Laws Information

法規資訊
Title: Water Pollution Control Act
Am Date: 2018-06-13
Legislative History: Addition of Article 57-1 and revisions to Articles 11, 32, 36, 44 and 53 promulgated by Presidential Order Tzong-Tung-Hwa-Tzong-1-Yi-Tzu No. 10700062361 on June 13, 2018.

Transaction

Amended

Article 57-1
In case that the concentration of pollutants in the wastewater or sewage discharged by the enterprise or sewage system during the improvement period exceeds the concentration for which the punishment has been imposed, or the hydrogen ion concentration index deteriorates, the enterprise or sewage system shall be punished for each excess or deterioration.
Article 11
The central competent authority shall collect water pollution control fees from enterprises, sewage systems  (excluding public sewage systems and community sewage systems) that discharge wastewater or sewage into surface water bodies based on their discharge water quality and water volume or based on their discharge water quality and water volume as determined through a calculation method designated by the central competent authority.
Local governments shall collect water pollution control fees from households that are located in the sewage system zones announced in accordance with the Sewerage Law and fail to discharge sewage into sewage systems.
The water pollution control fees in the preceding two paragraphs shall be provided exclusively for national water pollution control matters; the disbursement items of these fees shall be the following.
I.Water pollution control fees collected in accordance with the provisions of Paragraph 1:
Remediation of the pollution of surface water bodies and monitoring of water quality;
Improvement of water quality in drinking water source quality protection areas;
Improvement of water quality in water pollution total quantity control zones;
Water pollution control technology research and development, acquisition and strategy research and development;
Employment of personnel required for implementation of fee collection work; and
Other relevant water pollution control work.
II. Water pollution control fees collected in accordance with the provisions of Paragraph 2:
Construction of primary and secondary public sewage system main pipes;
Construction of wastewater treatment plants and wastewater and sewage interception facilities;
Construction of nightsoil dumping stations and nightsoil treatment plants;
Construction of centralized treatment facilities for sludge produced by wastewater and sewage treatment facilities;
Public sewage system operation and maintenance fees;
Employment of personnel required for implementation of fee collection and management of public sewage system construction; and
Other fees relevant to household sewage treatment work.
Disbursements for Item 5, Subparagraph 9 of the preceding paragraph shall not be higher than 10% of each corresponding classification of disbursements.
Water pollution control fees in Paragraph 1 shall be distributed to the central and local governments and the distribution principle shall be determined by the central competent authority after taking into account the requirements of each special municipality, county or city competent authority for pollution control.
Competent authorities shall set up a special fund consisting of water pollution control fees in Paragraph 1.  The regulations for income, expenditure, custody and use of the fund shall be determined separately by Executive Yuan, the special municipality, county or city competent authority.
Local governments shall set up a special fund consisting of water pollution control fees in Paragraph 2.  The regulations for income, expenditure, custody and use of the fund shall be determined separately by local governments.
The water pollution fees in Paragraph 1 may be collected in stages; the central competent authority shall determine collection times for each stage, collection targets, collection methods, calculation methods, fee payment procedures, fee payment deadlines, use for each stage, and other binding fee collection regulation matters.  Water pollution control implementation performance shall be reevaluated annually and reported to and filed for future reference with the Legislative Yuan.
Local governments shall determine collection times, collection targets, collection methods, calculation methods, fee payment procedures, fee payment deadlines, and self-government regulations providing for other binding matters.  Water pollution control fee rates shall be in consistent with sewer usage fee rates.
For the water pollution fees in Paragraph 1, the central competent authority shall establish a fee rate review committee for water pollution control fees; the central competent authority shall determine establishment regulations for this committee.

