ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT ORDINANCE
(CHAPTER 499)
SECTION 13

環 境 影 響 評 估 條 例
(第 499章)
第 13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 13 of the Environmental Impact Assessment Ordinance (the EIAO), the Director of Environmental Protection (the Director) amends the Environmental Permit No. EP-052/2000 granted to the NEW WORLD FIRST BUS SERVICES LIMITED (hereinafter referred to as the "Permit Holder") on 3 February 2000. This amended environmental permit is for constructing and operating the designated project described in Part B subject to the conditions described in or attached to Part C. The Environmental Permit No. EP-052/2000 is hereby replaced by this amended environmental permit.

根 據 環 境 影 響 評 估 條 例 第 13條 的 規 定 ﹐ 環 境 保 護 署 署 長 (署 長 ) 現 修 訂 於 2000年 2月 3日 批 予 新 世 界 第 一 巴 士 服 務 有 限 公 司 (下 稱 "許 可 證 持 有 人 ") 的 環 境 許 可 證 編 號 EP-052/2000。 許 可 證 持 有 人 可 根 據 本 經 修 訂 的 環 境 許 可 證 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 。 環 境 許 可 證 編 號 EP-065/2000已 被 本 經 修 訂 的 環 境 許 可 證 所 取 代 。

本 經 修 訂 的 環 境 許 可 證 乃 依 據 下 列 文 件 、 批 准 或 許 可 條 件 而 簽 發 -

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 shall be definite ground for enforcement action or permit cancellation where applicable.

1.2 The Permit Holder shall ensure full compliance with all legislation currently in force such as the Noise Control Ordinance (Cap. 400), Air Pollution Control Ordinance (Cap. 311), Water Pollution Control Ordinance (Cap. 358), Dumping at Sea Ordinance (Cap. 466), Waste Disposal Ordinance (Cap. 354), and others. 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 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.

1.5 The Permit Holder shall display a copy of this Permit on the construction site 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.

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-029/2000); the supplementary information contained in the Application VEP-024/2000; 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 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 EIAO. All submissions or any variations of the submissions shall be verified and certified by the Independent Environmental Checker (IEC) referred to in Condition 2.1 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 the commencement date of construction of the Project at least 1 week prior to the commencement of construction of the Project. The Permit Holder shall notify the Director 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 at 27/F, Southorn Centre, 130 Hennessy Road, Wanchai, Hong Kong.

2. Submissions or Measures before Commencement of Construction of the Project or Foundation Works of the Project

2.1 Before the commencement of construction of the Project, the Permit Holder shall employ an Independent Environmental Checker (IEC) with 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 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.

2.2 An Environmental Team (ET) shall be established 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 a team 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 EM&A requirements as contained in the EM&A Manual which forms part of the EIA Report.

2.3 The Permit Holder shall, at least 1 week before the commencement of foundation works of the Project, deposit with the Director 3 sets of design drawings, of scale 1 in 500 or other reasonable scale, showing the details of layout plans on the Project, including the dimensions, the layout of each floor and the orientation of the bus depot. The submissions shall be certified by the IEC as conforming to the information and recommendations contained in the EIA Report. Additional copies of the design drawings may be required by the Director.

2.4 The Permit Holder shall, taking into account public comments forwarded to the Director during the public inspection period of the EIA Report under the EIAO, deposit with the Director 3 sets of a detailed Waste Management Plan (Construction) to further minimize any environmental nuisances or impacts arising from the construction of the Project. This Plan shall be certified by the IEC as conforming to the information and recommendations contained in the EIA Report, and shall be submitted at least 1 week before the commencement of foundation works of the Project. This Plan shall include the recommended mitigation measures in Section 6.7 of the EIA Report and have sufficient stringent proactive controls to avoid adverse environmental impacts to residents, such as Heng Fa Chuen and Tsui Wan Estate in the vicinity. All measures in this Plan shall be fully implemented during the construction period of the Project.

2.5 A 5m high hoarding along the western side of the site boundary, as shown in Figure 1 of this Permit, shall be erected before the commencement of foundation works of the Project. The 5m high hoarding shall be properly maintained throughout the foundation works of the Project for mitigating the construction noise impacts, and thereafter the height of hoarding can be reduced to meet with the requirements under the Air Pollution Control Ordinance (Cap.311).

3. Submissions or Measures for the Construction Period of the Project

3.1 The Permit Holder shall, within 1 month 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 bus depot. The submitted information shall include at least an organization chart, names of responsible persons and their contact details.

3.2 All designs and measures described in Conditions 2.3 to 2.5 above shall be fully implemented.

3.3 Measures described in the attached Annex A to this Permit to mitigate environmental impacts from construction noise shall be implemented throughout the construction period.

