The Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) has promulgated five rules and regulations under the Indoor Air Quality Management Act (室內空氣品質管理法), which came into force on Friday as the nation became only the second country in Asia to legally regulate indoor air quality.
Initially put forward on Nov. 23 last year, the Indoor Air Quality Management Act was enacted on Friday, making Taiwan the second country after South Korea to set regulations for managing indoor air quality, the EPA said.
The act is an extension of the outdoor air quality management, based on the Air Pollution Control Act (空氣污染防制法), brought into public indoor spaces, the EPA said.
It said throughout a year of preparations, the administration organized several public hearings to gather opinion from various sectors on setting up five related regulations and rules. The EPA also held training programs for indoor air quality management personnel, who will play a decisive role in implementing indoor air quality maintenance and management plans.
Along with the enactment of the act, the EPA also promulgated the Indoor Air Quality Management Act Enforcement Rules, Indoor Air Quality Standards, Regulations Governing Dedicated Indoor Air Quality Management Personnel, Air Quality Analysis Management Regulations and the determination that describe violations to the act.
According to data provided on the EPA’s Web site, people in Taiwan spend about 80 to 90 percent of their time indoors. However, given the proliferation of air conditioning systems in homes and office spaces in the past two or three decades, the problem of “sick building syndrome” has occurred.
The EPA quoted the WHO definition of the syndrome as “an excess of work-related irritations of the skin and mucous membranes and other symptoms, including headache, fatigue and difficulty concentrating, reported by workers in office buildings,” and added that because Taiwan’s climate is often hot and humid — making it easy for mold or germs to grow — the routine cleaning of air conditioning systems is especially important.
In addition, the EPA said that indoor air quality is especially important for children, pregnant women, elderly people and people with chronic diseases, because they spend most of their time indoors. A WHO report also showed that children are more easily affected by poor indoor air quality than adults. Of the about 100,000 people who die of asthma each year globally, about 35 percent are children, according to the WHO report.
The EPA’s Air Quality Protection and Noise Control Bureau said although the act has already taken effect, the actual implementation would take place in stages. The first phase is set to focus on about 500 public places, including larger medical facilities, elderly care centers, central governmental agencies and transportation stations.
The air pollutants under regulation include carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, formaldehyde and other volatile organic compounds, it added.
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) was sentenced to six months in prison, commutable to a fine, by the New Taipei District Court today for contravening the Personal Data Protection Act (個人資料保護法) in a case linked to an alleged draft-dodging scheme. Wang allegedly paid NT$3.6 million (US$114,380) to an illegal group to help him evade mandatory military service through falsified medical documents, prosecutors said. He transferred the funds to Chen Chih-ming (陳志明), the alleged mastermind of a draft-evasion ring, although he lost contact with him as he was already in detention on fraud charges, they said. Chen is accused of helping a
UNREASONABLE SURVEILLANCE: A camera targeted on an road by a neighbor captured a man’s habitual unsignaled turn into home, netting him dozens of tickets The Taichung High Administrative Court has canceled all 45 tickets given to a man for failing to use a turn signal while driving, as it considered long-term surveillance of his privacy more problematic than the traffic violations. The man, surnamed Tseng (曾), lives in Changhua County and was reported 45 times within a month for failing to signal while driving when he turned into the alley where his residence is. The reports were filed by his neighbor, who set up security cameras that constantly monitored not only the alley but also the door and yard of Tseng’s house. The surveillance occurred from July
SECURITY: Starlink owner Elon Musk has taken pro-Beijing positions, and allowing pro-China companies to control Taiwan’s critical infrastructure is risky, a legislator said Starlink was reluctant to offer services in Taiwan because of the nation’s extremely high penetration rates in 4G and 5G services, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said yesterday. The ministry made the comments at a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, which reviewed amendments to Article 36 of the Telecommunications Management Act (電信管理法). Article 36 bans foreigners from holding more than 49 percent of shares in public telecommunications networks, while shares foreigners directly and indirectly hold are also capped at 60 percent of the total, unless specified otherwise by law. The amendments, sponsored by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Ko
A Japan Self-Defense Forces vessel entered the Taiwan Strait yesterday, Japanese media reported. After passing through the Taiwan Strait, the Ikazuchi was to proceed to the South China Sea to take part in a joint military exercise with the US and the Philippines, the reports said. Japan Self-Defense Force vessels were first reported to have passed through the strait in September, 2024, with two further transits taking place in February and June last year, the Asahi Shimbun reported. Yesterday’s transit also marked the first time since Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi took office that a Japanese warship has been sent through the Taiwan
RSS