Drivers yesterday protested in Taipei over an amendment to the Air Pollution Control Act (空氣汙染防制法) that gives the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) the right to tighten emission standards for large goods vehicles aged 10 years or more.
Protesters parked about 100 vehicles on the corner of Ketagalan Boulevard and Zhongshan S Road, where they held signs saying that the government was “destroying their livelihoods” and “forcibly scrapping vehicles.”
The EPA said the amendment of Article 36-2 authorizes it to bolster emissions standards for diesel-fuel large goods vehicles that are at least 10 years old “after assessing the need to improve air quality.”
Photo: CNA
No new standards have been set, it said, adding that it would follow legal procedures to hold public hearings and invite all parties to discussions before publishing new standards.
A grace period would be implemented to give owners of large goods vehicles time to bring their vehicles in line with new standards, it said.
The EPA said it understands that some drivers and businesses rely on large goods vehicles to make a living, so its prime objective has been to ask them to address emissions produced by their vehicles so that they conform to regulations.
Photo: CNA
The EPA is deliberating subsidy programs for owners of large goods vehicles to help them meet stricter emissions standards, such as subsidizing costs for the calibration and adjustment of fuel pumps, power systems, pistons and valve covers, as well as purchases of new vehicles while helping them secure low-interest loans, it said.
As long as a vehicle’s emissions conform to existing regulations, it can be used, the EPA said.
A group of Taiwanese-American and Tibetan-American students at Harvard University on Saturday disrupted Chinese Ambassador to the US Xie Feng’s (謝鋒) speech at the school, accusing him of being responsible for numerous human rights violations. Four students — two Taiwanese Americans and two from Tibet — held up banners inside a conference hall where Xie was delivering a speech at the opening ceremony of the Harvard Kennedy School China Conference 2024. In a video clip provided by the Coalition of Students Resisting the CCP (Chinese Communist Party), Taiwanese-American Cosette Wu (吳亭樺) and Tibetan-American Tsering Yangchen are seen holding banners that together read:
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Heat advisories were in effect for nine administrative regions yesterday afternoon as warm southwesterly winds pushed temperatures above 38°C in parts of southern Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 3:30pm yesterday, Tainan’s Yujing District (玉井) had recorded the day’s highest temperature of 39.7°C, though the measurement will not be included in Taiwan’s official heat records since Yujing is an automatic rather than manually operated weather station, the CWA said. Highs recorded in other areas were 38.7°C in Kaohsiung’s Neimen District (內門), 38.2°C in Chiayi City and 38.1°C in Pingtung’s Sandimen Township (三地門), CWA data showed. The spell of scorching