ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT ORDINANCE
(CHAPTER 499)
Section 10

環 境 影 響 評 估 條 例
(第 499章 )
第 10條

ENVIRONMENTAL PERMIT TO CONSTRUCT AND OPERATE A DESIGNATED PROJECT

建 造 及 營 辦 指 定 工 程 項 目 的 環 境 許 可 證

PART A (MAIN PERMIT)
A部 (許 可 證 主 要 部 分 )

Pursuant to Section 10 of the Environmental Impact Assessment Ordinance (the EIAO), the Director of Environmental Protection (the Director) grants this environmental permit to the MTR Corporation Limited (hereafter referred to as the "Permit Holder") to construct and operate the designated project described in Part B subject to the conditions described in and/or attached to Part C. The issue of this environmental permit is based on the documents, approvals or permissions described below:

根 據 環 境 影 響 評 估 條 例 第 10條 的 規 定 ﹐ 環 境 保 護 署 署 長 (「 署 長 」 ) 將 本 環 境 許 可 證 批 予 地 鐵 有 限 公 司 (下 稱 許 可 證 持 有 人 」 ) 以 建 造 及 營 辦 B部 所 說 明 的 指 定 工 程 項 目 ﹐ 但 須 遵 守 C部 所 說 明 或 附 載 的 條 件 。 本 環 境 許 可 證 的 發 出 ﹐ 乃 以 下 表 所 列 的 文 件 、 批 准 或 許 可 作 為 根 據 ﹕ -

PART B (DESCRIPTIONS OF DESIGNATED PROJECT)
B部 (指 定 工 程 項 目 的 說 明 )

Hereunder is the description of the designated project mentioned in Part A of this environmental permit (hereinafter referred to as the "Permit"):
下 列 為 本 環 境 許 可 證 (下 稱 "許 可 證 ")A部 所 提 述 的 指 定 工 程 項 目 的 說 明 :

PART C (PERMIT CONDITIONS)

1. General Conditions

1.1 The Permit Holder shall ensure full compliance with all conditions of this environmental permit. Any non-compliance may constitute a contravention of the Environmental Impact Assessment Ordinance (Cap.499) and may become the subject of appropriate action to be taken under the Ordinance.

1.2 The Permit Holder shall ensure full compliance with all legislation from time to time in force including without limitation to the Noise Control Ordinance (Cap.400), Air Pollution Control Ordinance (Cap.311), Water Pollution Control Ordinance (Cap.358) and Waste Disposal Ordinance (Cap.354). This Permit does not of itself constitute any ground of defense against any proceedings instituted under any legislation.

1.3 The Permit Holder shall make copies of this Permit together with all documents referred to in this Permit or the documents referred to in Part A of the Permit readily available at all times for inspection by the Director or his authorized officers at all sites/offices covered by this Permit. Any reference to the Permit shall include all documents referred to in the Permit and also the relevant documents in the Register.

1.4 The Permit Holder shall give a copy of this Permit to the person(s) in charge of the site(s) and ensure that such person(s) fully understands all conditions and all requirements incorporated by the Permit. The site(s) refers to the site(s) of construction and/or operation of the Project and should mean the same hereinafter.

1.5 The Permit Holder shall display conspicuously a copy of this Permit on the construction site(s) at all vehicular site entrances/exits or at a convenient location for public information at all times. The Permit Holder shall ensure that the most updated information about the Permit, including any amended permit, is displayed at such locations. If the Permit Holder surrenders a part or the whole of the Permit, the notice he sends to the Director shall also be displayed at the same locations as the original Permit. The suspended, varied or cancelled Permit shall be removed from display at the construction site.

1.6 The Permit Holder shall construct and operate the Project in accordance with the project descriptions in Part B of this Permit.

1.7 The Permit Holder shall ensure that the Project is designed, constructed and operated in accordance with the information and recommendations described in the EIA Report (Register No. AEIAR-043/2001); or mitigation measures described in this Permit, or mitigation measures to be recommended in submissions that shall be deposited with or approved by the Director as a result of permit conditions contained in this Permit, or mitigation measures to be recommended under on-going surveillance and monitoring activities during all stages of the Project. Where recommendations referred to in the documents of the Register are not expressly referred to in this Permit, such recommendations are nevertheless to be implemented unless expressly excluded or impliedly amended in this Permit.

1.8 All submissions, as required under this Permit, shall be rectified and resubmitted in accordance with the comments, if any, made by the Director, within one month of the receipt of the Director's comments or otherwise as specified by the Director.

1.9 All submissions approved by the Director, all submissions deposited without comments by the Director, or all submissions rectified in accordance with comments by the Director under this Permit shall be construed as part of the permit conditions described in Part C of this Permit. Any variation of the submissions shall be approved by the Director in writing or as prescribed in the relevant permit conditions. Any non-compliance with the submissions may constitute a contravention of the Environmental Impact Assessment Ordinance. All submissions or any variation of the submissions shall be verified and certified by the Independent Environmental Checker (IEC) referred to in Condition 2.2 below, before submitting to the Director under this Permit.

