Technical Memorandum
4. ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT (EIA) REPORT
4.1 General
4.1.1 An EIA report shall comprise a document or series of documents providing
a detailed assessment in quantitative terms, wherever possible, and in
qualitative terms of the likely environmental impacts and environmental
benefits of the project. The requirements for the EIA report shall be
set out in accordance with this technical memorandum. The EIA report shall
be produced in accordance with the EIA study brief issued by the Director
to the applicant.
4.2 Objectives and Contents of an EIA Report
4.2.1 The project-specific study objectives and the detailed scope of
any required EIA study shall be set out in a study brief issued by the
Director. Typical study objectives may include the following:
(a) to describe the proposed project(s) and associated works together
with the requirements and environmental benefits for carrying out the
proposed project(s);
(b) to identify and describe the elements of the community and environment
likely to be affected by the proposed project(s), and/or likely to cause
adverse impacts to the proposed project(s), including both the natural
and man-made environment and the associated environmental constraints;
(c) to identify and quantify emission sources and determine the significance
of impacts on sensitive receivers and potential affected uses;
(d) to identify and quantify any potential losses or damage to flora,
fauna and natural habitats;
(e) to identify any negative impacts on sites of cultural heritage and
to propose measures to mitigate these impacts;
(f) to propose the provision of infrastructure or mitigation measures
to minimize pollution, environmental disturbance and nuisance during
construction, operation (or decommissioning) of the project(s);
(g) to investigate the feasibility, effectiveness and implications of
the proposed mitigation measures;
(h) to identify, predict and evaluate the residual (i.e. after practicable
mitigation) environmental impacts and the cumulative effects expected
to arise during the construction, operation (or decommissioning) phases
of the project(s) in relation to the sensitive receivers and potential
affected uses;
(i) to identify, assess and specify methods, measures and standards,
to be included in the detailed design, construction, operation (or decommissioning)
of the project(s) which are necessary to mitigate these residual environmental
impacts and cumulative effects and reduce them to acceptable levels;
(j) to design and specify the environmental monitoring and audit requirements;
and
(k) to identify any additional studies necessary to implement the mitigation
measures or monitoring and proposals recommended in the EIA report.
4.2.2 The contents of an EIA report shall fully meet the purposes and
objectives set out in the EIA study brief issued by the Director, and
shall adequately address all the issues set out in the EIA study brief.
4.2.3 Unless indicated otherwise in the EIA study brief, the contents
of an EIA report shall normally include the items listed in Annex 11.
4.3 General Approaches and Methodologies for Assessment
4.3.1 The general principles that the Director shall use in evaluating
the assessment methodologies are described below:
(a) Description of the Environment: the characteristics of the
environment shall be described in a way sufficient for identification
and prediction of environmental impacts. Where necessary, baseline environmental
surveys shall be carried out to determine the existing environmental
conditions on the site and in all environs likely to be affected by
the proposed project. The issues described in the EIA study brief shall
be investigated and would typically include existing water and sediment
quality, air quality, the existing noise environment, ecology, the cultural
heritage and the man-made environment. These surveys shall normally
include the site of the project, its access, and any other areas likely
to be impacted during construction and operation (or decommissioning).
The type and duration of baseline surveys shall be such that there will
be adequate information taking account of natural variation to define
the existing conditions. This information shall form the basis for predicting
and evaluating the impacts from the project so that the study objectives
can be met. Where appropriate, results from past studies can be used.
(b) Impact Prediction: the guidelines on assessment methodologies
are given in Annexes 12 to 19. The assessment methodologies proposed
shall be relevant to the issues to be addressed, shall have been used
successfully in similar situations or be demonstrated as acceptable
by recognised national/international organisations, and shall be capable
of:
(i) identifying potential impacts which may be harmful or beneficial
to the environment;
(ii) identifying receivers, habitats or resources which are vulnerable
to change;
(iii) defining the project/environment interactions;
(iv) examining the chain of events or "pathways" linking
cause with effect;
(v) describing and predicting the reasonable case scenario and/or
the worst case scenario, or such scenarios as required in the EIA
study brief; and
(vi) predicting the likely nature, extent and magnitude of the anticipated
changes and effects such that an evaluation, in quantitative terms
as far as possible, can be made with respect to the criteria described
in Annexes 4 to 10 inclusive.
(c) Impact Evaluation: an evaluation of the anticipated changes
and effects shall be made with respect to the criteria described in
Annexes 4 to 10 inclusive, and in quantitative terms as far as possible.
The methodologies for evaluating the environmental impact shall be
capable of addressing the following issues:
(i) the existing or projected environmental conditions without the
project in place;
(ii) the projected environmental conditions with the project in place
and the sum total of the environmental impacts taking into account
all relevant existing, committed and planned projects;
(iii) a differentiation between the environmental impact caused by
the project and that caused by other projects, and to what extent
the project aggravates or improves the existing or projected environmental
conditions;
(iv) the environmental impact during different phases of construction
and development of the project; and
(v) the evaluation of the seriousness of the residual environmental
impacts (see Section 4.4.3).
