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EVA is also planned in the layouts for village/small houses developments either through plan preparation or processing of planning applications in accordance with the requirement imposed by DFS. For Village Expansion Areas, the provision of EVA always forms part of the total development package; and

Fire Services Department has not encountered any difficulty or delay in carrying out rescue operations in such areas in the past three years.

Measures to monitor air quality inside road tunnels

Following is a question by the Hon Choy Kan-pui and a written reply by the Secretary for Planning, Environment and Lands, Mr Bowen Leung, in the Legislative Council today (Wednesday):

Question:

Will the Government inform this Council whether the Environmental Protection Department (EPD) is responsible for undertaking tests on the air quality inside all existing road tunnels in the territory to ascertain if the air quality therein meets the standard set by the EPD; if so, what measures does the EPD have for monitoring the air quality inside the road tunnels in order to safeguard the public's health?

Answer:

Mr President,

The role of the Environmental Protection Department (EPD) is to assist Transport Department (TD) in vetting the air quality monitoring results submitted by the tunnel operators. The Department also advises on measures to maintain acceptable air quality, for example, by issuing "Practice Notes on Control of Air Pollution in Vehicle Tunnels" in 1993 to all tunnel operators. These Notes set down guidelines on the minimum requirements for three air pollutants: carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide and sulphur dioxide.