A law allowing authorities to clear abandoned waste and bill the cost to responsible parties without first issuing a corrective order does not violate the Constitution, the Constitutional Court ruled.
The court on the 22nd unanimously upheld a provision of the Wastes Control Act on administrative enforcement, rejecting a constitutional petition filed by 22 companies, including a foundry operator.
Article 49, Paragraph 2, Item 3 of the act allows administrative authorities to remove waste directly and collect the cost when abandoned waste threatens serious harm to residents' health or the environment, without issuing a separate corrective order first. The companies filed administrative lawsuits challenging orders to pay the costs and asked the courts to refer the provision for constitutional review. After those requests were rejected or dismissed, they took the case to the Constitutional Court. The companies argued that applying the provision to collect costs was unfair because the waste had been buried before the clause was added in 2019.
The court disagreed, finding that waste left in place after the provision took effect amounted to an ongoing situation. It also held that a corrective order is not always required before administrative enforcement, since regulation under the Wastes Control Act can be tightened depending on the severity of the pollution. "The longer waste is left abandoned, the greater the harm to soil, water and air across the living environment, and the higher the cost of restoration, making swift removal critically important," the court said. "The petitioners' trust or expectation that a corrective order will be issued before enforcement cannot be regarded as absolute in all cases."
The court dismissed a separate petition against provisions on asset searches and provisional seizures used to collect waste disposal costs, ruling that they did not apply directly to the case at hand. A dismissal ends a case without a ruling on the merits because the filing fails to meet procedural requirements.