18
The Environment
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IMPORTANT progress was made during the year on plans and measures to protect Hong Kong's environment against excessive pollution. At year's end, a new ordinance on air pollution control was enacted and brought into force and a large sewage treatment works opened. In addition, information on the state of Hong Kong's environment became available from recent monitoring programmes, including one on river-water quality being carried out jointly with the Environmental Protection Office of the Shenzhen Municipality. Dealing with matters of geophysics and meteorology, the Royal Observatory provides comprehensive weather forecasting and warning services to the public and to international shipping and aviation. During the year, the public warning services were improved and expanded to include the provision of landslips and flooding warnings.
Framework for Pollution Control
The task of formulating environmental protection policy was transferred early in the year to the Secretary for Health and Welfare. He is supported in this task by the free-standing Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) which was set up in early 1981 to assume a central co-ordinating role in formulating and carrying out the government's policies in this field, and to provide a source of expertise and scientific data on all aspects of pollution control and environmental planning. The work of the EPA involves developing environmental programmes, establishing quality objectives, monitoring long-term pollution trends, asses- sing and advising on the impact of major new developments and providing assistance with environmental planning aspects of government projects.
The enforcement of legislation, issuing of licences and the surveillance and control of individual discharges and emissions is carried out by the Air Pollution Control Division in the Labour Department; the Pollution Control (Liquid and Solid Wastes) Division in the Engineering Development Department; the Noise and Vibration Control Unit in the Urban Services Department; the Agricultural Waste Control Unit in the Agriculture and Fisheries Department; and the Pollution Control Unit in Marine Department. Certain other control activities are undertaken as part of various government programmes, such as the granting of construction noise permits by the Engineering Development Department or the control of vehicle emissions carried out by the Royal Hong Kong Police Force.
Environmental Protection Programme
The environmental protection programme that has developed progressively over the past decade covers air and water pollution, noise and vibration and waste management. It comprises five main elements: planning and environmental impact assessment aimed at pre-empting future problems; legislation to provide a statutory framework for planning as well as routine control of emissions; a construction and a works operational programme for