JP 's Water Pollution Control System (Water Pollution Control Act Framework)

The revision of effluent standards and provisional effluent standards under the Water Pollution Control Act is a periodic process of updating the permissible limits for specific substances contained in factory wastewater, such as zinc, cadmium, boron, and fluorine, based on the latest environmental risk assessments. Provisional effluent standards, which are set for specific industries that find it technically difficult to immediately meet the general standards, are reassessed each time their application period, typically two to three years, comes to an end.

Under the Water Pollution Control Act and the environmental quality standards for water pollution, PFOS (perfluorooctane sulfonic acid) and PFOA (perfluorooctanoic acid), both organofluorine compounds, are designated as substances requiring monitoring, promoting ongoing water quality testing in public water bodies and groundwater and the prevention of contamination before it occurs. These substances are currently managed under a provisional target value, rather than a legally binding effluent standard, of 50 ng/L combined, while the national government continues to conduct environmental surveys and consider whether to add the substances to the list of designated or hazardous substances.

This groundwater infiltration prevention regulation under the Water Pollution Control Act requires operators of designated facilities that handle hazardous substances to comply with structural standards and conduct periodic inspections, aimed at preventing groundwater contamination caused by the infiltration of hazardous liquids into the ground.

Amendments to the enforcement order and regulations under the Water Pollution Control Act have strengthened the environmental water quality standard and the permissible limit for hexavalent chromium compounds, a hazardous substance, in factory wastewater. Hexavalent chromium is a strongly oxidizing and toxic substance widely used in plating, metal surface treatment, and the chemical industry. The strengthened standard was introduced to fully protect public health based on the latest scientific findings.

This is a review of the provisional effluent standards for boron and its compounds, fluorine and its compounds, and nitrate nitrogen and related substances, which are temporarily applied under the Water Pollution Control Act to certain industries, such as electroplating, glass manufacturing, and metal mining, for which compliance with the general effluent standards is considered technically extremely difficult. The Ministry of the Environment reviews these standards every three years, progressively narrowing the list of covered industries or tightening the provisional standard values (moving them toward the general standard) as effluent treatment technology becomes more widespread.