ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT ORDINANCE
(CHAPTER 499)
Section 10

環 境 影 響 評 估 條 例
(第 499章 )
第 10條

ENVIRONMENTAL PERMIT TO CONSTRUCT AND OPERATE A DESIGNATED PROJECT

建 造 及 營 辦 指 定 工 程 項 目 的 環 境 許 可 證

PART A (MAIN PERMIT)
A部 (許 可 證 主 要 部 分 )

Pursuant to Section 10 of the Environmental Impact Assessment Ordinance (EIAO), the Director of Environmental Protection (the Director) grants this environmental permit to THE REGIONAL HIGHWAY ENGINEER/ NEW TERRITORIES REGION, HIGHWAYS DEPARTMENT (hereinafter referred to as the "Permit Holder") to construct and operate the designated project described in Part B subject to the conditions specified in Part C. The issue of this environmental permit is based on the documents, approvals or permissions described below :

根 據 環 境 影 響 評 估 條 例 第 10條 的 規 定 ﹐ 環 境 保 護 署 署 長 (署 長 ) 將 本 環 境 許 可 證 批 予 路 政 署 (新 界 區 / 助 理 署 長 ) (下 稱 "許 可 證 持 有 人 ") 以 建 造 及 營 辦 B部 所 說 明 的 指 定 工 程 項 目 ﹐ 但 須 遵 守 C部 所 說 明 或 附 載 的 條 件 。 本 環 境 許 可 證 的 發 出 ﹐ 乃 以 下 表 所 列 的 文 件 、 批 准 或 許 可 作 為 根 據 ﹕

PART B (DESCRIPTIONS OF DESIGNATED PROJECT)
B部 (指 定 工 程 項 目 的 說 明 )

Hereunder is the description of the designated project mentioned in Part A of this environmental permit (hereinafter referred to as the "Permit"):
下 列 為 本 環 境 許 可 證 (下 稱 "許 可 證 ") A部 所 提 述 的 指 定 工 程 項 目 的 說 明 :

PART C (PERMIT CONDITIONS)

1. General Conditions

1.1 The Permit Holder shall ensure full compliance with all conditions of this environmental permit. Any non-compliance may constitute a contravention of the Environmental Impact Assessment Ordinance (Cap.499) and may become the subject of appropriate action being taken under the Ordinance.

1.2 The Permit Holder shall ensure full compliance with all legislation from time to time in force including but without limitation to the Noise Control Ordinance (Cap. 400), Air Pollution Control Ordinance (Cap. 311), Water Pollution Control Ordinance (Cap. 358), Dumping at Sea Ordinance (Cap. 466), and Waste Disposal Ordinance (Cap. 354). This Permit does not of itself constitute any ground of defence against any proceedings instituted under any legislation.

1.3 The Permit Holder shall make copies of this Permit together with all documents referred to in this Permit or the documents referred to in Part A of the Permit readily available at all times for inspection by the Director or his authorized officers at all sites / offices covered by this Permit. Any reference to the Permit shall include all documents referred to in the Permit and also the relevant documents in the Register.

1.4 The Permit Holder shall give a copy of this Permit to the person(s) in charge of the site(s) and ensure that such person(s) fully understands all conditions and all requirements incorporated by the Permit.

1.5 The Permit Holder shall display conspicuously a copy of this Permit on the construction site(s) at all vehicular site entrances/exits or at a convenient location for the public's information at all times. The Permit Holder shall ensure that the most updated information about the Permit, including any amended permit, is displayed at such locations. If the Permit Holder surrenders a part or the whole of the Permit, the notice he sends to the Director shall also be displayed at the same locations as the original Permit. The suspended, varied or cancelled Permit shall be removed from the display at the construction site(s).

1.6 The Permit Holder shall construct and operate the Project as described in Part B of this Permit.

1.7 The Permit Holder shall ensure that the Project is designed, constructed and operated in accordance with the information and all recommendations described in the EIA Report (Register No. AEIAR-014/1999), the information contained in the Application (No. AEP-119/2002) and the documents attached to the Application, and the information or mitigation measures described in this Permit, and mitigation measures to be recommended in the submissions that shall be deposited with or approved by the Director as a result of the permit conditions contained in this Permit, and mitigation measures to be recommended under on going surveillance and monitoring activities during all stages of the Project. Where recommendations referred to in the documents of the Register are not expressly referred to in this Permit, such recommendations are nevertheless to be implemented unless expressly excluded or impliedly amended in this Permit.

