EPA mulling vehicle ban when air pollution spikes

THREE BIGGEST CULPRITS: The agency said the top contributors of PM2.5 emissions are heavy-duty diesel trucks, cooking fumes and the power generation industry

By Chen Wei-han / Staff reporter





Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) Minister Wei Kuo-yen (魏國彥) yesterday said that the agency is mulling banning vehicles and reducing electricity generation when air pollution spikes to combat heightened levels of PM2.5 — fine particulate matter under 25 micrometers in diameter.

In a question-and-answer session at a meeting of the Social Welfare and Environmental Hygiene Committee at the legislature in Taipei, Wei said the EPA would announce a set of emergency measures against serious air pollution, including three action plans in response to three different levels of pollution.

Operations at factories would be limited and burning of paper offerings banned when air pollution reaches “primary levels”; when pollution reaches “medium levels” heavy-duty diesel trucks and two-stroke scooters would be prohibited, while the power industry would have to reduce its emissions by 20 percent; and private vehicles would be banned and the power industry would have to reduce its emissions by 40 percent when pollution reaches “emergency levels,” Wei said, without specifying the criteria used to differentiate the pollution levels.

The top three contributors of PM2.5 emissions are heavy-duty diesel trucks, cooking fumes and the power industry, accounting for 9.53 percent, 6.13 percent and 5.6 percent of total PM2.5 emissions respectively, the EPA said.

Other vehicles — trucks, buses, cars and motorcycles — contribute 20.37 percent of total PM2.5 emissions, the agency said, adding that emissions from transportation must be reduced.

The draft emergency measures would also include natural gas-fired power plants, in addition to coal-fired and fossil-fuel power plants, because PM2.5 pollutants also derive from nitrogen oxides emitted by gas-fired power plants, Wei said.

Meanwhile, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus held a press conference yesterday, calling on the EPA and the Ministry of Education to unify regulations concerning their pollution response mechanisms and air pollution holidays for schools.

DPP Legislator Tsai Chi-chang (蔡其昌) said the PM2.5 concentrations have reached purple levels — concentrations above 71 micrograms per cubic meter, the most severe degree of PM2.5 pollution according to the EPA’s four-color categorization — in Taichung on eight days so far this month, and on 11 days in Kaohsiung.

As the EPA advises the public against outdoor activities when the PM2.5 concentration reaches purple levels, Tsai questioned the education ministry’s standards, as it only suspends outdoor activities when PM2.5 reaches 250 micrograms per cubic meter.

Ministry of Education senior specialist Chiu Jen-chieh (邱仁杰) said the ministry has requested that schools establish an air quality indicator system on campus and that they could decide to halt outdoor activities when PM2.5 pollution reaches purple levels.

DPP Legislator Ho Hsin-chun (何欣純) said the ministry should cooperate with the EPA and the Ministry of Health and Welfare to draft emergency response measures against serious air pollution to safeguard children’s health.