On 31 May, the EPA announced the revisions to the Evaluation Regulations Concerning Water Pollution Control Measure Plans and Permit Applications (水污染防治措施計畫及許可申請審查管理辦法), the Water Pollution Control Measures and Test Reporting Management Regulations (水污染防治措施及檢測申報管理辦法), and the Regulations for Determination of Fines Under the Water Pollution Control Act (違反水污染防治法罰鍰額度裁罰準則). The objective is to enhance control of storage systems that may affect water quality.

Under all the revisions, “oil storage sites” in the original three Regulations are changed to "storage systems." If storing substances announced by the competent central authorities based on the Water Pollution Control Act (水污染防制法) Article 33 paragraph 1, the storage systems should comply with relevant regulations. Moreover, based on different categories of storage systems, respective provisions on violations and evaluation points for penalties are newly added.

If failing to comply with storage system control regulations, the EPA emphasized that storage systems are deemed not to be fit with facilities to prevent and monitor groundwater pollution, and thus will be penalized for violating the Water Pollution Control Act Article 33. There have also been incidents where oil products leaked out of storage systems due to improper collection or disposal, and then entered soil or groundwater because there were no subsequent maintenance, prevention, or emergency response measures taken. In such cases, offenses will be handled based on the Water Pollution Control Act Article 28, or the Water Pollution Control Measures, or the Test Reporting Management Regulations Article 5.

Excerpt from Major Environmental Policies, June 2021