Minister of the Environment later reported the result to the Cabinet.

## (2) Environmental Impact Assessment

Among development projects such as constructing roads, dams, railways, airports, landfills/land reclamation and land readjustment, large-scale projects that could have a serious impact on the environment are required to follow the EIA procedure by the Environmental Impact Assessment Law (Act No.81 of 1997). By FY 2011, 196 projects were concluded with the procedure based on EIA Law. Eight of these projects started to carry out the EIA procedure and six of them were concluded with the procedure based on the EIA Law in FY 2010 (all included the screening process). These contributed to evaluating environmental protection properly for large-scale projects.

## (3) Current State of Measures against Minamata Disease

Since the Supreme Court ruling on the Kansai lawsuit in 2004, 8,282 people have applied for certification under the Act Concerning Compensation and Prevention of Pollution-Related Health Damage (excluding those who withdrew their applications after issuance of the health care passbook). Also, 28,346 people have been newly issued a health care passbook (applications closed in July 2010), and six new lawsuits have been filed against the government for compensation.

The increasing number of people asking for relief pushed forward a review to crystallize the new remedial relief measures for Minamata Disease victims. This led to the promulgation and enforcement of the Act on Special Measures Concerning Relief for Victims of Minamata Disease and Solution to the Problem of Minamata Disease (Act No. 81 of 2009; hereinafter referred to as "Special Relief Act") in July 2009 based on an agreement reached by the Democratic Party, Liberal Democratic Party, and Komeito. In April 2010, the Cabinet decided on the implementation policy for relief measures stipulated by the Special Relief Act (hereinafter referred to as "policy for relief measures"). Based on this "policy for relief measures," the people recognized to be suffering from paresthesia of distal extremities or systemic sensory disturbance are eligible for a lump sum payment from the enterprises concerned, a medical care passbook and a subsidy for the self-pay portion of the medical treatment cost and medical care allowance by Comprehensive Measures of Minamata Disease. As for the people whose sensory disturbance is not as bad as the level eligible for the lump sum payment and who are suffering from symptoms shared by Minamata Disease, they are also eligible for health care passbooks and the subsidy for the self-pay portion of the medical treatment cost.

On May 1, 2010, then Prime Minister Hatoyama attended and gave prayers at the Memorial Service for Victims of Minamata Disease as the first prime minister to do so. Applications for benefits opened on the same day. As of the end of March 2011, the number of applications has come up to 26,419 people in total (14,824 people for Kumamoto Prefecture, 10,576 people for Kagoshima Prefecture, and 749 people for Niigata Prefecture). Also, the eligible people began to receive a lump sum payment under the Special Relief Act in October 2010.

In July 2010, the government appointed Chisso Corporation as a specified corporation and approved its restructuring plan in December 2010, so as to ensure that the company fulfills its compensation responsibility to the certified victims and continues to make lump sum payments under the Special Relief Act and settlement.

Also, settlement talks were held with some groups that had filed a lawsuit earlier. Both the plaintiffs and defendants accepted the opinion presented by the

Figure 6-1 Status of Environmental Impact Assessment Procedures in Accordance with the Environmental Impact Assessment Law.

(As of March 31, 2011)

Road	River	Railway	Airport	Power plant	Waste disposal site	Landfill and reclamation	Area development	Total
Procedure	77 (22)	7 (0)	15 (4)	9 (0)	56 (12)	5 (1)	13 (3)	20 (9)	196 (50)
Procedure active	14 (0)	1 (0)	3 (1)	1 (0)	12 (0)	1 (0)	3 (1)	2 (0)	36 (2)
Procedure completed	54 (21)	5 (0)	10 (3)	7 (0)	39 (12)	4 (1)	9 (2)	14 (7)	138 (45)
Procedure discontinued	9 (1)	1 (0)	2 (0)	1 (0)	5 (0)	-	1 (0)	4 (2)	22 (3)
Minister of the Environment's opinion	55 (21)	5 (0)	10 (3)	7 (0)	38 (12)	-	1 (0)	14 (8)	129 (44)

* Figures in () show the number of cases conducted under the Law in the way of procedure. Figures outside () include these numbers. When two projects are implemented together, it is counted as one.

** Those opinions include the opinion of "no opinion". The Minister of the Environment presents opinions only when the authorizing agency is a national organization.

*** The Misumi~Masuda 9th national highway, the Kajima joint power plant No5 machine installation plan, and the Yuasa~Gobou 42nd national highway widening completed the notification and the general inspection requirements in FY 2010 based on Article 27 of Environmental Impact Assessment Law.

*** The Japan Steel Works, Ltd. Muroran Plant Central power plant replacement plan, the Wakayama point power plant No1 machine replacement plan and Hachinohe Port Navigation anchor ground completed the notification in FY2010 based on Article 4-3-2 of Environmental Impact Assessment Law.