廢棄物管理法上 事業場廢棄物 排出事業者의 法的 責任

Abstract

While Korea realized tremendous economic expansion in a relative short period of time, the pressure placed on the environment as a result of this expansion revealed some serious pathological phenomena. One of the most serious phenomena is soil and groundwater contamination caused by illegal disposal of industrial wastes. This article describes how and by whom a number of severe illegal disposals of industrial wastes were made, and how to legally cope with them, especially focusing on legal responsibility of enterprisers who generate industrial wastes on “Wastes Control Act” (“the Act”). Most of important legal issues concerning the Act are concerned with the situation where an industrial waste generator disposes of wastes generated from her place of business all by herself. Disposal of industrial wastes by a generator often results in their illegal abandonment or dumping, which is revealed far later when she assigns business, or sells the land on and in which wastes have been dumped or buried(“dump-site”) to another person. Concerning the situation, this article argues as follows: 1. Where wastes were disposed of in such a manner as fails to meet the standards prescribed in the Act, the person who disposed of wastes should observe the mandatory order to take measures with respect to waste disposal(“mandatory order”) even though the Act did not enter into force when the waste disposal was made. 2. If an industrial waste generator assigns business to another person, or if a corporation merges with another, the assignee, or the corporation surviving after the merger, or the one newly established by the merger should succeed obligations related to the industrial wastes concerned, and thus observe the mandatory order to take measures with respect to the illegal waste disposal. 3. If an industrial waste generator sold a dump-site to another, Person the current owner should also be subject to the mandatory order unless she successfully proves that she unknowingly bought it without negligence. 4. The mandatory order issued to an industrial waste generator or its successor as mentioned above is not against constitution even though the illegal disposal or the succession was made before the Act entered into force. It is so because it does not fall under the category of deprivation of property by ex post legislation. Finally, this article argues necessity of a new amendment that the Act strengthen responsibility of industrial waste generators even when they dispose of wastes generated from their place of business by entrusting disposal service to another person who has been licensed for waste management business.