The Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) has revised its draft regulations on restaurant air pollution to require eateries to install exhaust facilities and perform monthly maintenance, or face fines of up to NT$1 million (US$34,572).
The agency released its first draft of restaurant air pollution regulations on May 16, 2018, but as many eateries reported having difficulties installing the required equipment, those regulations were never passed, Department of Air Quality Protection and Noise Control section head Chen Yi-chia (陳宜佳) said on Friday.
It has collected feedback on its revised proposals and hopes to enact the rules by the end of the year, the EPA said.
In the 2018 draft, eateries with at least NT$100,000 in capital, space of at least 100m2 or ones that have received three or more public complaints within 30 days, would have had to install proper exhaust facilities and keep regular maintenance records, which would have affected about 10,000 establishments, Chen said.
In the new proposals, the EPA decided to raise the qualifying thresholds and refer to local regulations, so the rules could be applied nationwide, she said.
For example, since most eateries in Taipei and New Taipei City are in dense, mixed-use neighborhoods, the EPA decided to adopt different regulations for different areas, so in those municipalities, the rules would focus on storefront restaurants, especially those offering barbecue, she said.
Taipei restaurants with capital of at least NT$100,000 or floor space of at least 100m2 would be subject to the regulations, while those in New Taipei City would be subject if they have at least 100m2 of space or seat 30 or more customers, Chen said.
Smoke and smell complaints are common in Taipei, since restaurants are often in residential buildings, so eateries that have received at least three complaints or are deemed to have high polluting potential would be subject to the regulations, she said.
In other municipalities, only establishments with at least 1,000m2 or that seat 300 or more diners would be subject to the regulations, she said.
Since the industry has never had standardized pollution regulations, the first phase would have a very basic threshold, Chen said.
New eateries would be required to have the proper ventilation facilities as of March 1, while existing eateries would have until Dec. 1 next year, the EPA said.
ECHOVIRUS 11: The rate of enterovirus infections in northern Taiwan increased last week, with a four-year-old girl developing acute flaccid paralysis, the CDC said Two imported cases of chikungunya fever were reported last week, raising the total this year to 13 cases — the most for the same period in 18 years, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday. The two cases were a Taiwanese and a foreign national who both arrived from Indonesia, CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Deputy Director Lee Chia-lin (李佳琳) said. The 13 cases reported this year are the most for the same period since chikungunya was added to the list of notifiable communicable diseases in October 2007, she said, adding that all the cases this year were imported, including 11 from
Prosecutors in New Taipei City yesterday indicted 31 individuals affiliated with the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) for allegedly forging thousands of signatures in recall campaigns targeting three Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers. The indictments stem from investigations launched earlier this year after DPP lawmakers Su Chiao-hui (蘇巧慧) and Lee Kuen-cheng (李坤城) filed criminal complaints accusing campaign organizers of submitting false signatures in recall petitions against them. According to the New Taipei District Prosecutors Office, a total of 2,566 forged recall proposal forms in the initial proposer petition were found during the probe. Among those
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) today condemned the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) after the Czech officials confirmed that Chinese agents had surveilled Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) during her visit to Prague in March last year. Czech Military Intelligence director Petr Bartovsky yesterday said that Chinese operatives had attempted to create the conditions to carry out a demonstrative incident involving Hsiao, going as far as to plan a collision with her car. Hsiao was vice president-elect at the time. The MAC said that it has requested an explanation and demanded a public apology from Beijing. The CCP has repeatedly ignored the desires
The Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant’s license has expired and it cannot simply be restarted, the Executive Yuan said today, ahead of national debates on the nuclear power referendum. The No. 2 reactor at the Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant in Pingtung County was disconnected from the nation’s power grid and completely shut down on May 17, the day its license expired. The government would prioritize people’s safety and conduct necessary evaluations and checks if there is a need to extend the service life of the reactor, Executive Yuan spokeswoman Michelle Lee (李慧芝) told a news conference. Lee said that the referendum would read: “Do