ENG-1994 — Page 473

THE ENVIRONMENT

At present, the EIA process is applied administratively. Between 1992 and 1994, about 240 EIAs were completed or started, compared to about 80 EIAs in the six-year period from 1986 to 1991. There was also a surge in the number of EIAs for residential developments located adjacent to major roads or industries. The increase in the number of EIAs reflects the strong demand from the public, district boards, the Legislative Council and the Advisory Council on the Environment for more thorough consideration of the environmental impact of development projects before the commencement of construction.

In the second review of the White Paper on pollution published in 1993, the government proposed to introduce legislation to make EIAS for major development projects a statutory requirement. The proposed ordinance would make the current EIA system more transparent, let the project proponents know what is expected of them, and enable an early focus to be formed on environmental factors in project planning and design. It would also provide for a mechanism to require the implementation of the recommendations arising from the EIA studies. In 1994, the proposal was endorsed in principle by the Advisory Council on the Environment. An Environmental Impact Assessment Bill was being drafted and is expected to be submitted to the Legislative Council for consideration in 1995.

At the strategic level, a review of the Territorial Development Strategy is ongoing to integrate land use, transport and environmental requirements to define long-term and broad-scale development plans and strategies. A public consultation document was published in 1993 to solicit the views of the public on the six hybrid options of the Territorial Development Strategy. The public was responsive to the environmental issues associated with the strategy and called on the government to address the question of environmental sustainability. In 1994, the environmental focus was on the formulation of appropriate responses to the public concerns and the development of preferred options.

At the sub-regional level, environmentally desirable land-use changes are being more precisely defined through sub-regional development strategy reviews and district develop- ment statements. A review of the Northeast New Territories development strategy is being undertaken, with the interaction of development and conservation identified as one of the major issues. Metroplan development statements for Hong Kong Island West and Central and East Kowloon are being prepared to identify, among other things, measures needed to reduce environmentally incompatible land uses.

Improving the environment requires efforts not just at the broad planning level, but also at the district level, where changes of land-use or redevelopment take place. Environmental considerations are now part and parcel of the formulation of district land use plans, and the decision-making in planning applications and land allocation.

Housing developments proposed by the Hong Kong Housing Authority, Land Develop- ment Corporation and Hong Kong Housing Society also need to follow the EIA procedures. In 1994, considerable efforts were made to provide environmental input to the identification of additional housing sites under the auspices of the special task force on housing set up by the government.

Since 1992, a new initiative has been in place, requiring the inclusion of an Environmental Implications section in submissions going before the Executive Council. Similarly, the Environmental Implications section has been required in all submissions for funding approval for public sector projects from the Public Works Sub-committee of the Legislative Council's Finance Committee.

415