Consultancy
Ref.: AFCD/FIS/02/19 Consultancy Service for Environmental Impact Assessment
Study for Designation of New Fish Culture Zones Environmental
Impact Assessment (EIA) Report for Establishment of Fish Culture Zone at
Outer Tap Mun November
2022 |
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
Outer Tap Mun. 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. 684.5 ton x 75% = 513.4
ton) or when the standing stock is expected to achieve 95% of the carrying
capacity (i.e. 684.5 ton x 95% = 650.3 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.
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 concluded that there is no adverse air
quality impact arising from the construction and operation of the Project. Regular environmental site inspection or air
quality monitoring during the construction and operation phases of the Project
is considered not necessary. Air quality
mitigation measures as recommended in Section 8.8 during the construction
and operation phases 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 3 sonar contacts (B-SC001, B-SC011 and B-SC021) that may
have marine archaeological potential is identified. A buffer area of 20 m radius from from each
of B-SC001, B-SC011 and B-SC021 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
these sonar contacts 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 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.