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Exemption Provisions

On the issue of exemptions, there was some discussion at the Bills Committee about the provision in Clause 30 to enable the Governor in Council, in the public interest, to exempt a designated project from the Bill. I would like to emphasize again that this exemption provision is intended for exceptional circumstances when not exempting a project, or part of a project, would not be in the public interest.

Finally, I am aware of a concern that the provision in Clause 16(2), which enables the Secretary to require or authorise the Director of Environmental Protection to follow his advice, might enable the Secretary to direct the issue of an environmental permit to a project with significant environmental impacts. I can assure Members that because decisions made under the Bill are bound by its legislative intention to protect the environment, the Secretary could not issue such authorisation. And as I have just noted, exemptions in the pubic interest require the approval of the Governor in Council. Such exemptions, which in any case will be rare, are subject to this Council's approval, thus ensuring thorough scrutiny of the social and economic merits of a development project against its environmental aspects.

Technical Memorandum and Commencement

In closing, I would like to mention that, as with some other items of environmental legislation, the Bill provides for a Technical Memorandumm to prescribe the conduct of EIA, its enforcement, and the detailed assessment methodologies and criteria to be applied in a transparent and consistent way. Consultation on this technical document will start soon before finalising it for scrutiny by this Council's Environmental Affairs and Planning, Lands and Works Panels in April this year. Our aim is to submit the Technical Memorandum, and subsidiary legislation on appeal procedures and fees, to this Council for approval in May, with a view to bringing the Bill into operation in early 1998. It is also our intention to review the EIA procedures after a year's implementation.

Mr President, with these remarks, and subject to the Committee Stage Amendments proposed by the Administration, I commend the Environmental Impact Assessment Bill to Honourable Members.

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