The Diet enacted legislation Friday to cut vehicle pollution around hotels, theaters and offices in major cities by requiring builders to forecast air pollutant emissions and submit plans for their reduction.
The measure, passed Friday by the Upper House, revises the law on vehicle-emitted nitrogen oxides and particles in the country's top three major metropolitan areas, Tokyo, Nagoya and Osaka.
The law, which will take effect next year, is expected to encourage builders to take measures such as providing more parking spaces to prevent traffic jams and include plans for shuttle bus services.
"The legislation is to further strengthen measures to prevent air pollution caused by nitrogen oxide from vehicles in areas with heavily polluted air," the government said in a document accompanying the bill submitted in March.
The legislation will require builders to submit plans for antipollution measures before beginning construction.
The current law requires only trucking and transport companies in metropolitan areas to submit emission projections and measures to cut them down.
The new legislation also requires governors of metropolitan areas to cut emissions at heavily polluted areas such as intersections by setting up elevated roads and taking other measures to ease traffic jams.
The Lower House endorsed the bill last month.