ENG-1980 — Page 285

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THE ENVIRONMENT

according to the beneficial uses of the water in these areas. In effect, consideration will now be given to the particular purposes for which the waters in each zone should be used - such as swimming, commercial fisheries, irrigation or other activities.

Considerable research will be carried out prior to the introduction of specific controls to ensure that licence conditions to be imposed will achieve the environmental quality objectives for each area.

The Air Pollution Control Bill, which will be presented to the Legislature in 1981, is designed to deal with air pollutants emitted from stationary sources. Basically, it retains the controls over dust, grit and smoke provided for under the Clean Air Ordinance, but extends the scope to cover toxic emissions and pollutants from the wide range of local industries which have emerged and developed in the past decade, or which can be expected in Hong Kong in the future.

The approach of the bill is to define air quality objectives in which maximum desirable concentrations of air pollutants, such as sulphur oxides and particulate matter, will be identified. It is intended, in the implementation of the ordinance, that the best practicable means in air pollution technology should be employed. Under the ordinance a system of licensing will be applied to new developments which fall into a special category termed 'specified processes'. As with the other environmental protection ordinances, this legisla- tion is enabling and provides a framework within which subsequent regulations specifying maximum emission limits, fuel composition and other standards or codes of practice, can be prepared and implemented.

After a great deal of preparatory work and discussion with industry, drafting began on the Noise Control Bill which will cover various forms of noise including construction and industrial noise. The bill will be the subject of further discussion and consultation as it evolves towards a final version.

Drafting of the Environmental Impact Assessment Bill is progressing at a slower pace since valuable experience is being accumulated from the present non-statutory arrange- ments in which the developers of major industrial projects, such as the new power stations and cement plants, have been asked to provide an impact assessment in a form, and to a timetable, laid down by the government.

Achieving Pollution Control

The Environment Branch of the Government Secretariat is the principal policy-making and co-ordinating body responsible for land, transport and environmental protection matters, including the structure being developed in the government for pollution control. Resources for environmental protection are organised into a two-tier structure comprising a central nucleus of specialists, the Environmental Protection Unit (EPU), and a series of control units in executive departments of the government.

The EPU was established in 1977, within the Environment Branch, as a small unit responsible for developing policy and formulating legislation on environmental protection. Now, its expansion plans are moving ahead and 1980 saw the recruitment of scientists and technicians to 34 new posts, the purchase of pollution monitoring equipment - including a dedicated mini-computer to analyse data from automatic environmental sensors - and a move to larger accommodation with laboratory space. As well as developing a policy for environmental protection and overseeing the implementation of environmental legislation, its work involves establishing quality objectives, monitoring long-term trends in environ- mental quality, and assessing and advising on the impact of major new developments.

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THE ENVIRONMENT