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

Pursuant to Section 10 of the Environmental Impact Assessment Ordinance (the EIAO), the Director of Environmental Protection (the Director) grants this environmental permit to CLP Power Hong Kong Limited (hereinafter referred to as the "Permit Holder") to construct and operate the designated project described in Part B subject to the conditions specified in 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 (環 評 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 中 華 電 力 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 列 明 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 EIAO and may become subject of appropriate action being 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 the Noise Control Ordinance (Cap. 400), Air Pollution Control Ordinance (Cap. 311), Water Pollution Control Ordinance (Cap. 358), Dumping at Sea Ordinance (Cap. 466) 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 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 site(s) of construction and operation of the Project(s) and shall mean the same hereafter.

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's 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(s).

1.6 The Permit Holder shall construct and operate the Project as described 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-051/2001); 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 deposited submissions, as required under this Permit, shall be rectified in accordance with the comments, if any made by the Director within one month of the receipt of the Director's comments or otherwise 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 for public inspection. For this purpose, the Permit Holder shall provide sufficient copies of the submission.

1.11 The Permit Holder shall notify the Director in writing the commencement date(s) of construction of the Project(s) at least one month before the commencement of construction of the Project(s). The Permit Holder shall notify the Director in writing immediately if there is any change of the commencement date(s) 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). Electronic copies of all finalized submissions required under this Permit 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.

1.13 For the purpose of this permit, "commencement of construction" does not include works related to site clearance and preparations, or other works as agreed by the Director.

2. Specific conditions

2.1 An Environmental Team (ET) shall be established by the Permit Holder no later than one month before the commencement of construction of the Project(s). The ET shall not be in any way an associated body of the Contractor or the Independent Environmental Checker (IEC) for the Project(s).The ET shall be headed by an ET Leader. The ET Leader shall be a person who has at least 7 years' experience in environmental monitoring and auditing (EM&A) or environmental management. The ET and the ET Leader shall be responsible for the implementation of the EM&A programme in accordance with the requirements as contained in the EM&A Manual. The ET Leader shall keep a contemporaneous log-book of each and every circumstance or change of circumstances which may affect the environmental impact assessment and each and every non-compliance with the recommendations of the EIA Report or this Permit. This log-book shall be kept readily available for inspection by all persons assisting in supervision of the implementation of the recommendations of the EIA Report and this Permit or by the Director or his authorized officers. Failure to maintain records in the log-book, failure to discharge the duties of the ET Leader as defined in the EM&A Manual or failure to comply with this Condition would entitle the Director to require the Permit Holder by notice in writing to replace the ET Leader. Failure by the Permit Holder to make replacement, or further failure to keep contemporaneous records in the log-book despite the employment of a new ET Leader may render the Permit liable to suspension, cancellation or variation.

2.2 An IEC shall be employed by the Permit Holder no later than one month before the commencement of construction of the Project(s). The IEC shall not be in any way an associated body of the Contractor or the ET for the Project(s). The IEC shall be a person who has at least 7 years' experience in EM&A or environmental management. The IEC shall be responsible for duties defined in the EM&A Manual and shall audit the overall EM&A programme, including the implementation of all environmental mitigation measures, submissions required in the EM&A Manual, and any other submissions required under this Permit. In addition, the IEC shall be responsible for verifying the environmental acceptability of permanent and temporary works, relevant design plans and submissions under this Permit. The IEC shall verify the log-book(s) mentioned in Condition 2.1 of this Permit. The IEC shall notify the Director by fax, within 24 hours of each and every change of circumstances or non-compliance with the recommendations of the EIA Report or this Permit, which might affect the monitoring or control of adverse environmental impacts from the Project(s). In case the IEC fails to so notify the Director of the same, fails to discharge the duties of the IEC as defined in the EM&A Manual or fails to comply with this Condition, the Director may require the Permit Holder by notice in writing to replace the IEC. Failure to replace the IEC as directed or further failure to so notify the Director despite employment of a new IEC may render the Permit liable to suspension, cancellation or variation. Notification by the Permit Holder is the same as notification by the IEC for the purpose of this Condition.

2.3 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.

2.4 The Permit Holder shall, at least 4 weeks before commencement of construction of the Project, deposit with the Director 3 sets of landscape proposal, including a tree, orchids preservation plan indicating the location of trees and orchids to be preserved and transplanted, for the Project during construction and operation stages with explanatory statement, design drawings and layout plans of the scale 1 to 1000 or other scale as agreed by the Director. The submission shall include an implementation programme for the landscaped areas, with clear identification of the responsibility for funding, implementation, management and maintenance of the landscaped areas. The submission shall be verified by the IEC as conforming to the information and recommendations contained in the EIA report (No. AEIAR-051/2001), the Application (No. AEP-126/2002) and EM&A Manual attached to the Application. The Permit Holder shall make available additional copies to the Director upon his request.

