Landowners should have to check property for soil pollution and clean up polluted sites prior to redevelopment, according to an interim government report released Friday that will form the foundation for new legislation.
The Environment Ministry report advocates a new system requiring owners of property where dubious chemicals -- such as volatile organic compounds and heavy metals -- are or have been handled to conduct inspections when they tear down structures or otherwise redevelop their land.
The report also suggests that prefectural governments be given the power to order landowners to survey their land for pollution if any of the 26 chemicals for which environmental soil standards exist are found in nearby ground water.