静岡リニア、相次ぐ「新局面」はJR東海に朗報か
Governor Kawakatsu Meets with Director General of MLIT's Railway Bureau
Note: The following text refelcts the opinion of Mr. Naoki Osaka, reporter of Toyo Keizai, who is favour of an early opening of the LInear Maglev line
Info based on Japanese Media.
https://article.auone.jp/detail/1/3/6/7 ... 0121984274 Accessed 2024-02-12
JR Tokai wants to start construction, and Shizuoka Prefecture refuses to approve the construction due to water resource problems in the Oigawa River and environmental conservation in the Southern Alps. The issue of the Shizuoka section of the Linear Central Shinkansen has taken on the appearance of an information war. The trigger was a comment from Kinuyo Someya, mayor of Shimada City, one of the municipalities in the Oigawa River basin. The mayor of Shimada City, one of the municipalities in the Oigawa River basin, said, "I have never received any explanation from the prefectural government about the report.
Oigawa Basin Municipalities Express Dissatisfaction with the Prefectural Government
On January 21, the chairman of the panel, Futoshi Nakamura, a professor at Hokkaido University, and Shigeki Murata, director general of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport, and Tourism's Railway Bureau, visited Shizuoka Prefecture and briefed the mayor of Shizuoka City and the leaders of the 10 cities and towns in the Oigawa River basin.
Mayor Someya, representing the mayors of the 10 cities and towns, said that they had a better understanding of the project, but he also expressed his dissatisfaction with the prefecture. Despite the fact that the prefectural government is aware of the information from the experts' meeting through its participation as an observer, Governor Heita Kawakatsu has only repeated his comments about JR Tokai at regular press conferences, neglecting to report to the cities and towns involved in the project.
On January 24, JR Tokai held a press briefing on the Linear Central Shinkansen project in Shizuoka City. The purpose of the meeting was to directly explain JR Tokai's position on the project, since various statements made by Governor Kawakatsu during the year-end and New Year holidays, such as the timing of the opening of the line and the section of the line to be opened first, differed in many respects from the facts announced by JR Tokai and could cause misunderstandings.
Compared to the national government and JR Tokai, Governor Kawakatsu seems to give priority to stating his own opinion rather than explaining the facts. Perhaps sensing this atmosphere, Vice Governor Takashi Mori, who heads the Central Shinkansen Task Force in the prefecture, said on February 5, "Everyone involved is talking about various things, and I am a little confused. I would like to talk about the way forward, including sorting them out," he said, indicating the prefecture's understanding of the progress of discussions with JR Tokai.
Regarding the environmental impact assessment of the Shizuoka Linear Construction Area, there are issues such as water resources of the Oigawa River, environmental preservation of the Southern Alps, and the placement of soil generated by the project. In January 2019, the prefecture established a subcommittee to begin discussions with JR Tokai, and in September of the same year, the prefecture sent a document to JR Tokai listing 47 items as "items requiring continued dialogue. In September of the same year, the prefecture sent a document to JR Tokai listing 47 items that "require continued dialogue." Unless all of these items were agreed upon, the prefecture would not allow the tunnel construction.
With no progress being made, time was running out. The government then set up an expert panel to act as a mediator and began discussions on the 47 items in April 2020. The experts' committee compiled a report on water resources in December 2021, and on environmental preservation and soil generated in December 2023. With this report, the government considers the discussions on the 47 items to have been completed.
The State and Shizuoka Prefecture Have a Wide Gap in Recognition
Vice Governor Mori presented the prefectural government's position on the 47 items. Unlike the national government, which claims to have completed discussions on all items, the prefectural government's subcommittee resolved questions and reached consensus on only 17 items, with the remaining 30 items requiring further discussion. There is a big gap between the national government's understanding and the prefectural government's.
Aside from that, a breakdown of the 47 items shows that there are 26 items related to water resources, including those related to the total return of tunnel spring water, of which 17 items have been completed. Environmental preservation of the Southern Alps has 17 items, and although Vice Governor Mori says that "discussions have progressed and a certain amount of progress has been made," the number of items that have been completed is zero. The placement of soil generated by tunnels has 4 items, and the number of items that have been completed is also zero.
Regarding water resources, a national panel of experts reported that the impact of tunnel excavation on groundwater in the middle and lower reaches of the Oi River is extremely small compared to the impact of seasonal and annual fluctuations in river flow. The report states that the impact on water users in the middle and lower reaches of the Ooi River is negligible. Nevertheless, since the prefecture is demanding "total return of all tunnel spring water," JR Tokai has presented a "proposal to curb water intake at the Tashiro Dam" and has reached an agreement with TEPCO Renewable Power, which manages the dam, to implement the plan. In light of this situation, the prefectural government will need to continue dialogue with JR Tokai regarding the specific operation method of how to proceed with the water withdrawal control, how to respond if the water withdrawal control continues to fail, and what to do in the event of unforeseen circumstances such as a sudden water inflow.
In reality, however, the prefectural government sent a letter to JR Tokai on November 29, 2011, stating its approval of the implementation plan. In other words, the prefecture has already given its approval. Therefore, even if we say that "continued dialogue is necessary," it should not take long unless something happens to change the premise of the project.
Regarding the 21 items related to environmental preservation and soil contamination, the prefectural government states that not a single dialogue has been completed, which is in direct conflict with the report of the government's expert panel. When we asked the prefectural government why this was the case, they simply stated that there was a difference of opinion regarding the preliminary survey.
