►
12 -
Environmental Impact Assessment Bill
Following is the speech by the Secretary for Planning, Environment and Lands, Mr Bowen Leung, in moving the second reading of the Environmental Impact Assessment Bill in the Legislative Council today (Wednesday);
Mr President,
I move that the Environmental Impact Assessment Bill be read the second time.
This important Bill is part of government's efforts to prevent future abuses of the environment. The provision of statutory backing to Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA) will enable us to better safeguard the well-being of the community and protect the environment, as well as improve upon the existing administrative arrangements for Environmental Impact Assessments.
First, the Bill will help to ensure that project proponents comply with the notification requirements for projects, undertake subsequent EIA studies, fully implement the mitigation measures recommended in such studies, and make allowance for the cost and programming implications of EIA findings at the planning stage.
Second, the Bill will provide an effective enforcement mechanism to ensure that EIA recommendations are properly complied with. We shall be able to apply the EIA requirements consistently to major development projects, and obviate the need for lengthy negotiations between project proponents and officials on how EIA recommendations can be enforced.
Third, by providing a clear framework for the environmental assessment of projects likely to have a significant impact on the environment, the Bill will replace the existing administrative arrangements with statutory provisions that are clear-cut, transparent, and accountable to the public. I will now highlight the main clauses of the Bill to illustrate how these improvements are provided for.
Part II of the Bill deals with the EIA itself. For example, Clause 4 provides for the designation of development projects with the potential to cause environmental These impacts as Designated Projects which require an Environmental Permit. projects are listed in the Schedules to the Bill, and cover both public and private sector developments.