The EPA drafted revisions to the Air Pollution Control Act Enforcement Rules (hereinafter referred to as Enforcement Rules) on 31 January 2019, with amendments made to the Air Pollution Control Act on 1 August 2018. Revisions to the Enforcement Rules provide further explanations and assist competent authorities in promoting and implementing these regulations.

When drafting revisions to the Enforcement Rules, the EPA referred to past legal interpretations, judicial interpretations, precedents set by relevant appeals, and practical experience gained through enforcing these regulations. The main points of the revisions are as follows:

1. Added new aspects that are to be regulated based on additions to the Air Pollution Control Act, which include air pollution control plans set forth by the central competent authority.

2. Added content stipulated by the central competent authority in Article 7 of the Act, which adjusted clauses for air pollution control and total quantity control plans.

3. In light of the various characteristics of industrial parks and with consideration to the different periods and zones in which the industrial zones were developed, definitions were added for industrial areas as well as methods for measuring the space of special industrial areas.

4. Added categories for harmful air pollutant emission standards in Article 20 Item 2 of the Enforcement Rules by the addition, found in Article 53, of air pollutants emitted from stationary pollution sources in public and private venues. Enterprises exceeding the harmful air pollutant emission standards set forth by Article 20 Item 2 will face criminal charges as opposed to the administrative penalties and controls of the current standards.

5. Added determining methods in the regulations in Article 32 regarding spontaneous combustion due to improper management.

6. Added regulations regarding the portion of fines transmitted into a fund and provided additional explanations on the rates for violation fines transmitted in reference to the current Water Pollution Control Act Enforcement Rules.

Excerpt from Environmental Policy Monthly, 22(2)