1. Reason for Amendment
In order to promote the installation of retention tanks, it is necessary to specify retention tanks as facilities to be included in land planning. Additionally, when the wastewater discharge amount from a business that discharges all its wastewater into a joint treatment facility can be estimated based on water usage, etc., the obligation to install a wastewater metering device will be exempted, thereby rationalizing the installation of the metering device. Furthermore, the standards for technical personnel in charge of managing measuring instruments will be improved to reflect real-world circumstances, and the classification of industries for wastewater discharge facilities subject to installation reporting will be updated according to the latest Korean Standard Industrial Classification, thus addressing and improving some of the operational shortcomings of the current system.
2. Key Points
a. Specification of Retention Tanks in Land Planning to promote installation (Article 21 of the draft)
Retention tanks, along with public wastewater and sewage treatment facilities, and livestock manure treatment facilities, will be included in land planning, which must be installed and managed by local government heads.
b. Updating the Industry Classification for Reporting Wastewater Discharge Facilities (Article 72, Section 4 of the draft)
The updated Korean Standard Industrial Classification under Article 22 of the “Statistics Act” will be applied.
c. Establishing the Basis for Commissioning Aquatic Ecosystem Status Surveys and Health Assessments (Articles 81 & 84 of the draft)
1) The scope of duties delegated to the Director of the National Institute of Environmental Research will be changed to include the establishment of methods and procedures for surveying aquatic ecosystems and health assessments, as well as the publication of assessment results (Article 81).
2) A new basis will be established for commissioning the aquatic ecosystem status survey and health assessment tasks to the National Institute of Ecology (Article 84).
d. Clarification of Metering Device Installation Method and Rationalization of Metering Device Installation for Facilities Discharging Wastewater to Joint Treatment Facilities (Appendix 8 of the draft)
1) The method of installing a wastewater metering device at facilities required to install wastewater and sewage metering devices will be clearly specified (Appendix 8).
2) If the wastewater amount of a facility discharging all its wastewater to a joint treatment facility can be estimated based on water usage, etc., the installation of a wastewater metering device will be exempted (Appendix 8).
e. Improvement of Technical Personnel Standards for Measurement Device Management (Appendix 8-2 of the draft)
The qualifications for experience will be supplemented to improve the technical personnel standards for measurement device management services.
