Gyeonggi Province to Enforce Grade 5 Vehicle Driving Restrictions as Key Measures for Fine Dust Seasonal Management

[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Park No-hun] Ahead of the fine dust seasonal management system set to take effect on the 1st of next month, Gyeonggi Province will enforce driving restrictions on Grade 5 vehicles and provide support for improving aged air pollution prevention facilities at small businesses.

Eom Jin-seop, head of the Environment Division of Gyeonggi Province, held a press conference at Gyeonggi Provincial Government on the 26th and announced "Gyeonggi Province's Fine Dust Seasonal Management Measures" containing these details.

Director Eom said, "Gyeonggi Province has the largest population, number of automobiles, and factory registrations nationwide, making the factors for fine dust generation very high," and "Accordingly, we have expanded policies in the living sector and health protection sector so that residents can experience the effect of reducing fine dust by reducing fine dust generated in the transportation and industrial sectors, which are major sources of fine dust."

The government's fine dust seasonal management system refers to implementing stronger reduction policies for four months from December through March of the following year, when high concentrations of fine dust frequently occur.

The province has selected 15 core projects under 4 major sectors: ▲transportation sector ▲industrial sector ▲living sector ▲health protection sector for the "Gyeonggi Province Fine Dust Seasonal Management" key initiatives.

First, in the transportation sector, a major source of fine dust emissions in urban areas, the province will implement Grade 5 vehicle driving restrictions throughout Gyeonggi Province and pursue zero conversion so that all Grade 5 vehicles undergo low-emission measures through support projects.

With the Fine Dust Special Law taking effect in March this year, Grade 5 vehicles will be subject to enforcement throughout Gyeonggi Province and the Seoul metropolitan area from December 1st through March 31st of next year.

Driving restrictions apply on weekdays from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m., and violators will be fined 100,000 won.

However, emergency vehicles such as fire engines and ambulances, vehicles for people with disabilities, and vehicles of national merit award recipients are exempt from enforcement. Additionally, vehicles that have applied for low-emission measures or vehicles for which emission reduction devices have not been developed will have enforcement suspended until March of next year.

The province will provide subsidies of up to 3 million won for early scrapping of a total of 152,712 Grade 5 vehicles (as of October 2020) in the province, and an additional 2 million won when purchasing eco-friendly vehicles.

In addition, the province will restrict the use of aged construction machinery at 370 government construction sites and promote voluntary participation of private vehicles in the 2-part driving scheme by providing special inspections of emissions testing facilities and a 40% traffic congestion tax reduction incentive.

In the industrial sector, the province will support improvements to aged air pollution prevention facilities at small businesses and conduct special inspections of atmospheric emission facilities at large businesses.

This year, the province provided subsidies to small businesses and replaced prevention facilities at a total of 2,290 facilities. As dust emission concentrations at these improved facilities decreased by approximately 79%, the province plans to continue such projects next year.

Additionally, the province will intensively manage a total of 19,317 atmospheric emission facilities and approximately 7,600 fugitive dust emission facilities throughout the province through private surveillance units.

In the living sector, as a special measure unique to Gyeonggi Province for urban-rural complex regions, the province will handle agricultural residue waste such as branches and dried grass burned in farmland by providing 110 chippers and 47 chipping workers, and will block fine dust generation in advance through establishing joint collection centers and operating illegal incineration surveillance units for proper collection and disposal of waste vinyl generated from farming.

Additionally, the province will designate 86 road sections totaling 487.6 km with high fine dust concentrations as intensively managed roads and will mobilize 412 street cleaning vehicles to remove fugitive dust blown from roads.

Furthermore, the province will expand the supply of eco-friendly household boilers.

Households installing eco-friendly condensing boilers (new and replacement) will receive 200,000 won in subsidies per boiler, while low-income households will receive 500,000 won.

This year, the province is significantly expanding eco-friendly boiler distribution to approximately 120,000 units, ten times the number from last year.

The province will inspect government agencies' implementation of energy demand management during winter and conduct non-face-to-face campaigns and publicity for residents.

In the residential health protection sector, the province will strengthen alert functions for residents through "Gyeonggi Province Air Quality Information" radio broadcasting to minimize exposure to fine dust in daily life and will install and operate fine dust signal lights to protect information-vulnerable populations.

Additionally, the province will expand indoor space improvement projects by installing eco-friendly wallpaper, flooring materials, and ventilation purifiers at facilities for vulnerable populations below the legally mandated scale, such as rehabilitation facilities, senior centers, and community children's centers, to strengthen indoor air quality management.

Furthermore, the province will conduct pilot projects to install and operate new fine dust removal devices in intercity buses, multi-use facilities, and classrooms, and will designate and specially manage 8 intensive management zones for fine dust, implementing comprehensive fine dust measures to protect residents' health in various sectors.

Director Eom said, "For the fine dust seasonal management system, which is being implemented for the second time this year, to succeed, it is very important that residents make small efforts and actively participate in their daily lives," and urged attention and cooperation.

Meanwhile, Gyeonggi Province achieved a 26% decrease in ultrafine dust concentration (39㎍/㎥→29㎍/㎥) compared to the same period the previous year through last year's seasonal management system implementation, and the number of "good" air quality days also increased by 12 days.