ENG-1981 — Page 290

18

The Environment

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THE Overall strategy for environmental protection continued to be developed during the year with recognition of Hong Kong's special needs and problems. The programme rests on three vital areas of legislation, consultation and the organisation of resources.

Legislation

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is divided into five

Environmental protection legislation approved and proposed ordinances covering waste disposal, air and water pollution, noise control, and environ- mental impact assessment of projects. Each ordinance is intended to establish a framework for the drafting of detailed regulations. The general principle is to control polluting emissions by varying licence conditions according to local environmental requirements, rather than by the imposition of uniform standards.

The Waste Disposal Ordinance improves on previous provisions for the collection and disposal of waste, as well as specifying the statutory authorities responsible for each duty. Sections of the ordinance, relating mainly to waste collection, have been brought into operation and gradual introduction of the remaining provisions will be carried out in phases, as staff become available for their implementation. Work is proceeding on the formulation of regulations under the ordinance to provide for the safe disposal to toxic and dangerous wastes, and on the preparation of a statutory Waste Disposal Plan which will set out government's long-term objectives for waste disposal.

The Water Pollution Control Ordinance, is designed to ensure proper control of pollution levels in local waters. The ordinance provides for the declaration of water control zones where different water quality objectives will be specified according to the beneficial uses of the areas such as recreation, fish-farming, irrigation and other activities. Considerable re- search and monitoring is being carried out prior to the introduction of these controls to en- sure that licence conditions will achieve the environmental quality objectives for each area. In doing so, a flexible approach is being adopted instead of the imposing blanket controls. The Air Pollution Control Bill is being prepared for enactment in 1982 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 industries which have emerged and developed in the past decade, or which can be expected in the future.

The bill provides for air quality objectives to be defined in which maximum desirable concentrations of air pollutants, such as sulphur oxides and particulate matter, are iden- tified. Under the bill, a system of licensing will be applied to new developments which fall into a special category termed 'specified processes'. The legislation will provide for sub- sequent regulations to be introduced specifying maximum emission limits, fuel composition and other standards or codes of practice.

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