The Executive Yuan yesterday approved 43 draft amendments to the Organizational Act of the Executive Yuan (行政院組織法), which, if passed by legislators, would implement a long-awaited restructuring of government, including upgrading the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) to a ministry of environmental resources.
According to the draft amendments, the ministry of environmental resources would take over part of the responsibilities that fall under the Council of Agriculture (COA), the Ministry of Economic Affairs and the Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC).
Those include forestry and wildlife conservation, water and soil conservation, and weather forecasting.
Photo: CNA
Unlike other agencies involved in the restructuring, the proposed environment ministry would be practically an entirely new agency rather than the product of an internal reorganization, Directorate-General of Personnel Administration Minister Jay Shih (施能傑) told a news conference in Taipei.
The Central Weather Bureau would become a central weather administration under the environment ministry, the draft amendments say.
EPA agencies in charge of regulating toxic substances and conducting environmental inspections are to become the toxic substances and chemicals administration and the environmental management bureau.
A new research institute of biodiversity and forest protection is also to be created under the new environment ministry, Shih said.
Water management tasks relating to economic development — including the appropriation of water for industrial use and river remediation projects — would remain within the purview of the Ministry of Economic Affairs, he said.
Responding to media queries, EPA Minister Lee Ying-yuan (李應元) denied that the proposed new ministry would be a “grand ministry,” saying its budget is likely to be far smaller than the budgets allocated to the MOTC, the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of National Defense.
The tasks of the new ministry — responding to climate change and cutting carbon dioxide emissions — would be highly challenging, meaningful and in line with global trends, he said, as he thanked employees at the other agencies for their willingness to become part of the new ministry.
According to the amendments, the interior ministry would continue to govern national parks, a proposal that Deputy Minister of the Interior Hua Ching-chun (花敬群) lauded, saying that it is “better equipped” to take care of the parks, especially when it comes to formulating construction management and urban renewal plans.
The draft amendments also seek to adjust the responsibilities of the Construction and Planning Agency, which is expected to be become a national land management administration.
The amendments also propose upgrading the COA to a ministry of agriculture with three new agencies.
They are the water resources agency for farming communities and irrigation, the agricultural services and financing administration, and the agricultural science parks management office.
The proposed amendments embody the “final piece of the puzzle” for restructuring the government, Shih said.
FOUR DESIGNATED AREAS: Notices were issued for live-fire exercises in waters south and northwest of Penghu, northeast of Keelung and west of Kaohsiung, they said The military is planning three major annual exercises across the army, navy and air force this month, with the navy’s “Hai Chiang” (海強, “Sea Strong”) drills running from today through Friday, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday. The Hai Chiang exercise, which is to take place in waters surrounding Taiwan, would feature P-3C Orion maritime patrol aircraft and S-70C anti-submarine helicopters, the ministry said, adding that the drills aim to bolster the nation’s offshore defensive capabilities. China has intensified military and psychological pressure against Taiwan, repeatedly sending warplanes and vessels into areas near the nation’s air defense identification zone and across
FORCED LABOR: A US court listed three Taiwanese and nine firms based in Taiwan in its indictment, with eight of the companies registered at the same address Nine companies registered in Taiwan, as well as three Taiwanese, on Tuesday were named by the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) as Specially Designated Nationals (SDNs) as a result of a US federal court indictment. The indictment unsealed at the federal court in Brooklyn, New York, said that Chen Zhi (陳志), a dual Cambodian-British national, is being indicted for fraud conspiracy, money laundering and overseeing Prince Holding Group’s forced-labor scam camps in Cambodia. At its peak, the company allegedly made US$30 million per day, court documents showed. The US government has seized Chen’s noncustodial wallet, which contains
SUPPLY CHAIN: Taiwan’s advantages in the drone industry include rapid production capacity that is independent of Chinese-made parts, the economic ministry said The Executive Yuan yesterday approved plans to invest NT$44.2 billion (US$1.44 billion) into domestic production of uncrewed aerial vehicles over the next six years, bringing Taiwan’s output value to more than NT$40 billion by 2030 and making the nation Asia’s democratic hub for the drone supply chain. The proposed budget has NT$33.8 billion in new allocations and NT$10.43 billion in existing funds, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said. Under the new development program, the public sector would purchase nearly 100,000 drones, of which 50,898 would be for civil and government use, while 48,750 would be for national defense, it said. The Ministry of
SENATE RECOMMENDATION: The National Defense Authorization Act encourages the US secretary of defense to invite Taiwan’s navy to participate in the exercises in Hawaii The US Senate on Thursday last week passed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2026, which strongly encourages the US secretary of defense to invite Taiwan’s naval forces to participate in the Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercise, as well as allocating military aid of US$1 billion for Taiwan. The bill, which authorizes appropriations for the military activities of the US Department of Defense, military construction and other purposes, passed with 77 votes in support and 20 against. While the NDAA authorizes about US$925 billion of defense spending, the Central News Agency yesterday reported that an aide of US
RSS