ENG-1998 — Page 462

THE ENVIRONMENT

Bathing season

geometric mean of

Health risk cases

Annual beach

E. coli count per 100 ml of beach water

per 1 000

swimmers

Number of

beaches

1997

1998

Good

up to 24

Undetectable

10

16

Fair

25 to 180

10 or less

16

16

Poor

181 to 610

11 to 15

12

8

Very poor

More than 610

More than 15

3

1

370

Protecting the Environment

The Administrative Framework

The Planning, Environment and Lands Bureau of the Government Secretariat has overall policy responsibility for the environment. Besides professional support from government departments, the bureau receives advice from the Advisory Council on the Environment, which represents broad community interests.

The EPD provides advice on policy, conducts environmental planning and assessment, enforces and reviews environmental laws, plans and develops facilities for liquid and solid waste disposal and promotes environmental management systems and audit. The EPD also promotes environmental awareness in the community.

The Agriculture and Fisheries Department (AFD) is the main agency for nature and wildlife conservation. It designates and manages country parks, which cover some 40 per cent of Hong Kong's land area, and marine parks. The AFD also identifies and protects important conservation areas, enforces the law to protect wildlife and plants, and examines ecological aspects of environmental impact and planning studies. It promotes public awareness of nature conservation.

The Planning Department plans future land use and controls. developments throughout Hong Kong. The Drainage Services Department, assisted by the Territory Development Department, designs, builds, operates and maintains sewerage and sewage disposal facilities. The Urban and Regional Services Departments collect refuse and maintain environmental hygiene. The Civil Engineering Department provides outlets for inert construction and demolition material disposal. The Electrical and Mechanical Services Department promotes energy efficiency and conservation. The Marine Department clears floating refuse and oil from the harbour and enforces the law on oil pollution.

Planning Against Pollution

The past decade has seen great achievements in Hong Kong's efforts to pre-empt environmental problems through the application of an environmental impact assessment (EIA) process to policy, planning and project proposals. Major development and policy proposals submitted to the Executive Council and all submissions to the Public Works Sub-committee of the Legislative Council's Finance Committee must contain an assessment of the environmental implications.