Environmental Permit No. EP-294/2007
環境許可證編號EP-294/2007
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT ORDINANCE
(CHAPTER 499)
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
A部 (許可證主要部分)
Pursuant to Section 10 of the Environmental Impact
Assessment Ordinance (the Ordinance), the Director of Environmental Protection
(the Director) grants this environmental permit to Videsh Sanchar Nigam
Limited (VSNL) (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Videsh Sanchar Nigam Limited (VSNL)（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:
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Application
No. 申請書編號： |
AEP-294/2007 |
|
Document
in the Register: 登記冊上的文件： |
(1) Project Profile – VSNL Intra Asia Submarine
Cable System – Deep Water Bay [Register No.: PP-324/2007] 工程項目簡介 – VSNL亞洲區內海底通訊電纜 - 深水灣段
[登記冊編號:PP-324/2007] (2) The Director’s letter of permission to apply
directly for environmental permit dated 5 October 2007 [Ref.: (26) in
EP2/H17/C/05] 署長於2007年10月5日 發出批准直接申請環境許可證的信件 [檔案編號 : (26) in
EP2/H17/C/05] (3) Application for Environmental Permit
submitted by the Permit Holder on 6 November 2007 [Application No. AEP-294/2007] 許可證持有人 於2007年11月6日提交的環境許可證申請 [申請書編號: AEP-294/2007] |
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23
November 2007 Date 日期 |
|
(Mrs. Shirley LEE) Principal Environmental Protection Officer for Director of Environmental Protection 環境保護署署長 (首席環境保護主任 李韓琇玲女士代 行) |
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:
|
Title
of Designated Project 指定工程項目的名稱 |
VSNL Intra Asia
Submarine Cable System – Deep Water Bay [This designated
project is hereinafter referred to as “the Project”]. VSNL亞洲區內海底通訊電纜 - 深水灣段 [這指定工程項目下稱“工程項目”] 。 |
|
Nature
of Designated Project |
A dredging
operation which is less than 500 meters from the nearest boundary of Deep
Water Bay bathing beach and coastal protection area. 距離深水灣泳灘和海岸保護區的最近界線少於500米的挖泥作業。 |
|
Location
of Designated Project 指定工程項目的地點 |
The
proposed submarine telecommunications cable starts from the landing site
located at an existing manhole near Deep Water Bay bathing beach and extends
to the edge of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region waters (the proposed
cable route and the location of landing site for this Project are as shown in
Figure 1 and Figure 2 attached to this Permit). 擬建的海底通訊電纜自位於深水灣泳灘現有的纜井位置的登岸地點開始敷設，延伸至香港特別行政區水域邊界。(本工程項目擬建的電纜路線及登岸地點見載於本許可證夾附的圖1及圖2)。 |
|
Scale and Scope of
Designated Project(s) 指定工程項目的規模和範圍 |
The dredging operation
involves the laying of an approximately 40km submarine telecommunications
cable by the jet plough method within 500 meters from the nearest boundary of
Deep Water Bay bathing beach and coastal protection area. 挖泥作業涉及於深水灣泳灘和海岸保護區的最近界線少於500米內，採用水力噴注法敷設一條長約40公里的海底通訊電纜。 |
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), Waste Disposal Ordinance (Cap. 354), Dumping at Sea
Ordinance (Cap. 466) and Foreshore and Seabed (Reclamations) Ordinance
(Cap.127). This Permit does not of
itself constitute any ground of defence against any proceedings instituted
under any legislation or 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 authorised 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 site(s) of construction and operation of the
Project 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 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 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 all recommendations described in the
Project Profile (Register No.: PP-324/2007) and other relevant documents in the
Register, the information or mitigation measures described in this Permit,
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, and 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 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 (Cap. 499).
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 place, 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
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 hard copies.
1.12
The Permit Holder
shall notify the Director in writing the commencement date of construction of
the Project at least two weeks 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.
