What the Proposed Enforcement Decree Amendment Changes
Korea's Ministry of Environment has opened a public comment period from August 26 to October 6, 2026 on amendments to the Enforcement Decree and Enforcement Rules that expand the scope of the Integrated Environmental Permit system. Seven industries are being added: automotive, secondary batteries (lithium-ion), non-alcoholic beverages, oils and dairy products, other food manufacturing, flat glass, and rubber products. Comments submitted during this window feed directly into the industry-specific criteria and the draft Best Available Techniques (BAT) reference documents, making this the last practical opportunity for affected companies to shape the rules that will govern them.
The Integrated Environmental Permit consolidates permits that were previously issued separately by medium — air, water, waste, odor — into a single site-level permit. Phased in since 2017 starting with power generation and waste treatment, this amendment extends the framework into materials, components, and food manufacturing.
What 73 Documents Reduced to One Actually Means
This is where most companies struggle in practice. Instead of confirming that each stack meets its concentration limit, you must describe material flows across the entire process and justify why your abatement equipment is the appropriate choice.
How to Determine Whether Your Site Is Covered
Working Backward from the Effective Dates and the Four-Year Grace Period
A recommended reverse schedule looks like this:
How Far the SME Relief Measures Go
Three Things to Start Now
The third item is the one most often overlooked. If you plan to replace aging equipment before 2028 or 2029, specifying it to align with the BAT reference from the outset avoids paying for the same upgrade twice.
Talk to KITIM
The Korea Institute of Technology Innovation Management (KITIM) provides consulting that treats environmental permitting and ESG readiness as a single workstream. We support each stage — determining whether your site falls in scope, running the emissions baseline survey, preparing the Integrated Environmental Management Plan, and building the post-permit compliance system. Even with a generous grace period, accumulating reliable measured data alone takes at least a year. Start with an assessment now. Please submit a consultation request through the KITIM website and one of our consultants will follow up with you.