The Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) has announced a set of draft regulations covering water pollution control, stipulating that pollution intensive industries must disclose emissions information of 129 toxic chemicals, while proposing to cap emissions of heavy metals to mitigate farmland contamination.
The administration identified 129 chemicals for which emissions information should be made public by large emitters, including dioxins, benzene, chromium, formaldehyde, polychlorinated biphenyl and trichloroethylene, which are designated as carcinogenic, mutagenic or toxic for reproduction by the Ministry of Labor, or defined as the Group 1 carcinogens by the International Agency for Research on Cancer.
Industries, including oil refining, chemicals, electro-opticals and semiconductors, that discharge more than 10,000m3 of effluent every day must disclose emissions information of specified chemicals, such as concentration level and discharge volume, Department of Water Quality Director Yeh Chun-hung (葉俊宏) said.
The draft regulations are set to affect the nation’s largest wastewater contributors, including Formosa Plastics Group (台塑集團), state-run oil refiner CPC Corp (中油), Taiwan, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電) and AU Optronics Corp (友達光電), Yeh said.
The draft regulations are to take effect next month by the earliest, it added.
Meanwhile, in response to repeated farmland contamination by heavy metals, especially in Changhua County, the administration on Monday announced a set of draft measures that would allow local governments to set up heavy metal control areas, in which concentration levels of copper, zinc, nickel, cadmium, chromium and hexavalent chromium would be limited.
According to the proposed measures, areas where effluent-receiving water bodies have been disqualified as an irrigation water source should be designated as first-degree control areas, in which the establishment of new plants would be prohibited, while existing plants must process their wastewater to meet irrigation water standards, rather than industrial effluent standards as currently required.
Second-degree control areas are qualified to be used for irrigation purposes. New plants would be allowed to operate in those areas, but must treat wastewater according to irrigation standards.
The draft measures are designed to urge operators to operate in designated areas and relocate to industrial parks where wastewater is managed systematically.
The draft measures would give local governments the authority and legal provisions to designate heavy metal control areas.
Only Changhua proposes to follow the measures, as 271.63 hectares of farmland in the county have been found to be contaminated with heavy metals, and 44.1 hectares remain fallow, the administration said.
Eight Chinese naval vessels and 24 military aircraft were detected crossing the median line of the Taiwan Strait between 6am yesterday and 6am today, the Ministry of National Defense said this morning. The aircraft entered Taiwan’s northern, central, southwestern and eastern air defense identification zones, the ministry said. The armed forces responded with mission aircraft, naval vessels and shore-based missile systems to closely monitor the situation, it added. Eight naval vessels, one official ship and 36 aircraft sorties were spotted in total, the ministry said.
INCREASED CAPACITY: The flights on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays would leave Singapore in the morning and Taipei in the afternoon Singapore Airlines is adding four supplementary flights to Taipei per week until May to meet increased tourist and business travel demand, the carrier said on Friday. The addition would raise the number of weekly flights it operates to Taipei to 18, Singapore Airlines Taiwan general manager Timothy Ouyang (歐陽漢源) said. The airline has recorded a steady rise in tourist and business travel to and from Taipei, and aims to provide more flexible travel arrangements for passengers, said Ouyang, who assumed the post in July last year. From now until Saturday next week, four additional flights would depart from Singapore on Monday, Wednesday, Friday
The Ministry of National Defense yesterday reported the return of large-scale Chinese air force activities after their unexplained absence for more than two weeks, which had prompted speculation regarding Beijing’s motives. China usually sends fighter jets, drones and other military aircraft around the nation on a daily basis. Interruptions to such routine are generally caused by bad weather. The Ministry of National Defense said it had detected 26 Chinese military aircraft in the Taiwan Strait over the previous 24 hours. It last reported that many aircraft on Feb. 25, when it spotted 30 aircraft, saying Beijing was carrying out another “joint combat
Taiwan successfully defended its women’s 540 kilogram title and won its first-ever men’s 640 kg title at the 2026 World Indoor Tug of War Championships in Taipei yesterday. In the women’s event, Taiwan’s eight-person squad reached the final following a round-robin preliminary round and semifinals featuring teams from Ukraine, Japan, Thailand, Vietnam, the Basque Country and South Korea. In the finals, they swept the Basque team 2-0, giving the team composed mainly of National Taiwan Normal University students and graduates its second championship in a row, and its fourth in five years. Team captain
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