International Programs

Collaboration with Environmental Protection Administration Taiwan

Taiwan is one of the environmental leaders in the Asia Pacific region in key fields such as recycling and the management of electronic waste. The Environmental Protection Administration Taiwan (EPAT) collaborates with U.S. partners such as the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) and the US EPA to address environmental challenges of common interest and concern to the United States, Taiwan and the Asia-Pacific Region.

EPA and EPAT have been collaborating for nearly two decades to help protect the environment and human health in the Asia-Pacific region and the United States. Because pollution is transported globally, these efforts also help protect human health of communities around the globe.

Current collaboration activities support EPA's International Priorities.

Key Events

Sustainable Jersey and Taiwan

EPA has helped link the award winning Sustainable Jersey municipality certification program with sustainability programs in Taiwan. In April 2012, Michelle DePass, EPA Assistant Administrator for International and Tribal Affairs, participated in a groundbreaking for a new sustainable garden at Benjamin Franklin Elementary School (Lawrenceville, NJ), a pilot school under this program.

April 2012: Michelle DePass, EPA Assistant Administrator for International and Tribal Affairs, participated in an Earth Day event at Benjamin Franklin Elementary School ( Lawrenceville, NJ), one of the pilot schools under Sustainable Jersey-Sustainable Taiwan pilot certification program.
March 2012: Jane Nishida, Director of the Office of Regional and Bilateral Affairs, traveled to Taiwan to meet with counterparts in Taipei, Kaohsiung, and Tainan to advance planning and implementation of regional collaboration initiatives on air, water, and soil quality protection among other topics.
October 2011: American Institute in Taiwan's Second Annual Clean Energy Forum, promoting energy efficiency, green technology, and sustainable growth. This event was opened with a video address given by EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson.
October 2011: EPA Chief Information Officer joined EPAT Minister Stephen Shen to launch a regional technical working-group on environmental information.
August 2011: EPAT Minister Stephen Shen met with EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson in Washington, D.C. for talks highlighting regional partnership, and to launch collaboration with Sustainable Jersey.
June 2011: EPA Assistant Administrator for International & Tribal Affairs, Michelle DePass, led a delegation of U.S. officials and community leaders to Taiwan to launch US EPA-EPAT collaboration on mercury, e-waste, children’s health, site remediation, marine emissions reduction, and sustainable cities.
July 2011: Delegation of experts from Taiwan visited the United States to learn about EPA's data management systems and Central Data Exchange.

Programs Supporting EPA's International Priorities

Building Strong Institutions and Legal Structures:

Partners from around the world joined EPA and EPAT to exchange expertise and collaborate on priorities and solutions to shared environmental challenges. (June 2011)

EPA experts have worked with colleagues from EPAT and other partners in the region to improve policy approaches to environmental topics, including the clean-up of contaminated sites, and regulations related to air and water quality.

Currently EPAT and EPA are working with regional partners to advance emerging priority areas, including improving Environmental Impact Assessments.

Combating Climate Change by Limiting Pollutants:

EPA collaborates with EPAT to share expertise in development and implementation of emissions cap and trade mechanisms.

Improving Air Quality:

EPA and EPAT have collaborated on air quality protection for nearly twenty years. Together with regional partners, experts from the two agencies are currently working to reduce air pollutant emissions from ships and ports operations.

EPA has also partnered with EPAT and the National Atmospheric Deposition Program (NADP) to improve the capacity for atmospheric mercury monitoring, data for analysis, and modeling, and the accuracy of mercury emissions inventories with other partners in the Asia-Pacific region.

Expanding Access to Clean Water:

Cleaning up contaminated sites reduces the impact of pollutants on groundwater sources. This improves ecological systems and the food supply both in Asia and the U.S.

To achieve this, EPA experts serve as technical trainers for a regional working group on the clean-up of contaminated sites, addressing topics such as technical approaches to forced-air remediation, bioremediation, and site clean-up law.

EPA and experts from around the world visited this state of the art recycling facility in Taipei.

Reduce Exposure to Toxic Chemicals and Cleaning Up E-waste:

EPA and EPAT are facilitating the exchange of expertise among policymakers across the Asia-Pacific region and beyond. In June 2011, the first annual EPA-EPAT Regional Dialogue on Electronics Stewardship brought together experts from Japan, Nigeria, Ghana, Indonesia, Vietnam, El Salvador, among other countries.

Attendees were able to glean lessons from Taiwan’s successful experience tackling its e-waste problem over the past 20 years; follow-up case studies and future meetings will serve as resources for regional partners and will hone in on key needs related to e-waste management.

Key Partners

Environmental Protection Administration Taiwan	American Institute in Taiwan
Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative's Office	Sustainable Jersey

Agreements

EPA Collaborates with the Environmental Protection Administration Taiwan (EPAT) pursuant to its agreement as designated representative with the American Institute in Taiwan.

Learn More About Taiwan

Back to: Asia/Pacific Islands

Contacts
For additional information about EPA's work with EPAT, contact:

Justin Harris
Office of International and Tribal Affairs (2650R)
U.S. EPA
1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW
Washington, DC 20460
Email: harris.justin@epa.gov