Air Quality

As introduced by the Taiwan Yearbook 2007:

The Air Pollution Control Act empowers various levels of government to set air quality standards and establish monitoring stations throughout Taiwan. Air quality is currently monitored by the Taiwan Area Air Quality Monitoring Network, which comprises 74 stationary automatic monitoring stations, 2 mobile monitoring stations, and 1 air quality assurance laboratory. Next-day air quality forecasts are issued daily for eight areas of Taiwan based on data collected from this network. Eight photochemical monitoring stations across the country are used to monitor ozone precursors in metropolitan areas. These stations not only gather valuable monitoring data but also contribute to research on atmospheric science and human health risk assessments. Measures for improving air quality include stringent emission standards for industrial plants, motor vehicles, and the composition of petroleum products; promotion of low-pollution vehicles; and increased inspections of construction sites.

The Environmental Protection Administration (EPA), a central government agency, levies an air pollution control (APC) fee on both stationary sources, such as factories and construction sites, and mobile sources, such as motor vehicles. The APC fee is levied on such pollutants as suspended particulates, nitrogen oxides, sulfur oxides, and hydrocarbons. APC funds are allocated to a variety of air pollution control programs, including inspections, enforcement, air quality measurement, promotion of clean energy resources, subsidies and incentives for pollutant reduction, and related international efforts. Since its implementation in 1995, the APC fee-levying system has led to marked improvements in Taiwan's air quality.

Taiwan is the world's 22nd largest producer of carbon dioxide, contributing to about 1 percent of all greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions worldwide. Though not a signatory to the Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change due to its exclusion from the United Nations, Taiwan's government has set up a GHG emissions response taskforce. After the Kyoto Protocol went into effect in February 2005, a national energy conference was held to discuss the reduction of GHG emissions. Consensuses included adjusting the energy supply structure, increasing energy efficiency, promoting energy conservation, and developing green energy sources. In September 2006, the Executive Yuan approved a draft bill for the Act for the Reduction of Greenhouse Gas Emissions that, once approved by the Legislature, will impose incremental GHG reduction quotas on enterprises. The draft would also establish an emissions quota trading and accounting system.