Press Release

May 27, 2019

Citizens launch administrative lawsuit to stop JERA from constructing
Yokosuka coal-fired power plant
Plaintiff Group and Legal Team for Plaintiff Group,
Yokosuka Coal-Fired Power Plant Lawsuit

On May 27, 2019, 45 citizens launched an administrative lawsuit in Tokyo District Court with the national
government as defendant. They are seeking cancellation of the notice of finalization of the environmental
impact assessment (EIA) for the construction of two new coal-fired generating units (650 MW x 2 units,totaling 1,300 MW) planned by Japan’s energy behemoth JERA Co. at the site of its Yokosuka thermal power
plant, facing Tokyo Bay south of Yokohama.
The lawsuit is calling on the government to cancel a notice of EIA finalization that was issued by theMinister of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), which cleared the way for the coal power plant to moveahead to the construction phase. The ministry didn’t request any changes in the EIA in terms of preventing
impacts from CO2 emissions (approx. 7.26 million tons annually) and air pollutants from the proposed newgenerating units.
Rikuro Suzuki, Representatives for Plaintiff Group said, “Whatever personal effort citizens make to cut
CO2 emissions day to day, we will never stop climate change if big coal power plants continue to be built.
Yokosuka is the sole remaining coal plant slated for construction in the Tokyo Bay area. Promoting coal
power is going in the wrong direction. We should stop it.”
The impacts of climate change are becoming a living reality, as people experience ever-increasing
occurrences of torrential rains, flood damage and heatstroke due to extreme weather. To hold the increase in
the global average temperature to well below 1.5 to 2°C above pre-industrial levels, the Paris Agreement has
set a long-term goal of net zero CO2 emissions by early in the second half of this century. The electrical
power sector is the largest source of emissions and is being called upon to phase out power generation fromcoal. While the UK, Canada, Germany and other countries are making steps forward with the coal phase out,
Japan has not yet placed any effective restrictions on coal. After the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant
accident in March 2011, plans were made for 50 new units at coal power plants in Japan. Some plans havesubsequently been canceled, but 25 units are still at either the assessment or construction phase. Besides theclimate concerns, many residents living in the Tokyo Bay area are also concerned about health impacts if theunits are constructed at Yokosuka.
The Yokosuka thermal power plant site previously had a total of eight oil- or gas-fired units, but except
for Units 3 and 4 (total 700 MW, oil-fired), almost all had stopped operating for twenty years and by 2010
all had stopped. Units 3 and 4, as well as two gas turbines, were restarted for a while after the Fukushima
Daiichi nuclear accident, but since 2014 none of the units have been operating.

Press Release

May 27, 2019

Meanwhile, the 1,300 MW total coal-fired power projects targeted by this lawsuit did not go through theregular EIA process. JERA exploited a “replacement/upgrade” assessment process newly introduced by thegovernment after the Fukushima disaster, thereby benefiting from simplified and fast-tracked EIA procedures.
The Minister of METI recently finalized the EIA stage, so JERA is now attempting to start construction inAugust 2019.
The plaintiffs are asserting that the simplified assessment process was illegal. They emphasize that theexpansion and new construction plans are unacceptable due to the failure of the government to conduct anadequate impact assessment. The lawsuit represents people who are fighting to protect the health and living
environment of children and grandchildren in the future.

Contact
Citizens Group on Coal Power in Tokyo Bay (secretariat at Kiko Network Tokyo Office)Tel: 03-3263-9210, Web: https://nocoal-tokyobay.net/

Representatives for Plaintiff Group, Yokosuka Coal-Fired Power Plant Lawsuit.
Rikuro Suzuki: Tel. +81-80-5933-7487
Legal Representatives for Plaintiff Group:
Nobuo Kojima (Tokyo Surugadai Law Offices): Tel , +81-80-3311-164
Mie Asaoka (Asaoka Law Offices): Tel, +81-90-2114-4551