물환경 기준의 통합적 관리방안에 관한 연구

Abstract

A Study on the Water Quality Standards for the Integrated Management of Water Environment This study was performed to analyze potential problems and means of improvement when integrating the current water quality standards pursuant to the goals of the Water Environment Management Master Plan for 2006~2015, i.e. “Creating a water environment where fish can live and children can swim by 2015.” The purposes of this study include: first, analysis of the history, origins and problems of current Korean water quality standards; and second, the presentation of a basic database needed in integrated water quality management that can revise the current standards into a policy method that can ably respond to changes therein both domestically and internationally while simultaneously providing integrated management of water quality in lieu of changes in the water environment induced by climate change or other means, via review of data on the existing situation in respect of water quality standards, and existing literature and precedent that can provide needed scientific techniques and methodologies to accomplish this end. Review of existing regulations found that the current regulations have used appropriate criteria in devising water quality standards with respect to the individual goals thereof. Accordingly, rather than devise additional regulations, it is more desirable to reduce redundancy and focus on integration and connections between regulations rather than simply enacting more. Moreover, as water quality standards are scattered amongst numerous individual laws, uniformity and interconnections there between remain insufficient. No sufficient basis yet exists for integration of the disparate environmental standards, and the roles of individual laws are not distinctly separated. Development, application, and restrictions with respect to the enactment of the law are performed simultaneously, and notwithstanding a sufficient technical basis for any particular statute, exceptional provisions are frequently added and applied ad hoc thus contradicting the original purpose of protecting human health and the aquatic ecosystem. Likewise, water quality standards have been devised ad hoc for specific forms of water use, resulting in controversy with respect to such usages. As a result, this study suggests preparation of water quality standards that consider the end use of the water in question (e.g. swimming or agriculture), as well as consideration of the locations wherein such standards shall apply. While each nation's circumstances and environment are different, for the most part, environmental standards and purposes of use are similar to those in Korea. However, in other nations, environmental standards are changed and amended via the relevant law, and items therein are assessed frequently and over the long term in terms of their propriety, allowing for swift response to environmental changes. This is because such nations have standard setting systems which set the standard systematically according to long term monitoring, data accumulation, and risk assessment. Also, each nation has its own extensive water quality criteria, so they have few difficulties in adding an item or changing a value. In Korea, adding a new item for water pollution accidents cannot be an effective solution. In the USA and Britain, water quality has been improved by integrated water quality standards, and this is closely related to their evaluation of a diverse array of items, rather than organic pollutants only, and setting categories for water quality standards based on the aquatic ecosystem and water usage in addition to health. Accordingly, there is a significant difference between environmental policies focusing on maintaining favorable conditions for the aquatic ecosystem, which is the most sensitive to hazardous or toxic materials, vis-？-vis environmental policies that focus on administrative convenience or administrative goals, particularly as they relate to the living environment. After all, the ultimate purpose of environmental standards should be determined via the agreement of the citizens. In Japan, water quality is similar to Korea, but Japan has its own standard set and improves it constantly. In Japan, regional environmental policies follow regional environmental standards, so Japan can be an example to follow for improvement of Korea's environmental policies in respect of the limitations of Korea's current focus on the central government. Lastly, water quality standards should duly consider social costs as well as expected citizen's benefits. The concept of cost/benefit analysis should be duly introduced in consideration of the sacrifices and burdens borne by polluting businesses. This approach has already been embraced in the USA and Britain and it should be considered here when amending the current standards focused on regulations This study suggests the staged improvement and establishment of environmental standards' through mid to long term planning, by establishing a standard methodology and system for integrated management, to improve water quality standards for both water quality and quantity, to set regional environmental standards, to connect disparate water quality standards, to improve evaluation methods and secure a monitoring database, to establish institutions that can manage environmental standards, to prepare for natural or manmade changes (e.g. climate change), and to provide educational programs for integrated management of water quality standards. Through these improvements, the integrated management of water quality standards provides: 1) the establishment of a long term monitoring system and the preparation and disclosure of a cumulative database 2) the establishment of criteria for all pollutants subject to regulation based on the foregoing data and the regular revision and supplementation thereof (provided that criteria are broad enough to include all fields related to water, that expert personnel are distributed over the long term, and that a GLP (Good Laboratory Practice) research facility is established) 3) the preparation of a standard methodology for creating standards and the revision and supplementation thereof in accordance with the characteristics of each subject area 4) the preparation of a methodology to evaluate final standards comprehensively 5) the establishment of a circulating system, so that all processes have fixed durations and can be improved 6) the creation of a professional operations team and consultative committee for each subject area, and 7) the hosting of public hearings and the open disclosure of a database to the public in order to enable all citizens, entrepreneurs, government officials, academics, and other interested parties to participate. Since this study was performed as an initial project prior to the main project, it was limited mainly to literature research. Also, additional study is required for integrated management methods for practical usage and study if this is to ultimately lead to integrated management of water quality standards. Therefore, this study is limited in respect of its end purposes to suggesting integrated management methods to convert existing water quality standards into policies to actively deal with environmental changes; however, it is expected that this study will lead to better means of development through reviews of various water quality standards. Also, it is expected that this study can help in understanding of water quality standards and provide motivation to upgrade current standards for better rationality and transparency.