7.1.1 Potential noise impact arising from the Project would be construction noise impacts. This section presents the construction noise impact assessment for the Project. The representative noise assessment points to be affected by the Project are identified. The relevant noise legislation, assessment methodology, potential construction impacts as well as noise mitigation measures are also presented in this section.

7.2 Environmental Legislation, Policies, Plans, Standards and Criteria

General

7.2.1 Noise impacts would be assessed in accordance with the criteria and methodology given in the Technical Memoranda (TMs) under the Noise Control Ordinance (NCO), and the Technical Memorandum on Environmental Impact Assessment Process (EIAO-TM).

7.2.2 The NCO and EIAO provide the statutory framework for noise control. Assessment procedures and standards are set out in five TMs listed below:

· EIAO-TM

· TM on Noise from Construction Work other than Percussive Piling (GW-TM)

· TM on Noise from Percussive Piling (PP-TM)

· TM on Noise from Construction Work in Designated Areas (DA-TM)

· TM on Noise from Places other than Domestic Premises, Public Places or Construction Sites (IND-TM)

Construction Noise – General Construction

7.2.3 The NCO provides the statutory framework for noise control of construction work other than percussive piling using powered mechanical equipment (PME) between the hours of 1900 and 0700 hours or at any time on Sundays and general holiday (that is, restricted hours). Noise control on construction activities taking place at other times is subject to the Criteria for Evaluating Noise Impact stated in Table 1B of Annex 5 in the EIAO-TM. The noise limit is L_{eq (30
minutes)}75 dB(A) at the façades of dwellings and 70 dB(A) at the façade of schools (65 dB(A) during examinations).

7.2.4 Between 1900 and 0700 hours and all day on Sundays and public holidays, activities involving the use of PME for the purpose of carrying out construction work is prohibited unless a construction noise permit (CNP) has been obtained. A CNP may be granted provided that the Acceptable Noise Level (ANL) for the NSRs can be complied with. ANLs are assigned depending upon the area sensitive rating (ASR). The corresponding basic noise levels (BNLs) for evening and night time periods are given in Table 7.1.

Table 7.1 Construction Noise Criteria for Activity Other Than Percussive Piling

Time Period	Basic Noise Level (BNLs)
Time Period	ASR A	ASR B	ASR C
Evening (1900 to 2300 hours) ⁽¹⁾	60	65	70
Night (2300 to 0700 hours)	45	50	55

Notes: (1) Includes Sundays and Public Holidays during daytime and evening

7.2.5 Despite any description or assessment made in this EIA Report on construction noise aspects, there is no guarantee that a Construction Noise Permit (CNP) will be issued for the proposed construction activities. The Noise Control Authority will consider a well-justified CNP application, once filed, for construction works within restricted hours as guided by the relevant Technical Memoranda issued under the Noise Control Ordinance. The Noise Control Authority will take into account of contemporary conditions / situations of adjoining land uses and any previous complaints against construction activities at the site before making his decision in granting a CNP. Nothing in the EIA Report shall bind the Noise Control Authority in making his decision. If a CNP is to be issued, the Noise Control Authority shall include in it any condition he thinks fit. Failure to comply with any such conditions will lead to cancellation of the CNP and prosecution action under the NCO.

7.3 Description of the Environment

7.3.1 The work sites are located at the south apron and runway of the former Kai Tak Airport. There is no major noise source identified in the study area except traffic noise from Kwun Tong Bypass and Kai Fuk Road.

7.4 Noise Sensitive Receivers

7.4.1 The area considered in for construction noise impact assessment includes all areas within 300 m from the Project boundary. In accordance with the criteria stipulated in the EIAO-TM, domestic premises, hotel, hostel, temporary housing accommodation, hospital, medical clinic, educational institution, place of public worship, library, court of law or performing arts centre shall be considered as noise sensitive receivers (NSRs). Within 300m from the Project boundary, four groups of representative NSRs including residential buildings along Hing Yan Street, Grand Waterfront, Wei Chien Court of Wyler Garden and Sheung Yuet Road Training Ground are identified. The first three NSRs are residential developments. For Sheung Yuet Road Training Ground, there are containers used as classrooms for teaching purpose, however, these classrooms are provided with air conditioning and do not rely on openable window for air ventilation, this NSR is thus not considered as representative noise assessment point. Therefore, three representative noise assessment points are selected for the construction noise impact assessment in this EIA Study. Table 7.2 summarises the details of selected noise assessment points and their locations are indicated in Drawing 7.1. Photos showing the selected noise assessment points are included in Appendix 7.2.

