Gadeokdo New Airport Special Act Even if it passes the National Assembly as it is… “A mountain beyond the mountain”

It is a clause known to have suffered the most difficulties in the’Special Act for Construction of Gadeok Island New Airport’, which passed the National Land Transportation Committee on the 19th. When the news that the preliminary exemption clause was removed from the original bill review, the Busan region and the politicians strongly opposed it.

After controversy in the process of making an alternative to the special bill submitted by the Democratic Party and the People’s Power in the so-called together, the’preliminary exemption’ clause was revived. Under Article 38 of the current National Finance Act, new construction projects with a total project cost of 50 billion won or more and the government’s financial support scale of 30 billion won or more are subject to preliminary compensation.

The Gadeokdo New Airport project is, of course, subject to preliminary estimates, as only a rough construction cost is estimated at 7 to 11 trillion won. However, in general, it is not easy to pass preliminary. In many cases, the projects that the local government as well as the central government wants do not cross the barrier of Yeta.

In particular, projects with an economic feasibility evaluation (B/C) that considers cost (C) versus utility (B) significantly less than 1.0 are less likely. Previously, Yeta was the biggest stumbling block for Gadeokdo Island, whose B/C was only 0.7 in the government’s survey on location selection for the Yeongnam area in 2011.

In this situation, it would be fortunate for the side that promotes Gadeokdo Airport that the provisions related to exemption from the exceptions are alive in the special law. However, if you look at it a little more, it’s not just something to look very optimistic about.

Most of all, the preliminary exemption rule is not “must”, but “can do”. This means that you can do it or not, depending on your needs and circumstances, so you can’t be confident with 100% of the exemption.

In addition, the Ministry of Strategy and Finance, which has the authority to waive preliminary tax exemption, said in the opinion on the Gadeokdo New Airport Special Act previously submitted to the National Assembly, “In the case of Gadeokdo New Airport, like other general projects, ① decided on a plan to deal with the existing Gimhae New Airport expansion project, ② location, etc. He said, “It is necessary to verify the feasibility through a preliminary feasibility study after undergoing a preliminary feasibility review by the competent department for the promotion of the new airport.”

It is possible to interpret that the possibility of sticking to the negative position is not small at the time when the Ministry of Information and Communication must decide whether to exempt the preliminary shot. There is one more stumbling block. It is a preliminary feasibility review that must be supervised by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.

In the special legislation originally submitted by the opposition parties, there was a provision to omit or significantly reduce the prior feasibility review (sata). However, in the alternative, the provisions related to the preliminary feasibility review were omitted altogether. An official from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport explained, “The deletion of the relevant provisions from the alternative means that the preliminary feasibility review must be carried out according to the regulations.”

The preliminary feasibility review is a survey conducted when the government’s policy to implement a specific project is determined. ▶ Necessity of the project ▶ Prediction of risk factors for project implementation ▶ Location conditions of the project site ▶ Project size and construction cost ▶ The impact of project implementation on the environment Check your back. It takes about a year.

Not only the government but also local governments go through a preliminary feasibility review before applying for a preliminary evaluation to the Ministry of Information. Ajou University professor Yoo Jeong-hoon said, “When the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs selects a project for pre-tapping to be uploaded to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, most of the projects that have undergone prior feasibility review are selected with the highest validity.”

This is the reason for the observation that if the result of the preliminary feasibility review for the Gadeokdo New Airport project is ambiguous, it will not be easy to apply for a reservation. In addition, even if the application for pre-tapping is enforced under these conditions, it seems difficult for the Ministry of Information to agree to the pre-tapping exemption.

It can be burdensome to implement environmental impact assessments as prescribed. In 2016, Paris Airport Authority Engineering (ADPi) pointed out that in the evaluation of candidate sites for the Yeongnam Area New Airport, “a huge amount of site-building work such as cutting and reclamation of the mountain in Gadeok Island will have a huge impact on the natural environment of the region.

For this reason, it is expected that the government and the airport industry will inevitably require considerable controversy and time until the actual project proceeds even if the special law passes the plenary session of the National Assembly on the 26th. An expert who requested anonymity said, “If the situation is right now, there is a high possibility that controversy will continue over the exemption from pre-tapping until the presidential election next year.”

Transportation reporter Gap-saeng Kang [email protected]