환경오염피해구제법상 환경책임보험의 제도적 개선방안 검토

In 2012, the Gumi hydrofluoric acid gas explosion was a well-known environmental pollution disaster, and in 2014, the Environmental Pollution Damage Compensation Act was enacted to provide prompt compensation for property and bodily injury to third parties caused by environmental pollution. The Act stipulates facilities that are obligated to obtain environmental liability insurance and requires them to prepare for the risk of accidents that may occur as a result of their operations. In accordance with the legislative purpose of the Environmental Pollution Damage Compensation Act, environmental liability insurance, a compulsory insurance policy introduced as a financial means for prompt recovery of bodily and property damages of third parties caused by environmental pollution, has been improved through various system improvements. Since the introduction of environmental liability insurance, various improvements have been made to the system, from the methods of selecting environmental liability insurance providers to the scope of coverage. Although environmental liability insurance in Korea differs from other countries, it has been steadily improving through the improvement of the insurance provider selection method and the expansion of some insurance scopes, and efforts are being made to improve environmental liability insurance by expanding the scope of coverage through various policy reviews. Therefore, it is necessary to not only look at environmental liability insurance critically, but also to recognize its features and make necessary improvements so that it can be transformed into an insurance that can provide prompt recovery of victims and protection of workplaces. This study aims to propose a system improvement plan for environmental liability insurance under the Environmental Pollution Damage Compensation Act in terms of coverage, terms and conditions, and assessment of damages. Therefore, a comparative legal review of the coverage of the EU's environmental liability insurance system, which can provide implications for the improvement of the Korean environmental liability insurance system, was analyzed. Through this analysis, it is necessary to continue to discuss whether there is a need to enhance the compensation limit and expand the scope of coverage by taking into account foreign legislation in relation to the current form of environmental liability insurance operations and the scope of coverage. As a result of this review, it suggested a system improvement plan after reviewing each issue regarding laws, terms and conditions, damage prevention costs, and damage assessment.