The Environmental Impact Assessment Law goes into effect today, legally requiring assessments of large-scale development projects and giving citizens a greater means to influence them.
Under the new law, developers must announce plans to carry out an assessment in advance so citizens and local governments have a chance to express opinions on how the survey is carried out.
Previously, environmental assessments have been based on a nonbinding 1984 Cabinet decision approving use of administrative guidance.
But because assessments were carried out after developers had already devised their plans and released preparatory reports, projects traditionally have been highly inflexible.
The new law is designed to encourage third-party input at an earlier stage to prevent environmental destruction.
The new law will increase the scope of projects requiring environmental impact assessments from 11 to 14 — including all nuclear power plants and other plants above certain capacities and large-scale logging roads.
While the Environment Agency formerly was allowed to comment on development projects only when its opinion was solicited from other government ministries or agencies, the new legislation will give the agency the authority to comment on development projects as it sees fit.
Critics of the law say it does not adequately address the issue of citizen participation and they point out that it is 30 years behind the United States, which in 1969 created the first environmental impact assessment system.
Japan is the last of the 29 countries belonging to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development to pass environmental assessment legislation.