ESG POLICY & STRATEGY

Environmental Permitting Pressure on Automotive and Secondary Battery Plants: Integrating Environmental Permits into a Single System

On August 23, the Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment announced plans to legislate amendments to the Enforcement Decree and Enforcement Rule of the Environmental Pollution Facilities Act, adding seven industries—including automotive and secondary batteries—to the integrated environmental permitting system. The integrated environmental permit combines up to 10 types of environmental permits and 73 documents scattered across seven laws into a single integrated environmental management plan, while setting customized emission standards for each business site. Implementation is scheduled for January 2028 for three food-related industries and January 2029 for automotive, secondary batteries, flat glass, and rubber products, with a four-year grace period granted to existing business sites. The amendments also include easing measures, such as extending the regular inspection cycle for exemplary business sites to up to five years and easing requirements for integrated environmental managers at small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), while strengthening the responsibilities of agency service providers as a trade-off. Currently in the legislative notice stage and not yet finalized, the schedule for establishing and supplementing industry-specific Best Available Techniques (BAT) reference documents is considered the biggest variable for the system's establishment.