15.1
This section further elaborates the
requirements of environmental monitoring and audit (EM&A) for the
construction and operation of the Project, based on the assessment results of various
environmental issues. The following
sections summarize the recommended EM&A requirements. Details of the EM&A programme and the
specific monitoring requirements are presented in a stand-alone EM&A
Manual.
Construction Phase
Marine and Terrestrial
Archaeology
15.2
No specific EM&A requirements would be
required during construction phase.
Built Heritage and
Historical Landscape
15.3
The use of sensibly designed screen hoardings
for mitigating visual impact as proposed in Section 7 is also recommended for reducing the potential visual
impact on identified heritage buildings to acceptable levels. Based on this,
audit requirements recommended in Section
15.11 for visual impact would be applicable for the protection of heritage
resources.
15.4
The only declared
monument/site of cultural heritage within the assessment area, Flagstaff House,
is located about 210m away from the nearest SCL tunnel. Given the considerable
separation distance, there would be neither adverse vibration nor visual impacts
on the declared monument/site of cultural heritage, and thus no specific
EM&A requirements would be required.
Vibration monitoring on other built heritages identified in the
assessment will be agreed with Antiquities and Monuments Office (AMO)/ Buildings
Department (BD) / Geotechnical Engineering Office (GEO) and implemented under
the requirement of the Buildings Ordinance and/or Blasting Permit as
appropriate.
Operation Phase
15.5
No specific EM&A requirements would be
required during operation phase.
15.6
Specific EM&A activities for ecology are
considered not necessary during the construction and operation phases of the
Project. Monitoring and audit activities for detecting and mitigating any
unacceptable impact on water quality would also serve to protect marine
ecological resources. Mitigation measures
recommended for controlling water quality impact under Section 11 should be regularly audited
during construction phase.
15.7
As no unacceptable impacts have been predicted to
occur during the construction and operation phases of the Project, specific
monitoring for fisheries resources is considered not necessary. Nevertheless, the implementation of the water
quality mitigation measures recommended in Section 11 should be checked as part of the environmental monitoring and audit
procedures during the construction phase as presented in the standalone
EM&A Manual.
Mitigation
Measures
15.8
Potential
landscape and visual impacts have been carefully considered during the
development of the Project design to (1) avoid impacts on important landscape
resources as the first priority; and (2) locate, design and reduce physical
extent of the works as far as possible, as well as identify mitigation
measures, so as to minimize impacts on existing trees and open spaces, and to
minimize the degree of visual impact.
15.9
The landscape and
visual mitigation measures should be incorporated in the detailed design. The
construction phase and operational phase mitigation measures proposed in the
EIA are presented in Section 17.
Where feasible, the construction phase mitigation measures should be adopted
from the commencement of construction and should be in place throughout the entire
construction period while the mitigation measures for the operation phase
should be adopted during the detailed design and be built as part of the
construction works so that they are in place on the date of commissioning of
the Project.
15.10 Any potential conflicts among the proposed mitigation measures, the
Project works, and operational requirements should also be identified and
resolved early. Any changes to the mitigation measures should be incorporated
in the detailed design.
Audit
Requirements
15.11 Site audit should be undertaken during the construction phase of the
Project to check that the proposed landscape and visual mitigation measures are
properly implemented and maintained as per their intended objectives. Site inspections should be undertaken by the
Environmental Team (ET) at least once every two week during the construction
period.
15.12
With the
implementation of the dust suppression measures stipulated in the Air Pollution
Control (Construction Dust) Regulation, good site practices and proposed
mitigation measures, no adverse dust impact would be expected at the ASRs in
the vicinity of the construction sites.
Routine 24-hour dust monitoring requirements are recommended in the EM&A
Manual to ensure the efficacy of the control measures. Details of the EM&A programme are
provided in a stand-alone EM&A Manual.
Construction Phase
15.13
Construction noise impacts from this Project
would be expected at noise sensitive receivers (NSRs) and are identified in
this EIA. Appropriate mitigation
measures would be required in order to alleviate the impacts to meet the
EIAO-TM criteria. Noise monitoring
during construction phase needs to be carried out to ensure that such
mitigation measures would be implemented properly.
15.14
Noise monitoring should be carried out at the
designated monitoring stations, and measurement should be undertaken at a
minimum logging interval of 30 minutes.
