Water quality monitoring and data
disclosure.Under the Water Pollution
Control Law, prefectural governors and the
mayors of designated cities regularly
monitor the water quality of public waters,
and the Ministry of the Environment
subsidizes the costs of this monitoring. The
governmentpromotesautomated
monitoring of water quality at key points in
public waters. As of FY 2002, prefectural
governments and designated cities had set
up automated water-quality monitoring
equipment stations in 125 locations and
regularly published details on water quality
in each location. Major waterways are also
monitored. At the end of FY 2001, the
Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and
Transport had set up automated water-
quality monitoring devices at 199 locations
in 93 major waterways nationwide under
the supervision of the River Management
Office.
Effluent standards and regulations for
industrial water use. The Water Pollution
Control Law sets effluent standards for
factories and other entities that emit certain
effluents into public waters (called
“specified facilities”). The standards specify
substances that could be harmful to human-
health (24 substances such as cadmium and
cyanide) and to the living-environment (16
items) and sets effluent limits for each. As of
FY 2001, these regulations were applied to
about 300,000 facilities.
The Law also requires certain factories and
facilities to install specified pollution-
control equipment. The governments can
ask facilities to report their effluent levels
and can verify with on-site inspections if
necessary. If the effluents from the facility
continue to violate the standards, the
government can impose fines and order
modifications of either the facilities or their
wastewater treatment methods. Firms that
emit toxins as part of their manufacturing
processes must pay compensation for the
harm caused to human health (no-fault
liability for compensation). The Law further
obliges specified facilities inside “specific
designated regions” to be subject to "total
pollutant load control" and regularly report
to the government their pollutant discharge
loads.
Public education for efficient water use.
Effluents from domestic activities such as
cooking, laundry, and bathing are a major
cause of pollution of public waters.
Therefore, the Water Pollution Control Law
specifies the general public's general
responsibilityforcooperationwith
government policy on water quality and
water conservation. However, there are
neither direct regulations nor penalties for
releasing domestic effluents. The Ministry
of the Environment has promoted education
to enhance the public's awareness of the
problem and to prompt efficient water use
and voluntary reduction is domestic
pollution loads.