The Environment | 283
The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government and the Guangdong Provincial Government have drawn up a regional air quality management plan that aims to reduce pollutant emissions in the region by 20 per cent to 55 per cent by 2010, taking 1997 as the base year. Since November 2005, a regional air quality monitoring network comprising 16 monitoring stations has been operating smoothly and reporting the Regional Air Quality Index. Both sides endorsed the implementation framework of an Emissions Trading Pilot Scheme for Thermal Power Plants in the PRD to be announced in early 2007.
Hong Kong and Shenzhen, meanwhile, are working jointly on a programme to gradually reduce the water pollution loads in Deep Bay. A review will be completed in 2007 to gauge its effectiveness and to see whether additional mitigation measures are needed. A water quality model for the Pearl River Estuary being developed jointly by Hong Kong and Guangdong is near completion. The two governments will be discussing the next phase of cooperation to develop a regional water quality management plan for the Pearl River Estuary.
Legislation and Pollution Control
Hong Kong has seven ordinances on pollution control. They are the Waste Disposal Ordinance, the Water Pollution Control Ordinance, the Air Pollution Control Ordinance, the Noise Control Ordinance, the Ozone Layer Protection Ordinance, the Dumping at Sea Ordinance and the Environmental Impact Assessment Ordinance. Most of them have subsidiary regulations and other statutory provisions such as technical memoranda.
The Government follows a set of environmental quality objectives to better protect public health and to preserve a natural ecosystem. The cost of imposing limits on polluting emissions is not higher than is needed to achieve conservation goals. These goals include making maximum use of the environment's natural capacity to absorb and recycle waste.
In 2006, EPD inspectors made nearly 57 050 visits to different places around Hong Kong to enforce controls on air, noise, waste and water pollution and to deal with complaints about pollution. This resulted in 341 prosecutions and nearly $3.3 million in fines.
The EPD also works with the construction industry, the catering industry, the vehicle repair industry, the property management sector and other trades to promote good environmental practices and compliance with pollution control regulations.
The EPD runs a Compliance Assistance Centre (CAC), where different businesses may obtain updated information and advice on environmental compliance, pollution. prevention and environmental management.
Air Pollution
Like most modern cities, Hong Kong's air is affected by pollutants emitted from different sectors, such as transport, power generation and construction. A number of measures are being taken to reduce emissions from motor vehicles, one of the major
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