7.4.2 Referring to the construction programme, the decommissioning of the former Kai Tak Airport other than the North Apron would be tentatively commenced in early 2008 and completed in late 2009. Based on the information provided in the Agreement No. CE 4/2004 (TP) South East Kowloon Development Comprehensive Planning and Engineering Review Stage 1: Planning Review - Feasibility Study,, no planned NSRs are anticipated to be occupied at the North Apron, South Apron, and the Runway area of the former Kai Tak Airport before completion of the proposed decommissioning works in 2009, no planned NSRs is therefore selected for noise assessment for this Project.

Table 7.2 Summary of Representative Noise Assessment Points for Construction Noise Impact Assessment

ID No.	Description	Use	No. of Floors
N1	Residential buildings along Hing Yan Street	Residential	18
N2	Grand Waterfront	Residential	62
N3	Wei Chien Court of Wyler Garden	Residential	13

7.5 Assessment Methodology

7.5.1 The Project is tentatively scheduled to be commenced in early 2008 and to be completed in late 2009. The Project area is indicated in Drawing 7.1. The construction activities of the Project include:

Decommissioning Works

l demolition of an existing fuel hydrant system buried in south apron area;

l demolition of underground fuel tanks near the ex-GFS building and fuel supply system (including refuelling pits and underground fuel pipelines) in the ex-GFS apron area; and

l demolition of the fuel dolphin structure down to 1m below the existing seabed level. The abandoned fuel pipelines will be left in place and, if necessary, grouting it with concrete.

Decontamination Works

l decontamination works, including excavation, biopiling and solidification/stabilization for the contaminated soil identified in the south apron, the narrow strip of the north apron near the Kai Tak Tunnel and the ex-GFS apron area.

7.5.2 All the decommissioning activities and decontamination process would be carried out within the Project area. There will be no off-site works area for this Project. All the construction activities would be carried out during 0700 to 1900 hours on weekdays (Monday to Saturday excluding general holidays).

7.5.3 Any construction activities taking place concurrently within 300m of a given noise assessment point are considered to contribute to the cumulative impact at that NSR. Referring to the construction programme of the Project and other projects within the study area, it is noted that construction period of following projects might overlap with this Project:

l Kai Tak Development Advance Works – Construction of local access roads (Roads TD3, TD4 and Road L14), sewage pumping station, public landing steps cum fireboat berth, electricity substation (by CLP) etc commencing from 2008 to early 2012;

l Contract 2 of Kai Tak Development Advance Works – Construction of Local Access Roads, and Sewage Pumping Station, etc at the former Kai Tak Airport runway commencing from early 2009 to early 2012;

l Cruise Terminal Construction (including dredging, and construction of berth structure, transition structure, and terminal building) commencing from later half of 2008 until 2020;

l Operation of the barging points and works area for removal of C&D materials from Development at Choi Wan and Jordon Valley (at former Kai Tak Airport runway) undertaking now and to be completed by December 2008.

l Operation of the barging point at southwest of the former Kai Tak Airport runway and haul road within Kai Tak for removal of C&D materials from Development at Anderson Road commencing from January 2008 to December 2012.

7.5.4 The above concurrent construction activities are considered to contribute to the cumulative impact at the noise assessment points and were included in the cumulative assessment if any of these construction activities are undertaken within 300m of a given noise assessment point.

7.5.5 In accordance with the EIAO, the methodology outlined in the GW-TM was adopted for the assessment of construction noise (excluding percussive piling). Sound Power Levels (SWLs) of the equipment were taken from Table 3 of the GW-TM. Schedules of powered mechanical equipment (PME) for different construction tasks of the Project and other concurrent construction activities of other projects during normal daytime working hours were provided by the Design Engineer and confirmed with the Project Proponent.

