Civil groups yesterday urged the Executive Yuan to amend the Environmental Impact Assessment Act (環境影響評估法) during this legislative session, in light of a controversy over the Shenao Power Plant (深澳電廠), which obtained approval from the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA).
The EPA’s environmental impact assessment (EIA) grand assembly on March 14 approved Taiwan Power Co’s (Taipower) project to build a new coal-fired Shenao plant in New Taipei City’s Rueifang District (瑞芳), after the plant was demolished in 2011.
EPA Deputy Minister and assembly chairperson Chan Shun-kuei (詹順貴) has come under fire due to his decisive vote for the project when assembly members were tied 8-8.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
Despite his personal objection to the project, he was not entitled to reject it under the current legal framework, as the project had passed an assessment in 2006, Chan said, calling on the public to turn their fury into calls for amending the act.
Premier William Lai (賴清德) on Tuesday last week promised to send the act’s draft amendment to the Legislative Yuan within six months, but environmental groups yesterday questioned his resolve to reform the assessment system.
The EPA in September last year launched its draft amendment to the act, and the Executive Yuan should forward it to the legislature soon, as the legislature will become idle with the approach of the local elections on Nov. 24, the Environmental Jurists Association said.
The Shenao project highlights a significant defect of the current assessment system, as the utility is not required to re-evaluate local environmental conditions when building the plant, Green Citizens’ Action Alliance researcher Wu Cheng-cheng (吳澄澄) said.
The act should be amended to require project developers to conduct new assessments if they fail to complete construction in a given period, she said.
While Taipower is conducting a second-stage assessment for decommissioning the Jinshan Nuclear Power Plant in New Taipei City’s Shihmen District (石門), it did not provide thorough information to local residents, who now can only argue with the utility about compensation, Northern Coast Anti-Nuclear Action Alliance executive director Kuo Ching-lin (郭慶霖) said.
The government should help residents interpret the difficult information about nuclear power plants, as the utility has to decommission two other nuclear plants and the Institute of Nuclear Energy Research, and tackle the nuclear waste on Orchid Island (Lanyu, 蘭嶼), Kuo said, adding that the act should call for greater public participation during assessments.
Other groups said that the act should also include regulations about strategic environmental assessments for large-scale developments, such as offshore wind farms, confirm an assessment’s effect on a development’s approval and sever the symbiotic relation between developers and consulting firms.
Three batches of banana sauce imported from the Philippines were intercepted at the border after they were found to contain the banned industrial dye Orange G, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. From today through Sept. 2 next year, all seasoning sauces from the Philippines are to be subject to the FDA’s strictest border inspection, meaning 100 percent testing for illegal dyes before entry is allowed, it said in a statement. Orange G is an industrial coloring agent that is not permitted for food use in Taiwan or internationally, said Cheng Wei-chih (鄭維智), head of the FDA’s Northern Center for
The Chinese military has built landing bridge ships designed to expand its amphibious options for a potential assault on Taiwan, but their combat effectiveness is limited due to their high vulnerability, a defense expert said in an analysis published on Monday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a research fellow at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said that the deployment of such vessels as part of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy’s East Sea Fleet signals a strong focus on Taiwan. However, the ships are highly vulnerable to precision strikes, which means they could be destroyed before they achieve their intended
LOOKING NORTH: The base would enhance the military’s awareness of activities in the Bashi Channel, which China Coast Guard ships have been frequenting, an expert said The Philippine Navy on Thursday last week inaugurated a forward operating base in the country’s northern most province of Batanes, which at 185km from Taiwan would be strategically important in a military conflict in the Taiwan Strait. The Philippine Daily Inquirer quoted Northern Luzon Command Commander Lieutenant General Fernyl Buca as saying that the base in Mahatao would bolster the country’s northern defenses and response capabilities. The base is also a response to the “irregular presence this month of armed” of China Coast Guard vessels frequenting the Bashi Channel in the Luzon Strait just south of Taiwan, the paper reported, citing a
About 4.2 million tourist arrivals were recorded in the first half of this year, a 10 percent increase from the same period last year, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. The growth continues to be consistent, with the fourth quarter of this year expected to be the peak in Taiwan, the agency said, adding that it plans to promote Taiwan overseas via partnerships and major events. From January to June, 9.14 million international departures were recorded from Taiwan, an 11 percent increase from the same period last year, with 3.3 million headed for Japan, 1.52 million for China and 832,962 to South Korea,
RSS