The EPA amended and announced the Regulations Governing the Self-conducted or Commissioned Testing and Reporting of Stationary Pollution Sources (固定污染源自行或委託檢測及申報管理辦法) on 6 June 2022 with three major focuses: small quantity, high quality and effective management. A “good student clause” was formulated to encourage businesses to improve self-management. The frequency of testing will be adequately adjusted as an incentive for businesses that reduce pollution emissions, cutting down the number of non-essential tests. For the few unscrupulous businesses that evade inspections, mandatory “functional regular testing” has been introduced as a tool for law enforcement authorities. Additionally, the “air pollutant emissions testing plans” of the permitting system have been incorporated to improve the quality of data from regular testing.

To improve the existing testing scheme of stationary sources, the air pollutant emission testing scheme that has been practiced effectively abroad has been incorporated in the revised regulations as the basis for public and private premises to follow during testing periods. Not only can this measure increase the representativeness of the testing data, it can also be used to construct a two-level testing management scheme with a different focus in each level. The first level is to strengthen the regulation on the current self-conducted testing of public and private premises to encourage them to improve self-maintenance and management. The second level is targeted at the public and private premises that may cause air pollution or fail to implement self-management. Special municipality, county or city competent authorities may designate these premises to implement functional regular testing within a time limit to verify the effectiveness of their air pollution prevention measures and enhance their pollution source management along the way.

The EPA emphasized that the regulations promulgated on 19 February 2003 specified that the results from regular testing of stationary pollution sources shall be recorded, reported and filed along with other matters that shall be followed to implement regular testing of stationary sources. However, the regulations and the announced targets have not been amended since the promulgation over ten years ago. Although many regulations relevant to regular testing have been formulated successively over the years to strengthen the management of regular testing of stationary sources, comprehensive review of the effectiveness and problems of past implementation has shown that it is indeed necessary to amend the regulations to keep up with the times. Therefore, the EPA has conducted a comprehensive review and revision of the regulations by specifying alternatives and conditional exemptions from testing to reduce the number of non-essential tests and raise the quality of data from regular testing. The amendment also integrated the procedures of many current regulations relevant to testing management, while a list of the public and private premises that shall conduct regular testing and report test results of stationary pollution sources (公私場所應定期檢測及申報之固定污染源) was formulated and announced.

Excerpt from Major Environmental Policies, June 2022

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