The Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) is drafting amendments to tighten control over management of stations that carry out emissions tests for motorcycles, with the new regulations expected to take effect next month at the earliest.
The proposed amendments to Regulations for the Management of Motorcycle Exhaust Emission Testing Station (使用中機器腳踏車排放空氣污染物檢驗站設置及管理辦法) include changes to the criteria for operating a testing station, comprehensive testing equipment and computer software used for emission tests and requiring operators to have equipment that has been in use for 15 years regularly checked at government-approved agencies, the EPA said.
The EPA could suspend or withdraw the operating license of operators — mostly private repair shops — that fail to comply with the proposed amendments, it added.
The changes are aimed at ensuring quality scooter emission tests, EPA division head Hsu Su-chih (徐淑芷) said, adding that the planned equipment overhaul and software upgrade could prevent operators from manipulating testing equipment to produce desired results to curry favor with customers.
Operators must replace malfunctioning equipment, she said.
While they are expensive, costing between NT$200,000 and NT$300,000 (US$6,297 and US$9,446), replacing them is necessary to stop malpractice and ensure correct emission tests, she said.
After five years of use, every scooter must have an exhaust emission test annually. The EPA subsidizes operators NT$80 for each motorcycle exhaust emission test, and it paid about NT$585.6 million for 7.32 million tests performed at 2,783 testing stations nationwide last year, the agency said.
The EPA would convene a public hearing on Monday next week, and the draft act is expected to take effect next month or in October, Hsu said.
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