are granted to each elementary and middle school for supporting environmental education on sewage.

## Section 5

## Protecting the marine environment

## (1) Control policies over large scale oil pollution

In order to eliminate the substandard vessels (a major factor for large scale oil pollution), Japan actively participates in international initiatives, such as the formulation of the international shipping database (EQUASIS), while also strengthening Port State Control (PSC), which checks if vessels meet standards, by conducting on-site inspection of vessels that enter Japanese ports. While the flag states government have the duty to implement and enforce regulations and standards developed at the International Maritime Organization (IMO), in order to assess the flag states governments' performance of their duties, IMO assembly meeting established the Voluntary IMO Member State Audit Scheme in 2005, based on the Japan's proposal. In 2016 the scheme became mandatory, on the basis of evaluation of the progress in addressing the scheme globally.

In other fronts, as countermeasures for occurrences of large scale oil pollution in the Sea of Japan, Japan is working on strengthening international cooperation and collaborative systems by drawing up plans such as the “NOWPAP Regional Oil and HNS Spill Contingency Plan” through the “Northwest Pacific Action Plan (NOWPAP)”, the framework for joined efforts between Japan, China, Korea and Russia for protecting the marine environment. As for large-scale oil spillages that occur in domestic waters, measures have been established for prompt and precise response through the utilization of large-sized trailing suction hopper dredgers.

The MARPOL Convention $ ^{Note 1} $ imposes controls on the discharge of oil and garbage by vessels. In Japan, taxation and other forms of support for the development of facilities to receive waste oil generated inside vessels are being provided and the (draft) “Guidelines for Reception Facilities of Ship-generated Garbage in Ports and Harbors” have been formulated to ensure that oil and garbage are appropriately received in ports and harbors.

## (2) Control measures on air pollution from ships

Since sulfur oxide (SOx) can negatively affect the human body and cause acid rain, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) regulates SOx emitted by vessels according to the MARPOL Convention, which stipulates standard values of sulfur concentrations in fuel oil used by vessels according to the sea area in which vessels operate. Presently, the MARPOL Convention stipulates a maximum concentration of 0.1 percent in certain sea areas subject to strict controls (emission control areas) and a maximum concentration of 3.5 percent in all other seas areas (general sea areas). With respect to general sea areas, the MARPOL Convention provides for the lowering of the current standard value to a maximum of 0.5 percent from as early as January 1, 2020. (The IMO will determine the availability of compliant fuel oil. If it is determined that compliance with regulations on January 1, 2020 by vessels is impossible, the date from which this change will take effect shall be January 1, 2025.)

In addition to participating in IMO discussions pertaining to SOx emission reductions, Japan has engaged in other initiatives with a view to disseminating natural gas-fueled ships that can significantly reduce the amount of SOx emission, such as by formulating safety standards and codifying them into international rules and providing construction support. Domestically, Japan’s first natural gas-fueled ship went into service in September 2015.

## (3) Responding to issues of invasive aquatic species carried by ships

Control measures on invasive aquatic species carried by ships It is pointed out that the transfer of aquatic species via ships' ballast water $ ^{2} $ and ships' biofouling would threat marine ecosystem in waters where these ships navigate in. In order to prevent the transfer of invasive species, “International Convention for the Control and Management of Ships’ Ballast Water and Sediments in 2004” and “the 2011 Guidelines for the Control and Management of Ships’ biofouling to minimize the transfer of invasive aquatic species in 2011” were adopted at the IMO. With the necessity to take action to prevent the disruption to the ecosystem caused by the harmful ballast water from international shipping and to fulfill the international responsibility under the international cooperation, the Government of Japan proposed the law to implement the Ballast Water Management Convention (amendments Act on Prevention of Maritime Pollution and Maritime Disaster)