Chapter  3 Investigation and Assessment Measures

Article 12
Competent authorities at all levels shall perform verification of sites suspected of having soil and groundwater pollution, and shall control pollution sources and investigate the state of environmental pollution in accordance with relevant environmental protection laws and regulations.
If the site in the foregoing paragraph has a clear source of soil or groundwater pollution, and the concentrations of pollutants exceed those in soil or groundwater pollution control standards, the special municipality, county, or city competent authority shall publicly declare it a soil and groundwater pollution control site (hereafter termed control site).
After declaring a control site, the special municipality, county, or city competent authority shall request the land registration agency with local jurisdiction to enter the site in the land register, and shall report registration to the central competent authority for future reference. After preliminary assessment of the control site, if the site severely endangers public health and the living environment, the central competent authority shall first be requested to give approval, and shall publicly declare it a soil and groundwater pollution remediation site (hereafter termed remediation site). The special municipality, county, or city competent authority shall add the site to its list of remediation sites within seven days of the announcement, send the list to all township (town, city, district) public offices and the land registration agency with local jurisdiction for reading, and request the land registration agency to enter the site in the land register.
If the agriculture or health competent authority discovers that the concentrations of pollutants in living organisms in a surface water body is high, it shall promptly notify the special municipality, county, or city competent authority.
Upon receiving the notification in the foregoing paragraph, the special municipality, county, or city competent authority shall test the bottom sediment, and may order the manager of the surface water body to perform an assessment on the basis of environment impact, health risk, technology, and economic effectiveness. When, after reviewing the assessment results, the central competent authority feels that remediation is necessary and feasible, a remediation plan must be drafted and submitted to the central competent authority for approval before remediation may be implemented. When necessary, the regulations of Article 15, Paragraph 1 may be applied.
If the manager of the surface water body does not comply with the regulations in the foregoing paragraph, the special municipality, county, or city competent authority may handle the case in accordance with the Administrative Execution Laws regulations concerning acting performance.
When a site is declared a control site or remediation site as prescribed in Paragraph 2 or Paragraph 3, if bottom sediment within the scope of the control area is suspected of being polluted, the special municipality, county, or city competent authority may order the polluter or person potentially responsible for pollution to act in accordance with the regulations of Paragraph 5, and shall implement the plan as part of the control plan or remediation plan.
If the polluter or person potentially responsible for pollution does not comply with the regulations in the foregoing paragraph, the special municipality, county, or city competent authority may handle the case as prescribed in Article 13, Paragraph 2 and Article 22, Paragraph 2.
If the processes of scouring, dispersion, deposition, or irrigation cause the on-site concentrations of pollutants existing in the natural environment to reach the situations prescribed in Paragraph 2, the special municipality, county, or city competent authority shall notify the relevant industry competent authority of the test results, and shall hold a consultation conference and perform relevant matters. When necessary, the regulations of Article 15, Paragraph 1 may be applied.
With regard to a site in the foregoing paragraph, the special municipality, county, or city competent authority may perform an assessment on the basis of environment impact, health risk, technology, and economic effectiveness. When it is felt that remediation is necessary and feasible, a remediation plan shall be implemented after submission to the central competent authority for approval.
The central competent authority shall determine regulations governing criteria, calculation methods, and other binding matters concerning the preliminary assessment in Paragraph 3.
If land declared a control site or remediation site in Paragraph 2 or Paragraph 3 undergoes readjustment after the announcement, the land registration agency with local jurisdiction shall notify the special municipality, county, or city competent authority of cadastral information following readjustment.
After declaring a control site or remediation site, the special municipality, county, or city competent authority, or central competent authority, shall invite together experts, scholars, and relevant agencies to help review and supervise the related investigation plan, control plan, remediation plan, and health risk assessment and verification tasks.

Article 13
When a control site has not yet been declared a remediation site, the special municipality, county, or city competent authority shall order the polluter or person potentially responsible for pollution to complete investigation work within six months and draft a pollution control plan, which shall be implemented after being submitted to and receiving the approval of the special municipality, county, or city competent authority. The applicant may apply to extend the pollution control plan; only one extension may be granted.
If the polluter or person potentially responsible for pollution is not clearly known or has failed to draft a pollution control plan, the special municipality, county, or city competent authority may take appropriate measures to effect improvement in view of its financial status and actual site conditions. An interested party of the polluted land may draft a pollution control plan before the special municipality, county, or city competent authority takes appropriate improvement measures, and the plan may be implemented applying the regulations of the foregoing paragraph.

Article 14
A remediation site polluter or person potentially responsible for pollution must submit a soil and groundwater pollution investigation and assessment plan within three months of notification by the special municipality, county, or city competent authority, and must implement the plan after approval by the special municipality, county, or city competent authority. The applicant may apply to extend the investigation and assessment plan implementation deadline; only one extension may be granted.
If the remediation site polluter or person potentially responsible for pollution is not clearly known or has failed to comply with the actions prescribed in the foregoing paragraph, the special municipality, county, or city competent authority may notify the interested party of the polluted land to comply with the actions prescribed in the foregoing paragraph.
If the remediation site polluter, person potentially responsible for pollution, or interested party of the polluted land fail to comply with the actions prescribed in the two foregoing paragraphs, the special municipality, county, or city competent authority shall investigate the scope of soil and groundwater pollution at the remediation site, assess the environmental impact, and report the investigation and assessment results to the central competent authority for determination of the cleanup priority ranking grade.
If the expenses entailed by the regulations of Article 12, Paragraphs 5 through 10, Article 13, Paragraph 2, and Article 15, Paragraph 1, Subparagraphs 7 and 8 must be disbursed from the Soil and Groundwater Pollution Remediation Fund, the regulations of the foregoing paragraph should be applied, and the central competent authority shall be requested to determine the cleanup priority ranking grade.
The central competent authority shall determine regulations governing the pollution scope investigation, environmental impact assessment, cleanup priority ranking grade determination processes, items, and other binding matters in the two foregoing paragraphs.