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U.S.-Taiwan Bilateral Agreement in the Field of Environmental Protection


History of the Agreement

The agreement between the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) and the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) for technical cooperation in the field of environmental protection was signed in 1993 by Administrator Carol Browner and the Director of AIT. AIT is an office established by the State Department under the Taiwan Relations Act of 1979, 22 U.S.C. section 3301-3316.

The AIT manages this agreement, among several agreements in other fields, with the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office (TECRO) in Washington, DC. The Environmental Protection Administration  Exit EPA disclaimer in Taipei works closely with TECRO on the implementation of this agreement. The original five-year agreement was extended in 1998 for another five years till June of 2003.

Under the agreement, USEPA and AIT develop a new workplan every two years. The workplan describes the responsibility of each party and the projects to be implemented in a two-year segment. The parties hold annual planning and review meeting to assess the accomplishments and to lay the groundwork for future projects.

Environmental Protection Administration in Taipei

The Taiwan program is one of the most productive programs in the Office of International Affairs (OIA). It averages about 10 to 15 projects every year. The projects are mostly implemented in the form of workshops, conferences, and exchanges of personnel and site visits. In the past six years of the agreement, various EPAT offices, such as Bureau of Air Quality Protection & Noise Control, Bureau of Water Quality Protection, Bureau of Waste Management, Bureau of Environmental Sanitation & Toxic Substances Control, Legal Affairs Committee, and Bureau of Environmental Monitoring and Data Processing, have contributed tremendous resources and time to execute these cooperative projects. The Office of Science and Technology Advisors is the focal point in EPAT for the US-Taiwan agreement.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

On the U.S. side, Office of International Affairs has drawn upon expertise from within USEPA, other U.S. governmental agencies and state and county-level agencies. USEPA region 2, 3, 9, and 10 offices and USEPA Office of Research and Development (ORD), Office of Air and Radiation, Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance, Office of Prevention, Pesticides, and Toxic Substances, Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response, and Office of Water have participated and contributed greatly to the program.

Description of Activities

The projects implemented under this agreement can be grouped into the following categories:

Recent Major Accomplishments

Future Directions

Global climate change, pollution prevention and cleaner production, risk reduction from pollutants in the groundwater and air, hazardous waste management and tracking of toxic substances, and public outreach are crucial elements for the US-Taiwan bilateral agreement in the upcoming years. Office of International Activities, through its various partners, aims to develop a strategic approach for delivering technical assistance in Taiwan. With the cooperation of EPAT, the future projects aim to produce sound environmental results in Taiwan.


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