Our Goals
Overview
Highlights of 2004
Environmental Graduate Training Scheme

Our Goals

We will ensure through appropriate training and professional development, that every member of our staff has the knowledge and competency to assume their environmental responsibilities and to participate constructively in environmental activities.

Overview

The EPD employs 1 213 professional and technical staff with backgrounds in science, applied science, town planning and engineering. We are the largest employer of environmental experts in Hong Kong and many staff are active members of learned societies in their fields of expertise. We contribute to the development of the environmental management profession in Hong Kong and elsewhere by offering continuous training to staff, collaborating with researchers, providing advice, writing for outside publications and organising conferences, seminars and staff exchanges.

Highlights of 2004:

	Formal blanket approval was received for regular exchanges and co-operation with the State Environmental Protection Administration of China (SEPA) on EIA related matters. Three EPD staff spent one month at SEPA's head office in Beijing in the autumn. The Assistant Director for Environmental Assessment and Noise, Mr Elvis Au, also contributed to two major training sessions for professionals and officials on the Mainland.
	The Environment, Transport and Works Bureau and the EPD helped to co-organise the 1st China International Forum on Environmental Impact Assessment, together with the Appraisal Centre for Environment and Engineering of SEPA, Hainan Province's Land, Environment and Resources Bureau, the Chinese Society for Environmental Scientists and the International Association of Impact Assessment. The event was held in BoAo on Hainan Island in December 2004 and attracted more than 280 participants.
	EPD staff attended a workshop on persistent organic pollutants in Hangzhou in October that was sponsored by SEPA, Japan's Ministry of Environment, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) and Environment Canada. They also attended a conference on incineration technology for waste that followed the workshop. Immediately prior to the Hangzhou meetings, the EPD and USEPA hosted a workshop in Hong Kong on dioxins. EPD Officers visit a municipal waste treatment centre in Hangzhou in October.
	EPD staff joined a Mainland delegation in March for a regional workshop in Beijing on the implementation of the Rotterdam Convention. The workshop was organised by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
	EPD staff joined a delegation to Japan and Korea in November to visit waste management facilities there. The delegation was led by the Permanent Secretary (Environment) and comprised 11 non-official members of the Advisory Group and Sub-Groups on Waste Management Facilities.
	Principal Environmental Protection Officer, Mr Patrick Lei, gave a presentation on Hong Kong's experiences managing waste during outbreaks of bird flu and SARS, to fellow members of the International Solid Waste Association's (ISWA) healthcare waste working group. The presentation was made during a week-long visit led by former Deputy Director, Mr Mike Stokoe, to Shanghai mid-year that focused on hazardous waste and healthcare waste management. The delegation also visited the municipal waste incinerator and the chemical industrial park in Shanghai.
	Mr Patrick Lei, together with Mr James Pong and Dr Alice Chan, also attended the first UNEP regional training programme on environmental law in Tianjin in August, and gave a presentation on Hong Kong's policies and practices. EPD staff also visited the economic-technological development area and the hazardous waste treatment and disposal centre in Tianjin. Mr Patrick Lei, Principal Environmental Protection Officer of EPD, (second from left) meets Mr Xing Zheng-gang, Director of Tianjin EPB (centre), at the UNEP 4-day Programme for Environmental Policy and Law held in Tianjin in August.
	EPD staff joined a delegation organised by the Hong Kong Waste Management Association to Shanghai in February to visit waste management facilities there, together with representatives from the Highways Department, university and subvented organisations, and the private sector.
	The EPD organised two workshops on clinical waste control delivered by our counterparts from the UK and Victoria State, Australia, and a separate workshop on the improper disposal of waste delivered by our counterpart from the UK.
	Technical exchanges on air pollution control and monitoring continued with Guangdong. The EPD also was closely involved in setting up the Guangdong Province Quality Assurance Laboratory to support the regional air quality monitoring network.
	A standard reference photometer (SRP) was obtained from the US National Institute of Standards and Technology, providing a regional calibration standard for ozone measurement. Macau, Beijing, Guangdong and other environmental authorities are checking their ozone calibrators against our SRP.
	The EPD together with State Environmental Protection Administration organised the Motor Vehicle Emissions Control Workshop 2004 (MoVE 2004) to exchange technology and experiences. Local environmental bureaus from the Mainland were also invited. Workshop attendees included local trade representatives and experts from the Mainland, United States, European Union and other Asian countries.
	A workshop on pig waste treatment was held in February with experts from the South China Agricultural University and the Universiti Putra Malaysia. More than 150 farmers attended, as did about 100 staff from the EPD and Agricultural, Fisheries and Conservation Department.
	EPD staff attended the inaugural meeting of the Asia Network for the Prevention of Illegal Transboundary Movement of Wastes in December 2004. The network was initiated by Japan.
	Two events were organised under the Memorandum of Understanding on Environmental Protection with Environment Canada. A workshop on enforcement was held in Vancouver in March and a workshop on environmental impact assessment was held in April. Dr Mike Chiu, Deputy Director of EPD, presents a souvenir to Mr Martin Pomeroy of the Enforcement and Emergencies Division, Environment Canada at a workshop on enforcement issues held in Vancouver in March.
	The Assistant Director for Environmental Compliance, Mr Benny Wong, was invited by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) to attend a workshop in Tokyo in December 2004 on "Environmental Policy Instruments for Water Quality Management: Identifying OECD Practices Relevant for Emerging Market Economies". He was asked to share Hong Kong's experience in the use of permits to control water pollution.
	The EPD organised a workshop on the management of pollution in urban storm-water systems, which was attended by our counterparts in Tokyo and Toronto.
	The EPD continued its close liaison with government works departments, consultants, contractors, private developers and public corporations on the operation of the EIA Ordinance. To promote the concept of Continuous Public Involvement, joint seminars were organised in May and June 2004 with more than 450 participants from different sectors.
	The EIAO Support Section held 13 EIA Training and Capacity Building Workshops for 430 participants from government departments, private and public sector corporations, contractors, and professional bodies. It also launched an e-learning platform on the EIA mechanism on the EPD website to inform the public and project proponents about the EIA process so they can better understand and apply it.
	EPD staff wrote a number of papers on a wide range of environmental issues during the year, which were published in professional journals and presented at conferences and workshops.
	The EPD continued to serve on the fund-vetting committees of the Innovation and Technology Fund and the Environment and Conservation Fund, which help finance education and research projects in the environmental field.

Environmental Graduate Training Scheme

The EPD employs more than 190 professional engineers in various fields and recognises the need to train future generations of professional environmental engineers. The department has been certified for the Hong Kong Institute of Engineers' Scheme "A" Training since 1997. 24 environmental engineering graduates have received on-the-job training with the EPD so far, acquiring project management skills, enforcement experience and environmental impact assessment knowledge. 15 graduates completed their training in 2004.

Senior managers share their views on environmental issues.