Focus Taiwan
Date:2016/08/10
By: Yu Hsiao-han and Evelyn Kao

Taipei, Aug. 10 (CNA) The Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) is considering imposing a complete ban on the use of two-stroke motorbikes in Taiwan by 2020, EPA chief Lee Ying-yuan (李應元) said Wednesday.

Lee said the plan is to gradually phase out the use of two-stroke scooters through a democratic process, by amending the Air Pollution Control Act after reaching a common consensus on the issue throughout society.

The EPA will also stop offering subsidies to owners of the highly polluting two-stroke scooters to exchange their motorbikes for cleaner models by the end of 2019, before the ban on two-stroke scooters is imposed in 2020, Lee said.

The EPA launched the subsidy program in 2007, but progress has been slow. As of the end of 2015, there were still 2.16 million two-stroke motorbikes in use in Taiwan, accounting for about 16 percent of the 13.66 million motorbikes on the country’s roads.     [FULL  STORY]