Pyeongtaek City and Fine Dust Joint Response Committee Meet with Environment Minister Jo Myung-rae

[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Seo Dong-young] Local government leaders from the 'Fine Dust Joint Response Committee,' including Pyeongtaek City, visited the Ministry of Environment's minister's office at the government complex in Sejong on the 13th and met with Environment Minister Jo Myung-rae to request active cooperation and support on fine dust issues.

Pyeongtaek Mayor Jung Jang-seon, Yeoju Mayor Lee Hang-jin, Dangjin Mayor Kim Hong-jang, and Seosan Mayor Maeng Jeong-ho attended. The 'Southern Gyeonggi and South Chungcheong-Yellow Sea Region Fine Dust Joint Advisory Committee,' formed last December, began its first external activity this year with a proposal to the minister.

Along with discussions on fine dust countermeasures, the committee proposed: ▲Establishment of special legislation for designating 'Special Fine Dust Management Regions (tentative name)' ▲Promotion of joint research projects on fine dust through government-funded projects with government participation ▲Preparing countermeasures for coal-fired power plants ▲Designation of regions for special atmospheric preservation plans ▲Support for steel mill electrification conversion projects.

Environment Minister Jo Myung-rae said, "I empathize with the difficulties caused by fine dust problems in southern Gyeonggi and South Chungcheong regions," and added, "The government will actively review and support measures for improving air quality, including fine dust."

The Fine Dust Joint Committee plans to launch regular meetings with working-level officials and joint projects following this proposal to the environment minister, consolidating the capabilities of all parties to jointly address fine dust issues.

Mayor Jung Jang-seon of Pyeongtaek said, "I am grateful to the leaders and civil servants of 12 local governments who shared their opinions and participated in solving the fine dust problem," and added, "We will continue to pursue measures that local governments can take, and the joint committee will pool its efforts to actively respond to areas where local governments have difficulty in establishing countermeasures. We will do our best to solve the fine dust problem throughout this year."

Meanwhile, the 12 local governments in the fine dust joint committee are home to 30 of the country's 61 coal-fired power plants—half of the total—as well as Hyundai Steel, which emitted the largest amount of air pollutants by a single business facility in 2018, Pyeongtaek Port, which ranks fifth in national cargo volume, Seobu Thermal Power Plant, Poseung and Bugok National Industrial Complex, and other major sources of fine dust emissions.

However, as the industrial facilities are managed by the central government, it is difficult for local governments to devise countermeasures. Accordingly, Pyeongtaek City took the lead in forming the Fine Dust Joint Committee last December.