(d) Impact Mitigation: the methodologies proposed for mitigation
shall give priority to avoidance of impacts. The assessment methods
shall be capable of:
(i) identifying and evaluating mitigation measures in order to avoid,
reduce or remedy the impacts;
(ii) assessing the effectiveness of mitigation measures; and
(iii) defining the residual environmental impacts, which are the net
impacts remaining with the mitigation measures in place.
4.3.2 For issues described in Annexes 12 to 19, the Director shall
evaluate the assessment approaches and methodologies in accordance with
the guidelines in these annexes, unless otherwise stated in the study
brief. For issues that are not fully covered in these Annexes, the Director
shall apply the above general principles.
4.3.3 Where applicable, the applicant shall be required to evaluate
the environmental impacts resulting from the project over a period of
time, through interactions among different environmental pollutants
or emissions, or in combination with other existing, committed and proposed
developments. Any such requirements shall be clearly set out in the
study brief and are only limited to those that may have a bearing on
the environmental acceptability of the project. The assessment methodologies
shall allow for the assessment and evaluation of the cumulative environmental
effects if the following circumstances apply:
(a) the impacts arising from the project are predicted to extend beyond
the boundaries of the project or over a long period of time;
(b) there may be interactions between the environmental impacts of the
project, affecting the sum total of its environmental impacts; or
(c) there may be interactions between the environmental impacts of the
project and the environmental impacts of other developments, resulting
in accumulation of impacts and affecting the sum total of their environmental
impacts.
4.4 The Review of the EIA Report
The EIA report shall be reviewed according to the following steps:
4.4.1 Compliance with the Study Brief and Technical Memorandum:
The coverage and approaches adopted in the EIA report shall be reviewed
against the EIA study brief and the guidelines in this technical memorandum.
4.4.2 Quality of the EIA Report: The quality of the EIA report
shall be reviewed having regard to the guidelines in Annex 20 and in
Section 4.3. The report shall be considered as adequate if there are
no omissions or deficiencies identified which may affect the results
and conclusions of the assessment. In particular, the following factors
shall be considered:
(a) whether the scope and extent of the project as presented in the
EIA report covers all the phases and key sequences of the project which
the application under consideration is intended to cover;
(b) whether the information and descriptions in the EIA report are factually
correct;
(c) whether the assessment methodologies adopted in the EIA report are
consistent with the methodologies set out in Annexes 12 to 19 inclusive
and with the general principles laid down in Section 4.3, and whether
the evaluation of the predicted impacts are consistent with the criteria
listed in Annexes 4 to 10 inclusive. Where specific methodologies are
not listed in the annexes or where the methodologies for certain issues
can only be established on a case-by-case basis, the Director will assess
whether the proposed methodologies are consistent with the methodologies
adopted for Hong Kong projects having similar issues or with methodologies
accepted by recognised national/international organisations;
(d) whether the identification and descriptions of the potential environmental
impacts in the EIA report are complete and whether all applicable criteria
in Annexes 4 to 10 inclusive have been considered;
(e) whether the assumptions and methodologies used are sound and adequate;
(f) whether adverse environmental effects are avoided to the maximum
practicable extent;
(g) whether the assessment has considered and compared the environmental
benefits and disbenefits of various scenarios with or without the project;
(h) whether lessons learned from other similar projects are incorporated
into the project;
(i) whether the report has sufficiently defined all environmental protection
requirements and measures necessary to avoid or reduce the adverse environmental
impacts to within the applicable standards or criteria;
(j) for impacts where there are no applicable quantitative standards
or criteria, whether the report has defined the best practicable mitigation
measures that shall be adopted for the project;
(k) whether the report has assessed and determined the feasibility,
practicability, programming and effectiveness of the recommended mitigation
measures;
(l) whether the report has adequately addressed the need for environmental
monitoring and audit, and if it is considered to be necessary, whether
it has sufficiently defined the required environmental monitoring and
audit programme; and
(m) whether the report has listed out in a schedule the environmental
protection requirements and mitigation measures that the applicant is
prepared to implement.
4.4.3 Evaluation of the Residual Environmental Impacts: The
residual environmental impacts refer to the net environmental impacts
after mitigation, taking into account the background environmental conditions
and the impacts from existing, committed and planned projects. When
evaluating the residual environmental impacts (the net impacts with
the mitigation measures in place), the following factors shall be considered:
4.5 Approval of the EIA Report
4.5.1 After the public inspection of the
report and, if required, the consultation with the Advisory Council on
the Environment, the EIA report shall be approved with or without conditions
if
(a) the requirements in the EIA study brief have been met;
(b) the quality of the report meets the requirements as set out in Section
4.4 and the results and conclusions are technically sound and reliable;
(c) it addresses relevant environmental issues raised by the public
and the Advisory Council on the Environment during the public inspection
period; and
(d) all relevant environmental principles and criteria laid down in
this technical memorandum can be met and the residual environmental
impacts are within the relevant criteria, unless with sound environmental
justifications and without long term serious environmental implications.
4.5.2 In case the report requires certain amendments but such amendments
will not affect the validity of the assessment and the overall results
and conclusions of the report, the Director may approve the report with
conditions.

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