Before construction work is undertaken, a survey is conducted to predict and evaluate the impact of the work on living organisms, based on which a plan is formulated, implemented, monitored, and revised as necessary. Both the prefectural government and the national government refer to this PDCA cycle process as "adaptive management," and the basic concept is the same for both. The difference is in the extent to which preliminary investigations are conducted.
Mr. Nakamura, the chairman of the national expert panel, said, "No matter how many years we spend on it, we will never achieve perfection. We have to make decisions based on uncertainty." Hidetaka Ishikawa, director of the prefectural government's policy promotion department, said, "I fear that if we start construction without sufficient research, the results will be irreversible. On the other hand, he also said, "We do not intend to aim for 100% and spend years on it.
How Long Will Discussions in the Technical Subcommittee Continue?
The most interesting question is how long, if at all, the discussions on the remaining 30 items will continue. Vice Governor Mori said, "I can't say when the discussions will come to a conclusion, but we would like to hold the prefectural technical committee meetings with a sense of urgency to resolve the issues," but as for the next technical committee meeting, he said, "It is difficult to hold a meeting once a month because the committee members have their own schedules. The committee has not yet decided whether it will be able to hold the meeting within the fiscal year. If that is the case, the next meeting will be held in April or later. This cannot be said to be very speedy.
The prefectural government has interviewed each member of the technical committee individually and compiled their opinions, but what does JR Tokai think about this? According to the prefectural government, it delivered the contents of this report to JR Tokai on February 2, and told them to let us know if they felt any discrepancies, and since they have not heard from us, we are aware that JR Tokai has agreed to this.
Although no official comment was obtained from JR Tokai, a company official said, "This is different from the prefectural government's understanding. 2 days is Friday and 5 days is Monday, the day of the announcement, so JR Tokai has little time to scrutinize the contents. The official said, "There are no remaining issues to be discussed regarding water resources and environmental conservation, which were discussed at the national experts' meeting, including the 47 items. Nevertheless, it is inevitable that the Expert Committee will continue to hold discussions if requested by the prefectural government.
Next, on February 7, Director Murata of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport, and Tourism's Railway Bureau visited Governor Kawakatsu at the prefectural government office to exchange views. After exchanging views with the leaders of eight cities and two towns in the basin on January 21, when asked by the press about exchanging views with the prefecture, Mr. Murata said, "I would consider it if the prefecture requests it or if there is an opportunity. This time, the meeting was realized.
The meeting was scheduled to last 30 minutes, but actually lasted 1 hour and 02 minutes, far exceeding the scheduled time. The reason for the overtime was that Governor Kawakatsu explained his theory of reviewing JR Tokai's business plan, etc. No topic such as differences in perception between the national and prefectural governments regarding the 47 items was discussed.
The centerpiece of the meeting was a plan to create a new system to monitor and evaluate JR Tokai's efforts to conserve water resources and the environment. The cities and towns in the basin have been calling for active involvement of the national government, and this has now begun to take shape.
At the beginning of the meeting, when Mr. Murata said, "We are preparing a new system to continuously check both water resource issues and environmental conservation from a comprehensive perspective," Governor Kawakatsu involuntarily uttered an "Oh" and said, "This is a very interesting story. This is a very interesting story.
After the meeting, Director Murata and Governor Kawakatsu each gave an interview to the press. Director Murata said, "In accordance with adaptive management, pre- and post-monitoring is very important," and that he would work to establish a new system for monitoring both water resources and environmental conservation, where JR Tokai would conduct the surveys. He said that the specific timing of the establishment of the system and the selection of personnel will be discussed in the future.
Governor Kawakatsu insists that "the entire line will be in operation by 2037.
Governor Kawakatsu praised the "Railway Bureau. They have embarked on this project in earnest. However, there are some points of concern. Regarding the monitoring organization, he said, "The character of the organization will be revealed depending on the kind of person who will serve as the chairperson. There is no denying the possibility that Governor Kawakatsu will meddle in the selection of the chairperson and try to appoint someone who is favorable to the prefecture. In the past, the prefectural government has rejected a selection plan proposed by the national government at a national expert panel, citing doubts about its neutrality.
That is not all. Governor Kawakatsu also said, "We will also ask you to monitor whether the rail yard under construction in Kanagawa Prefecture will really be ready by 2027. This is a departure from the environmental issues at the Shizuoka construction site and a call for the establishment of a monitoring system for the entire linear project. He said that he would like to consult with the Association of Local Authorities for Promoting the Construction of the Linear Line, but does he want to create an organization to monitor the linear project itself?
Regarding the discussions in the technical committee, which have made little progress, Governor Kawakatsu stated, "I have absolutely no intention of delaying the project. However, "the entire linear line will only function when it is fully open, and we must gather all our wisdom in order to open the entire line (between Shinagawa and Shin-Osaka) in 2037," he said. Governor Kawakatsu is focused on 2037, and is not interested in how close to 2027 the new Shinagawa-Nagoya line will open.
Nevertheless, if the new organization is responsible for preserving the water resources of the Oigawa River and the environment of the Southern Alps for JR Tokai, it is not a bad deal for Governor Kawakatsu, because if something unforeseen should happen, the prefecture can shift responsibility to the national government. Is Governor Kawakatsu finally moving to find a landing place in his difficult talks with JR Tokai, or is he repeating the same scene of refusing to approve the construction work based on his own arguments? We hope that Governor Kawakatsu will keep in mind that he represents the people of the prefecture in his next move.
Info based on translated news from Japanese Media.
https://article.auone.jp/detail/1/3/6/7 ... 0121984274 Accessed 2024-02-12