The Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) yesterday proposed new regulations governing volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which target specific manufacturing processes of plastics, petrochemical industries and coal-fired power plants.
The EPA launched a new draft of the vinyl chloride monomer (VCM) and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) manufacturing air pollutant regulations and emission standards.
The draft proposes to regulate the manufacturing, storage and delivery processes of VCM and PVC at 16 plants, including Ocean Plastics Co, Taiwan VCM Corp, China General Plastics Corp, and Formosa Plastics Group’s (FPC, 台塑) three plants in Yunlin and Kaohsiung.
“The International Agency for Research on Cancer has classified VCM as a Group 1 carcinogen,” EPA Department of Air Quality Protection and Noise Control Deputy Director-General Hsieh Ping-hui (謝炳輝) said.
“VCM leaks out to the environment if manufacturers’ facilities do not function properly,” the department’s senior environmental engineering specialist Tai Chung-liang (戴忠良) said, adding that the regulations aim at specific manufacturing processes rather than entire plants.
VCM leaks might account for higher VCM levels being detected around Ciaotou Elementary School’s Syucuo (許厝) branch near FPC’s plants in Yunlin’s Mailiao Township (麥寮) in previous years, he added.
Under the draft, the allowable fugitive emissions of VOCs are to be reduced from 10,000 parts per million (ppm) to 1,000ppm.
EPA Deputy Minister Chan Shun-kuei (詹順貴) said the Yunlin County Government has adopted the nation’s strictest standard — 1,000ppm — since the beginning of this year, while FPC has demonstrated that its facilities can adapt to the standard.
“As there are already commercialized techniques capable to achieve the standard, the EPA hopes to apply it nationwide,” Chan said. “Businesses only need a one-off investment, while for local residents, it would largely reduce their exposure [to air toxins].”
Meanwhile, the EPA also proposes a draft of the stationary pollution source hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) emission standards.
The draft proposes to tighten regulations of 72 HAPs that are more detrimental to human health, Hsieh said, adding that 29 pollutants are to be a first-stage target in 2020, followed by the other 43 pollutants in 2021 and 2023.
The 29 pollutants include benzene, VCM and other heavy metals emitted by coal-fired facilities and petrochemical, electricity, steelmaking and solvent-making industries, Tai said, adding that their emission standards are differentiated to account for their individual toxicities and health risks.
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