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Chapter 3 Investigation and Assessment Measures
Article 12
(a) Competent authorities at all levels shall perform verification of sites suspected of having soil or groundwater pollution, and shall control pollution sources and investigate the status of environmental pollution in accordance with relevant environmental protection laws and regulations.
(b) If the site in the preceding paragraph has a clear source of soil or groundwater pollution, and the concentrations of pollutants exceed the soil or groundwater pollution control standards, the special municipality, county, or city competent authority shall publicly announce that it is a soil or groundwater pollution control site (hereinafter referred to as “control site”)
(c) After the announcement of a control site, the special municipality, county, or city competent authority shall request the land registration agency with local jurisdiction to enter the site registration in the land register, and shall report to the central competent authority for future reference. After the preliminary assessment of the control site, if the site is considered causing threat to severely endanger public health and the living environment, the special municipality, county, or city competent authority shall report to the central competent authority for review and approval. If approved, the central competent authority shall publicly announce that the site is a soil and groundwater pollution remediation site (hereinafter referred to as “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 registration in the land register.
(d) 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.
(e) Upon receiving the notification in the preceding paragraph, the special municipality, county, or city competent authority shall test the sediment, and may order the administrator of the surface water body to perform an assessment on the items such as environment impact, health risk, technology, and economic effectiveness etc. When, after reviewing the assessment results, the central competent authority is of the opinion 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 provisions of Article 15, Paragraph 1 may be applied mutatis mutandis.
(f) If the administrator of the surface water body does not comply with the provisions in the preceding paragraph, the special municipality, county, or city competent authority may handle the case in accordance with the Administrative Execution Act provisions concerning substituted performance.
(g) When a site is announced to be a control site or remediation site as prescribed in paragraph 2 or paragraph 3, if 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 mutatis mutandis in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 5, and shall implement the plan as part of the control plan or remediation plan.
(h) If the polluter or person potentially responsible for pollution does not comply with the provisions in the preceding paragraph, the special municipality, county, or city competent authority may apply mutatis mutandis as prescribed in the provisions of article 13, paragraph 2 and article 22, paragraph 2.
(i) If the pollutants existing in the natural environment, through processes of scouring, dispersion, deposition, or irrigation, cause the on-site concentrations of pollutants 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 provisions of article 15, paragraph 1 may be applied mutatis mutandis.
(j) With regard to a site mentioned in the preceding paragraph, the special municipality, county, or city competent authority may perform an assessment on the items such as environment impact, health risk, technology, and economic effectiveness etc. If it is considered that remediation is necessary and feasible, a remediation plan shall be drafted and implemented after submission to the central competent authority for approval.
(k) The central competent authority shall prescribed regulations governing criteria, calculation methods, and other compliance matters concerning the preliminary assessment in paragraph 3.
(l) If a land announced to be a control site or remediation site in paragraph 2 or paragraph 3 undergoes land 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 the readjustment.
(m) After the announcement of a control site or remediation site, the special municipality, county, or city competent authority, or central competent authority, shall invite experts, scholars, and relevant agencies all together to help review and supervise the related investigation plan, control plan, remediation plan, and health risk assessment and verification tasks etc.
Article 13
(a) When a control site has not yet been announced 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 time limit to submit the pollution control plan may be extended by application, but only for one time.
(b) 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 in executing the plan, the provisions of the preceding paragraph may be applied mutatis mutandis.
Article 14
(a) 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 time limit to execute the investigation and assessment plan may be extended by application, but only for one time.
(b) If the remediation site polluter or person potentially responsible for pollution is not clearly known or has failed to comply with the provisions of the preceding paragraph, the special municipality, county, or city competent authority may notify the interested party of the polluted land to take actions prescribed in the preceding paragraph.
(c) If the remediation site polluter, person potentially responsible for pollution, or interested party of the polluted land fails to comply with the actions prescribed in the two preceding 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.
(d) 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 preceding paragraph should be applied, and the central competent authority shall be requested to prescribe the cleanup priority ranking grade.
(e) The central competent authority shall prescribe regulations governing the pollution scope investigation, environmental impact assessment, cleanup priority ranking grade determination processes, items, and other compliance matters in the two preceding paragraphs.