3.4 All mitigation measures, as described in the EIA Report, the EM&A Manual, the supplementary information contained in the Application VEP-024/2000 and the submissions required under this Permit, shall be properly constructed and implemented. Any changes to the measures shall be certified by the IEC as conforming to the information and recommendations contained in the EIA Report before implementation. The certified changes shall be immediately documented in the following monthly EM&A report as required under the EM&A Manual.

4. Submissions or Measures for the Operation Period of the Project

4.1 The Permit Holder shall, taking into account public comments forwarded to the Director during the public inspection period of the EIA Report under the EIAO, deposit with the Director 3 sets of a detailed Waste Management Plan (Operation) to further minimize any environmental nuisances or impacts arising from the operation of the Project. This Plan shall be certified by the IEC as conforming to the information and recommendations contained in the EIA Report, and shall be submitted at least 4 weeks before the operation of the Project. This Plan shall include the recommended mitigation measures in Section 6.7 of the EIA Report and have sufficient stringent proactive controls to avoid adverse environmental impacts to residents, such as Heng Fa Chuen and Tsui Wan Estate in the vicinity. All measures in this Plan shall be fully implemented during the operation period of the Project.

4.2 The Permit Holder shall, at least 4 weeks before the operation of the Project, deposit with the Director 3 sets of a detailed Contamination Avoidance Plan to prevent land contamination associated with contaminants arising from the operation of the depot. The detailed Contamination Avoidance Plan shall be certified by the IEC as conforming to the information and recommendations contained in the EIA Report, and shall be fully implemented.

4.3 Risk mitigation measures as shown in the attached Annex B to this Permit shall be implemented during the operation of the Project. The Permit Holder shall, at least 4 weeks before the operation of the Project, deposit with the Director 3 sets of the Emergency Plan as mentioned in Annex B of this Permit and be in a state of readily to implement the Emergency Plan. The submissions shall be certified by the IEC as conforming to the information and recommendations contained in the EIA Report.

4.4 The Permit Holder shall, before the operation of the Project or otherwise agreed by the Director, set up and implement the Environmental Management System (EMS) in accordance with the descriptions in Section 5 of the Environmental management Plan (EMP) of the EIA Report, and thereafter properly maintain the EMS.

4.5 The Permit Holder shall, at least 4 weeks before the operation of the Project or otherwise agreed by the Director, deposit a copy of the Environmental Policy as outlined in Section 5.3.4(v) of the EMP of the EIA Report. The Environmental Policy shall be duly signed by the Chief Executive, or his/her equivalent, of the Permit Holder's organization.

4.6 During the operation period of the Project, the Permit Holder shall ensure that buses from the depot will follow the proposed ingress and egress routings contained in the EIA Report as shown in Figure 2 of this Permit. Apart from emergency situations, any variation of the proposed ingress and egress routings shall be approved by the Director.

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

5.1 The EM&A programme shall be implemented as set out in the EM&A Manual which forms part of the EIA Report. Any changes to the programme shall be justified by the IEC as conforming to the requirements set out in the EM&A Manual before submission to the Director for approval.

5.2 Samples and measurements shall be taken in accordance with the requirements of the EM&A Manual by :

(a) conducting baseline monitoring on construction noise. The baseline monitoring shall be carried out daily for a period of at least 2 weeks;

(b) conducting impact monitoring on noise as set out in the EM&A Manual. The impact monitoring frequency for each station shall not be less than once per week;

(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, within 3 working days of the collection of data or completion of remedial action, for the purposes of preparing and submitting the EM&A Reports and to make available the information for inspection on site.

5.3 All environmental monitoring and audit data submitted under this Permit shall be true and correct.

5.4 One hard copy of the Baseline Monitoring Report shall be submitted to the Director 1 week before the commencement of any major construction works that would affect the monitoring results. 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.

5.5 One hard copy of monthly EM&A Report shall be submitted to the Director within 2 weeks from the end of the reporting month. The submission shall be certified by the IEC. Additional copies of the submission shall be provided to the Director upon request from the Director.

5.6 The actions described in the Event/Action Plans of the EM&A Manual shall be carried out, in accordance with the time frame set out in the Event/Action Plans, or as agreed by the Director.

6. Environmental Monitoring and Audit (EM&A) during First Six Months of Operation

6.1 The Permit Holder shall devise an enhanced EM&A programme that closely monitors the environmental impacts and includes proactive checks to avoid adverse environmental impacts, and submit the enhanced programme to the Director for approval at least 3 months before the operation of the Project. In particular, the enhanced EM&A programme shall include a monitoring plan for the purpose of assessing the accuracy of traffic noise predictions, due to the bus movement, in the EIA Report by comparing the project noise impact predictions with the actual impacts.