1.10 The Permit Holder shall release all finalized submissions, as required under this Permit, to the public by depositing copies in the Environmental Impact Assessment Ordinance Register Office, or in any other places, or any internet websites as specified by the Director, or by any other means as specified by the Director for public inspection. For this purpose, the Permit Holder shall provide sufficient copies of the submissions.

1.11 The Permit Holder shall notify the Director in writing the commencement date of construction of the Project at least one month before the commencement of construction of the Project. The Permit Holder shall notify the Director in writing immediately if there is any change of the commencement date of the construction.

1.12 All submissions to the Director required under this Permit shall be delivered either in person or by registered mail to the Environmental Impact Assessment Ordinance Register Office (currently at 27/F, Southorn Centre, 130 Hennessy Road, Wanchai, Hong Kong).

2. Special Conditions

2.1 An Environmental Team (ET) shall be established at least one month before the commencement of construction, and the ET shall not be in any way an associated body of the Contractor. The ET shall be supervised by an ET Leader who has at least 7 years' experience in EM&A or environmental management. The ET Leader shall be responsible for the implementation of the EM&A programme in accordance with the approved EIA Report and the EM&A Manual to be submitted under Condition 3.1.

2.2 At least one month before the commencement of construction of the Project, the Permit Holder shall employ an Independent Environmental Checker (IEC), or the Environmental Manager of the MTR Corporation shall serve as the IEC. The IEC shall have at least 7 years' experience in environmental monitoring and audit (EM&A) or environmental management. The IEC shall audit the overall EM&A programme stipulated in the EM&A Manual to be submitted under Condition 3.1, including the implementation of all environmental mitigation measures, submissions relating to EM&A, and other submissions required under this Permit. In addition, the IEC shall be responsible for verifying and certifying the environmental acceptability of permanent and temporary works, relevant design plans and submissions under this Permit.

2.3 All submissions for approval and deposition under Sections 2 and 3 of this Permit shall be verified and certified by the IEC as conforming to the information and recommendation contained in the EIA Report before submission to the Director.

2.4 The Permit Holder shall, within 4 weeks after the commencement of construction of the Project, inform the Director in writing the management organization of the main construction companies and/or any form of joint ventures associated with the construction of the Project. The submitted information shall include at least an organization chart, names of responsible persons and their contact details.

Station Extension and Subway Alignment

2.5 The Permit Holder shall construct the station extension and subway alignment within the site boundary delineated in the EIA Report. The site boundary is shown in Figure 1 of this Permit. No new vent shaft shall be constructed in this project.

Measures to Mitigate Construction Noise Impacts

2.6 The Permit Holder shall erect temporary noise barriers according to Figure 2 of this Permit before any construction works commence, and shall maintain the barriers during the site establishment phase, traffic deck piling phase and road demolition phase of the Project.

2.7 The Permit Holder shall erect temporary noise enclosures according to Figure 3 of this Permit before any underground excavation works commence, and shall maintain the enclosures till the completion of the underground excavation works.

2.8 The Permit Holder shall provide temporary road decks according to Figure 3 of this Permit throughout the entire underground excavation period.

2.9 At least two weeks before the commencement of construction of the project, the Permit Holder shall deposit with the Director 3 sets of construction noise mitigation plans (CNMPs) showing the location and duration of the temporary noise barriers, noise enclosures and road decks to be provided on site according to the above Conditions 2.6, 2.7 and 2.8. The Permit Holder shall ensure that with the full implementation of these measures in accordance with the deposited CNMPs, the construction noise level at Chungking Mansions shall not exceed 74dB(A) as assessed and presented in Table 3-6 of the EIA Report.

Measures to Mitigate Construction Waste Impacts

2.10 To prevent potential dust impacts to sensitive receivers, the Permit Holder shall not store excavated material onsite throughout the duration of this project. The excavated material generated onsite shall be immediately delivered to a truck parked within the noise enclosure at the opening near the middle strip of Nathan Road, and delivered to a specific disposal site on the same day.

2.11 Within 6 weeks after the commencement of construction of the Project, the Permit Holder shall deposit with the Director 3 sets of construction waste disposal scheme showing the location of the disposal site(s), and the transportation routing(s) of the removal of excavated material from the construction site to the disposal site(s).

3. Environmental Monitoring and Audit (EM&A) during the Construction Period

3.1 At least 2 weeks before the commencement of construction of the Project, the Permit Holder shall submit to and obtain approval from the Director an EM&A Manual for the construction of the Project. Apart from the EM&A programme which has formed part of the approved EIA report, the EM&A Manual shall also recommend:

(a) an additional air monitoring station, to be established at the Chungking Mansions on the side fronting Nathan Road, to monitor the air pollution impact during the construction stage of the Project; and

(b) the remedial measures as mentioned in Condition 3.2 below.

