Compendium of Reference Materials on the Basis for Establishment of Environmental Quality Standards in Japan

Environmental quality standards were included in Article 9 of the Basic Act on Environmental Pollution Control, enacted in 1967. Paragraph 1 of that article stipulates that environmental quality standards are “standards recommended to be kept up, so as to protect human health and conserve the living environments,” and Paragraph 4 states that “the government must endeavor to keep up environmental quality standards by implementing policies for environmental pollution control in a comprehensive, effective and proper manner.” This wording makes it clear that environmental quality standards are administrative effort-based targets to promote measures to prevent environmental pollution. These stipulations were carried over into Article 16 of the Basic Act on the Environment, which was enacted in 1993.

In the initial period, environmental quality standards were established in three categories, i.e., air pollution, water pollution, and noise. When the Basic Act on Environmental Pollution Control was amended in 1970, soil contamination was added, bringing the total to four. Environmental quality standards for dioxins are not covered under the Basic Act on the Environment. They are determined under the provisions of Article 7 of the Act on Special Measures against Dioxins for each environmental medium, namely air, water (including bottom sediment) and soil.

From the perspective of protecting human health and conserving the living environment, environmental quality standards were considered to be effective in formulating policy measures that target pollution caused by a concentration of emission sources, and were stipulated in the Basic Act on Environmental Pollution Control. Environmental quality standards serve as administrative targets. For areas that are not yet polluted or have a low level of pollution, they serve as the basis for measures to prevent future pollution and as targets for the implementation of measures so that the levels embodied by these standards are not exceeded. On the other hand, in areas where pollution is already occurring, they serve as indicators for administrative measures to prevent further pollution, and also as targets for implementing concrete measures to reduce pollution to levels that will satisfy the environmental quality standards.

One special characteristic of environmental quality standards is that they are “standards which are recommended to be kept up” (or maintained) and serve as administrative policy objectives. If the concept of environmental quality standards is interpreted as the maximum permissible limit or tolerable level, it takes on a passive connotation, implying limiting pollution to that level is sufficient to maintain human health, or that pollution up to that level must be tolerated. However, when environmental quality standards are presented as “desirable standards,” they serve more as proactive administrative targets.

When environmental quality standards are established, measures are taken to maintain and achieve them. For example, emission standards are often established for air and water pollution, and factories and business facilities are required to comply with them. With regard to emission standards, penalties are imposed for non-compliance. In contrast, environmental quality standards serve as administrative targets, which means that even if they are not achieved, no penalties are imposed. However, the government does evaluate the achievement levels of standards, and if necessary, will consider further measures that may be required to make improvements.

The purpose of environmental quality standards is the “protection of human health” and “conservation of the living environment.” The “living environment” is defined as “including property closely related to human life, as well as flora and fauna closely related to human life, and their growing environments.” “Living environment” is not explicitly defined in the Basic Act on Environmental Pollution Control or the Basic Act on the Environment. However, the commentary document for the Basic Act on Environmental Pollution Control states that “ ‘conservation of living environment’ usually refers to maintaining the comfort and convenience of life by maintaining the purity and tranquility of the air and water, and the stability of the earth.’” In addition to these meanings, the term “living environment” is used to refer to property that is closely related to human life, and flora and fauna that are closely related to human life, and their growing environment. In the initial period, many of the cases that attracted attention as environmental pollution problems included damage to crops as well as fish and shellfish sought by the fishing industry, damage such as corrosion of furniture and products, and environmental pollution countermeasures were also expected to serve as a means to prevent such damage. However, the nature of the environmental quality standards actually established differs depending on the environmental medium and category. Environmental quality standards for air pollution had been considered for categories in terms of impacts on flora, etc., but at present, they have been established only from the perspective of protecting human health. With regard to environmental quality standards for water pollution, they are established for items that differ from those for the protection of human health and for the conservation of the living environment, while environmental quality standards related to soil contamination and noise have taken both into consideration. In addition, with regard to environmental quality standards for dioxins based on the Act on Special Measures against Dioxins, they have been established from the perspective of protecting human health for all environmental media.

