October 2019
The Standards for Correction, Rectification or Reporting within the Required Period are amended to specifically provide that the deadline for correcting air pollution violations should be determined on a case-by-case basis (Taiwan)
Fang-Wei Lin
The Environmental Protection Administration (hereinafter, the "EPA") amended the Standards for Correction, Rectification or Reporting within the Required Period Notified for Penalties Imposed Per Violation of the Air Pollution Control Law (hereinafter, the "Standards") on August 19, 2019 to provide the competent authorities with the discretionary power to stipulate a correction period for air pollution violation cases. However, for violations that can be corrected immediately, the violators shall still be required to correct the violations immediately.
According to the EPA, to accommodate the amendment where the requirement under the Air Pollution Control Law concerning continuous penalties imposed based on the number of days after the correction period expires is changed to the requirement that the penalties will be imposed per violation, the Standards as amended delete the provisions concerning the starting day, suspension day, continuous penalties after the suspension day and the stop day for penalties imposed continuously based on the number of days. In addition, in view of the fact that the competent authority should impose the correction details based on the reasons of violation as determined, Article 3 of the Standards specifically provides that in case of any violation of air pollution regulations, the competent authority shall determine the items that shall be corrected, rectified or reported based on the results of onsite inspection or the stated reasons of violations.
Therefore, the EPA further stated that in view of the diversified types of violation of air pollution regulations, there may be different correction methods available with varied length of time required for correction. Therefore, Article 4 of the Standards specifically provides that the competent authority shall have discretionary power to decide a reasonable correction period based on the actual circumstances of individual cases. However, for outdoor incineration or cars waiting in idle, which are violations that can be corrected immediately, the violators shall still be ordered to correct their violations immediately.
The Environmental Protection Administration (hereinafter, the "EPA") amended the Standards for Correction, Rectification or Reporting within the Required Period Notified for Penalties Imposed Per Violation of the Air Pollution Control Law (hereinafter, the "Standards") on August 19, 2019 to provide the competent authorities with the discretionary power to stipulate a correction period for air pollution violation cases. However, for violations that can be corrected immediately, the violators shall still be required to correct the violations immediately.
According to the EPA, to accommodate the amendment where the requirement under the Air Pollution Control Law concerning continuous penalties imposed based on the number of days after the correction period expires is changed to the requirement that the penalties will be imposed per violation, the Standards as amended delete the provisions concerning the starting day, suspension day, continuous penalties after the suspension day and the stop day for penalties imposed continuously based on the number of days. In addition, in view of the fact that the competent authority should impose the correction details based on the reasons of violation as determined, Article 3 of the Standards specifically provides that in case of any violation of air pollution regulations, the competent authority shall determine the items that shall be corrected, rectified or reported based on the results of onsite inspection or the stated reasons of violations.
Therefore, the EPA further stated that in view of the diversified types of violation of air pollution regulations, there may be different correction methods available with varied length of time required for correction. Therefore, Article 4 of the Standards specifically provides that the competent authority shall have discretionary power to decide a reasonable correction period based on the actual circumstances of individual cases. However, for outdoor incineration or cars waiting in idle, which are violations that can be corrected immediately, the violators shall still be ordered to correct their violations immediately.
