South Korea’s Ministry of Environment sets prescribed quantities for 56 chemicals to differentiate requirements for submission of chemical accident prevention and control plan

On January 23, 2024, the Ministry of Environment (MOE) of South Korea announced that it has formulated a draft amendment to the Regulations on the Stipulated Quantities for Toxic Substances, Restricted Substances, Prohibited Substances and Permitted Substances to define the "prescribed quantities" for the 56 toxic substances newly designated in the Notice on the Designation of Toxic Substances (National Institute of Environmental Research Notice No. 2023-64) promulgated on November 17, 2023.

The amendment proposes that those who handle any of these 56 toxic substances will be subject to different requirements in submitting a Chemical Accident Prevention and Control Plan, depending on whether the quantity they handle exceeds the prescribed quantities. MOE stated that it will solicit comments from the public on the draft amendment until February 12, 2024, after which the draft amendment will be reviewed by the Ministry of Government Legislation and the National Assembly for promulgation.