The Ministry of Economic Affairs emphasized that stable power supply and a predictable regulatory environment are crucial to national security and economic development. (File photo)
[Reporter Liao Jianing/Reporting from Taipei] The Legislative Yuan is scheduled to hold consultations between the ruling and opposition parties on the draft amendment to the Air Pollution Law today (10th). The Ministry of Economic Affairs stated today that the content of this amendment is very wide-ranging, affecting the manufacturing, power industry, hospitals, hotels and other livelihood industries. Nearly 8,000 operators in the industry, including the Federation of Industry and Commerce, the Federation of Industrial Zone Manufacturers, the Petrochemical Association and the Steel Association, have publicly expressed their opposition. The Ministry of Economic Affairs once again called on the Legislative Yuan to maintain the current management mechanism to avoid hindering industrial development and stable power supply.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs has issued multiple press releases on April 27, April 29 and May 29 this year calling for the maintenance of the current regulations. Today it once again called for hasty amendments to the law that may have a major impact on business operations, people's livelihood and the country's energy resilience. Opinions from all walks of life should be fully solicited to maintain the current air pollution law management mechanism.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs pointed out that with the active law enforcement by the environmental authorities, strengthened guidance by the competent authorities of the target industries, and the cooperation of the industry, the annual average concentration of PM2.5 in my country has dropped from 16.2 μg/m³ in 2014 to 12.8 μg/m³ in 2014, an improvement rate of 21%, and the improvement rate in the central and southern regions reached 24.4%. Agencies under the Ministry of Economic Affairs have reduced air pollution emissions by a cumulative 77,813 metric tons from 2010 to 2014.
In terms of power emission reduction, the Ministry of Economic Affairs pointed out that Taipower has improved air pollution through multiple measures such as environmental dispatch, equipment performance improvement, and replacing coal with gas. In the past 10 years, air pollution emissions from coal-fired power plants have dropped by more than 40,000 metric tons, a decrease of 77%. As for the Taichung Power Plant, Taipower has invested 44.1 billion yuan in comprehensively upgrading air pollution control equipment. The total air pollution emissions have dropped from about 38,400 metric tons in 2015 to about 7,800 metric tons in 2014, and air pollution has been reduced by 80%. All four coal-fired units at Xingda Power Plant have been converted to standby, and existing gas-fired units have also spent 12.5 billion yuan to renovate core components. Nitrogen oxide emissions have been reduced by more than 50%, and overall air pollution has been reduced by 92%.
In response to the revised draft negotiated between the government and the opposition, the industry has publicly expressed its opposition many times and has five major concerns. First, improper administrative procedures increase the risk of industrial shutdown. The draft stipulates that those who cannot complete the extension of the license expiration due to agency review can operate according to the original license for 2 months from the expiration of the license to the completion of the review. However, if the approval is not obtained after the expiration of the 2-month period, the operation will not be allowed, which may lead to large-scale industrial chain disconnection and irreversible economic losses.
The second is to lower the extension period, which will increase the administrative and economic burden. The license extension period will be shortened from 3 to 5 years to 2 to 5 years, and for "three-level prevention and control zones" it will be shortened to less than 2 years. This will cause frequent applications for high-tech industries and power plants in the western half, which will only increase administrative costs and be detrimental to stable operations.
Third, local governments can unilaterally force businesses to reduce production, resulting in inconsistent control standards. In the absence of central supervision, local governments are empowered to directly require businesses to reduce production, which may lead to chaos of "different central and local standards" and increase operational risks.
The fourth is to impact energy resilience. The draft empowers local governments to unilaterally announce bans or restrictions on the use of specific fuels, which will restrict the operation of private power plants and seriously threaten the stability of national power supply and industrial operations.
Fifth, the legal regulations are vague, which affects the willingness to invest. The draft authorizes local governments to change the license content on the grounds of "determination of the need for reduction", "risk of health risks" or "evaluation of better and economically beneficial control technology, or continuous automatic monitoring facility data showing normal abnormalities". The provisions are blank authorization and vague definitions, which will create a high degree of uncertainty and seriously impact the predictability of corporate investment.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs emphasized that stable power supply and a predictable regulatory environment are crucial to national security and economic development. It hopes that the ruling and opposition parties in the Legislative Yuan will seriously consider the voice of industry and the impact of power supply during negotiations, maintain the current air pollution law management mechanism, and take into account environmental protection and sustainable economic development.
