12.1.1 This
section further elaborates the requirements of EM&A for the construction
and operation of the Project, based on the assessment results of various
environmental issues.
12.1.2 The objectives
of carrying out EM&A for the Project include the following:
·
to provide a database against which any short or long
term environmental impacts of the Project can be determined
·
to provide an early indication should any of the
environmental control measures or practices fail to achieve the acceptable
standards
·
to monitor the performance of the Project and the
effectiveness of mitigation measures
·
to verify the environmental impacts predicted in this
EIA
·
to determine project compliance with regulatory requirements,
standards and government policies
·
to take remedial action if unexpected problems or
unacceptable impacts arise
·
to provide data to enable an environmental audit.
12.1.3 The
following sections summarise the recommended EM&A requirements. Details of EM&A are provided in a
stand-alone EM&A Manual.
Construction Phase
12.2.1 The
construction work will inevitably lead to dust (TSP) emissions, mainly from
excavation, filling activities, truck haulage and material handling. No exceedance of hourly and daily TSP criteria are
predicted at air sensitive receivers (ASRs) in the vicinity of work sites with
four times daily watering on active work areas.
12.2.2 With
implementation of the proposed mitigation measures, dust suppression measures
stipulated in the Air Pollution Control (Construction Dust) Regulation, good
site practices and comprehensive dust monitoring and audit, the dust impact
would be further diminished.
12.2.3 Dust
monitoring is recommended in the EM&A Manual to ensure the efficacy of the
control measures.
Operational Phase
12.2.4
There
will be no exceedance of AQOs at the sensitive receivers. No mitigation measures
or air quality monitoring are considered necessary during the operation phase
of the Project. Although no air
quality monitoring is required for the operation phase, the operator for the
proposed CWB tunnel, HyD, will conduct air quality monitoring for the operation
performance of the EVB ventilation shaft. The purpose of the air quality monitoring is
to ensure that the ventilation system and/or air pollution control device to be
installed at EVB will be performed as per the design specifications. Details of the air
quality monitoring should be formulated in the detailed design stage subject to
agreement between EPD and HyD.
12.2.5
During
operational phase, this Project will not create any new odour source. However, odour nuisance associated with
the Causeway Bay Typhoon Shelter is an existing environmental problem. In order to improve the environment,
this Project will take the opportunities to mitigate the potential sources of
odour nuisance within the Project area so as to alleviate this existing
environmental problem as well as to provide an acceptable environment for the
future land uses within the project area.
12.2.6
Enhancement
measures have been formulated to alleviate this existing odour problem. These include rectification of expedient
connections, regular collection of floating debris, dredging to remove
sediments at the corner of CBTS and clean up the slime attached on CBTS
shoreline seawall. With the
implementation of these enhancement measures, the predicted odour levels in the
vicinity of CBTS would be reduced significantly. In other words, this Project will
alleviate the existing odour problems in the vicinity of CBTS to a large extent
by implementing the proposed enhancement measures.
12.2.7
However,
exceedances of the odour criterion are still predicted at two planned ASRs A100
and A101 under the worst case condition.
Yet the residual odour impact at these two planned ASRs is not persistent,
with the time of exceedance of the odour criterion at these two planned ASRs
expected to be less than 0.2% of time (taking into account of 0.1% probability of
exceeding the predicted odour concentration inherent in the calculation method) in a year. Furthermore, considering that no odour
nuisance was detected at the northern breakwater of the typhoon shelter and at
the Wan Chai waterfront during odour patrols conducted in 2006 and 2007,
combined with the infrequent likelihood of exceedance of the odour criterion,
no unacceptable adverse odour impact would be expected at the planned ASRs
within the study area.
12.2.8
Monthly
monitoring (from July to September) of odour impacts, for a period of 5 years,
is therefore proposed during the operational phase of the Project to ascertain
the effectiveness of the Enhancement Package over time, and to monitor any
on-going odour impacts at the ASRs.
If residual odour impact is still found at the end of the odour
monitoring programme, further investigation would be carried out to review the
odour problem and to identify the parties responsible for further remedial
action.
Construction Phase
12.3.1 Construction
noise impacts from this Project, in addition to the concurrent construction
tasks of other projects, including CRIII and HKCEC ALE projects, could be
expected at the NSRs identified in this EIA. Appropriate mitigation measures are
required in order to alleviate the impacts to meet the EIAO-TM criteria. Noise monitoring during construction
phase will need to be carried out to ensure that such mitigation measures are
implemented properly.
Operational Phase
12.3.2 After
completion of the Project, traffic noise monitoring should be carried out at
the NSRs in the vicinity of the recommended direct mitigation measures. The
purpose of this monitoring is to ensure that the proposed mitigation measures
are effective to alleviate traffic noise impact. The Highways Department will
be responsible for the operational phase monitoring. Qualified environmental
team should be employed to carry out the proposed monitoring. The parameters,
monitoring equipment, locations and procedures are presented in detail in the
EM&A Manual.
12.3.3 The assessment has indicated that
the noise from ventilation buildings would comply with the EIAO-TM standards.
As part of the design process, however, monitoring of operation noise from
proposed EVB during the testing and commissioning stage would be recommended to
verify the maximum sound power levels as assumed in the noise assessment in
this EIA.
