A legislative committee session yesterday sputtered into gridlock as legislators and government officials sparred over legal language in proposed amendments to limit air pollution, prompting several legislators to accuse the authorities of being nonchalant about potential health hazards posed by factory emissions.
The session focused on capping factory-emitted PM2.5 — airborne pollutants measuring less than 2.5 micrometers — identified as a carcinogen by the WHO and the International Agency for Research on Cancer.
An amendment proposed by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lin Shu-fen (林淑芬) said that if the annual concentrations of air pollutants — ozone, PM10 and PM2.5 — gauged in a municipality exceeds the annual standard stipulated by the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) for three years in a row, that municipality shall be designated a “level 3” air pollution prevention zone, meaning air quality in the region is in breach of emission standards.
Photo: Lo Pei-der, Taipei Times
Furthermore, if a municipality records subpar air quality for five consecutive years, it alone — or together with its neighbors — shall be designated an overall emission control zone, which would prohibit the establishment of new factories unless proprietors obtain emission quotas granted to existing plants by auction or direct trading.
Lin said that air pollutants produced throughout the nation often exceed standards set by the administration, but that there has been no legal tool to hold plants accountable for emissions since the act was introduced in 1999.
An amendment submitted by DPP Legislator Liu Chien-kuo (劉建國) proposes a standard emission inspection system and an emission quota trading system for control zones, and that the systems be introduced after the administration consults with the Ministry of Economic Affairs.
EPA and ministry officials objected to both plans.
Department of Air Quality Protection and Noise Control Director-General Chen Hsien-heng (陳咸亨) said that since the makeup of industrial sectors and their clientele vary, and the pollution reduction technology employed by each firm varies, the proposed rules should not be imposed indiscriminately.
Environmental Protection Administration Minister Wei Kuo-yen (魏國彥) suggested that Lin’s phrasing of “shall” be changed to “may,” in accordance with the wording of the article she intends to amend, saying that it allows for more “flexible” enforcement.
He also said that Liu’s use of the word “consult” should be changed to “convene with” — a sentiment echoed by Ministry of Economic Affairs Deputy Minister Shen Jong-jin (沈榮津).
Chen and Wei’s remarks angered some legislators, who said the officials attempted to stall the introduction of overall emission control zones to protect businesses at the cost of public health, and that their proposed wording aimed at weakening accountability for pollution.
Lin criticized the EPA, saying it “subordinates itself” to the ministry, while DPP Legislator Chao Tien-lin (趙天麟), who chaired the meeting, asked Wei if the administration had “completely abandoned its principles.”
Chao broke up the meeting after announcing that the proposed amendments would be taken to the grand assembly for further discussions. None of the 10 amendments discussed yesterday were passed.
‘ABUSE OF POWER’: Lee Chun-yi allegedly used a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a pet grooming salon and take his wife to restaurants, media reports said Control Yuan Secretary-General Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) resigned on Sunday night, admitting that he had misused a government vehicle, as reported by the media. Control Yuan Vice President Lee Hung-chun (李鴻鈞) yesterday apologized to the public over the issue. The watchdog body would follow up on similar accusations made by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and would investigate the alleged misuse of government vehicles by three other Control Yuan members: Su Li-chiung (蘇麗瓊), Lin Yu-jung (林郁容) and Wang Jung-chang (王榮璋), Lee Hung-chun said. Lee Chun-yi in a statement apologized for using a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a
Taiwan yesterday denied Chinese allegations that its military was behind a cyberattack on a technology company in Guangzhou, after city authorities issued warrants for 20 suspects. The Guangzhou Municipal Public Security Bureau earlier yesterday issued warrants for 20 people it identified as members of the Information, Communications and Electronic Force Command (ICEFCOM). The bureau alleged they were behind a May 20 cyberattack targeting the backend system of a self-service facility at the company. “ICEFCOM, under Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party, directed the illegal attack,” the warrant says. The bureau placed a bounty of 10,000 yuan (US$1,392) on each of the 20 people named in
The High Court yesterday found a New Taipei City woman guilty of charges related to helping Beijing secure surrender agreements from military service members. Lee Huei-hsin (李慧馨) was sentenced to six years and eight months in prison for breaching the National Security Act (國家安全法), making illegal compacts with government employees and bribery, the court said. The verdict is final. Lee, the manager of a temple in the city’s Lujhou District (蘆洲), was accused of arranging for eight service members to make surrender pledges to the Chinese People’s Liberation Army in exchange for money, the court said. The pledges, which required them to provide identification
INDO-PACIFIC REGION: Royal Navy ships exercise the right of freedom of navigation, including in the Taiwan Strait and South China Sea, the UK’s Tony Radakin told a summit Freedom of navigation in the Indo-Pacific region is as important as it is in the English Channel, British Chief of the Defence Staff Admiral Tony Radakin said at a summit in Singapore on Saturday. The remark came as the British Royal Navy’s flagship aircraft carrier, the HMS Prince of Wales, is on an eight-month deployment to the Indo-Pacific region as head of an international carrier strike group. “Upholding the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, and with it, the principles of the freedom of navigation, in this part of the world matters to us just as it matters in the
RSS