• EIA Ordinance
• Environmental Impact Assessment (Appeal Board) Regulation
• Advertising Requirements and Public Inspection of Documents
• Modus Operandi of the Environmental Impact Assessment Subcommittee of the Advisory Council on the Environment
• For Applications under the Ordinance
• Assessment of Impact on Sites of Cultural Heritage
• Basic Principles of Environmental Impact Assessment Process
• The Role and Operation of Environmental Study Management Group
• Flexibility and Enforceability of Mitigation Measures proposed in an EIA Report
• The Role of Independent Environmental Checker
• Implementation Schedule for Environmental Impact Assessment Process
• Some Observations on Ecological Assessment From the EIAO Perspective
• Ecological Baseline Survey for Ecological Assessment
• Preparation of Landscape And Visual Impact Assessment Under the EIAO

Assessment of Impact on Sites of Cultural Heritage in Environmental Impact Assessment Studies

INTRODUCTION

1. Sites of cultural heritage provide an essential, finite and irreplaceable link between the past, the present and the future. They are points of reference and identity for culture and tradition. There should be a general presumption in favour of their protection and conservation. Adverse impact on sites of cultural heritage should be kept to the absolute minimum in development proposals affecting them.
   
   
2. The purpose of this set of guidance notes is to assist the understanding of the requirements set out in section 2 of Annex 10 and Annex 19 of the Technical Memorandum on Environmental Impact Assessment ("EIA") Process ("the TM") under the Environmental Impact Assessment Ordinance ("the Ordinance") in assessing impact on sites of cultural heritage in EIA studies.
   
   
3. Under section 9 of the TM, the Director of Environmental Protection ("the Director") shall take advice from the relevant authorities on matters prescribed in that section in considering applications for approval of EIA reports. The relevant authority on antiquities and monuments is the Antiquities and Monuments Office ("AMO") under the Secretary for Development (previously under the Secretary for Broadcasting, Culture and Sport).
   
   
4. This set of guidance notes shall in no way override the provisions under section 2 of Annex 10 and Annex 19 of the TM which stipulate the requirements in carrying out assessment of impact on sites of cultural heritage in EIA reports. This set of guidance notes serves only as a reference and is not meant to be exhaustive nor comprehensive. The onus remains on the project proponents to conduct EIA studies, when required, in such manner and to such standard as to completely satisfy the Director in accordance with the TM under the Ordinance.
   
   
5. This set of guidance notes will be revised from time to time, as appropriate, in light of further experience gained.