Yunlin County Commissioner Lee Chin-yung (李進勇) and Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Liu Chien-kuo (劉建國) yesterday lashed out against Premier Mao Chi-kuo (毛治國) and the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) over their rejection of the local ban on the use of soft coal and petroleum coke, saying the move shows disrespect to local autonomy.
As Yunlin County, a predominantly agricultural county, has been troubled by severe air pollution due to the presence of Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) oil refineries offshore of the county’s Mailiao Township (麥寮), the county government proposed a set of local regulations to ban the use of soft coal and petroleum coke that the local county council passed earlier this month.
However, both Mao and EPA Minister Wei Kuo-yen (魏國彥) have spoken against the move, saying that local governments have no authority to make such legislation on their own.
Photo: Chen Chih-chu, Taipei Times
The EPA met yesterday afternoon to review whether the local regulations are legitimate, but produced no conclusion.
“The EPA said that it has no stance over the issue, but the EPA minister said in a letter to the editor [published in the Chinese-language China Times] that a local government has no authority to make such legislation,” Lee told a news conference at the DPP caucus yesterday. “Saying that the EPA has no stance is talking absolute crap.”
Lee also said that the premier has also publicly announced that he would not allow local governments to make such policy decisions on their own.
“Through his remarks, Mao has not only hurt the local government’s power to legislate, but also harmed local autonomy,” Lee said.
He went on to defend the local legislation as completely legitimate, saying that Article 7 of the Environmental Basic Act (環境基本法) authorizes local governments to make regulations concerning environmental protection according to their needs.
“The article also stipulates that the central government should assist local governments in doing so,” Lee added.
Liu protested the EPA not allowing either the county commissioner or himself, who was elected in Yunlin County, to take part in the meeting.
Liu said that Yunlin County has every right to make its own regulations, since one-quarter of the nation’s soft coal is burned in the county, while the Formosa Petrochemical refineries are the only facilities that use petroleum coke in Taiwan.
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