3.2 The Permit Holder shall take samples and measurements in accordance with the requirements of the EM&A Manual by:

(a) conducting baseline noise and air quality monitoring as set out in the EM&A Manual;

(b) conducting impact monitoring on noise, air quality and construction waste as set out in the EM&A Manual;

(c) carrying out remedial actions in accordance with the Event and Action Plan, as set out in the EM&A Manual, in cases where specified criteria in the EM&A Manual are exceeded; and

(d) logging and keeping records of the details of (a) to (c) above for all parameters except for construction noise, within 3 working days of the collection of data or completion of remedial action(s), for the purposes of preparing and submitting the monthly EM&A Reports and to make available the information for inspection on site.

3.3 The Permit Holder shall set up a construction complaint investigation procedure at least 2 weeks before the commencement of construction works. The complaint investigation procedure shall follow the requirements set out in the EM&A programme.

3.4 All environmental monitoring and audit data submitted under this Permit shall be true, valid and correct.

3.5 Two hard copies and one electronic copy of the Baseline Monitoring Report shall be submitted to the Director at least 2 weeks before the commencement of any construction works. The Report shall include but without limitation to the details of the baseline air quality monitoring. Additional copies of the submission shall be provided to the Director upon request from the Director

3.6 Two hard copies and one electronic copy of monthly EM&A Report shall be submitted to the Director within 2 weeks after the end of the reporting month. Additional copies of the submission shall be provided to the Director upon request from the Director.

3.7 The actions described in the Event/Action Plans of the EM&A Manual shall be fully and properly carried out, in accordance with the time frame(s) set out in the Event/Action Plan, or as agreed by the Director.

4. Electronic Reporting of EM&A Information

4.1 To facilitate public inspection of the Baseline Monitoring Report and monthly EM&A Reports via the EIAO Internet Website and at the EIAO Register Office, electronic copies of these Reports shall be prepared in Hyper Text Markup Language (HTML) (version 4.0 or later) and in Portable Document Format (PDF version 4.0 or later), unless otherwise agreed by the Director and shall be submitted at the same time as the hard copies as described in Conditions 3.5 and 3.6 of this Permit. For the HTML version, a content page capable of providing hyperlink to each section and sub-section of these Reports shall be included in the beginning of the document. Hyperlinks to all figures, drawings and tables in these Reports shall be provided in the main text from where the respective references are made. All graphics in these Reports shall be in interlaced GIF format unless otherwise agreed by the Director. The content of the electronic copies of these Reports must be the same as the hard copies.

4.2 All environmental monitoring data described in Condition 4.1 above shall be made available to the public via internet access in the shortest possible time and in no event later than 2 weeks after the relevant environmental monitoring data are collected or become available, unless otherwise agreed with the Director. The Permit Holder shall notify the Director in writing, within 6 weeks after the commencement of works, the internet address where the environmental monitoring data are to be placed. The internet address and the relevant environmental monitoring data shall be made available to the public via the EIAO Internet Website and the EIAO Register Office.

4.3 The internet website as described in Condition 4.2 above shall enable user-friendly public access to the monitoring data with features capable of:

(a) providing access to all environmental monitoring data collected since the commencement of works;

(b) searching by date;

(c) searching by types of monitoring data (air quality and construction waste); and

(d) hyperlinking to relevant monitoring data after searching;

or otherwise as agreed by the Director.

Notes :

1. This Permit consists of three parts, namely, PART A (Main Permit), PART B (Description of Designated Project) and PART C (Permit Conditions). Any person relying on this permit should obtain independent legal advice on the legal implications under the Ordinance, and the following notes are for general information only.

2. The Permit Holder may apply under Section 13 of the Ordinance to the Director for a variation of the conditions of this Permit. The Permit Holder shall replace the original permit displayed on the construction site by the amended permit.

3. A person who assumes the responsibility for the whole or a part of the designated project may, before he assumes responsibility of the designated project, apply under Section 12 of the Ordinance to the Director for a further environmental permit.

4. Under Section 14 of the Ordinance, the Director may with the consent of the Secretary for the Environment and Food, suspend, vary or cancel this Permit. The suspended, varied or cancelled Permit shall be removed from display at the construction site.

5. If this Permit is cancelled or surrendered during construction or operation of the Project, another environmental permit must be obtained under the Ordinance before the Project could be continued. It is an offence under Section 26(1) of the Ordinance to construct or operate a designated project listed in Part I of Schedule 2 of the Ordinance without a valid environmental permit.

6. Any person who constructs or operates the Project contrary to the conditions in the Permit, and is convicted of an offence under the Ordinance, is liable: -

(i) on a first conviction on indictment to a fine of $ 2 million and to imprisonment for 6 months;

(ii) on a second or subsequent conviction on indictment to a fine of $ 5 million and to imprisonment for 2 years;

(iii) on a first summary conviction to a fine at level 6 and to imprisonment for 6 months;

(iv) on a second or subsequent summary conviction to a fine of $1 million and to imprisonment for 1 year; and

(v) in any case where the offence is of a continuing nature, the court or magistrate may impose a fine of $ 10,000 for each day on which he is satisfied the offence continued.

7. The Permit Holder may appeal against any condition of this Permit under Section 17 of the Ordinance within 30 days of receipt of this Permit.

8. The Notes are for general reference only and that the Permit Holder should refer to the EIA Ordinance for details and seek independent legal advice.

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