Starting on July 1, Kaohsiung City, Kaohsiung County and Pingtung County will become the first areas in Taiwan to implement, on a trial basis, the Environmental Protection Administration’s (EPA) air pollution quota control system.
Under the plan, factories in the area will be granted an emissions quota, while old factories that manage to cut emissions levels through the purchase of new equipment will pay a reduced mandatory fee for the air pollution they cause.
The quotas can also be sold to other factories, said Lee Mu-sheng (李穆生), director of the city’s Environmental Protection Bureau.
Factories that experience difficulties cutting their emissions can encourage their employees to use public transport and subsidize them if they do so, allowing the company to then “deduct” the emissions saved on transport from the total pollution the firm produces, he said.
The plan is expected to force old factories to become more environmentally friendly and discourage the establishment of new factories in the area, Lee added.
“In the past, the plan would have met with strong opposition from the industrial sector, but environmental awareness has gained the upper hand in recent years and the city government believes it is time to implement the policy,” Lee said.
“If we don’t do it now, we will regret it in the future,” he added.
Air pollution is a major issue in the Kaohsiung area as several of the nation’s major industrial clusters are located in the city and nearby Kaohsiung and Pingtung Counties.
The Air Pollution Prevention Act (空氣污染防制法) allows the EPA to impose an air pollution ceiling on one or a number of cities and counties and to draw up plans to reduce pollution in the area. The act also empowers the EPA to auction emission quota permits.
UPGRADE: The Kang Ding-class frigate is replacing its Chaparall missiles with Tien Chien II and Hua Yang VLS, which would provide it with long-range, 360° air defense Taiwan plans to produce 1,200 to 1,376 Hai Chien II missiles (海劍二, Sea Sword II) — also known as TC-2N — to serve as the standard air defense system of the navy’s surface combatant fleet, a source said yesterday. Last week, the Hai Chien II, the naval version of the Tien Kung II missile (天劍二, Sky Sword II), completed a live-fire test in waters off the National Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology’s Jiupeng facility (九鵬) in Pingtung County’s Manjhou Township (滿州). The MIM72 Chaparral and other dated air defense missiles that currently arm Taiwanese ships have inadequate range to combat Chinese
REASONS FOR TRAVEL: An assistant professor said that proposed amendments to penalize drivers if they used drugs overseas would not deter people from traveling People who operate a motor vehicle under the influence of marijuana would have their driver’s license revoked, even if they used the substance while overseas, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday, citing proposed amendments to the Road Traffic Management and Penalty Act (道路交通管理處罰條例). The amendments would also authorize the government to revoke the licenses of people determined to have used Category 1 or Category 2 narcotics, even if they were not operating a vehicle while under the influence of drugs, as well as ban them from taking the license test for three years, the ministry said. People aged 18 or
Johanne Liou (劉喬安), a Taiwanese woman who shot to unwanted fame during the Sunflower movement protests in 2014, returned to Taiwan last night after being deported from the US. She is to stand trial in Taiwan for charges involving embezzlement, fraud and drug crimes. The Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) said it took her into custody at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport and would first question her before transferring her to the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office. She was arrested upon disembarking a flight from San Francisco that landed shortly before 7pm. Liou absconded to the US in 2019 after jumping bail
Shih Hsin University President Chen Ching-he (陳清河) yesterday issued a public apology for comments made in his commencement speech last week, stating that he has asked the school to suspend his duties and halt his wages for two months as a show of contrition. At the commencement ceremony on May 30, Chen said, “If you don’t manage your time well, or your own emotions, or your health, then I am telling every one of you — put a quick end to ‘you,’ because the world has no need for ‘you.’” The comments have sparked significant controversy online, and Chen through an open
RSS