This
EIA study has focused on the assessment and mitigation of the potential impacts
associated with the construction and operation of the Project. One of the key outputs has been the
identification of mitigation measures to be undertaken so that residual impacts
comply with regulatory requirements including the EIAO-TM. To confirm
effective and timely implementation of the mitigation measures, it is
considered necessary to develop Environmental Monitoring and Audit (EM&A)
procedures and mechanisms by which the Implementation Schedule (Appendix
10A) may be tracked and its
effectiveness assessed.
The
objectives of carrying out EM&A for the Project include:
§ Providing
baseline information against which any short or long term environmental impacts
of the Project can be determined;
§ Providing
an early indication should any of the environmental control measures or
practices fail to achieve the acceptable standards;
§ Monitoring
the environmental performance of the Project and the effectiveness of the recommended
mitigation measures;
§ Verifying
the environmental impacts identified in this EIA;
§ Determining
Project compliance with regulatory requirements, standards and Government
policies;
§ Taking
remedial action(s) if unexpected results or unacceptable impacts arise; and
§ Providing
data to enable an environmental audit to be undertaken at regular intervals.
The
following Sections summarise the recommended EM&A requirements for
the Project. Further details are
provided in the EM&A Manual.
With the implementation of proposed mitigation /
precautionary measures (detailed in Appendix
10A), the construction and operation of the Project would not
result in unacceptable change water quality at and around the proposed site at
Wong Chuk Kok Hoi. Baseline monitoring
shall be done prior to the commencement of the Project construction of any
licenced fish raft. Environmental
monitoring is considered not necessary for construction of the Project. For project
operation, water quality monitoring is recommended when the standing stock is
expected to achieve 75% of the carrying capacity ([1]) (i.e. 755.2 ton x 75% = 566.4
ton) or when the standing stock is expected to achieve 95% of the carrying
capacity (i.e. 755.2 ton x 95% = 717.4 ton) for at least a month in a fish
farming cycle to ensure no unacceptable change in water quality at the nearby
water sensitive receivers. Detailed recommendations would be provided in the stand-alone EM&A
Manual.
This EIA
Study concluded that unacceptable construction
and operation phase impacts
are not expected to occur to marine ecological resources. Consequently, no marine ecology-specific
EM&A measures are considered necessary.
During the operation phase, water
quality impacts will be monitored through the implementation of water quality
monitoring programme as presented in the EM&A Manual. The
monitoring and control of water quality impacts will also serve to avoid
unacceptable impacts to marine ecological resources. The recommended operational phase mitigation
measures are summarised in the Implementation
Schedule provided in Appendix 10A.
This EIA
Study concluded that unacceptable construction
and operational phase impacts
are not expected to occur to fisheries.
Consequently, no fisheries-specific EM&A measures are considered
necessary for the construction and operation phases. Water quality impacts will be monitored
through the implementation of water quality monitoring programme as presented
in the EM&A Manual. The monitoring and control of
water quality impacts will serve to avoid unacceptable impacts to fisheries
resources. The recommended operational
phase mitigation measures are summarised in the Implementation Schedule
provided in Appendix 10A.
This EIA
study concluded that with the implementation of good site practices, adverse
environmental impacts arising from the management and disposal of waste during
the construction and operation phases are not anticipated. To ensure the waste management performance
during construction phase of the Project, EM&A is
recommended to be conducted during construction phase. Site inspections at the Project site (on
marine vessels) are recommended on a regular basis at bi-weekly interval during the time of construction activities by the
Environmental Team (ET) to check if wastes are being managed in accordance with
good site practices and the recommended mitigation measures during the
construction phase as part of the EM&A.
During
operation phase, the waste management issues of the Project will be controlled
by licensing under the Marine Fish Culture Ordinance (Cap. 353). EM&A is not
required to be conducted during operation phase of the Project. AFCD will
conduct regular inspections at monthly interval and review on FCZ operation to check if wastes are being
managed in accordance with good site practices and the recommended mitigation
measures. The site inspections will
include all aspects of waste management including waste generation, storage,
handling, recycling, transport and disposal.
The waste management measures as recommended in Section 6.5 during
construction and operation phases are summarised in the Implementation Schedule
provided in Appendix 10A.
This EIA Study concluded the visual impacts from the
Project are acceptable with mitigation measures. A number of measures to be implemented during
design, construction and operation of the Project are recommended in Section
7.9, to further enhance the visual elements associated with the
Project. These are summarised in the
Implementation Schedule provided in Appendix
10A.
This EIA study of the Project concluded that no adverse
noise impact will be associated with the construction or operation of the
Project. No noise mitigation measures are required during
construction and operation phase of the Project such that construction and operational noise
monitoring is not required. Nevertheless, good construction
site practice and noise management could be considered to
reduce the noise nuisance from the construction activities. These are summarised in the
Implementation Schedule provided in Appendix
10A.
This EIA study identified no sites of archaeological interest,
declared monuments, proposed monuments, graded historic sites / buildings /
structures; and Government historic sites identified by Antiquities and
Monuments Office within the Assessment Area and therefore no impact to these
cultural heritage resources are expected.
No construction and operation phase mitigation measure for terrestrial
cultural heritage is required.
However,
potential impact to a sonar contact A-SC001 that may have marine archaeological
potential identified. A buffer area of 20 m radius from A-SC001 is recommended to
avoid any tug boat anchoring and anchoring of the fish rafts/cages in the area
so as to avoid any impact to A-SC001 during both the construction and operation
phases of the Project.
The locations and relocations of fish
rafts/cages are regulated by the Marine Fish Culture Ordinance
(Cap. 353),
and AFCD will ensure the locations of anchoring of vessels and fish rafts/cages
will not be located within the buffer area.
Site inspections on a regular basis by the Environmental Team (ET) are
recommended to check if any seabed disturbance work is conducted in the buffer
area during construction phase of the Project.
AFCD will conduct regular inspections to check if any seabed disturbance
work is conducted in the buffer area during operation phase of the
Project. This is summarised in the
Implementation Schedule provided in Appendix
10A.
([1]) From the modelling results, the 95th-percentile safety margin
of the carrying capacity, which is a conservative estimate taking into account
possible fluctuations in the weather, hydrodynamic and environmental conditions
as well as the farming practices, is about 75% of the estimated carrying
capacity under typical average condition.
Therefore, it is considered representative to conduct operational water
quality monitoring at 75% of the maximum allowable standing stock level to monitor potential water quality at the
surrounding sensitive receivers during project operation.