Mon, May 03, 2004 page2

• EPA action plans come under strong criticism

  BAD PLANNING? Lawmakers and environmental activists say the agency's proposals are a mish-mash of old programs that are both ill-conceived and poorly explained:

  • By Chiu Yu-Tzu / STAFF REPORTER
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  A set of three-year action plans proposed by the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) has come under criticism from both legislators and activists who say the plans are unrealistic and would waste NT$15 billion (US$455 million).

  After the March 20 election, the EPA brought up the three-year plans and said NT$15 billion will be needed by the end of 2006 to carry out a total of six action plans related to recycling and zero waste, industrial-waste management, reduction of environmental pollutants, freedom of information, adoption of green concepts in daily life and international participation.

  Legislators, however, told the Taipei Times that such a policy-making was unusual for an agency in a caretaker Cabinet between the time of a presidential election and presidential inauguration, given that the Cabinet traditionally resigns en masse before the inauguration.

  There has been no word on whether EPA Administrator Chang Juu-en (張祖恩) will be reappointed.

  The legislators said that the EPA appears impatient for success and the agency has organized three discussion meetings about the proposed action plan that would be held this week in the north, center and south of the country to finalize the policies.

  The discussion meetings will seek input from local authorities, environmental groups and firms dealing with waste management and recycling.

  According to Yang Jiao-yen (楊嬌豔), an assistant to Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Eugene Jao (趙永清), the package of three-year plans will come in for strong criticism at those meetings because they are "a combination of opportunistic policies which show a lack deliberative evaluation and reviews."

  "We don't see any public participation in the policy-making," Yang told the Taipei Times.

  Yang said controversial issues regarding the management of waste incinerators were barely addressed by the EPA in its plans and that the environmental-impact assessments for some of the plans had been skipped.

  Taking waste management as an example, Yang said that the agency's plans focused on the establishment of facilities and factories classifying, storing and treating waste.

  Jao is especially doubtful about the proposed establishment of eco-parks to attract foreign and local investment in green technology.

  "From the EPA's action plans, we cannot exactly determine how much of our waste would be transformed into reusable materials after the completion of the proposed eco-parks," Jao said.

  In action plans, the EPA has promised to introduce more than 40 foreign and domestic firms in green industry into eco-parks. Since January last year, the EPA has chosen four sites in Kaohsiung, Tainan, Taoyuan and Hualien counties for the eco-parks. However, efforts to attract foreign investors have been disappointing so far, including a trip to Germany by former EPA chief Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌).

  Jao questioned whether the EPA needed to heavily revise its policies about eco-parks because the output value of these parks is unknown.

  Lai Wei-chieh (賴偉傑), secretary-general of the Green Citizens' Action Alliance, criticized the wording used by the EPA in its action plans.

  "The EPA trickily employs slogans often used by NGOs [non-governmental organizations] to sell its set of action plans, which are basically slightly revised old policies," Lai said.

  Eric Liou (劉銘龍), secretary-general of the Environmental Quality Protection Foundation, said that the agency should have provided clear answers to questions often asked by the people about environmental policies.

  "For example, from these action plans, I do not know if the limited use of plastic bags and disposable tableware is going to be continued," Liou said.

  He also said it was unclear from the action plans whether the EPA would cancel controversial plans to build more waste incinerators.

  "If such action plans are approved by the Cabinet, it means that the whole society's intellectual ability is weakening," Liou said.

  He also said the action plans did not encourage the participation of NGOs in international environmental affairs or activities.

  Citing the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) as an example, Liou said government funding for delegates wishing to participate in annual meetings had been monopolized by the government-backed Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI). Since 1995, the government has participated in the annual meetings as an observer under the umbrella of ITRI.

  "In these action plans, the EPA's conservative thoughts reveal its reluctance to offer NGOs more financial assistance," Liou said.

  Liou also said that the EPA had never told the public how to deal with issues about global climate changes in daily life.

  Environmental experts associated with the EPA said concepts born of these action plans do follow international trends and their goals conform to the need of Taiwan's future environmental management.

  Lin Neng-huei (林能暉), an atmospheric sciences professor at National Central University, is in charge of introducing the agency's ideas about the promotion of international participation to attendants of a meeting to be held today by the Taipei County Government.

  Lin said that visions brought up by the EPA in its three-year action plans were in accordance with global trends.

  "What we need now is to improve methods implementing policies," Lin said.

  Taking UNFCCC as an example, Lin said Taiwan, even though it is not a UN member, should continue to report emission of regulated gases to the world body and strive to improve methods for carbon dioxide emission audits.
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