The Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) said yesterday that beginning in 2002 it will begin to charge industries that pollute rivers.
The move, a response to past requests from lawmakers and environmentalists, is an attempt to enforce a law that was originally passed nine years ago but never actually put into practice by previous administrations.
EPA Administrator Lin Jun-yi (
According to EPA estimates, annual revenues from these fees could be at least NT$7.9 billion. This money would mainly be used for cleaning up polluted rivers.
Lin said that two highly polluted rivers -- the Er-jen River (
The Er-jen River has been highly contaminated by heavy metals, such as chromium and copper, discharged from 158 nearby electroplating factories and smelters, both legal and illegal. In addition, the water has been contaminated by discharge from local pig farms.
As for the Tamsui River, EPA officials said that more than NT$40.6 billion has already been invested in establishing facilities to intercept the 1.32 million tonnes of polluted water that flows into the river annually.
According to a 1987 EPA survey, two-thirds of the 21 primary rivers and half of all secondary rivers on the island have been contaminated. The EPA estimates that about 434km of rivers on the island are seriously polluted.
A survey released last weekend by the Environmental Quality Protection Foundation (環境品質文教基金會) suggests that 90 percent of local environmental protection heads at the local government level agree to the levying of these fees in order to prevent rivers from further deterioration.
Responding to the survey, legislators said that problems with environmental laws had caused the EPA to neglect the issue for nine years.
"Last revised in 1991, the Water Pollution Control Law granted the EPA the power to levy such fees. However, until now the EPA was never given the teeth to enforce the law," said KMT legislator Jao Yung-ching (
According to the Water Pollution Control Law, local governments will levy water pollution control fees on those discharging waste water or sewage into rivers, oceans or lakes. The fees shall be based on the pollutant content and quantity of water discharged.
Local environmental protection officials, however, told the Taipei Times yesterday that they could do nothing to industrial polluters.
"Because of a lack of specific measures, which should have been set by the EPA, we cannot fine any polluters," said a water pollution prevention official at the Taipei City Government, who only gave his surname, Huang (黃).
In 1997, measures to enforce the law as suggested by the EPA were sent to the Legislative Yuan for approval.
In early 1998, while waiting for approval, the EPA unilaterally announced that the levying of water pollution control fees on industry and households would begin on July 1 of the same year.
The announcement aroused controversy at the Legislative Yuan and in the end the measure was blocked. Some legislators argued at the time that the government should not ask the people to pay for infrastructure projects.
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