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 (EIAO), the Director of Environmental Protection (the Director) grants this environmental permit to HIGHWAYS DEPARTMENT (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 第 10條 的 規 定 ﹐ 環 境 保 護 署 署 長 (署 長 ) 將 本 環 境 許 可 證 批 予 路 政 署 (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 and any person working on the Project shall comply with all conditions set out in this Permit. Any non-compliance by any person may constitute a contravention of the Environmental Impact Assessment Ordinance (Cap. 499) and may become the 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 to 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 (a) constitute any ground of defense against any proceedings instituted under any legislation or (b) imply any approval 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 the construction and/or operation of the Project(s) 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(s).

1.6 The Permit Holder shall construct and operate the Project(s) 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-005/1999); other relevant documents in the Register; and the information 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 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. All submissions or any variations of the submissions shall be certified by the Environmental Team (ET) Leader and verified by the Independent Environmental Checker (IEC) referred to in Conditions 2.1 and 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(s) of construction of the Project(s) no later than one month prior to 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 relate to site clearance and preparation, or other works as agreed by the Director.

2. Submissions or Measures before Commencement of Construction of the Project(s)

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. 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 team and the ET Leader shall be responsible for the duties defined in the EM&A Manual. The ET Leader shall be responsible for the implementation of the EM&A programme in accordance with the EM&A requirements as contained in the EM&A Manual. The ET Leader shall keep a contemporaneous log-book of each and every instance or 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 (Register No. AEIAR-005/1999) or this Permit. This log-book shall be kept readily available for inspection by all persons assisting in supervision of the implementation of the EIA Report recommendations 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. The ET shall not be in any way an associated body of the IEC for the Project.

2.2 An Independent Environmental Checker (IEC) shall be employed by the Permit Holder no later than one month before the commencement of construction of the Project. The IEC shall be a person who has at least 7 years' experience in environmental monitoring and audit (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 described in the EIA Report (Register No. AEIAR-005/1999), 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 occurrence, change of circumstances or non-compliance with the EIA Report (Register No. AEIAR-005/1999) or this Permit, which might affect the monitoring or control of adverse environmental impact. Where the IEC fails to so notify the Director of the same, fails to discharge the duties of the IEC as defined 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. The IEC shall not be in any way an associated body of the Contractor or the Environmental Team for the Project.

3. Submissions or Measures for the Construction Period of the Project(s)

3.1 The Permit Holder shall, within 4 weeks after the commencement of construction of the Project(s), 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(s). The submitted information shall include at least an organization chart, names of responsible persons and their contact details.

3.2 To mitigate construction noise impacts, the implementation of noise mitigation measures and the use of alternative quieter construction plants, as described in the attached Annex A and Annex B, shall be adopted as far as practicable.

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

4.1 The EM&A programme shall be implemented as set out in the EM&A Manual of the EIA Report. Any changes to the EM&A programme shall be justified by the IEC as conforming to the requirements set out in the EM&A Manual and shall be submitted to the Director for approval.

4.2 Two hard copies and one electronic copy of the Baseline Monitoring Report in the formats as specified in Condition 6.1 below shall be submitted to the Director at least two weeks before the commencement of any construction works of the Project. Additional copies of the submission shall be provided to the Director upon request from the Director.

4.3 Two hard copies and one electronic copy of monthly EM&A Reports in the formats as specified in Condition 6.1 below 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.

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

4.5 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.

