Lawmakers on Monday night approved draft amendments to the Air Pollution Control Act (空氣污染防制法) that would grant local governments the right to set up air quality conservation zones, which would limit access by two-stroke scooters and diesel-fueled vehicles at designated times.
To improve regulation of mobile sources of air pollution — namely vehicles — local governments can delineate air quality conservation zones and bar or limit two-stroke scooters and diesel-fueled vehicles from entering the zones, one amendment says.
Contravening the rule would be punishable by a fine of between NT$500 and NT$60,000 (US$16.44 and US$1,973), it says.
Another amendment stipulates that the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) can introduce rules to tighten regulation of vehicles that are at least 10 years old after assessing the air quality in an area, and it can levy a fine of between NT$3,000 and NT$60,000 for vehicles whose emissions checks are at least six months overdue.
Vehicles that are not taken for an emissions test after their owners receive a fine would have their license plates revoked, it says.
The amendments would significantly increase the maximum fine from NT$1 million to NT$20 million for stationary sources of pollution — namely factories — whose emissions exceed their quotas and “cause serious [environmental] impact.”
One amendment stipulates that owners of facilities must report any anomaly in emissions within an hour of an incident.
Those who fail to adopt emergency response measures in the case of an accident that results in death could be imprisoned for life and receive a maximum fine of NT$30 million, it says.
It also encourages whistle-blowers to report any excessive emissions to local environmental protection authorities, promising them a proportion of any fines imposed as a reward.
Prior to the vote, the Democratic Progressive Party caucus, which holds the majority in the Legislative Yuan, agreed to change the wording of a contentious amendment that said the EPA should “decide with” the Ministry of Economic Affairs when setting emissions caps for air quality control zones, which was changed into the agency should “consult with” the ministry.
Businesses whose emissions are expected to exceed government limits can pay for an additional allowance derived from emissions cut by replacing old vehicles, one amendment says.
Another amendment stipulates that power plants can bypass emissions caps when responding to an emergency or when working toward the government’s goal of increasing the proportion of energy generated from natural gas, provided that the resulting pollution does not exceed that of the emergency or that created by coal-fired facilities.
Kenting National Park service technician Yang Jien-fon (楊政峰) won a silver award in World Grand Prix Photography Awards Spring Season for his photograph of two male rat snakes intertwined in combat. Yang’s colleagues at Kenting National Park said he is a master of nature photography who has been held back by his job in civil service. The awards accept entries in all four seasons across six categories: architectural and urban photography, black-and-white and fine art photography, commercial and fashion photography, documentary and people photography, nature and experimental photography, and mobile photography. Awards are ranked according to scores and divided into platinum, gold and
More than half of the bamboo vipers captured in Tainan in the past few years were found in the city’s Sinhua District (新化), while other districts had smaller catches or none at all. Every year, Tainan captures about 6,000 snakes which have made their way into people’s homes. Of the six major venomous snakes in Taiwan, the cobra, the many-banded krait, the brown-spotted pit viper and the bamboo viper are the most frequently captured. The high concentration of bamboo vipers captured in Sinhua District is puzzling. Tainan Agriculture Bureau Forestry and Nature Conservation Division head Chu Chien-ming (朱健明) earlier this week said that the
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus yesterday said it opposes the introduction of migrant workers from India until a mechanism is in place to prevent workers from absconding. Minister of Labor Hung Sun-han (洪申翰) on Thursday told the Legislative Yuan that the first group of migrant workers from India could be introduced as early as this year, as part of a government program. The caucus’ opposition to the policy is based on the assessment that “the risk is too high,” KMT caucus secretary-general Lin Pei-hsiang (林沛祥) said. Taiwan has a serious and long-standing problem of migrant workers absconding from their contracts, indicating that
SPACE VETERAN: Kjell N. Lindgren, who helps lead NASA’s human spaceflight missions, has been on two expeditions on the ISS and has spent 311 days in space Taiwan-born US astronaut Kjell N. Lindgren is to visit Taiwan to promote technological partnerships through one of the programs organized by the US for its 250th national anniversary. Lindgren would be in Taiwan from Tuesday to Saturday next week as part of the US Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs’ US Speaker Program, organized to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) said in a statement yesterday. Lindgren plans to engage with key leaders across the nation “to advance cutting-edge technological partnerships and inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers,”
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