Effective Enforcement and Emergency Response

Enforcement

OUR LEGISLATIVE and enforcement work is much more than an effort to use the law to reduce pollution. Although we enforce laws dealing with air, water, waste and noise pollution, we also assess the environmental impacts of development projects, respond to complaints and regulate specific polluting activities through licensing procedures. In 2000 we also greatly enhanced our partnerships with industry to encourage greater compliance.

Formal partnerships were developed with several trade associations, such as those representing vehicle repair shops, restaurants and the construction industry, to provide them with information and training and learn more about their constraints. In turn, they are starting to help us by training their staff, rectifying malpractices and developing ways to reduce their pollution. It is hoped to extend these partnerships to other trades that attract a lot of complaints.

To improve our efficiency in catching offenders, we linked up with the Hong Kong Police who provided a two-week training course on enforcement practices for staff. We also sent officers to Canada for enforcement training and experience sharing under the Memorandum of Understanding with Canada. As a result, our enforcement practices have been streamlined, and a guidebook on enforcement techniques is being prepared. We are trying to improve our efficiency in carrying out our enforcement duties. In 1999 we introduced integrated enforcement teams at all Local Control Offices in which team members are trained to deal with all types of pollution control in a single site visit as far as practicable.

Chart of Strict enforcement has resulted in increasing numbers of prsecutions and fines
Chart of Rising environmental concerns and community expectations have resulted in increasing numbers of pollution complaints
Image of Seminars are organised to promote regulatory compliance

We received the go-ahead to set up a Central Prosecution Unit in 2001 which will be led by a full-time legal professional, a move made necessary by the growing number of not-guilty pleas. There were 1,824 prosecutions in 2000, up from 1,740 in 1999, and convicted offenders paid $22.4 million in fines.

Our hotlines received more than 100,000 calls in 2000, of which about 20,000 were complaints about pollution. We also received 7,000 complaints by other means such as by letter, via other government departments or by e-mail. We are increasing the application of information technology to all of our operations. We responded to 99% of calls within three working days during the year. The A C Nielsen company reviewed our hotline service and reported in January that 89% of users were satisfied with the service, compared with 84% in 1998. We will continue to improve the service, such as exploring the possibility of extending the operating hours and improving the skill of our staff by more intensive training. We also handled about 8,000 applications for licences and permits, such as effluent discharge licences and construction noise permits, during the year.

A crackdown on smoky vehicles, which traditionally attract the most pollution complaints, was carried out with the Police at district level. Pollution from street-side cooked food stalls has been a source of complaint from District Councils and we approached owners of these stalls with advice on reducing their pollution. We continued to carry out the Sewer Connection Programme in Tolo Harbour Catchment and to date we have connected 37 villages and more than 15,000 villagers in the area to public sewers. Sewer connection programmes were also carried out in other sensitive beach areas such as Shek O and Stanley.

Response to Environmental Incidents

THE EPD WORKS closely with other government departments, such as the Fire Services and Marine Departments and the Government Chemist, to provide a speedy response to environmental incidents. We have comprehensive response plans for dealing with 36 different types of emergency situations on land and at sea, including oil and chemical spills.

Our local control offices provide dedicated support to all emergency responses and our Chemical Waste Treatment Centre contractor provides chemical waste collection and disposal services for incidents involving chemicals. In 2000 we were involved in 32 land-based incidents and 11 marine-based incidents. In each instance where clean-up work was required, it was completed satisfactorily.

In 1999, we set up an Emergency Response Drill Team to enhance staff performance and readiness in emergency situations. In 2000, six drills such as mysterious gassing incidents and accidental wastewater discharge to a bathing beach, were conducted, one at each of the six Local Control Offices. In early 2001 we will organise an international workshop to share our experiences with local and overseas experts. We also continue to look for opportunities to improve our efficiency in handling emergency situations.