1.13
For the purpose of this Permit, “commencement of construction” does not
include works related to site clearance and preparation, or other works as
agreed by the Director.
2. Special Conditions
2.1
The submarine cable
shall be laid along the alignment as delineated in Figure 1 attached to this Permit. The Permit Holder shall obtain prior approval
from the Director of any changes in the Project details, including cable
alignment, burial depth, trench width and installation methods as shown in Figure 1 attached to this Permit and as
described in the Project Profile (Register No.: PP-324/2007).
2.2
The Permit Holder shall, no later
than four weeks after completion of construction of the Project, deposit with
the Director three sets of as-built plan(s) in the scale of 1:50,000 or other
appropriate scale showing the alignment of the submarine cable with
coordinates.
2.3
To minimize water
quality impact on the Deep Water Bay bathing beach, no marine work shall be
carried out within 200m from the nearest boundary of the beach during the
bathing season from 1st April to 30th October
inclusive. The boundary of the
beach is as shown in Figure 2
attached to this Permit.
2.4
To minimize water
quality impact due to the marine works, the submarine cable laying works shall
be carried by diver(s) for the initial segment that extends for about 300m
seaward from the low water mark of the Deep Water Bay bathing beach. Beyond this initial segment, the
submarine cable shall be laid by a jetting machine with a maximum forward speed
of no more than 1km per hour.
3.
Environmental Monitoring and Audit (EM&A)
Requirements
3.1
The Permit Holder shall,
no later than four weeks before the commencement of construction, deposit with
the Director five hard copies and one electronic copy of an EM&A Manual for
the construction of the Project.
The EM&A Manual shall list out the EM&A programme including, at
least, the following:
(i)
requirements on water
quality monitoring with details on methodology, location(s), frequency and
duration for baseline, impact and post project monitoring;
(ii)
the environmental
quality performance limits (Action and Limit Levels);
(iii)
Event and Action Plans;
(iv)
compliance audit
procedures of mitigation measures as recommended in the Project Profile No.
PP-324/2007; and
(v)
procedures and flow
charts for handling complaints or enquires on environmental nuisances or
pollution caused by the Project.
3.2
To monitor the
environmental impact and audit the recommended mitigation measures, the Permit
Holder shall:
(i)
implement the EM&A programme
of the Project in accordance with the procedures and requirements set out in
the EM&A Manual as submitted under Condition 3.1 above; and
(ii)
submit to the Director
five hard copies and one electronic copy of:
(a) Baseline Monitoring Report no later than two weeks
before the commencement of marine works;
(b) Weekly Impact Monitoring Report within three days
after the relevant monitoring data are collected or become available; and
(c) Post Project Monitoring Report within one week after
completion of the marine works.
3.3
All environmental
monitoring and audit results submitted under this Permit shall be true, valid
and correct.
3.4
To facilitate public
inspection of the EM&A Manual, Baseline Monitoring Report, Weekly Impact
Monitoring Report and Post Project Monitoring Report, 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
before the commencement of construction of the Project. All environmental monitoring data and
reports as described in Conditions 3.1 and 3.2 above shall be made available to
the public via this dedicated web site in the shortest possible time and in any
event no later than one week after the relevant environmental data are collected
or become available, unless otherwise agreed with the Director. The Permit Holder shall maintain the
dedicated website for public access of the environmental monitoring data and
reports for three months after depositing the Post Project Monitoring Report
under Condition 3.2(ii)(c) above, or otherwise specified 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.
If there is a breach of any conditions of this Permit, the Director or his
authorized officer may, with the consent of the Secretary for the Environment,
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 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.
4.
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.
5.
Under Section 14 of the Ordinance, the Director may with the consent of the
Secretary for the Environment, suspend, vary or cancel this Permit. The
suspended, varied or cancelled Permit shall be removed from display at the
construction site.
6.
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 construction or operation of 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 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.
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.