6.2 The monitoring plan in Condition 6.1 above 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 identified in the EIA Report shall be proposed. At least three sets of measurements shall be conducted and the monitoring shall be done within the first 6 months of operation of the Project. Monitoring shall be conducted in accordance with the approved 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 to be deposited with the Director within one month of the completion of the monitoring. The report shall be certified by the IEC before deposit with the Director.

6.3 All environmental monitoring data and report submitted under this Permit shall be true and correct.

7. Electronic Reporting of EM&A Information in response to Public Complaints

7.1 In the event that frequent and/or repeated public complaints are received associated with the construction and operation of the bus depot, having regard to the severity and magnitude of the environmental impacts, the Director may require the Permit Holder to set up a dedicated website for disseminating updated EM&A environmental information and actions taken. The details of the website and associated works are described in the attached Annex C to this Permit. If required, the Permit Holder shall, within a time limit as prescribed by the Director, duly set up the website and thereafter update the EM&A information on the website until completion of construction of the bus depot, and/or the first six months after the operation of the bus depot.

Notes :

1. This Permit consists of three parts, namely, PART A (Main Permit), PART B (Description of Designated Project) and PART C (Permit Conditions).

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 with the consent of the Secretary for the Environment and Food, may 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 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.

Annex A : Measures to Mitigate Construction Noise Impacts

To mitigate the environmental impacts from construction noise, the following mitigation measures shall be implemented throughout the construction period :

1. Models plant that are quieter than those specified in the Environmental Protection Department's "Technical Memorandum on Noise from Construction Work in Designated Areas" shall be used.

2. The number of items of plant operating at the same time at the specified locations shall be minimized for each construction activity.

3. Only well-maintained plant shall be operated on-site and plant shall be serviced regularly.

4. Machines and plant (such as trucks) that may be in intermittent use shall be shut down between work periods or shall be throttled down to a minimum.

5. Plant known to emit noise strongly in one direction shall be orientated so that the noise is directed away from noise sensitive receivers (NSRs).

6. Silencers or mufflers on construction equipment shall be utilized and be properly maintained.

7. Mobile plant shall be sited as far as away from NSRs as practicable.

Annex B : Risk Mitigation Measures

The following risk mitigation measures shall be implemented in accordance with the principal of reducing risks to as low a level as reasonably practicable during the operation of the Project:

1. The openings (doors/windows) at the side of the building facing the adjacent CRC Oil Terminal shall be reduced and all such openings shall be effectively sealed against smoke ingress.

2. An Emergency Plan shall be developed as part of the management of the bus depot. The Emergency Plan shall cover the following aspects :

• types of incident which could arise at the CRC Oil Terminal and the bus depot and their potential effects;

• means of alerting occupants of the bus depot and the adjacent buildings facing the Bus Depot;

• roles and responsibilities of key personnel at the bus depot;

• closing of all doors and windows to stop smoke ingress;

• interface with external emergency services;

• emergency control points;

• evacuation arrangements;

• ending of the emergency; and

• communication arrangements.

3. Training shall be provided for key personnel involved in the implementation of the Emergency Plan. Regular exercise, including fire drills, shall be undertaken to enhance their capability to handle emergencies. The Plan shall be reviewed after each exercise to keep it up-to-date.

4. The store room for dangerous goods shall be enclosed and be provided on the side facing Chong Fu Road.

5. Road tankers shall maintain low speeds in the area around the bus depot to avoid collisions with other vehicles, tankers or objects.

Annex C : Electronic Environmental Monitoring and Audit (EM&A)

With a view to proactively abating the environmental impacts, a website shall be implemented and information therein be presented and updated as :

I) General Requirements

1. The Permit Holder shall make available relevant monitoring and audit data to the public via internet access to the website.

2. The monitoring and audit data thereof shall be made available to the public in the shortest time and in no event later than 2 weeks after relevant data are collected and/or action(s) are taken.

3. The Permit Holder shall notify the Director in writing within 2 weeks after the commencement of works the internet address where environmental monitoring and audit data are to be placed.

4. The internet address and the environmental monitoring and audit data shall be made available to the public via the EIAO Internet Website and the EIAO Register Office.

5. The internet website shall enable user friendly public access to the monitoring and audit data, and with features capable of :

(a) providing access to the environmental monitoring and audit data collected as described in requirements II) and III) below.;
(b) searching by data; and
(c) hyperlinks to relevant monitoring data after searching.

6. The Permit Holder shall ensure all environmental monitoring and audit data in the website are true and correct.

II) Specific Requirements during the Construction Stage

1. The Permit Holder shall make available all environmental monitoring data and pertinent remedial actions taken following the EM&A Manual as described in Condition 5.2 of this Permit.

III) Specific Requirements during the First Six Months of the Operational Stage

1. The Permit Holder shall make available the operational noise monitoring results regarding the ingressing / egressing buses from the depot as described in Condition 6.2 of this Permit.

Figure 1 | Figure 2