THE ENVIRONMENT
279
In response to these concerns a comprehensive and closely integrated programme for the protection of Hong Kong's environment against pollution has been developed over the past decade. It comprises four interlocking key elements. First, environmental planning is used to avoid creating new problems for the future. Second, legislation and statutory measures ensure adherence to pollution control standards. Third, facilities and services are provided for the collection and disposal of the wastes generated by the community. Finally, investigations and monitoring, supported by consultations with the community, ensure that the rest of the programme is working in an effective and responsive way.
Overall policy responsibility for the protection of the environment rests with the Secre- tary for Health and Welfare. He is advised by the Environmental Pollution Advisory Com- mittee (EPCOM), and supported by the Environmental Protection Department (EPD).
The EPD came into being on April 1. It was created from the former Environmental Protection Agency, incorporating the responsibilities for environmental protection and some of the resources of several other government departments. The EPD carries out the work of environmental planning, implementation of most of the pollution control legislation, the development and review of waste treatment and disposal programmes and the environmental monitoring and investigations needed to support policy development and review. Several other government departments, including Electrical and Mechanical Services, Civil Engineering Services, Marine, Urban Services, Regional Services and Agriculture and Fisheries Department operate services for the collection and disposal of wastes.
Planning Against Pollution
Great emphasis is now placed on preventing future environmental problems by considering the environmental issues at all stages in development planning. In detailed local planning and project implementation, this is done in several ways. A major development in 1985 was the inclusion of an 'Environment' chapter in the Hong Kong Planning Standards and Guidelines, a government document used to guide the preparation of land use plans and development projects. In 1986, this principle was extended to a formal requirement for environmental vetting of all projects in the government's public works programme at the stage of detailed design. A full environmental impact assessment (EIA) may also be required for appropriate private development projects, usually by the inclusion of con- ditions in the leases. The new gas production plant at Tai Po, the coal-fired power stations at Tap Shek Kok and Lamma Island, and various plants and installations on Tsing Yi Island have all been subject to this procedure.
At the strategic planning level, concern is focused on general and large scale issues. Strategic planning presents opportunities for major improvements in environmental quality which are not available in the normal course of detailed local planning and project implementation. The more confined natural systems can be threatened by strategic planning decisions because their capacity to absorb or disperse the pollution loads associated with urban development is limited. On the other hand, development in areas not constrained by such factors can offer advantages. These areas may be able to absorb more urbanisation, at a lower infrastructure cost for a given environmental quality. The historic utilisation of the high assimilative capacity of Victoria Harbour for sewage disposal is one example, but the limited capacity of even this natural system has become increasingly apparent in recent monitoring results.
Planning studies undertaken in the first half of this decade tended to address environ- mental issues only in the context of each separate sub-regional plan. The need for a