Cross-regional air pollution has a larger impact‘GOOD NEIGHBOR’: Local governments must jointly discuss and implement regional measures to tackle air pollution as they affect other cities and countiesBy Lo Chi / Staff reporterCross-regional air pollution rather than local pollution has a greater impact on the air quality in an area, data on annual average concentrations of particulate matter measuring 2.5 micrometers or smaller (PM2.5) from the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) showed. These figures showed that local PM2.5 emissions had a lower effect on local air quality, as most of the air pollution is coming from other cities and counties. As for preventing air pollution, Tsai said that since cross-regional pollution accounts for a considerable proportion of the air quality in each city and county, a “good neighbor clause” was included in Article 7 of the Air Pollution Control Act (空氣污染防制法). Rather, it is when policies are promoted and become effective that air quality is improved across the nation, he said. For example, the improvement of Taichung’s air quality in recent years is not entirely attributable to Taichung Mayor Lu Shiow-yen (盧秀燕), he said.

Source: Taipei Times August 30, 2021 15:56 UTC