The Taoyuan City Government is to start its Autonomous Regulations on Developing Taoyuan City as a Low-Carbon-Emission and Green City (桃園市發展低碳綠色城市自治條例) plan next year.
Taoyuan Mayor Cheng Wen-tsan (鄭文燦) made the announcement during a city council meeting last week, saying that “developing policies to achieve low carbon emissions and ‘green’ city status is a flagship project of the municipal administration,” and the regulations, which were passed by the council at the end of December last year, are to take effect next year.
Cheng said there are five main pillars for Taoyuan’s development of “green” energy and low-carbon emissions: low-carbon living, low-carbon architecture, low-carbon industries, low-carbon transportation and a renewable-energy city, which would be implemented by the city government in coordination with different departments.
The Taoyuan Department of Environment Protection said the regulations would encourage schools to opt for locally produced food to reduce their transport carbon footprint, require large temples and retailers to install air-pollution detection systems for PM2.5 — particulate matter measuring 25 micrometers or less in diameter — encourage retailers and convenience stores to obtain “green business” certificates and prioritize eco-friendly products, while hotels that are “green certified” would have to display eco-friendly products or advise customers to bring their own personal hygine items, or face a fine up to NT$30,000.
Department officials said that Taoyuan would join Taipei, Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung as cities that promote low carbon-emission practices and “green” architecture through the use of new regulations and penalties.
According to the new regulations, diesel automobiles manufactured before July 1999 could be subject to random exhaust emission testing by the Taoyuan Department of Environmental Protection.
Diesel automobiles that are reported for emitting black smoke more than twice in one year could be subjected to mandatory examination, and a failure to pass emissions tests would be punishable by a fine of up to NT$20,000, the regulations state.
The ordinance also gives the municipal government the authority to designate certain sections of roads and regions at certain periods of time only to pedestrians or low-emission vehicles.
Starting from Jan. 1 next year, the city government’s enforcement agencies would carry out inspections, and refusing an inspection would be punishable by a fine of NT$30,000 per violation, officials said.
Public parking lots in the municipality will also have to provide priority spaces for bicycles and low-emission motor vehicles, municipal officials have said.
Additional reporting by staff writer
SELF-RELIANCE: Taiwan would struggle to receive aid in the event of an invasion, so it must prepare to ‘hold its own’ for the first 70 days of a war, a defense expert said Taiwan should strengthen infrastructure, stock up on reserves and step up efforts to encourage Taiwanese to fight against an enemy, legislators and experts said on Tuesday last week. The comments sought to summarize what the nation should learn from the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which has exceeded 300 days, since Feb. 24 last year. Institute of National Defense and Security Research fellow Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲) said that the war in Ukraine highlighted the importance of being ready for war. Taiwan’s development of an “asymmetrical warfare” doctrine and extending mandatory conscription to one year is a good start to preparation of defense against a
The Central Epidemic Command Center yesterday said it would delay the lifting of the indoor mask mandate, citing public health considerations and ongoing discussions on how the policy should be implemented. Earlier this week, Centers for Disease Control Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥), who is the CECC’s spokesman, said officials from several ministries were working on the policy and an announcement would be made yesterday. However, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝), who heads the CECC, yesterday said that the policy was still under review. Wang said its implementation would be “delayed slightly” due to three main factors. First, the center
END OF SERIES: As the first generation of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccines are set to expire, the CECC would no longer offer them to children younger than four years old The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday reported the nation’s first case of a person infected with the Omicron XBB.1.5 subvariant of SARS-CoV-2. The Taiwanese man in his 20s arrived from Canada on Jan. 22, said Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Deputy Director-General Philip Lo (羅一鈞), who is deputy head of the CECC’s medical response division. He tested positive after reporting having a runny nose and muscle soreness while in airport quarantine, Lo said. The XBB.1.5 subvariant is the dominant strain in the US, but there is no evidence to suggest that it causes more severe illness than other Omicron subvariants, he said,
NORMALIZING TIES: The delegation led by the KMT’s Johnny Chiang is to meet with British lawmakers, think tanks and business groups to discuss developments A legislative delegation led by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) arrived in the UK yesterday to rally support for Taiwan’s bid to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). Chiang heads the Legislative Yuan’s Taiwan-UK Interparliamentary Amity Association. The delegation also includes KMT legislators Ma Wen-chun (馬文君), Wen Yu-hsia (溫玉霞), Wu Sz-huai (吳斯懷), Sandy Yu (游毓蘭) and Wu I-ding (吳怡玎). The group is to meet with British lawmakers Alicia Kearns, who chairs the British House of Commons Foreign Affairs Select Committee; Tobias Ellwood, who chairs the House Defence Select Committee; and Bob Stewart, who cochairs the
RSS