ENG-2011 — Page 336

292 The Environment

must engage registered professionals, and submit asbestos investigation reports and plans to the department.

Power plants are the largest sources of emission. To ensure smooth, timely and transparent implementation of the emission caps imposed on power plants and to improve further the local and regional air quality, the Government issued the Second Technical Memorandum to tighten further the emission caps of the power sector for 2015 and beyond by 34 per cent to 50 per cent from the 2010 levels.

The Government is working on a final proposal to update Hong Kong's Air Quality Objectives (AQOS) for submission to the Legislative Council for deliberation. In parallel, the Government is pursuing those improvement measures that have garnered community support with the aim of achieving early improvement to the quality.

Air pollution is a cause of public concern, especially when the emission sources are near homes. In 2011, the department handled some 10 000 complaints of air pollution, of which some 4 100 were about vehicle emissions, and issued about 240 legal notices instructing offenders to abate air pollution.

Transport

Vehicle emissions are the major source of air pollution and nuisance experienced at roadsides. The Government's policy is to apply the most stringent motor vehicle fuel and emission standards whenever they are practicable. Between 1999 and 2011, the concentrations of RSP, SO2 and NOx at roadsides, fell by 33 per cent, 56 per cent and 28 per cent respectively.

Hong Kong largely follows the European Union's standards on emission and fuel. All newly registered vehicles are required to comply with the Euro IV standards, except for newly registered diesel private cars, which must meet emission standards of stringency similar to those of petrol private cars. Diesel vehicles emit more NOX than petrol vehicles, which is a major contributor to smog.

Nearly all of Hong Kong's taxis now run on liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and over 60 per cent of public light buses are also fueiled by LPG. To control emissions from older vehicles, the Government has made the installation of emission reduction devices a statutory requirement for all pre-Euro diesel vehicles. This regulation went into force on April 1, 2007. Two new schemes were also launched on the same day to provide financial incentives to encourage early replacement of pre-Euro and Euro I diesel commercial vehicles with new ones compliant with the prevailing emission standards (the Euro IV standards) and the use of environmentally friendly private cars. Another incentive scheme was launched on April 1, 2008 to encourage the use of environmentally friendly commercial vehicles. The incentive scheme for the early replacement of pre-Euro and Euro I diesel commercial vehicles ended on March 31, 2010. To improve roadside air quality further, the Government offers a one-off grant to owners of Euro Il diesel commercial vehicles to encourage them to replace their vehicles with new ones from July 1, 2010 for a period of 36 months. The Government also set up a $300 million 'Pilot Green Transport Fund' on March 30,