Article 32
Wastewater or sewage may not be injected into groundwater bodies or discharged into soil.  However, wastewater or sewage that has been treated to the extent that it complies with soil treatment standards and the regulations determined pursuant to Article 18, and has been reviewed and approved by the special municipality, county or city competent authority, issued a permit and reported to the central competent authority for approval may be discharged into soil.
When there is concern with ecological or human health risks due to the deterioration of water quality within the validity period of a discharge permit in the foregoing paragraph, and the special municipality, county or city competent authority considers that the items in the permit shall not be able to protect the water bodies or the risks may be harmful for the public welfare, the authority shall modify permit items or cancel the permit.
The central competent authority in consultation with the relevant industry competent authorities shall determine the targets that may discharge wastewater or sewage into soil in accordance with Paragraph 1, scope of application, items, concentration or total quantity limits, control methods and other binding matters for soil treatment standards.
Those that discharge wastewater or sewage into soil in accordance with soil treatment and crop absorption testing approved by the competent authority and groundwater water quality monitoring plans shall perform testing, monitoring, recordkeeping and reporting tasks in accordance with the format, content, frequency and style designated by the competent authority.
The validity period for permits issued pursuant to Paragraph 1 shall be three years. Those that still wish to continue to use their permits upon expiration shall, within the five-month period starting six months prior to expiration, apply to the special municipality, county or city competent authority for the approval of an extension.  Each extension may not exceed three years.

Article 36
When the concentrations of the toxic or harmful substances in the wastewater or sewage, which are discharged into the soil or surface water bodies by an enterprise, exceed all kinds of regulation covered in the Act, the enterprise shall be punished by a maximum of three years imprisonment, detention and/or a fine of NT$200,000 to NT$5 million.
An enterprise that injects into groundwater bodies any wastewater or sewage containing toxic or harmful substances shall be punished with imprisonment for at least one year and not more than seven years, detention and/or a fine of NT$200,000 to NT$20 million.
Those that violate the provisions of Paragraph 1 and have one of the following circumstances, shall be punished by a maximum of five years imprisonment and/or a fine of NT$200,000 to NT$15 million.
I. Lack a discharge permit or simple discharge permit document;
II. Violate Article 18-1, Paragraph 1; or
III. Violate Article 32, Paragraph 1.
The central competent authority shall officially announce the types and quality limits of substances harmful to health in Paragraph 1 and Paragraph 2.
The statutory responsible person, or supervisor who violated Articles 34 to Paragraph 3 of this Article shall be subject to the punishment prescribed for such an offense by increasing the penalty up to one half.

Article 44
Enterprises or sewage systems (excluding public sewage systems and community sewage systems) that violate regulations determined pursuant to Article 11, Paragraph 8 by failure to pay fees by the deadline shall pay, in addition to said fees, interest that shall accrue daily based on the fixed annual interest rate for a one-year postal savings time deposit on the day of the payment deadline.  In case that the enterprises or sewage systems still fail to make payments 90 days after the payment deadline, they shall be fined NT$6,000 to NT$300,000.
Households that violate the self-government regulations established in accordance with Article 11, Paragraph 9 by failure to pay fees by the deadline and failure to make fee payments 90 days after the payment deadline shall be fined NT$1,500 to NT$30,000 by local governments
The amount of fines provided in the preceding paragraph shall be determined in accordance with the circumstances of the violation.  The fine determination criteria shall be determined by local governments, and the provisions of Article 66-1 are not applicable.

Article 53
Those that violate Article 32, Paragraph 1, by injecting wastewater or sewage into groundwater bodies or discharging wastewater or sewage into soil without the discharge soil treatment permit, shall be fined NT$60,000 to NT$6 million and shall be ordered by the competent authority to suspend work or suspend of business; when necessary, orders shall be issued to terminate business
Those that violate Article 32, Paragraph 1, by failure to operate with registration items of the discharge soil treatment permit, shall be fined NT$60,000 to NT$6 million and shall be notified to make corrections within a limited period.  Those that still fail to make corrections by the deadline shall be subject to an additional fine imposed for each violation.  In severe circumstances, the enterprise or sewage system may be ordered to suspend work or suspend business and, when necessary, may have its water pollution control permit (document) cancelled or be ordered to terminate business.