The Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) has revised its draft regulations on restaurant air pollution to require eateries to install exhaust facilities and perform monthly maintenance, or face fines of up to NT$1 million (US$34,572).
The agency released its first draft of restaurant air pollution regulations on May 16, 2018, but as many eateries reported having difficulties installing the required equipment, those regulations were never passed, Department of Air Quality Protection and Noise Control section head Chen Yi-chia (陳宜佳) said on Friday.
It has collected feedback on its revised proposals and hopes to enact the rules by the end of the year, the EPA said.
In the 2018 draft, eateries with at least NT$100,000 in capital, space of at least 100m2 or ones that have received three or more public complaints within 30 days, would have had to install proper exhaust facilities and keep regular maintenance records, which would have affected about 10,000 establishments, Chen said.
In the new proposals, the EPA decided to raise the qualifying thresholds and refer to local regulations, so the rules could be applied nationwide, she said.
For example, since most eateries in Taipei and New Taipei City are in dense, mixed-use neighborhoods, the EPA decided to adopt different regulations for different areas, so in those municipalities, the rules would focus on storefront restaurants, especially those offering barbecue, she said.
Taipei restaurants with capital of at least NT$100,000 or floor space of at least 100m2 would be subject to the regulations, while those in New Taipei City would be subject if they have at least 100m2 of space or seat 30 or more customers, Chen said.
Smoke and smell complaints are common in Taipei, since restaurants are often in residential buildings, so eateries that have received at least three complaints or are deemed to have high polluting potential would be subject to the regulations, she said.
In other municipalities, only establishments with at least 1,000m2 or that seat 300 or more diners would be subject to the regulations, she said.
Since the industry has never had standardized pollution regulations, the first phase would have a very basic threshold, Chen said.
New eateries would be required to have the proper ventilation facilities as of March 1, while existing eateries would have until Dec. 1 next year, the EPA said.
TENSIONS: The Chinese aircraft and vessels were headed toward the western Pacific to take part in a joint air and sea military exercise, the Ministry of National Defense said A relatively large number of Chinese military aircraft and vessels were detected in Taiwan’s vicinity yesterday morning, apparently en route to a Chinese military exercise in the western Pacific, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said. In a statement, the ministry said 36 Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft, including J-16 fighters and nuclear-capable H-6 bombers, crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait or an extension of it, and were detected in the southern and southeastern parts of Taiwan’s air defense identification zone (ADIZ) from 5:20am to 9:30am yesterday. They were headed toward the western Pacific to take part in a
Honor guards are to stop performing changing of the guard ceremonies around a statue of Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) to avoid “worshiping authoritarianism,” the Ministry of Culture said yesterday. The fate of the bronze statue has long been the subject of fierce and polarizing debate in Taiwan, which has transformed from an autocracy under Chiang into one of Asia’s most vibrant democracies. The changing of the guard each hour at the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall in Taipei is a major tourist attraction, but starting from 9am on Monday, the ceremony is to be moved outdoors to Democracy Boulevard, outside the eponymous blue-and-white memorial
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) supports peaceful unification with China, and President William Lai (賴清德) is “a bit naive” for being a “practical worker for Taiwanese independence,” former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said in an interview published yesterday. Asked about whether the KMT is on the same page as the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) on the issue of Taiwanese independence or unification with China, Ma told the Malaysian Chinese-language newspaper Sin Chew Daily that they are not. While the KMT supports peaceful unification and is against unification by force, the DPP opposes unification as such and
CASES SLOWING: Although weekly COVID-19 cases are rising, the growth rate has been falling, from 90 percent to 30 percent, 14 percent and 6 percent, the CDC said COVID-19 hospitalizations last week rose 6 percent to 987, while deaths soared 55 percent to 99, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday, adding that the recent wave of infections would likely peak this week. People aged 65 or older accounted for 79 percent of the hospitalizations and 90 percent of the deaths, the majority of whom have or had underlying health conditions, CDC data showed. The youngest hospitalized case last week was a six-month-old, who was born preterm and was unvaccinated, CDC physician Lin Yung-ching (林詠青) said. The infant had a fever, coughing and a runny nose early this month, but