7.5.6 It is assumed that all PME items required for a particular construction activity would be located at the site work boundary as a worst case scenario. The assessment was based on the cumulative SWL of PME likely to be used for each location, taking into account the construction period in the vicinity of the noise assessment points. To predict the noise level, PME items were divided into groups required for each discrete construction task. The objective is to identify the worst case scenario representing those items of PME that would be in use concurrently at any given time. The sound pressure level of each construction task was calculated based on the number of plant and the distance from the noise assessment points. The noise levels at representative noise assessment points were then predicted by adding up the SWLs of all concurrent construction tasks. The construction plant inventory is summarized in Appendix 7.1.

7.5.7 A positive 3 dB(A) façade correction was added to the predicted noise levels in order to account for the facade effect at each noise assessment point.

7.6 Identification of Environmental Impacts

7.6.1 The potential impacts from the Project would be construction noise generated from demolition and land decontamination equipment. There are 4 works areas (refer to Drawing 7.1) for this Project. The distances between the works areas and the noise assessment points are summarized in Appendix 7.1. Any construction activities taking place within 300m of a given noise assessment point are considered in this assessment. As shown in Drawing 7.1 and in Appendix 7.1, only noise assessment points N1 and N2 are located within 300m of Works Area 4 and are thus considered in this assessment. Whereas NSR N3 which is located over 400m from the nearest works area was excluded in the assessment. For the other works areas, the representative noise assessment points are all located at more than 400m away.

7.6.2 Besides, the concurrent construction activities identified in Section 7.5.3 above are all located at more than 300m away from the representative noise assessment points, cumulative construction noise impacts from these concurrent construction activities on the representative noise assessment points are therefore not anticipated.

7.7 Prediction and Evaluation of Environmental Impacts

7.7.1 In the absence of any mitigation measures, the noise levels predicted at noise assessment points N1 and N2 due to construction activities in Works Area 4 would comply with the construction noise criteria of 75 dB(A). It is expected that noise assessment point N3 which is located further away from the noise sources would also comply with the noise criteria. A summary of unmitigated construction noise levels at the noise assessment points during normal daytime working hours is given in Table 7.3. Details of construction noise calculations and results are presented in Appendix 7.1.

Table 7.3 Predicted Noise Levels in the Absence of Mitigation Measures

ID No.	Description	Predicted Noise Levels due to construction activities in Works Area 4, dB(A)
N1	Residential buildings along Hing Yan Street	62.6
N2	Grand Waterfront	62.5

7.8 Mitigation of Adverse Environmental Impacts

7.8.1 Results indicated that no adverse construction noise impact would be expected at the noise assessment points.

7.8.2 In order to further ameliorate the construction noise impacts, good site practices listed below should be adopted by all the contractors. Although the noise mitigating effects are not easily quantifiable and the benefits may vary with the site conditions and operating conditions, good site practices are easy to implement and do not impact upon the works schedule.

l Only well-maintained plant should be operated on-site and plant should be serviced regularly during the construction program.

l Mobile plant, if any, should be sited as far away from NSRs as possible.

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

l Plant known to emit noise strongly in one direction should, wherever possible, be orientated so that the noise is directed away from the nearby NSRs.

l Material stockpiles and other structures should be effectively utilised, wherever practicable, in screening noise from on-site construction activities.

7.9 Evaluation of Residual Impacts

7.9.1 In accordance with the assessment results, no residual impacts would be expected at the noise assessment points.

7.10 Environmental Monitoring and Audit

7.10.1 As no adverse construction noise impact is expected at the NSRs in the vicinity of the work sites due to the large separation distance between the construction sites and the nearby NSRs, construction noise monitoring is therefore not proposed. However, regular site audit is required to ensure proper implementation of good site practices. Details of the programme are provided in a stand-alone EM&A Manual.

7.11 Conclusion

7.11.1 The construction noise impacts associated with the Project as well as the concurrent projects were identified and assessed. Results indicated that no adverse construction noise impact taking into account of cumulative noise impacts from concurrent construction activities in the proximity of the study area would be expected at the representative noise assessment points in the absence of mitigation measures. Appropriate good site practices are proposed to further ameliorate the construction noise impacts.