THE ENVIRONMENT
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Noise from Industrial or Commercial Activities
Noise from industrial or commercial activities is controlled by means of noise abatement notices. The EPD will serve abatement notice to require the owners of premises emitting excessive noise to reduce it within a given period. In 2002, the department investigated about 3 500 complaints and served some 150 abatement notices, which led to some 20 prosecutions.
Construction Noise
Noise from general construction work between 7 pm and 7 am, and on public holidays, is controlled through construction noise permits. The permits restrict the use of equipment according to strict criteria and ban noisy manual activities in built-up areas. Percussive piling is prohibited at night and on public holidays and requires a permit during daytime on any day not being a public holiday. In practice, the use of noisy diesel, steam and pneumatic piling hammers has been phased out. In 2002, some 2 900 permits for general construction work and percussive piling were issued. There were 240 prosecutions for work without permits or violating permit conditions. The Government has also phased out old and noisy equipment. The law now requires hand-held percussive breakers and air compressors for construction to meet strict noise standards and to have a 'green' noise emission label before use. In 2002, about 1 000 labels were issued.
To deter repeated violations of industrial/commercial and construction noise offences, the Noise Control Ordinance was amended in 2002 to include explicit provisions to hold the top management of a body corporate liable for offences committed by it.
Intruder Alarm and Neighbourhood Noise
The Police Force handles complaints on intruder alarm and neighbourhood noise from domestic premises and public places. In 2002, the police dealt with some 6 400 complaints and 25 offenders were convicted.
Water and Sewerage
Water pollution has increased with urban development and Hong Kong now produces more than two million tonnes of sewage every day. The lack of proper treatment for most of the sewage from the generally older urban areas around Victoria Harbour in the past had resulted in poor water quality there. But in 2002, following the full commissioning of the first stage of the Harbour Area Treatment Scheme (HATS) at the end of 2001, there has been a marked improvement.
In addition, pollution control at source is now having a positive effect, and river quality is slowly improving. The percentage of rivers in the 'good' and 'excellent' categories increased from 34 per cent in 1986 to 74 per cent in 2002, and the percentage in the 'bad' and 'very bad' categories fell from 45 per cent in 1986 to 13 per cent in 2002.
Sewage Treatment and Disposal
To treat wastewater from the main urban area, sewage collected by the local sewerage network on both sides of Victoria Harbour will be directed to the HATS system for treatment and disposal. The HATS, previously known as the Strategic Sewage Disposal Scheme, is a huge project that is divided into four stages.