The Cabinet is expected to approve two government-drafted bills today that will encourage the processing of polychlorinated biphenyls with an eye to destroying known stockpiles in around a decade.
The Environment Ministry-penned bills would create national and prefectural disposal plans, a fund to subsidize PCB destruction and require companies to dispose of stored PCBs. Factories and companies will be required to report annually to prefectural authorities on the storage and disposal status of PCBs.
In addition, four regional PCB processing plants will be built, the first of which is under consideration by the city of Kitakyushu.