Comprehensive Researches for Waste Problem from a viewpoint of Law and Policy - in the South Tohoku District, Japan

1999年，笔者访问了日本的公共福利部和国家环境厅，并调查了有关废物问题的法律的和行政程序。2000年，为了对当地的废弃物问题进行评估，对福岛县、宫城县、山形县的废弃物处理部门和实际的垃圾场进行了多次访问。2000年，调查范围扩大到岩手县、新泻县、栃木县。并特别关注那须市的许多小型垃圾场和以出云崎生态公园基金会为代表的示范环境。研究人员参加了几次地方政府听证会，并采访了非政府组织的成员。官方宣称的安全性与实际情况之间存在许多差异。然而，研究人员在2001年继续进行调查后发现，尽管没有国家立法，但完善的废物处理指南可以有效地改善废物处理。这项调查还表明，最近法院对废物处理的裁决已变得更加同情环境问题。但是，由于这些县以外的大都市地区非法倾倒废物的趋势持续存在，重大困难仍然存在。

In 1999, the writers visited the Japan's Ministry of Public Welfare and the national Environmental Agency, and investigated legal and administrative procedure regarding waste problems. In the same year, they paid several visits to the department of waste disposal in Fukushima, Miyagi, and Yamagata prefecutural offices, as well as actual dumpsites in order to assess local waste-related concerns.In 2000, research was expanded to include the prefectures of Iwate, Niigata, and Tochigi, and focused particularly on many small dumpsites in the town of Nasu and the model circumstances exemplified by the Izumozaki Eco-Park Foundation. The researchers attended several local government hearings, and interviewed members of NGO. Many discrepancies were uncovered between official claims about safety and the actual circumstances.As a result of continued investigations in 2001, however, the researchers established that perfectural guidelines on waste disposal, though not nationally legislated, can be effective in better waste disposal. This investigation also reveals that recent court decisions on waste disposal have become more sympathetic to environmental concerns. But major difficulties still persist due to a continuing trend among larger metropolitan areas outside these prefectures of dumping waste illegally.