Prior to the commencement of the Project, baseline monitoring should be
measured for a continuous period of at least 14 consecutive days at a minimum
logging interval of 30 minutes for daytime.
During impact monitoring, noise measurement should be conducted at the
designated monitoring locations once a week.
Ad hoc noise monitoring should also be carried out if necessary. Details of the EM&A programme are
provided in a stand-alone EM&A Manual.
Operation Phase
15.15
The assessment has indicated that the noise
from the proposed fixed plant noise sources would comply with the EIAO-TM noise
criteria if the noise emissions from the proposed fixed plant are properly
designed to meet the recommended maximum allowable sound power levels. No specific monitoring for the fixed
plant operation is deemed necessary.
15.16
Adverse ground-borne construction noise
impact due to the Project would not be envisaged. Ground-borne noise monitoring
is thus considered not necessary during construction phase.
Operation Phase
15.17
Prior to the operation phase of the Project,
a commissioning test should be conducted to ensure compliance of the
operational ground-borne noise levels with the noise criteria. Details of the test requirements are provided
in a stand-alone EM&A Manual.
Construction
Phase
15.18
Based on the above assessment of the water
quality impact, an EM&A programme is considered necessary to obtain a
database of baseline information of water quality before the dredging and
filling works, and thereafter, to monitor any variation of water quality from the
baseline conditions and exceedances of Water Quality Objectives (WQOs) at
sensitive receivers in Victoria Harbour during these marine construction works.
Monitoring parameters will include dissolved oxygen (DO), turbidity and
suspended solids (SS).
15.19
Details of the EM&A programme are to be
provided in a stand-alone EM&A Manual.
If the water quality monitoring data indicates that the proposed
dredging and filling works result in unacceptable water quality impacts in the
receiving water, appropriate actions should be taken to review the dredging and
filling operation and additional measures such as slowing down, or rescheduling
of works should be implemented as necessary.
Operation Phase
15.20
Adverse water quality impacts associated with
the operation of the Project are not expected, and thus, no monitoring
programme would be required.
15.21
It is the
contractor’s responsibility to ensure that all wastes produced during the
construction of the Project are handled, stored and disposed of in accordance
with the recommended good waste management practices and relevant legislation and waste management guidelines.
15.22
It is recommended that the waste arisings
generated during the construction activities should be audited regularly by the
ET to determine if wastes are being managed in accordance with approved
procedures. The audits should look at
all aspects of on-site waste management practices including waste generation,
storage, recycling, transport and disposal.
Apart from site inspections, documents including licences, permits,
disposal and recycling records should be reviewed and audited for compliance
with the legislation and Contract requirements.
In addition, the routine site inspections should check the
implementation of the recommended good site practices and other waste
management mitigation measures.
15.23
A Waste Management
Plan (WMP), as part of the Environmental Management Plan (EMP) should be
prepared in accordance with ETWB TC(W) No.19/2005 and
submitted to the Engineer for approval.
The recommended mitigation measures should form the basis of the
WMP. The monitoring and auditing
requirement stated in ETWB TC(W) No.19/2005 should be
followed with regard to the management of C&D materials.
15.24
It is expected that large quantities of waste
would not be generated from the operation of the Project and adverse
environmental impacts would not be anticipated with the implementation of good
waste management practices. Waste monitoring and audit programme for the operation
phase of the Project would not be required.
15.25
Based on the Stage 1 SI results of the soil
and groundwater samples, adverse land contamination impact during construction
would not be envisaged. Thus, specific EM&A requirement is considered not
necessary. Nevertheless, visual inspection is recommended as best practice
during construction activities that disturb soil.
15.26
As one site had constraints (e.g.
accessibility, site operation) in which the SI was not able to be carried
out/completed during this EIA study, the SI shall be undertaken in Stage 2
after the land resumption/site decommissioning and prior to the commencement of
the construction work. Precautionary measures recommended in Section 13 shall be referenced if site
remediation is required..
15.27
Blasting activities regarding the marine
transport of explosives should be supervised and audited by the competent site
staff to ensure strict compliance with the blasting permit conditions.
15.28
The recommended mitigation measures as
outlined in the implementation schedule in Section
17 should be implemented to meet the EIAO-TM requirements.