ENG-2020 — Page 292

15

The Environment

Ordinance, Hazardous Chemicals Control Ordinance, Product Eco-responsibility Ordinance and Motor Vehicle Idling (Fixed Penalty) Ordinance.

The EPD works with the construction, catering, vehicle repair and property management sectors and other trades to promote good practices and compliance with environmental regulations. Its Compliance Assistance Centre responds to enquiries from businesses on environmental compliance, pollution prevention and environmental management. Departmental inspectors conduct site visits to enforce controls on air, noise, waste and water pollution and to deal with complaints about pollution, resulting in 606 convictions and $3.31 million in fines in 2020.

Environmental Monitoring and Auditing

Major development projects undergo environmental monitoring and auditing to validate assumptions made during the planning stage and to monitor the effectiveness of mitigation measures, so as to ensure every project meets the environmental performance promised in its environmental impact assessment. These projects are required under their environmental permits to publish the monitoring data and auditing results on dedicated websites or the Environmental Impact Assessment Ordinance website. In 2020, the department handled 103 monitoring and auditing programmes.

Meteorological and Geophysical Services

The Hong Kong Observatory provides meteorological, climatological, radiation monitoring, oceanographic, geophysical, time and astronomical services.

Weather Forecasting and Information Services

The Observatory provides weather information through a variety of channels, including social media, its website and mobile application 'MyObservatory, and the Dial-a-Weather telephone service. It produces regular weather television programmes and an educational series, Cool Met Stuff, for free for Hong Kong's major TV networks and other media. As at year end, there were around 230,000 and 36,000 followers for its Facebook and Instagram accounts respectively, and its website and MyObservatory had 158 billion page views in 2020.

The Observatory launched a trial Chatbot service 'Dr Tin' on MyObservatory, and on its website and Facebook page, and added more information to MyObservatory on 'Earth Weather, aviation weather, tide and storm track. In December, MyObservatory won in the 'Public weather forecasts and information information content' category and earned an honourable mention in the 'Specialised apps award - weather warnings' category at the first World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) International Weather Apps Awards.

—

To enhance its forecast services on high-impact weather, the Observatory enlarged the forecast area of tropical cyclone track probability forecast, and provided more information on severe thunderstorms and their associated impacts, such as violent gusts. It also launched the Hong Kong Hiking Trail Weather Service webpage to provide hourly weather forecasts up to seven days ahead for Hong Kong's main hiking trails.

236