Korea Caps Ammonia at 90 ppm for Large Livestock Manure Fertiliser Plants

The 기후에너지환경부 (Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment) has formally classified large livestock-manure composting plants as air-pollutant emission sources and set an ammonia emission limit of 90 ppm for them. The change is contained in 기후에너지환경부령 제67호 (Ministerial Ordinance No. 67), the partial amendment to the Enforcement Rule of the Air Environment Conservation Act, promulgated in the 관보 (Official Gazette) No. 21354 of 4 November 2026, and it takes effect on the day of promulgation.

The ordinance, signed by the Minister of Climate, Energy and Environment, amends three annexes of the enforcement rule: Annex 3, which lists emission facilities; Annex 8, which sets emission standards; and a technical note on hydrocarbon limits for storage facilities. Until now, manure-based organic fertiliser production was treated only partially in the rules, while ordinary by-product fertiliser plants were subject to a 30 ppm ammonia ceiling. The ministry’s stated purpose is to manage “reasonably” the ammonia released by these facilities and to correct operational gaps, according to the amendment note published with the text and attributed to the ministry.

Fermentation only, from 100 tonnes a day

Annex 3, item 2 (na), sub-item 13) now adds a new category, (마), covering livestock-manure matured organic fertiliser manufacturing facilities — restricted to fermentation facilities. It captures two cases:

• A facility installed and operated by a person who has filed a livestock-manure recycling report under the main sentence of Article 27(1) of the Livestock Manure Management and Use Act, where the daily average treatment capacity recorded in the recycling report certificate is 100 tonnes or more.
• A facility where waste is mixed in, provided the manure recycling capacity plus the capacity of a permitted or reported waste recycling facility reaches 100 tonnes a day in total.
• A facility installed within a public treatment facility under Article 2(9) of the same act that turns livestock manure into compost or liquid fertiliser.

A new note 5 defines what counts as a fermentation facility: a facility that matures raw material by supplying oxygen and similar methods in the composting or liquid-fertilising process. Raw-material storage, pre-treatment, post-maturation, sorting and packaging, and liquid-fertiliser storage facilities are excluded.

A 90 ppm ceiling, with its own bracket

Annex 8, item 2 (ga), sub-item 1) — the ammonia table for fertiliser and nitrogen-compound production — is rewritten so that manure-based matured organic fertiliser plants sit in a separate bracket:

• Ordinary fertiliser and nitrogen-compound production facilities: 12 ppm or less.
• By-product fertiliser production facilities, excluding livestock-manure matured organic fertiliser plants: 30 ppm or less.
• Livestock-manure matured organic fertiliser production facilities: 90 ppm or less.
• Inorganic pigment, dye, softener and colourant plants: 12 ppm or less.
• Waste, wastewater and waste-gas incineration facilities and animal crematoria: 20 ppm (12 ppm).
• Solid fuel product-using facilities: 15 ppm (12 ppm); sintering units in cement plants: 20 ppm (13 ppm).
• All other emission facilities: 30 ppm or less.

The same annex also changes the hydrocarbon standard for storage facilities, replacing the phased 2024–2026 application schedule for total hydrocarbon emissions with a leakage-concentration standard for solid particulate storage under Annex 10-2. Annex 3, item 2 (ra), is corrected so that the by-product fertiliser reference reads as matured organic fertiliser among by-product fertilisers under Article 2(3) of the Fertiliser Management Act.

No transition period in the text

The supplementary provision states simply that the rule enters into force on the date of promulgation, with no staged grace period written into the gazette text. The amendment therefore lands directly on the livestock sector and the fertiliser industry: operators of fermentation facilities at or above the 100-tonne threshold now fall under emission-facility obligations, and those that mix waste must count combined capacity when testing whether they cross it.

For readers, the practical effect is a new compliance line for a sector that processes the country’s manure: plants previously regulated indirectly, or covered by the stricter 30 ppm by-product fertiliser standard, now have their own 90 ppm ammonia ceiling, a defined facility boundary that excludes storage and packaging buildings, and a single reference point — the capacity stated in the recycling certificate — for deciding who is covered.

Source: 관보 (Republic of Korea Official Gazette), No. 21354, 4 November 2026, ordinances section (부령), p. 4 (official reference: 기후에너지환경부령 제67호).