5. Environmental Monitoring and Audit during Operation of the Project

5.1 The Permit Holder shall, at least 6 months before the operation of the project, deposit with the Director a monitoring plan for the purpose of assessing the accuracy of traffic noise predictions, by comparing the project noise impact predictions with the actual impacts. The monitoring plan shall contain monitoring locations, monitoring schedules, methodology of noise monitoring including noise measurement procedures, traffic counts and speed checks, and methodology of comparison with the predicted levels. At least one monitoring location at the noise sensitive receivers protected shall be proposed. At least three sets of measurements shall be conducted and the monitoring shall be done within the first year of operation of the project. Monitoring shall be conducted in accordance with the deposited monitoring plan unless with prior justification. Monitoring details and results, including the comparison between the measured noise levels and the predicted levels, shall be recorded in a report. The report shall be certified by the Permit Holder before deposited with the Director, within one month after the completion of the monitoring. Two hard copies and one electronic copy of the report in the formats as specified in Condition 6.1 below shall be deposited with the Director.

6. Electronic Reporting of EM&A Information

6.1 To facilitate public inspection of the Baseline Monitoring Report, monthly EM&A Reports and the report described in Condition 5.1 via the EIA Ordinance Internet Website and at the EIA Ordinance 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 4.2, 4.3 and 5.1 of this Permit. For the HTML version, a content page capable of providing hyperlink to each section and sub-section of the EM&A Reports shall be included in the beginning of the document. Hyperlinks to all figures, drawings and tables in the EM&A Reports shall be provided in the main text from where the respective references are made. All graphics in the report shall be in interlaced GIF format unless otherwise agreed by the Director. The content of the electronic copies of these Reports shall be the same as the hard copies.

6.2 The Permit Holder shall, set up a dedicated web site and notify the Director in writing the internet address where the environmental monitoring and project data is to be placed, within six weeks after the commencement of construction of the Project. All environmental monitoring data described in Condition 6.1 above shall be made available to the public via a dedicated web site to be set up by the Permit Holder 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.

6.3 The internet website as described in Condition 6.2 above shall enable user-friendly public access to the monitoring data and project data including the EIA report and the environmental permit(s) and project profile of the Project. The internet website shall have features capable of : -

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

(b) searching by date;

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

(d) hyperlinks to relevant monitoring data after searching;

or otherwise as agreed by the Director.

Notes :

1. This Environmental 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 that the following notes are for general information only.

2. If there is a breach of any condition of this Permit, the Director or his authorized officer may, with the consent of the Secretary, order the cessation of associated work until the remedial action is taken in respect of the resultant environmental damage, and in that case the Permit Holder shall not carry out any associated works without the permission of the Director or his authorized officer.

3. The Permit Holder may apply under Section 13 of the Environmental Impact Assessment Ordinance (the "Ordinance") to the Director for a variation of the conditions of this Environmental Permit. The Permit Holder shall replace the original Permit displayed on the construction site, by the amended Permit.

4. A person who assumes responsibility for the whole or a part of the Project may, before he assumes responsibility of the Project, apply under Section 12 of the Ordinance to the Director for a further Environmental Permit.

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

6. If this Permit is cancelled or surrendered during the 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.

7. 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 of indictment to a fine of $2 million and imprisonment for 6 months;

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

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

(iv) on a second or subsequent summary conviction to a fine of $1 million and 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 that the offence continued.

8. 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.

9. 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.

Environmental Permit No.: EP-130/2002

Annex A : Measures to Mitigate Construction Noise Impacts
(Extracted from sections 5.2.4 and 5.2.5 of the EIA Report)

To mitigate the environmental impacts from construction noise, the following good site practice shall be implemented throughout the construction period where applicable :

1. Only well-maintained plant should be operated on-site and plant should be serviced regularly during the construction works;

2. Machines and plant that may be in intermittent use should be shut down between work periods or should be throttled down to a minimum;

3. Plant known to emit noise strongly in one direction, should, where possible, be orientated to direct noise away from nearby noise sensitive receivers (NSRs).

4. Silencers or mufflers on construction equipment should be utilized and should be properly maintained during the construction works;

5. Mobile plant should be sited as far away from NSRs as possible;

6. Material stockpiles and other structures should be effectively utilized, where practicable, to screen noise from on-site construction activities; and

7. Avoidance of simultaneous noisy activities near junctions and close to schools.

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