To build a “with blue sky and green space, green hills and clean water, all the people protect environment, healthy and sustainable” living environment. Protecting environmental resources, supporting the concept of pursuing sustainable development, implementing an early warning mechanism while taking preventive measures, taking “clean air”, “recycling economic”, “water quality improvement”, “sustainable generation”, “friendly environment” as main themes, the environment department of Taiwan clarified guidelines for making or amending relevant laws or regulations.
According to the Environmental Protection Administration of Taiwan Executive Yuan’s 2021 policy plan, the policy targets and strategies in 2021 are developed as follows:
The basic environmental relevant laws and regulations for each field are listed as follows.
| General | Basic Environmental Law | ||
| Regulation
|
Products Relevant | Waste | Waste Disposal Act |
| Chemical substances | Law on Toxic and Concerns Chemical Substances Management Act Law on Occupational Safety and Health |
||
| Energy | Law on Energy Management | ||
| Facilities Relevant | Air | Law on Air Pollution Control | |
| Water | Law on Water Pollution Control | ||
| Soil | Law on Soil and Groundwater Pollution Control | ||
| Others | Law on Environment Impact Assessment Law on Noise Regulation |
||
Taiwan’s laws and regulations include constitution, laws, regulation and orders, administrative rules and notices. The following is an overview of characteristics for each of them.
The constitution was enacted on January 1, 1947, and came into effect on December 25 of the same year.
They were promulgated by the President of the Republic of China after they were passed by the Legislative Yuan (Parliament). Laws were formulated based on the conditions stipulated in the Constitution, and their effectiveness is second only to the Constitution.
General name for laws
They are named as “Law on xxx” or “xxx Law” or “xxx Act” . Such as, “Basic Environment Law”, “Waste Disposal Act”. And the word “President” is included in the law numbers.
Under the authorities of laws, regulations and orders are formulated to make up for the insufficiencies of laws, or for the implementation of laws. Article 151 of “Administrative Procedure Law” stated that, the regulations and orders are formulated by administrative agencies.
General name for regulations and orders
They are usually named as “Regulation”, “Measure”, “Detailed Regulation”, such as “ Implementing Regulations for Law on Toxic Chemical Management” and “Administrative Measures for the Transportation of Toxic Chemical Substances”.
Article 159 of “Administrative Procedure Law” stated that administrative norms is the generalization and abstraction of provisions, which made by higher authorities to lower authorities, or senior officers to subordinate officers, in order to maintain internal order and work based on their rights or authorities.
General name for administrative norms
They are usually named as “Operation Principles”, “Operation Standards”, “Main Points”, “Notice”, “Operation Principles for Toxic Chemical Substances Selection” and “Main Points of Executive Yuan, Environmental Protection Agency’s Circular on Toxic Chemical Substances Disasters” are the examples which named follow the rules.
They are usually used to make specification of necessary specific procedures, documents and target substances, etc. for higher level law implementing.
General names for notices
Their names are usually like “Management Matters”, or “Form” and various other names, “Management Matters on Controlled Toxic Chemical Substances and their Handlings” is just an example.
The Basic Environment Law is a general law related to the environment, it was enacted on December 11, 2002, and came into force on the same day.
The Basic Environment Law was enacted to “improve the environment quality, promote national health and welfare, maintain and protect environment resources, pursue sustainable development and promote environmental protection (Article 1)”. The law clearly states in Article 6: “When a company carries out an economic activity, the concept of environmental protection shall be incorporated into the activity from the planning stage. Take product life cycle as the main line, promoting clean production, preventing and reducing pollution, saving resources, recycling renewable resources, and using other materials and services that can reduce the burden on the environment, to achieve sustainable development. And when government implementing measures related to environmental protection, companies have the responsibility to cooperate with them”. In addition, Article 26 mentions prior permit system at the time of construction, and Article 28 states that such a system will be established for those who have polluted or destroyed the environment.
In addition to the Environmental Protection Administration of the Executive Yuan, the Ministry of Economic Affairs, and the Labor Department of the Executive Yuan are administrations involved in environment-related laws and regulations and their enforcement (refer to [Summary of Basic Laws]).
The government organization reform is underway in Taiwan. The amendment of Executive Yuan Organization Law, which passed by Legislative Yuan in 2010, decided reorganized the organizations from 37 to 29, and the reorganization started from 2012. The above-mentioned Environmental Protection Administration and Ministry of Economic Affairs became new organization structure according to the reorganization, the Environmental Protection Agency promote to “ministry”. The new system are as follows.
Environmental Protection Administration, Executive Yuan
On August 22,1997, the Environmental Protection Administration of Health Agency of Administrative Yuan was upgraded to the Environmental Protection Administration of Administrative Yuan, which consists of 7 divisions: Comprehensive Planning, Air Quality Protection and Noise Management, Water Quality Protection, Waste Management, Environment and Toxic Substances Management, Management Evaluation and Dispute Resolution, Environment Monitoring and Information.
Framework of EHS laws and regulations in Taiwan.
| Category | Theme |
|---|---|
| Overall | Overview, Environmental Standards |
| Chemical | Chemical Substance |
| Energy | Product energy saving & environmental label related |
| Waste | Waste Management and Recycle |
| Air | Air Pollution |
| Water | Water Pollution |
*Taiwan
According to information dated January 15, 2021 from Taiwan’s Environmental Protection Administration, the Administration conducted a joint investigation with related agencies and uncovered a company that was illegally emitting air …
*Taiwan
On December 3, 2020, Taiwan’s Ministry of Health and Welfare announced its plan to update the List of Ingredients Prohibited in Cosmetic Products and published a draft update. The public …
*Taiwan
On November 30, 2020, Taiwan’s Environmental Protection Administration announced its plan to amend the Regulations for Determination of Fines of Violations of the Waste Disposal Act, and published a draft …
*Taiwan
Basic Law Water Pollution Control Act is the basic law related to water pollution control and countermeasures, it’s enacted in 1974 for the following objectives. And it’s recently revised in …
*Taiwan
Basic Law The basic law relating to air pollution control in Taiwan in general is the Air Pollution Control Act. This law is under the jurisdiction of the Environmental Protection …
*Taiwan
Toxics Regulation There are two main pillars of chemical management in Taiwan: environmental regulations and occupational health and safety regulations. The former related law is Toxic and Concerned Chemical Substances …
*Taiwan
Basic law The main waste management regulations in Taiwan are the Waste Disposal Act which was enacted in 1974 and the Resource Recycling Act which was enacted in 2002. Waste …
*Taiwan
Overview, Environmental Standards To build a “with blue sky and green space, green hills and clean water, all the people protect environment, healthy and sustainable” living environment. Protecting environmental …
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