Pollution tax to be enacted soon

 An Industry Ministry source said yesterday that the Fiscal Policy Office, Industrial Works Department and Chiang Mai University have completed the proposed law. It has already won endorsement from all stakeholders at the two public hearings held in September and October.

"This issue has been prolonged since 2007 after both pros and cons were raised in imposing this kind of tax. The private sector seemed to think that this measure was unfair to them. However, we believe that they will accept this as another wau to reduce community resistance and improve the environment despite the higher operating costs," he said.

The law, which puts controls only on wastewater and air pollution, lists tax rates that vary with the size of a plant and the quantity of its toxic emissions

Of the total taxes collected, 3 per cent will go to the Excise Tax Department, 25 per cent to the Industry Ministry as the budget for its plant audits, and the rest to a research and development (R&D) fund.

The source said the R&D fund would be used to improve environmental quality by building up the central waste-treatment facility and monitoring pollution. The fund will also provide low-interest loans for factories to meet environmental standards.

Under the draft law, for air pollution, manufacturers have to pay for emitting sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxide and dust.

Small- and medium-scale plants will pay fixed rates at Bt10,000-Bt30,000 per year for small plants and Bt30,000-Bt50,000 for medium ones.

The rate for large plants will vary between Bt1,000-Bt2,000 per tonne for sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxide and Bt1,500-Bt2,500 per tonne for dust.

For wastewater, small plants with a daily release of 1-50 cubic meters of water will have to pay the fixed rate of Bt1,000-Bt3,000 per year, while those discharging 50-500 cubic meters per day will pay Bt3,000-Bt10,000 per year.

The rate for disposing of more than 500 cubic meters per day is Bt2,500-Bt10,000 per tonne of biochemical oxygen demand or suspension substances.

Production facilities located in industrial estates will be exempt from the wastewater tax since they are already paying the estate operator for wastewater treatment.