanese Experience








Local, decentralized system
Preparation of an inventory of sources
including a large number of small sources
Reporting prior to new construction and
modification of existing facilities
Document inspection by local environmental
authorities and guidance and advice
Financial assistance for technical measures
On-site inspection and monitoring
Self-monitoring by facilities
Need of urban sewerage systems
Thank you!