Ganghwa County Promotes Legalization of Illegal Groundwater Facilities

[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Shin Eun-seop] Ganghwa County announced on the 8th that it is promoting the legalization of illegal groundwater facilities to prevent groundwater contamination and implement systematic management.

The county will operate an "Unregistered Groundwater Facility Development and Use Self-reporting Period" until the 3rd of next month for groundwater facilities that have been developed indiscriminately since before the Groundwater Act was enacted and are being used illegally without reporting or obtaining permits.

The targets for voluntary reporting are facilities that have developed groundwater without obtaining permits or submitting reports in accordance with the Groundwater Act and are using it illegally.

Unregistered groundwater owners and users can submit required documents, including a groundwater development and use report, to the county office's Construction Division (Construction Administration Team) or their respective eup/myeon offices within the deadline. After a legal review, the groundwater use will be registered and legalized.

In particular, to encourage voluntary reporting of illegal groundwater, the registration procedures for self-reporting have been significantly simplified, and if reported voluntarily during this period, penalties and fines will be waived. Additionally, for groundwater development and use reporting, all of the following required items are exempted: compliance deposit payments, water quality testing, facility installation drawings, and completion reporting.

A county official said, "After the self-reporting period, we plan to take strict measures through fines and administrative penalties," and added, "Since we are significantly simplifying the registration procedures during this voluntary reporting period, we encourage all parties to report within the deadline to avoid any disadvantages."