Construction
Phase
12.4.1 There
would be potential water quality impacts upon the water sensitive receivers due to
the marine works. Appropriate
mitigation measures are recommended in order
to minimize the potential impacts.
Water quality monitoring and audit during construction phase will need to be carried out
to ensure that such mitigation measures are implemented properly.
Operational Phase
12.4.2 No unacceptable water quality
impacts would be expected from the Project. No monitoring programme specific for
operational water quality would be required.
12.5.1 Waste
management will be the contractor’s responsibility to ensure that all wastes
produced during the construction of the Project are handled, stored and disposed
of in accordance with the recommended good waste management practices and EPD’s
regulations and requirements. The
mitigation measures recommended in Section 6 should form the basis of the site
Waste Management Plan to be developed by the Contractor at the construction
stage.
12.5.2 It is
recommended that the waste arisings generated during the construction
activities should be audited periodically to determine if wastes are being
managed in accordance with approved procedures and the site Waste Management
Plan. The audits should look at all
aspects of waste management including waste generation, storage, transport and
disposal. An appropriate audit
programme would be to undertake a first audit near the commencement of the
construction works, and then to audit on a quarterly basis thereafter. In addition, the routine site
inspections should check the implementation of the recommended good site
practices and other waste management mitigation measures.
12.6.2 The site shall be remediated to
acceptable standards as stipulated in the RAP endorsed by EPD before
commencement of any construction works at the concerned site. Appropriate mitigation measures as
stipulated in Section 7 of the EIA Report and RAP, shall be implemented.
12.7.1
As all the 19 coral colonies found in recent surveys
were identified as feasible for transplantation, it is recommended to
translocate all the coral colonies at coastlines within ex-PCWA Basin and along
seawall at North Point to the nearby suitable habitats such as Junk Bay where
similar hydrographic condition and healthy coral communities of the same coral
species were recorded. A detailed translocation methodology (including baseline
survey and monitoring of transplanted corals) should be drafted during the
detailed design stage of the Project. The detailed methodology, monitoring
proposal and ecologist involved in coral translocation should be approved by
AFCD prior to commencement of this translocation exercises.
12.7.2
It
is recommended to implement monitoring of the transplanted corals after
translocation. The health status of each transplanted coral colony should be
carefully recorded. For hard
corals, this should include information on surface area with partial mortality
and blanched / bleached area. For gorgonian coral, the percentage of branches
affected by partial mortality and secretion of mucus should be recorded. Details of monitoring requirements are presented in the EM&A
manual.
Introduction
12.8.1 The EIA has recommended landscape
and visual mitigation measures to be undertaken during construction and
operation phases of the Project. This Section defines the EM&A requirements
to ensure the proposed landscape and visual impact mitigation measures are
effectively implemented.
12.8.2
The construction phase EM&A of the landscape and visual environment
and mitigation works shall be carried out as part of the site audit programme.
Specific EM&A during operation phase of the Project is not required as long
as the proposed mitigation measures in the EIA and as depicted in the Landscape
Mitigation Plan are fully implemented.
Baseline Monitoring
12.8.3
Baseline changes with respect to the landscape and visual environments
should be carried out in reference to the recorded baseline conditions of the
site as described in Section 10 of the EIA. The monitoring should in particular
record changes of each landscape resource, landscape character area and the
view conditions of each visually sensitive receiver. Parameters used to
describe changes in each of the above should be the same as in Section 10 of
the EIA.
12.8.4
The baseline monitoring should be conducted as a one-off site survey
prior to commencement of any construction works.
Construction Phase
12.8.5
The proposed landscape and visual mitigation measures for the
construction phase are described in Sections 10 and 13. The measures are on-site management
measures to be undertaken by the Contractor. All mitigation measures proposed in the
EIA and implemented by the Contractor should be audited by a landscape auditor,
as a member of the Environmental Team, on a regular basis to ensure compliance
with the intended aims of the measures. Site inspection should be undertaken at
least once every two weeks throughout the construction period.
12.8.6
In particular, the extent of the agreed works areas should be regularly
checked during the construction phase. Any trespass by the Contractor outside
the limit of the works, including any damage to the existing trees, woodland
and vegetation should be noted.
12.8.7
The landscape auditor should also audit the proposed operation phase
mitigation measures in the EIA and as depicted in the Landscape Mitigation Plan
to ensure that they are fully implemented within the Project design and
construction.
Operation
Phase
12.8.8 The proposed landscape and visual
mitigation measures for the operation phase are described in Sections 10 and
13. The measures are design
measures to be incorporated in the detailed planning and design of the
reclamation, infrastructure and open spaces works. Landscape mitigation measures would be
subsequently managed and maintained according to ETWB TCW 2/2004, subject to
the possible amendment if CEDD has identified another implementation,
management and maintenance agent for the waterfront open spaces.
12.8.9 Monitoring of design works
against the recommendations of the landscape and visual impact assessment
should be undertaken during the detailed design to ensure that the mitigation
measures are satisfactorily incorporated into the design. Any changes to the design, include
design changes on site should also be checked.
12.9.1
There is no monitoring and
audit requirement for the marine archaeology.