Environmental specialist attorney, we received notice that our factory exceeded emission standards. How should we respond?

When a factory exceeds emission gas standards, both administrative dispositions and criminal punishment may apply simultaneously, and it is necessary to review the level of applicable dispositions and response directions together with an environmental specialist attorney.

Violations of emission gas standards are regulated under the "Clean Air Conservation Act," and the strength of the disposition varies depending on the degree of violation.

First, representative administrative dispositions include improvement orders, business suspension, and penalty surcharges.

When standards are exceeded, an improvement order is initially issued, but when specific hazardous air pollutants are included or prevention facilities were intentionally not operated, business suspension is possible even with the first violation.

In particular, according to Article 34, Paragraph 2 of the Clean Air Conservation Act, when air pollution is recognized as causing imminent damage to residents' health or the environment, the Mayor/Governor may immediately order the replacement of fuel used or business suspension, and this is taken priority for facilities with the greatest harm.

The longer the violation is repeated, the suspension period is extended to 10 days, 30 days, etc., and for businesses with significant public interest purposes, a penalty surcharge of up to 200 million won may be imposed in lieu of business suspension.

If business is forcibly continued during the suspension order or fraudulent methods are confirmed, strong sanctions such as license revocation or closure will be received.

Such administrative dispositions directly affect business operations, so the process of reviewing the appropriateness of the disposition through an environmental specialist attorney is important.

Also, when discharging pollutants exceeding emission permission standards, imprisonment of up to 5 years or a fine of up to 50 million won may be applied under Article 90 of the Clean Air Conservation Act.

In particular, when permit conditions are violated or operation continues despite recognition of standard-exceeding conditions, intentionality may be questioned, and this may affect the determination of punishment level.

Environmental specialist attorneys play the role of organizing response directions based on the circumstances of the violation and management state in situations where such criminal liability is at issue.

In such situations, it is necessary to first verify whether the emission gas measurement results were conducted in accordance with legal procedures and to distinguish whether it is a temporary cause such as equipment malfunction.

Subsequently, in the administrative disposition procedure, the disposition can be contested through opinion submission or objection, and at the same time, responses related to criminal liability must also be prepared.

An environmental specialist attorney can provide practical assistance throughout the entire procedure, from legal review of measurement results to administrative disposition response and criminal liability response strategies.