Japan enacts bill for quick restoration of disaster-hit ports

The House of Councillors, the upper chamber of the Diet, approved the bill to revise the port and harbor law at a plenary meeting Wednesday after its passage through the House of Representatives, the lower chamber, earlier this month.

The bill was drawn up following the January 2024 Noto Peninsula earthquake, which cut off many land routes, blocking the procurement of materials and supplies for restoration work.

The revised law will allow local governments to use privately owned materials for emergency restoration work for port facilities without prior consent.

For example, local governments managing ports would be able to excavate soil from the land of private facilities next to the ports for use in restoration work. The costs to restore the affected areas to their original state would be compensated for afterward.

The revised law also envisions a system for local governments to secure agreements in advance to use privately owned warehouses and other facilities at ports for storing relief supplies during their response to disasters.

Additionally, a framework will be created for the central government to undertake construction requiring advanced technologies on behalf of local governments to promote port development during normal times.

Earlier this month, the Diet enacted a bill to revise the road law to allow the central government to remove disaster debris on roads on behalf of local governments from just after the disaster, in order to speedily secure routes for rescue operations and transportation of relief supplies.