ENVIRONMENTAL ADMINISTRATION SYSEM IN JAPAN

JFS Newsletter No.5 (January 2003)

The environmental administration in Japan has centered on the Ministry of the Environment. The Ministry was founded as the Environment Agency in 1971, at a time when industrial pollution was a major problem in this country. When the central government was reorganized in 2001 from having one cabinet office and 22 ministries and agencies to one cabinet and 12 ministries and agencies organization, the former Environment Agency was promoted to the status of Ministry of the Environment.

Nevertheless, in comparison to the larger ministries, the Ministry of the Environment is still quite small in size. The Ministry of Public Management, Home Affairs, Posts and Telecommunications employs 300,000 persons and has a budget of over 18 trillion yen, while the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport employs 68,000 and controls more than 70 percent of the budget for public works. Meanwhile, with a staff of just over 1,100, the Ministry of the Environment accounts for only 0.001 percent of the total personnel working for the Government of Japan. It is said that the average overtime working hours at this ministry are the longest among all ministries and agencies.

Environmental problems, by their very nature inseparable from economic activities, touch on the jurisdictions of various ministries and agencies. The Ministry of the Environment serves as coordinator in the government, but in reality, the authority for environmental administration is distributed among many ministries and agencies. The following is an outline of the organization and tasks of the Ministry of the Environment, and a brief explanation of the jurisdictions of other ministries.

Japan's Ministry of the Environment consists of one secretariat, four bureaus, and three departments.

- Environmental Policy Bureau:
General coordination of planning,drafting, promotion, and administration of basic policies related to environmental conservation; Basic Environment Plan; Environment White Paper; promotion of environmental education; Junior Eco Club; Environmental Counselors; promotion of environmental research and technology; supporting voluntary environmental activities by corporations (ISO1 4001, environment activity evaluation programs, environmental reporting, and environmental accounting); green purchasing; and environmental impact assessments.

- Global Environment Bureau:
Global warming prevention; ozone layer protection (measures for CFCs and CFC-substitutes); acid deposition prevention; marine environment conservation; global environment research and monitoring; and international environmental cooperation.

- Environmental Management Bureau:
Prevention of air pollution from factories and industrial facilities (stationary sources); automobile(mobile sources) pollution measures; dioxins measures; and living environment conservation measures (including noise, vibration, offensive odors, low frequency sounds, heat island effect, and light pollution).

- Water Environment Department:
Water environment conservation; soil environment conservation; conservation of ground environments; prevention of environmental pollution by agricultural chemicals; ensuring sound water cycles; and dioxins measures.

- Nature Conservation Bureau:
Biodiversity conservation; initiatives for nature conservation, including designation of Nature Conservation Areas and natural parks; promotion of communication with nature; humane treatment and management of pet animals; promotion of international cooperation (including conventions and agreements to protect migratory birds and their habitats, the Ramsar Convention, the Washington Convention (CITES), protection of Yakushima and Shirakami-Sanchi which are registered as natural heritage sites under the World Heritage Convention, and the International Coral Reef Initiatives (ICRI)); and wildlife management (57 domestic endangered species such as Japanese Crested Ibis [Nipponia Nippon] and Iriomote Cat [Felis iriomotensis], and about 600 rare species of international importance such as gorilla and giant panda).

- Waste Management and Recycling Department:
Creation of a recycling-based society; promotion of proper waste treatment; waste reduction targets; recycling promotion; PCB treatment; dioxin measures for waste treatment facilities; dealing with waste in big cities; and proper treatment of domestic wastewater (installation of combined household wastewater treatment facility).

- Environmental Health Department:
Reducing the risks of chemicals to the environment; and compensation for pollution-related health damage such as Minamata Disease.

- Minister's Secretariat:
General coordination of personnel, laws, and budgets; policy evaluations; publicity; and collection of environmental information.

Listed below are major areas of environmental administration under the jurisdiction of other ministries and agencies.

- National Public Safety Commission/National Police Agency:
Environmental pollution crimes, and other environment related crimes

- Ministry of Foreign Affairs:
Treaties; international conferences

- Ministry of Finance:
Financial administration; environmental tax

- Ministry of Education, Science, Sports, and Culture:
Nuclear power; science and technology; environmental education; eco-schools

- Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare:
Water system; waste; dioxin measures; Endocrine-disrupting chemical substance; food additives; bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE); genetically modified food

- Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries:
National forests,forest law, fishery resources, pesticides

- Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry:
Energy efficiency,environmental technologies, export and import of hazardous waste, import of rare wild animals, measures against global warming, industry sector related matters, promotion of environmental business, measures against chemical substance, recycling law, automobiles

- Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport:
Airports, marine ports,river improvement works, city planning; sewage, city parks, land utilization, automobile transportation

- Cabinet Secretariat:
Global Warming Prevention Headquarters;Conference for establishing "Wa-no-kuni," an eco-society through partnership in the 21st century

The Basic Environment Law is the compass for the entire environmental administration in Japan. There are various other environmental laws besides this one, and the number and kind of such laws has been on a rise in recent years. As described above, however, environmental problems do not know jurisdictional boundaries, and it is very difficult even when searching on the Internet in Japanese for the relevant environmental laws.

This is why JFS created a page on our website giving links for environmental laws in Japan, both in English and Japanese.
Japanese : http://www.japanfs.org/ja/japan/laws.html
English :http://www.japanfs.org/en/japan/laws.html

In the English version, you can search for environmental laws in Japan under the genres of Basic, Material Reduction, Earth/Ecology, Energy and Transportation, Air, Water, Chemical Substances, Pollution in General and others. We hope this page will be of some service for you!