[Background]

- In accordance with the delegation provision of the Chemicals Control Act (Chemicals Act), the Ministry of Environment is establishing the “Designation of Accident-Prone Substances” under the Chemical Safety Agency Notification.

- Following the amendment of the Chemicals Control Act (Chemical Safety Act), the Chemical Safety Policy Forum differentiated the management levels based on the toxicity (acute, chronic, ecological) of substances:

**Although these substances are currently managed as toxic substances, there is a risk of accidents due to physical hazards such as fire and explosion, even though they are only classified as having chronic human toxicity. 

As a result, less stringent facility management standards are applied, or these substances may be excluded from the list of hazardous chemicals.
**Therefore, it is necessary to designate additional accident-prone substances considering the potential for accidents and their escalation.

(Need for Government Intervention)
Government intervention is necessary to achieve the public interest goal of protecting public safety and the environment from chemical accidents.
Following the amendment of the Toxic Chemicals Act and the Chemicals Control Act (February 2024), toxic substances are classified based on their harmful characteristics (acute, chronic, ecological) and differentiated management measures. 

To minimize safety management gaps in chemical accidents, three high-risk chemicals—xylene, styrene, and 1,3-butadiene—are designated as accident-prone substances to proactively manage them and ensure public safety.

[Regulatory Details]

- The previously established Ministry of Environment Notification on the “Designation of Accident-Prone Substances” will be transferred and established under the Chemical Safety Agency Notification.
- Among the substances currently managed as hazardous chemicals, xylene, styrene, and 1,3-butadiene, which were previously categorized only for their chronic human toxicity and subjected to relaxed facility management standards or excluded from hazardous chemicals, will be newly designated as accident-prone substances due to their high accident risks and potential for occurrence.