Seoul City Implements '4th Seasonal Fine Dust Management Plan'... 14 Fine Dust Reduction Measures in 4 Major Areas 추진

Implementation of the '4th Seasonal Fine Dust Management System' from December to March next year
Target to reduce 124 tons of ultrafine dust and 2,176 tons of nitrogen oxides... Supplementing and strengthening existing projects

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] The full driving ban on Grade 5 vehicles across Seoul, a key measure of the ‘Seasonal Fine Dust Management System,’ is set to resume. From December 1 to March 31 of next year, Grade 5 emission vehicles will not be allowed to operate in Seoul. The enforcement hours for Grade 5 vehicles are weekdays from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m., excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and public holidays. A fine of 100,000 KRW per day will be imposed on vehicles nationwide that have not undergone low-emission measures.

On the 30th, Seoul City announced that it will implement 14 measures across four major areas of the ‘Seasonal Fine Dust Management System’ starting next month. This year, the city has set strengthened air pollutant reduction targets compared to last year, including a reduction of 124 tons of ultrafine dust and 2,176 tons of nitrogen oxides, and will improve and supplement existing projects. These measures include core projects aimed at reducing emissions from the three main sources of fine dust in Seoul?transportation (vehicles), heating (fuel combustion), and industrial sites?and also include exposure reduction measures to protect citizens’ health, such as special indoor air quality inspections and strengthened management of intensive control zones.

Seoul City will first implement restrictions on the operation of Grade 5 emission vehicles throughout Seoul and increase parking fees at city-operated parking lots as measures targeting the transportation sector, which accounts for the largest share (28%) of ultrafine dust emissions in Seoul. Enforcement of emission and idling regulations, inspections at private vehicle inspection centers, and special mileage point rewards for passenger cars will also be promoted.

In the previous seasonal management system, non-metropolitan vehicles were eligible for a refund if they took low-emission measures during a grace period after a fine was imposed, but this year, fines will be imposed immediately without any grace period. Alongside enforcement, support for low-emission measures for Grade 5 vehicles will be provided. Approximately 90% of the cost (about 10% self-payment) will be subsidized for installing diesel particulate filters (DPF), and up to 3 million KRW (6 million KRW for low-income groups, small business owners, and vehicles that cannot install reduction devices) will be provided for early scrapping. Particularly, for vehicle models without developed DPFs, an additional 600,000 KRW will be supported within the subsidy limit, as early scrapping is the only alternative. Separate new car purchase subsidies ranging from 3 million to 32 million KRW will also be provided for purchasing eco-friendly vehicles such as electric and hydrogen cars.

Next, to reduce emissions from the heating sector, which accounts for 27% of ultrafine dust emissions in Seoul, the distribution of eco-friendly boilers for households will be expanded, ‘Eco Mileage Special Points’ will be offered, and appropriate heating temperatures in energy-intensive buildings will be closely managed. The support target for replacing boilers has been expanded to include general boilers installed before April 3, 2020, in addition to boilers older than 10 years, aiming to distribute 88,000 eco-friendly boilers. Priority support will be given to low-income households and private social welfare facilities such as daycare centers and senior centers to increase benefits for vulnerable groups.

Eco Mileage Special Points will provide 10,000 mileage points to 1.24 million member households that reduce energy usage by 20% or more compared to the average energy consumption over the previous two years during the seasonal management period. For 286 energy-intensive buildings such as hotels and department stores with annual energy consumption exceeding 2,000 TOE, joint inspection teams from the city and autonomous districts will be formed to check compliance with appropriate heating temperatures (public buildings at 17°C or below, private buildings at 20°C or below).

Furthermore, Seoul City will establish a tiered inspection and continuous monitoring system for air pollutant-emitting business sites to intensively manage them, and will strengthen inspections of dust-emitting sites and restrictions on the use of old construction machinery. Inspections will be conducted on a total of 2,399 air pollution emission facilities, and large-scale businesses will enhance voluntary reduction rates through expert facility diagnostics. Joint inspections with related agencies will also be intensified for abnormal operation sites and unauthorized businesses.

For large construction sites with a total floor area of 10,000㎡ or more, a continuous monitoring system will be established to observe fine dust in real time (at 70 sites), and the operation of ‘eco-friendly construction sites,’ where strict dust suppression standards apply, will be significantly expanded. Construction machinery entering large-scale public construction sites will be equipped with information patterns (QR codes) providing details such as manufacturing dates to strengthen management, and a remote sensing system capable of real-time observation of dust within a 4?5 km radius will be introduced and operated on a pilot basis.

To minimize citizens’ exposure to fine dust, road cleaning will be intensified and indoor air quality in multi-use facilities will be closely managed. Additionally, vulnerable groups will be protected through the management of intensive fine dust control zones. To strengthen cleaning of major arterial and general roads, the number of intensive management roads will be expanded (from 56 sections, 224.5 km to 59 sections, 233.2 km), and road cleaning will be conducted more than four times a day. The management status of public transportation facilities and underground stations vulnerable to fine dust will be intensively inspected, and family-oriented facilities such as cinemas and museums will be managed with priority.

Yoo Yeon-sik, Head of the Climate and Environment Headquarters, stated, "We have meticulously prepared and supplemented measures for each emission source to do our best to protect citizens’ health from fine dust," and added, "We ask for the active interest and participation of citizens so that the seasonal management system can be successfully implemented as in previous years."