In the initial period, the Basic Act on Environmental Pollution Control, Article 9, Paragraph 2 stated that “in establishing standards concerning living environments, consideration shall be given to achieving harmony with the sound development of the economy,” which has been referred to as the “article for harmonization with economic development.” However, this clause was deleted in 1970 at the Diet session known as the “Pollution Control Diet,” where many laws related to pollution control were newly enacted or amended.

With regard to environmental quality standards, even before the Environment Agency was created, advisory bodies had begun deliberations under the Ministry of Health and Welfare on environmental quality standards for air pollution and noise, and under the Economic Planning Agency on water pollution, and standards for some categories had been adopted by cabinet decision. After the Environment Agency was created in September 1971, the Agency and the Central Council for Environmental Pollution Control took over those tasks, and standards were established through a public notification by the Environment Agency. Environmental quality standards for air pollution, water pollution and noise were broadly established during the 1970s, and environmental quality standards with regard to soil contamination have been established since 1991. This work has been taken over directly by the Ministry of the Environment, which was established in January 2001.

With regard to environmental quality standards, Article 16, Paragraph 3 of the Basic Act on the Environment states that “The standards set forth in Paragraph 1 must be reviewed regularly from a scientific perspective and must be revised whenever necessary.” The selection of items to be covered by standards and the establishment of standard values are generally done first through processes under the Ministry of the Environment (formerly the Environment Agency, etc.) involving the gathering and analysis of scientific knowledge, then deliberations on the findings and related information by expert committees, subcommittees, and study groups under the Central Council for the Environment (formerly the Central Council for Environmental Pollution Control, etc.), and the Council’s resulting advisory reports. In recent years as well, in the context of changes in environmental problems and advances in scientific knowledge, environmental quality standards for new items have been established and standard values have been revised.

Environmental quality standards are not established for all hazardous substances. When it becomes clear that some kind of countermeasure is necessary, such as when scientific knowledge is collected and assessed to evaluate the hazards of a substance, and when it becomes clear that the substance exists in the environment at a level that may adversely affect health or the environment, environmental quality standards are established, and measures such as emission regulations are implemented to achieve and maintain such standards. However, environmental quality standards may not be established in some cases, such as when scientific knowledge is still not sufficient to determine hazard levels, or when the levels in the environment are not yet high.

In cases where environmental quality standards are not established for some reason, target values are set as “guideline values,” which have a function similar to environmental quality standards. (Environmental quality standards and guideline values are sometimes collectively referred to as “environmental target values” (環境目標値 kankyo mokuhyouchi). Hereinafter, however, the collective term for environmental quality standards and guideline values will be referred to as “environmental quality standards, etc.” (環境基準等 kankyo kijun tou), since the main emphasis of this compendium is on environmental quality standards as prescribed by legislation).

With regard to radioactive materials, the need for environmental quality standards was examined in light of amendments to the Basic Act on the Environment after an accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in 2011. In the amendments, Article 13 of the Act, which entrusted measures for the prevention of environmental pollution caused by radioactive materials to the Basic Act on Nuclear Energy and other related legislation, was deleted. As a result of those deliberations, from the perspective of preventing environmental pollution from regular business activities, it was considered unnecessary to establish new standards concerning the state of the ambient environment (environmental quality standards), because radiation dosages are controlled in normal times in accordance with International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) recommendations to ensure that exposure doses do not exceed the dose limits under various regulatory laws even for a person who is assumed to receive the highest radiation dose among the residents in the vicinity of a facility.

・岩田幸基編（1971）新訂・公害対策基本法の解説、新日本法規出版、pp.141-150 【NIES保管ファイル】

・岩田幸基編（1971）新訂・公害対策基本法の解説、新日本法規出版、pp.163-185 【NIES保管ファイル】

・平成27年2月13日・中央環境審議会総会（第22回）資料3-3「「環境基本法の改正を踏まえた放射性物質の適用除外規定に係る環境法令の整備について（意見具申）」を踏まえたその後の対応状況等について」　https://www.env.go.jp/council/01chuo/y010-22/mat03_3.pdf 【NIES保管ファイル】