REPORTING AND DISCLOSING THE POLLUTION INFORMATION UNDER THE FACTORY ACT B.E. 2535

Abstract

The objective of this thesis is to study the issue of the reporting and disclosing of pollution information and related problems. In particular, this thesis will focus on comparing Thailand’s existing laws with the concepts and legal controls of reporting and disclosing pollution information under United States law and Japanese law. An investigation is also conducted into the problems and hindrances relating to the enforcement of these laws. This includes looking at ways to improve the requirements of the law for reporting and disclosing pollution information so that better prevention and problem-solving can be effectively implemented.

The study found that the industrial factory sector is governed by the Factory Act B.E. 2535 (1992) which is the relevant law to enforce the reporting of pollution information. However, this law does not effectively allow for prevention and problem solving. This could be a result of the restrictions of the scope of the law and the lack of sanctions found in it. Another issue is that the existing laws only enforce the reporting of pollutants that are released into the air and water. The reporting of pollutants released into the soil is done according to the Ministerial Regulation of Controlling on Soil and Groundwater Contamination Criteria within Factory Act B.E. 2559 (2016). This was recently been enacted on April 29, 2016 by the virtue of the provisions in Section 6 Paragraph 1 and Section 8 (4) - (8) of Factory Act B.E. 2535 (1992). However, this regulation stipulates only that industrial factories must report information of soil and groundwater contamination criteria within the factory area, not outside the factory area. Additionally, on disclosing pollution information, there are no laws under Factory Act B.E. 2535 (1992) to disclose pollution information to the public. There is only the Official Information Act B.E. 2540 (1997) which requires that the government agencies disclose information to the public. However, disclosing or accessing such information is limited to information that is in the possession of the government agency or state enterprises. This does not include the information that is in the possession of factories in the private sector. This is a big problem because people need to access this information in order to protect themselves from the dangers of pollutants.

Therefore, this thesis will amend Ministerial Regulation of Controlling on Soil and Groundwater Contamination Criteria within Factory B.E. 2559 (2016) which is the subordinate legislation of Factory Act B.E. 2535 (1992) to enforce that industrial factory reports the pollution information which is contaminated into the soil and groundwater within factory area, and covering outside factory area. Moreover, it should enact a new subsection of Section 8 of Factory Act B.E. 2535 (1992) to  directly force industrial factories in the private sector to disclose their pollution information to the public or give the public the right to access the environmental information and pollution information of the industrial factory.