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By Esme Yeh / Staff reporter
The Ministry of Environment said it is planning to require carbon storage projects to undergo an environmental impact assessment (EIA) regardless of size.
The ministry on Friday announced draft amendments to articles 29, 42 and 46 of the Standards for Determining Specific Items and Scope of Environmental Impact Assessments for Development Activities (開發行為應實施環境影響評估細目及範圍認定標準).
The standards were revised to align with amendments to Article 5 of the Environmental Impact Assessment Act (環境影響評估法), which passed the third reading at the legislature and were promulgated by President William Lai (賴清德) last month, the ministry said.
Photo: Chen Chia-yi, Taipei Times
Articles 29 and 46 of the standards were revised to specify the clauses of the act relevant to the EIA review criteria for solar facility projects, while Article 42 was revised to include carbon storage as one of the construction project types subject to EIA review.
Department of Environmental Protection Director-General Hsu Su-chih (徐淑芷) said that carbon capture and storage is one of the critical techniques to achieving the national greenhouse gas reduction targets, adding that it has been incorporated into the flagship carbon reduction projects for six major sectors.
Given that carbon storage could result in environmental impacts, such as leakages, groundwater pollution or geological safety risks, EIA reviews are indispensable to preventing adverse impacts caused by such development behaviors, she said.
Therefore, carbon storage projects must be subject to EIA review, regardless of the size of each project, she added.
The ministry also announced revisions to its List of Industries Required to Conduct Inventory and Registration of Greenhouse Gas Emissions (事業應盤查登錄溫室氣體排放量之排放源) to include more than 460 additional businesses or entities under the regulation from next year.
The inventory reporting process would not be difficult, the ministry said.
The businesses or entities — mostly healthcare institutions, colleges or universities, or from the service or transportation industry — would not be required to commission a third party to verify their inventories as major greenhouse gas emitters do, it said.
They would also be exempted from carbon fees, it added.
Additional reporting by CNA