1 INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background

1.1.1 The engineering feasibility study of the Anderson Road Quarry Development has been conducted under the Agreement No. CE18/2012 (CE) “Development of Anderson Road Quarry - Investigation” (the FS) to ascertain the feasibility of implementing the development proposal. The FS was classified as a designated project under the Schedule 3 of the Environmental Impact Assessment Ordinance (EIAO). Hence, as a part of the study, an environmental impact assessment (EIA) report titled "Development of Anderson Road Quarry" has been submitted and approved under the EIAO (Register: AEIAR-183/2014) on 28 July 2014. Road improvement schemes for existing roads outside the Anderson Road Quarry Development were proposed in the FS to improve the future traffic condition and to cater for the additional traffic demand at the ARQ Development. In this connection, there were three associated off-site road improvement works identified as the Schedule 2 designated projects under Item A.1 Part I of the Schedule 2 of the EIAO.

1.1.2 The approved Schedule 3 EIA Report of the FS had already reviewed the potential environmental impacts of the proposed three road improvement works and concluded that no insurmountable environmental impacts are expected from the road improvement works Nevertheless, detailed environmental implications of the proposed road improvement works will be further investigated in a separate EIA under the EIAO.

1.1.3 Subsequently, in accordance with the requirements of Section 5(1) of the EIAO, a project profile (No. PP-500/2014) for the “Development of Anderson Road Quarry Site – Road Improvement Works” (the Project) was submitted to the Director of Environmental Protection (the “DEP”) for application for an EIA Study Brief on 27 January 2014. Pursuant to Section 5(7)(a) of the EIAO, the DEP has issued a Study Brief (No.: ESB-268/2014) dated 10 March 2014 for the EIA study.

1.1.4 The purpose of the EIA study is to provide information on the nature and extent of environmental impacts arising from the construction and operation of the Project and associated works that will take place concurrently. This information will contribute to decisions by the Director on:

Ÿ The overall acceptability of any adverse environmental consequences that are likely to arise as a result of the Project;

Ÿ The conditions and requirements for the detailed design, construction and operation of the Project to mitigate against adverse environmental consequences wherever practicable; and

Ÿ The acceptability of residual impacts after the proposed mitigation measures are implemented.

1.1.5 This Project comprises three road improvement works: (i) improvement of Sau Mau Ping Road/Lin Tak Road (ii) widening and improvement of sections of Clear Water Bay Road and On Sau Road; and (iii) widening and improvement of sections of New Clear Water Bay Road and Shun Lee Tsuen Road.

1.2 Project Components

1.2.1 The Project is a designated project by virtue of Item A1 of Schedule 2 of the EIAO: “A road which is an expressway, trunk road, primary distributor road or district distributor road including new roads, and major extensions or improvements to existing road”. The components include:

Junction of Sau Mau Ping Road/Lin Tak Road

i. Lengthening of existing lay-bys from 12m and 18m to 70m and addition of 2 new lay-bys of 26m long at Lin Tak Road;

ii. Realignment of Lin Tak Road towards south so as to allow space for the provision of lay-bys as mentioned above which is very close to the lot boundary of Hong Wah Court and Hing Tin Estate;

iii. Enlargement of existing roundabout at the junction of Lin Tak Road and Pik Wan Road to allow for smooth turning of long vehicle, but still maintaining the existing one entry lane and one circulating lane configuration;

iv. Cutting of slopeworks at the south side of Lin Tak Road to allow space for the provision of lay-bys and road re-alignment;

v. Widening of small section of slip road towards Tseung Kwan O (TKO) Road eastbound with associated slope works for retaining walls.

vi. Construction of a new westbound flyover from Sau Mau Ping Road to Lin Tak Road leading to a free flow condition for turning movement from Sau Mau Ping Road eastbound and Lin Tak Road westbound to TKO Road slip road, as well as straight movement of Lin Tak Road eastbound and westbound; and

vii. TKO Road slip road to Sau Mau Ping Road will be shifted southwards with associated slope works to cater for the proposed flyover.

Junction of Clear Water Bay Road and On Sau Road and Junction of Clear Water Bay Road and New Clear Water Bay Road

viii. Improvement works on Clear Water Bay Road and detouring right-turn movement from On Sau Road northbound onto Clear Water Bay Road eastbound by construction of a new U-turn facility with minimisation of cutting of the existing trees on slopes.

