ENG-1987 — Page 354

THE ENVIRONMENT

297

plaints, most of which were resolved through voluntary remedial measures on the advice of the control staff, without recourse to legal action.

During 1987, a new Vehicle Emission Control Section was set up in EPD to take over the existing smoky vehicle control programmes from the Transport Department and the Police Force. Under the revised scheme for control of smoke emissions from road vehicles, any vehicle seen emitting excessive smoke by an official spotter from January 1988 will be required to report to the newly-established test centre at Sheung Lok Street, Kowloon.

Other measures to control air pollution are contained in the Road Traffic (Construction and Maintenance of Vehicles) Regulations, which require new vehicles to meet the same exhaust emission standards as specified by the European Economic Commission, Australia or other countries, and in addition require that exhaust smoke should not exceed 60 Hartridge smoke units.

The government has agreed on a programme of reductions in the lead content of petrol with the oil supply industry in Hong Kong. The industry reduced the lead content in stages from 0.84 g/l in 1981 to 0.15 g/l in July 1987. Similar agreements led in September 1985 to the reduction of sulphur in No. 3 grade oil from an average of 2.8 per cent to a maximum of 2.5 per cent.

Noise

The government has also made progress in developing statutory controls on noise nuisance. Early in the year, the Executive Council considered the Noise Control Bill, together with associated Technical Memoranda, which contain detailed criteria and assessment methods. The bill was published in the Gazette, for consultation with the public, on March 13.

The bill contains provisions to control general neighbourhood noise, noise from construction activities, noise from industrial, trade, business and commercial premises and noise from individual prescribed products or items of equipment. Clearly, these provisions interest many sectors of the community. A group of OMELCO members considered the constructive suggestions which were received from a number of industrial organisations, companies, district boards, members of the public and other interest groups. The bill will be re-drafted in the light of these suggestions and it will be submitted to the legislature early in 1988. The bill will designate the Director of Environmental Protection as the Noise Control Authority.

Pending the enactment of the Noise Control Bill, construction noise is controlled by a permit system under the Summary Offences Ordinance, for which the Director of Civil Engineering Services is the authority. During 1987, 2 420 permits were issued to cover construction work during the restricted hours. Also, the Regional and the Urban Services Departments control noise from ventilating and air-conditioning systems under the Public Health and Municipal Services Ordinance. Some 628 complaints about noise from ventilating and air-conditioning systems were dealt with and seven prosecutions were initiated.

Countryside Conservation and Management

Conservation and management of Hong Kong's countryside is one of the responsibilities of the Agriculture and Fisheries Department, under the Country Parks Ordinance. This ordinance, which came into effect in 1976, provides for the designation, control and management of the most important areas of countryside as country parks, and enables them to be developed for recreational purposes. It gives particular protection to vegetation and wildlife.