Court settlement of environmental disputes, such as disputes over air pollution and noise, expends much time and energy. The System for Settling Environmental Disputes was established with the objective of providing quick and just settlement through simplified procedures and inexpensive costs in order to reduce the burden of the parties concerned in such disputes over pollution. The Environment Dispute Coordination Commission and the Prefectural Pollution Examination Committees are the dispute settlement bodies established at national and prefectural levels, respectively, and settle environmental disputes through "conciliation," "mediation" and "arbitration." In addition to those services, the Commission provides "adjudication" services, or legal judgment made through prescribed procedures such as trials. The Commission is characterized by simplified and flexible procedure, inexpensive costs and employment of professional knowledge and expertise, and it utilizes those characteristics to settle a wide range of disputes, including over contemporary environmental issues such as low-frequency noise, chemical substances, and soil pollution, as well as large-scale disputes over waste issues, highway pollution and noise of Shinkansen, or super express train.

The duties of the Commission also include designation of mining prohibited areas, adjudications on objections to administrative decisions on permission or approval pursuant to the Mining Law and other laws, and coordination among the interests of the mining, quarrying and gravel industry, and the public interests.