Even after receiving a notice of appropriateness for a business plan under the Wastes Control Act, is a disposition of non-permission possible?

Hello. This is a corporate attorney at Daeryun Law LLC.

The matter you describe is a typical case for administrative litigation, in which the lawfulness of a disposition of non-permission after a notice of appropriateness for a business plan under the Wastes Control Act is at issue.

First, under Article 25 of the Wastes Control Act, a business operator who intends to run a waste disposal business must submit a business plan and undergo the administrative agency's review of its appropriateness, and where a notice of appropriateness has been received, if the operator applies for permission after equipping the facilities, equipment, and technical personnel in accordance with that business plan, the administrative agency must, as a rule, grant the permission.

In other words, a notice of appropriateness for a business plan constitutes an official judgment by the administrative agency on which the operator can rely at the subsequent permission stage.

Where an operator has invested considerable cost in reliance on this and has met all the requirements, the administrative agency must, absent special circumstances, respect it, and if it does not, a violation of the principle of protection of trust may be at issue.

As in the matter you ask about, where a disposition of non-permission is issued after a notice of appropriateness solely on the ground of residents' opposition or the results of a public hearing, shifting that disadvantage onto an operator who has already met the statutory requirements is highly likely to run counter to the purpose of the Wastes Control Act and to principles of administrative law.

In particular, where there is no material change in the content of the business plan itself after the notice of appropriateness, there is no violation of other statutes such as the Wastes Control Act, the Clean Air Conservation Act, or water-quality-related statutes, and the requirements for facilities, equipment, and technical capacity are all met, there is a high likelihood that the administrative agency's refusal of permission on the ground of discretion will be judged unlawful.

In such a case, you can contest the unlawfulness of the disposition through an administrative appeal or administrative litigation seeking revocation of the disposition of non-permission of the waste disposal business, and in practice there are not a few cases in which a disposition of non-permission after a notice of appropriateness is revoked on the ground that it violated the principle of protection of trust.

Because a licensing dispute related to the Wastes Control Act requires a comprehensive review of the course from the business-plan stage to the permission stage, the circumstances of the administrative agency's judgment, and the scope of the trust interest invested by the operator, it is very important to establish a response strategy with the help of an attorney with abundant experience in administrative litigation from the outset.

As in the present situation, if enormous harm is arising from the disposition of non-permission, it is advisable to accurately analyze the unlawfulness of the disposition and then promptly prepare administrative litigation.

Because the direction of the response may differ depending on the more specific facts, we recommend that you obtain a detailed review through a prompt legal consultation.