2.5 The Permit Holder shall keep the doors at Pui O tunnel portal closed during blasting works, within the tunnel section, in order to minimize the noise impact.

2.6 Three sets of groundwater monitoring plan including monitoring points, action levels for implementing mitigation measures shall be submitted to the Director before the commencement of construction of the Project. The mitigation measures shall be implemented if the groundwater level dropped to the action levels defined. The mitigation measures shall include:

a) traditional pre-injection systems using cement grout shall be applied in the identified fault intersection zone to reduce the water inflow; and

b) apply 2mm thick typical high performance PVC waterproof membrane and geotextile fleece mats to ensure watertighteness of the tunnel.

2.7 The Permit Holder shall submit to Director at least one month before the commencement of the works for approval the method statements for the mitigation measures as described in conditions 2.6 a) and b) for prevent the groundwater loss.

2.8 The Permit Holder shall implement the following working methods during dredging to minimise the loss of fine sediment to suspension:

a) tightly closing grabs shall be used to restrict the loss of fine sediment to suspension;

b) all barges used for the transport of dredged materials shall be fitted with tight bottom seals in order to prevent leakage of material during loading and transport; and

c) excess material shall be cleaned from the decks and exposed fittings of barges before the vessel is moved.

2.9 The Permit Holder shall ensure that the dredging work shall only be carried out during the dry season (November to April inclusive) with the dredging rate no more than 547 m3/day to minimize the water quality impact at Cheung Sha Wan Fish Culture Zone and Tai Kwai Wan.

2.10 The Permit Holder shall prevent stream sedimentation during construction by placing sandbags and operating stilling ponds in all streams within the site boundary.

2.11 The Permit Holder shall implement a planting reinstatement scheme, which comprise replanting 750m2 of the Pui O tunnel portal area and 700 m2 of the Tai Long Wan Landfall area as shown in figures 2 and 3 attached to this Permit with native tree species on a minimum 1 to 1 basis and distribution at least 1 tree per 1 square meter.

2.12 The Permit Holder shall erect fences no less than 1.5 m high along the boundary of construction sites of underground cable laying before the commencement of works to prevent tipping, vehicle movements, and encroachment of personnel into area outside that side boundary.

2.13 The Permit Holder shall provide the temporary hoarding barriers not less than 2 m high and in subdued colour at the Pui O Tunnel Portal as shown in figure 4 attached to this Permit during the entire construction period.

2.14 Three sets of detailed transplantation proposal for the protected orchids Aphyllorchis montana and Cleisostoma simondii found at Pui O Tunnel Portal as shown in figure 5 attached to this Permit shall be submitted to the Director before the commencement of construction for approval. The proposal shall contain details on the locations of the orchids, transplantation schedule and method, locations of the suitable receptor sites, and arrangement for post-transplantation monitoring. The transplantation shall be conducted by a qualified plant biologist with at least 3 years of relevant experience. A 1-year post-transplantation monitoring shall also be conducted. No works in the area concerned should commence before the orchids are transplanted. The Permit Holder shall fully and properly implement the approved transplantation proposal.

2.15 The Permit Holder shall use visually non-obstructive security fencing for the Pui O, Tai Long Wan Tunnel Portal and landfall area during the operation phase to minimize the visual impact of the portal building.

2.16 The Permit Holder shall deposit with the Director 3 sets of records by photographs and video of existing conditions of the affected area at Pui O and Tai Long Wan Tunnel Portals at least 4 weeks before the commencement of the construction works on site. The records shall include the existing conditions of the re-creation of natural and rocky shoreline, footpath and vegetation. The works areas at Pui O and Tai Long Wan Tunnel Portal should be reinstated to their existing condition before completion of the construction works.

2.17 The Permit Holder shall not disturb the ground layer 1.0 m from existing ground level within the Pui O Archaeological Site as shown in figure 6 attached to this Permit unless otherwise approved by the Director.

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

3.1 The Permit Holder shall implement the EM&A programme in accordance with the procedures and requirements in the EM&A Manual. Any changes to the programme shall be justified by the IEC as conforming to the requirements set out in the EM&A Manual and shall be approved by the Director.

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

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

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

(c) carrying out remedial actions in accordance with the Event/Action Plans, 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 All environmental monitoring and audit data submitted under this Permit shall be true and correct.

3.4 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 submissions shall be verified and certified by the IEC. Additional copies of the submission shall be provided to the Director upon request from the Director.

3.5 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. The submission shall be certified by the ET Leader and verified by the IEC. Additional copies of the submission shall be provided to the Director upon request from the Director.

3.6 The Permit Holder shall fully and properly carry out actions described in the Event/Action Plans of the EM&A Manual, in accordance with the time frame set out in the Event/Action Plans, or as agreed by the Director.

4. Electronic Reporting of EM&A Information

4.1 To facilitate public inspection of the 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 Condition 5.2 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 results 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 results 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 results 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; 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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