In order to strengthen emissions data management relating to stationary pollution source air pollution control fees (hereinafter referred to as “air pollution control fees”), ensure the accuracy of accounts, and provide a convenient declaration and review platform, the following key work items were included in the Plan: 1. Supervision and verification were performed, to ensure the quality of the data; 2. The improvements realized through the implementation of emissions reduction strategies were monitored, to improve environmental data utilization and related services; 3. Technology-enabled management was utilized to strengthen control mechanisms; 4. Systematic management was effectively integrated to ensure the accuracy of the sums received, etc.
This year, a validation mechanism was established for the emissions volume declaration system database, in order to check the reasonableness and comprehensiveness of the particulate matter emissions data that have been compiled since the integration of the declaration platforms beginning in October 2016, and of the data relating to raw materials, products and fuel usage for individual production processes. Auditing of the air pollution control fees review database continued to be performed; validation was completed for the quarterly data of 46,009 firms, and the results were reported to the Environmental Protection Department so that the necessary corrections could be made, after which the overall conformity rate was 99%. In addition, documentary verification was implemented in 110 cases, and 20 on-site audits were conducted. Besides strengthening data quality auditing, it was also possible to identify weaknesses in implementation and to provide opportunities for the handing down of review techniques and experience, thereby helping to enhance review operations implementation capabilities in the future. In order to be able to accurately monitor pollution emissions status, this year there were continued efforts to strengthen the horizontal integration of cross-platform declaration data for air pollution, water pollution, waste, and toxic substances. A list was compiled of 160 firms about which there were concerns, to be given priority when implementing validation; this list was submitted to the Environmental Protection Department so that they could perform on-site auditing, thereby maintaining the principle of fairness in relation to air pollution control fees. Data was collated on the horizontal cross-checking operations that have been conducted since 2016; air pollution control fees declaration operations have been completed for a total of 362 public-sector and private-sector facilities, and supplementary payments totaling NT$59.34 million have been received.
Data was collated on the changes in seasonal pollution emissions in autumn and winter since seasonal rates were adopted for air pollution control fees. The data showed that, in the fourth quarter of 2017 and the first quarter of 2018, there had been a year-on-year fall in SOx emissions of 5,820 tons (14.3%), a year-on-year fall in NOx emissions of 7,795 tons (10.4%), and a year-on-year fall in VOCs emissions of 3,316 tons (8.1%). With the pollutant emissions data compiled from the air pollution control fees collection system requiring careful system and database management, in line with the adjustments being made to the system, this year a number of new system functions were established, including the calculation module for seasonal fee rate calculation, the particulate matter fee collection system and the gaseous fuel emissions fee collection platform, etc., to provide users with a convenient, user-friendly operating environment. To ensure the correctness of air pollution control fee accounting items, filing, compilation, and audit tasks were completed for declaration item evidences for all four quarters, for which a CPA issued an attestation report, verifying the correctness of the amounts received by the fund.