Junction of New Clear Water Bay Road and Shun Lee Tsuen Road

ix. Widening a section of 130m long of the existing New Clear Water Bay Road westbound carriageway opposite to Shun Lee Estate from one lane to two lanes; and

x. Construction of a new Shun Lee Tsuen Road slip road (about 350m) and a merging lane (about 170m) extending from the existing Shun Lee Tsuen Road and merging to the westbound carriage way of the New Clear Water Bay Road, and with associated slope works for retaining walls.

1.2.2 As revealed by the traffic review, the existing single 2 lanes road configuration of Lin Tak Road is capable of handling the prevailing as well as the future traffic flow upon completion of the Anderson Road Quarry Site Development. Therefore, it is considered unnecessary to widen Lin Tak Road and so the single 2 lanes road capacity of Lin Tak Road will remain unchanged. Instead, the works originally proposed for Lin Tak Road will be scaled down to the construction of 4 numbers of lay-bys and associated road re-alignment to allow for roadside loading and unloading activities. No additional traffic will be induced due to the change.

1.3 Objective of this EIA Study

1.3.1 The purpose of this EIA study is to provide information on the nature and extent of environmental impacts arising from the construction and operation of the Project and associated works that will take place concurrently. This information will contribute to decisions by the Director of Environmental Protection Department on:

i. the overall acceptability of any adverse environmental consequences that are likely to arise as a result of the Project and associated works, and their staged implementation;

ii. the conditions and requirements for the detailed design, construction and operation of the Project to mitigate against adverse environmental consequences; and

iii. the acceptability of residual impacts after the proposed mitigation measures are implemented.

1.3.2 The objectives of the EIA study are as follows:

i. To describe the Project and associated works together with the requirements and environmental benefits for carrying out the Project;

ii. To identify and describe elements of community and environment likely to be affected by the Project and/or likely to cause adverse impacts to the Project, including natural and man-made environment and the associated environmental constraints;

iii. To provide information on the consideration of alternative options of the Project including alternative siting, scale/size, extent, layout, alignment, design and construction methods with a view to avoiding and minimizing potential environmental impacts to environmentally sensitive areas and sensitive uses; to provide reasons for selecting the preferred option(s) and to describe the environmental factors played in the selection of preferred options(s);

iv. To identify and quantify emission sources, including air and gaseous emission, noise emission, wastewater emission and waste generation, and determine the significance of impacts on sensitive receivers and potential affected uses;

v. To identify and quantify any potential losses or damage to flora, fauna and natural habitats;

vi. To identify and systematically evaluate any potential landscape and visual impacts and to propose measures to mitigate these impacts;

vii. To propose the provision of infrastructure or mitigation measures so as to minimise pollution, environmental disturbance and nuisance during construction and operation of the Project;

viii. To investigate the feasibility, practicability, effectiveness and implications of the proposed mitigation measures;

ix. To identify, predict and evaluate the residual environmental impacts (i.e. after practicable mitigation) and the cumulative effects expected to arise during the construction and operation phases of the Project in relation to the sensitive receivers and potential affected uses;

x. To identify, assess and specify methods, measures and standards to be included in the detailed design, construction and operation of the Project which are necessary to mitigate these environmental impacts and cumulative effects and reduce them to acceptable levels;

xi. To investigate the extent of the secondary environmental impacts that may arise from the proposed mitigation measures and to identify constraints associated with the mitigation measures recommended in the EIA study, as well as the provision of any necessary modification; and

xii. To design and specify environmental monitoring and audit requirements to ensure the effective implementation of the recommended environmental protection and pollution control measures.

1.4 Structure of the EIA Report

1.4.1 After this introductory section, the remaining of this EIA Report is set out as follows:

· Section 2 provides information on the project background, objectives and need, benefits, location, the scope of development, the EIA study area and the works programme.

· Section 3 presents different considerations of alternatives including the “without the Project” scenario, the “with the Project” scenario as well as consideration of project design alternatives including related details of construction and operation of the project.

· Sections 4 to 11, inclusive, contain the assessments of potential impacts associated with the construction and operation of the proposed project, and the likely effects on air quality, noise, water quality, waste management implications, terrestrial ecology, landscape and visual, and consideration of land contamination from previous/ existing land uses, as well as landfill gas potential hazard. In each technical section, necessary mitigation measures are recommended to ensure compliance with the established standards and other criteria. The environmental monitoring and audit (EM&A) requirements are also presented with further details of the EM&A scope, approach and requirements to be found in the accompanying stand-alone EM&A manual. The findings of EIA are summarized and concluded at the end of each relevant technical section.

· Section 12 includes a comprehensive Implementation Schedule summarizing the environmental mitigation measures.

· Section 13 presents the conclusion.