THE ENVIRONMENT
pollution controls under the Air Pollution Control Ordinance. A number of subsidiary regulations under the ordinance provide specific controls on furnaces and chimneys, dark smoke emissions, fuel composition, and specified processes.
The installation and alteration of furnaces, ovens and chimneys need prior approval from the department. This commonly affects industrial furnaces, restaurant stoves and chimneys serving emergency generators. The requirement for prior approval is to prevent emissions from new installations causing air pollution problems when they come into operation, and to ensure that the district air quality objective will not be violated. During 1992, the department processed 692 applications.
Nuisance and environmental problems caused by dark smoke emissions, which commonly result from poor maintenance or incorrect operation of fuel burners, arouse great public concern, especially when factories are near homes. The Air Pollution Control (Smoke) Regulations provide controls on dark smoke emission, limiting the darkness of smoke to Ringelmann shade number 1 which corresponds to 20 per cent opacity.
In July 1990 the Air Pollution Control (Fuel Restriction) Regulations banned fuel oils with a sulphur content over 0.5 per cent by weight or a viscosity over six centistokes at 40°C. The sulphur content of solid fuels is limited to one per cent by weight. Due to unfavourable topography in the Sha Tin area, which restricts atmospheric dispersion, only gaseous fuels may be used there.
The enforcement of the fuel restriction regulations has successfully reduced emission of sulphur dioxide by 80 per cent. These regulations have brought about some reduction in nitrogen oxides and particulates.
Certain industrial processes, which are liable to cause significant air pollution, are specified for control under the licensing system provided by the Air Pollution Control Ordinance and the specified processes regulations. They include power utilities, incinera- tors, gas production plants and cement plants.
The ordinance exempts from licensing most of the specified processes, which existed before October 2, 1987. In 1992, there were 97 exempt premises compared with 48 licences in force. As the exempt premises are not obliged to adopt the best practicable means to control the emission of air pollution, they continue to cause problems.
Therefore in the Air Pollution Control (Amendment) Bill that was submitted to the Legislative Council in June 1992, proposal was made to allow cancellation by class of the exemption of existing premises in phases.
The bill also proposed to increase the number of specified processes from 23 to 31. The additional processes are pathological waste incinerators, organic chemical works, petroleum works, zinc galvanising works, rendering works, non-ferrous metallurgical works, glass works and paint works. Together with the proposal to adopt a technical memorandum approach in issuing air pollution abatement notices, this will provide a better control of the air polluting industries in Hong Kong.
Enforcement of the air pollution law involves complaint investigations, providing technical advice, issuing warning notices to require polluters to abate their emissions, and prosecution. In 1992, 1 570 complaint cases were investigated; 8 432 inspections of plant; 1445 cases were given technical advice; 112 warning notices issued; and 302 successful prosecutions. Fines on offenders ranged from $300 to $25,000.
Noise from industrial or commercial premises is controlled under the Noise Control Ordinance. The Environmental Protection Department responds to complaints and may
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