대기오염물질 총량관리 및 배출권거래제도 시행을 위한 정책방향에 관한 연구

Abstract

A Study on Emission-Cap Regulation and Emissions Trading for Air Pollution Control in Korea In the past several decades, total quantity management and emissions trading have garnered much attention in the field of environmental policy. For instance, quantity regulation has been steadily applied to air pollution control policies, particularly in the United States. Currently, it is being considered as a tool to find practical solutions in other environmental areas such as water pollution and global warming Korea has been trying to introduce quantity-based approaches for air and water pollution control. Quantity-based management plans are now being established for major river basins under a specific legal context. As such, legislative processes on total quantity regulation and emissions trading for air quality management in Seoul metropolitan area are currently taking place. These efforts are being initiated with the assumption that the emission standard approach is insufficient to mitigate environmental degradation in fast growing economies. The purpose of this study is to analyze the current state of air pollution policy in Korea and propose future research and policy strategies to successfully implement emission-cap regulation and emissions trading for air pollution control. The technical and political situations in Korea are evaluated in terms of their capability to sustain the paradigm shift to a quantity-based regulation approach. Lessons from US and Japanese experience, particularly on the RECLAIM program in Los Angeles region, are discussed. The study preliminarily concluded that the implementation of quantity-based regulation and emissions trading is necessary in order to increase effectiveness of air pollution control policies. A gradual, step-by-step approach is desirable and a baseline-and-credit system is preferred in the initial stages of emissions trading, followed by a full-fledged cap-and-trade system. In addition, considerable research on methodology and technical details is prerequisite for successful implementation of the new approach. In particular, in-depth research on emissions inventory, environmental carrying capacity, air quality targets, monitoring and enforcement, detailed design of emissions trading, and initial quota allocation scheme are required. Trial-and-error is inevitable and a learning-by-doing process should be considered to be an essential element of implementation.