Poor air quality has plagued central and southern Taiwan for many years. Citizen of the Earth, Taiwan and lawmakers held a joint press conference on Sept. 12 at which they criticized the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA), saying that the ministry has not adhered to the Air Pollution Control Act by not joining up with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to announce that the air pollution emissions in central and southern Taiwan is controlled through a total quantity control system. They also said that this was one of the main causes of the air pollution problem in the region.
Citizen of the Earth, Taiwan deputy secretary-general Wang Min-ling says that the act was promulgated in 1975, and even though an amendment which included a total quantity control system was added in 1999, it stipulates that the EPA and the MOEA must announce the measures together. Central and southern Taiwan has many factories that are causing serious pollution, and once a total quantity control system is enforced they would have to reduce the amount of pollution they are emitting. Wang said that the MOEA’s passive attitude has allowed the region’s air pollution problem to grow increasingly serious over the years.
The pollution standards index (PSI) is based on the density of particulate matter, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide and ground-level ozone in the air on a particular day, all calculated as subsets, while the largest subset value is the given PSI for that day.
Photo: Yu Po-sen, Liberty Times
照片:自由時報記者俞泊霖
Wang says that from January to August this year the pollution index in the center and south was poor as much as 73.91 percent of the time. Looking at last year, Greater Taichung, Changhua, Nantou, Yunlin and Pingtung counties had good air to breathe less than 50 percent of the year, while Chiayi County, Greater Tainan and Greater Kaohsiung were all below 30 percent, meaning they only had good air to breathe on three out of every 10 days, posing a serious threat to people’s health in the region.
Lawmakers Lin Chia-lung and Chao Tien-lin say that during the next legislative session they will work hard to push amendments to the act, abolishing the section of the act which states that emissions caps must be enforced in conjunction with the MOEA.
The MOEA’s Industrial Development Bureau said on Sep. 12 that the EPA currently exercises partial control over emissions, and that the MOEA is not opposed to adhering to the act and enforcing emission cap regulations, but says that the government agencies involved must equally weigh all factors concerning the environment and economic development. If total control over emissions went into effect, the toll on industry development and society as a whole would be formidable, the MOEA says.
(Liberty Times, Translated by Kyle Jeffcoat)
中南部空氣品質長年不佳,地球公民基金會跟立委九月十二日召開記者會批評,經濟部不依照空污法會同環保署公告中南部空氣污染物採取「總量管制」措施,管制污染物排放總量,是造成中南部空氣污染的元凶之一。
地球公民基金會副執行長王敏玲表示,空污法於一九七五年公布,一九九九年修正時雖將「總量管制」條文入法,但規定環保署需要會同經濟部才能公告實施。中南部重大污染工廠林立,一旦實施「總量管制」,污染工廠必須污染減量,經濟部態度消極,導致中南部長年空氣污染嚴重。
空氣污染指標(PSI)係依據當日空氣中懸浮微粒、二氧化硫、二氧化氮、一氧化碳及臭氧濃度,分別換算出副指標值,當天各種指標值最大值即為PSI。
王敏玲表示,今年一至八月空氣污染指標不良的累積日數,發生在中南部比率高達百分之七十三點九一。以去年一整年來看,台中市、彰化縣、南投縣、雲林縣、屏東縣,呼吸到好空氣的比率不到五成,嘉義縣市、台南市、高雄市呼吸到好空氣的品質更不到三成,亦即十天只有三天可以呼吸到好空氣,對中南部民眾健康造成嚴重威脅。
立委林佳龍、趙天麟表示將在下一會期全力推動修法,取消空污法「總量管制必須經濟部會同發布」相關規定。
經濟部工業局九月十二日表示,目前環保署對空氣污染已有逐量、逐項管制,經濟部並不反對配合空污法進行空污總量管制,但相關單位必須考量兼顧環保和經濟發展,一旦強制實施空污總量管制,對產業發展和整體社會代價恐會很大。
(自由時報記者劉力仁、林詩萍)
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