An air quality detection and forecast center is to open in the middle of next month, accompanied by the release of an air quality white paper, the Ministry of Environment said yesterday.
The ministry is undergoing restructuring to establish the center, with the goal of improving air quality forecasting capabilities and integrating air quality monitoring, forecasting and prevention, Minister of Environment Peng Chi-ming (彭?明 said.
Peng made the remarks at a meeting of the Legislative Yuan’s Social Welfare and Environmental Hygiene Committee, where Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Huang Hsiung-fang (黃秀芳) asked him about the center’s progress.
Photo: Taipei Times
The reorganization requires administrative restructuring, such as transferring human resources, Peng said.
The ministry hopes to obtain more funds for the center as well, he added.
The center is expected to launch next month, and the changes the ministry is undergoing would allow it to respond to air quality issues more readily, he said.
In the past, forecasting air quality and responding to it were handled by different units, but the center would integrate the two functions, he said.
Speaking to reporters, Department of Atmospheric Environment Director Huang Wei-ming (黃偉鳴) said that air quality forecasting units were transferred to his department on April 10.
As monitoring operations have yet to be transferred due to their large volume and complexity, they remain in the monitoring and information department for now, but would be transferred to the Department of Atmospheric Environment at a later date, Huang said.
The department is finalizing an air quality white paper, with the goal of releasing it next month, along with the launching of the center, Huang added.
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