Enactment of the Previous Two Laws on Water Quality

At the national level, the Coordination Council on Water Pollution was established in 1953 by ministries and agencies concerned with pollution control measures. The function of this council was taken over by the Economic Planning Agency, and the Cabinet approved the Water Pollution Control Guideline in 1958. On the basis of this guideline, the Public Water Quality Protection Law and, the implementing Industrial Effluent Water Law, which together were called the ‘previous two laws on water quality’, were enacted. These laws established the water quality standards for certain public water areas designated by the national government, and they allowed the national government to take regulatory actions to enforce factories compliance with these laws.

However, only a few water areas were actually designated. These laws aimed at the protection of public health and the environment by industries, but only in superficial ways and we could hardly say that sufficient emphasis had been placed on pollution control.

Pollution problems used to be administered as civil law, and insufficient pollution control laws could result in immediate health and environmental damages if the polluters failed to take adequate precautions. This approach invited tragic health and severe environmental damages in various areas.

< back