1. Reason for enactment

The advance environmental review and ex-post management of human acts of using or exploring the ocean have become increasingly important since it is more likely for the ocean to be polluted and the marine ecosystem to be damaged, thus aggravating the friction with existing users of marine resources as the number and scale of activities for using and developing marine have increased. Accordingly, the Marine Utilization Impact Assessment Act (Law No. 19910; promulgated on January 2, 2024), which includes provisions aimed at strengthening the post-management and supervision functions by separating the system of environmental review in the marine field from the Marine Environment Management Act, has been enacted. The proposed Enforcement Rules aim to stipulate the matters delegated by the Act and other matters for its enforcement.

2. Main contents

a. Purposes (Article 1) 

- The purposes of the Enforcement Rules

b. Assessment items, methods, contents of reports, supplementation, adjustment, and return of marine utilization impact assessment (Articles 2 to 5).

- Contents of marine utilization consultation and marine utilization impact assessment, projects excluded from the mandatory collection of opinions from specialized review organizations, and grounds for supplementing, adjusting or returning consultation reports or project implementation plans.

c. Preparation of the assessment preparation documents, disclosure of decisions on items, draft assessment report, and collection of opinions (Articles 6 to 12).

- Provisions on the contents of the preparatory documents for marine utilization impact assessment, disclosure of contents of the assessment items decided by the review committee; contents of the draft assessment report, statement of opinions at the public hearing, causes of reasons for rehearing opinions due to changes in key items; and supplementation, adjustment or return of the assessment report.

d. Exceptions to the prohibition of construction work before the completion of consultation, timing of notification of target projects, contents and control of management books, qualifications of administrators, and projects subject to marine environmental impact surveys (Articles 13 to 17). 

- Matters prohibiting construction prior to consultation completion, obligation and timing of notification of commencement or completion of construction projects subject to assessment, contents and storage location of consultation and opinion management registers, qualification and job scope of consultation opinion management personnel, projects subject to marine environmental impact surveys, timing of reporting their results, etc.

e. Items subject to assessment of project performance capabilities, assessment criteria and procedures (Articles 18 to 19)

- Provision on projects subject to performance assessment, assessment criteria and procedures

f. Registration (or revision), re-assessment service, criteria for judgment of false or poor assessment reports, succession of rights and duties of marine utilization impact assessment agency business (Articles 20 to 30). 

- Provisions on registration criteria, required documents, registration of significant changes, scope of work that can be re-assessed by another service provider, criteria for judging false or poor assessment reports, procedures for succession of the rights and duties of service providers, declaration of discontinuance or pause of service, etc., criteria for ordering a revocation of registration or a suspension of service, contents of the service performances to report, management of service performance records, public announcements concerning the issuance of certificates.

g. Fees and requests for research and survey data (Articles 31 to 32)

- Provisions on fees for the use of research and survey data, such marine utilization impact assessment and the statutory grounds for requesting research and survey to related agencies.

h. Functions subject to the installation and operation of information support systems (Article 33) 

- Items related to the management of information support systems.

i. Criteria for designation and revocation of the registration of specialist personnel training institutes (Article 34)

- Criteria for the designation and cancellation of training institutes, and suspension of services.