1.8 All deposited submissions as required under this Permit, shall be rectified and resubmitted in accordance with the comments, if any, made by the Director, within one month of the receipt of the Director's comments or otherwise as specified by the Director.

1.9 All submissions approved by the Director, all submissions deposited without comments by the Director, and all submissions rectified in accordance with comments by the Director under this Permit shall be constructed as part of the Permit conditions described in Part C of this Permit. Any variation of the submissions shall be approved by the Director in writing or as prescribed in the relevant permit conditions. Any non-compliance with the submissions may constitute a contravention of the Environmental Impact Assessment Ordinance (Cap.499). All submissions or any variation of the submissions shall be verified by the Independent Environmental Checker (IEC) referred to in Conditions 2.1 below, before submitting to the Director under this Permit.

1.10 The Permit Holder shall release all finalized submissions, as required under this Permit, to the public by depositing copies in the Environmental Impact Assessment Ordinance Register Office, or in any other places, or any internet websites as specified by the Director, or by any other means as specified by the Director, for public inspection. For this purpose, the Permit Holder shall provide sufficient copies of the submissions.

1.11 The Permit Holder shall notify the Director in writing the commencement date of construction of the Project no later than 2 weeks prior to commencement of construction of the Project. The Permit Holder shall notify the Director in writing immediately if there is a change of the commencement date of the construction.

1.12 All submissions to the Director as required under this Permit shall be delivered either in person or by registered mail to the Environmental Impact Assessment Ordinance Register Office (currently at 27/F of Southorn Centre, 130 Hennessy Road, Wanchai, Hong Kong).

2. Measures and Submissions before Commencement of Project

2.1 An Independent Environmental Checker (IEC) shall be employed no later than 2 months before commencement of construction of the Project. The IEC shall have at least 7 years of experience in environmental monitoring and audit (EM&A) or environmental management. The IEC shall audit the overall EM&A programme, including the implementation of all environmental mitigation measures, submissions relating to the EM&A, and any other submissions required under this Permit. In addition, the IEC shall be responsible for verifying the environmental acceptability of permanent and temporary works, relevant design plans and submissions under this Permit.

2.2 An Environmental Team (ET) shall be established no later than 2 months before commencement of construction of the Project. The ET shall be headed by an ET leader who has at least 7 years of experience in environmental monitoring and auditing (EM&A) or environmental management. The ET and ET Leader shall be responsible for the implementation of the EM&A programme in accordance with the EM&A requirements as contained in the EM&A Manual attached to the Application (No. AEP-119/2002).

2.3 The Permit Holder shall, within 4 weeks after commencement of construction of the Project, inform the Director in writing of the management organization of the main construction companies and/or any form of joint ventures associated with the construction of the Project. The submitted information shall include at least an organization chart, names of responsible persons and their contact details.

2.4 The Permit Holder shall, at least 4 weeks before commencement of construction of the Project, deposit with the Director 3 sets of landscape proposal, including a tree preservation plan indicating the location of trees to be preserved and transplanted, for the Project during construction and operation stages with explanatory statement, design drawings and layout plans of the scale 1 to 1000 or other scale as agreed by the Director. The submission shall include an implementation programme for the landscaped areas, with clear identification of the responsibility for funding, implementation, management and maintenance of the landscaped areas. The submission shall be verified by the IEC as conforming to the information and recommendations contained in the EIA report (No. AEIAR-014/1999), the Application (No. AEP-119/2002) and the Environmental Review Report and EM&A Manual attached to the Application. The Permit Holder shall make available additional copies to the Director upon his request.

3. Measures for Construction and Operation of the Project

3.1 To mitigate the traffic noise impact arising from the Project, construction of the proposed noise barriers in accordance with the details as shown in Figures 2 and 3 attached to this Permit shall be completed before operation of the Project. Each noise barrier shall be a continuous structure with no gaps or openings.

3.2 All measures recommended in the deposited landscape proposal shall be fully implemented in accordance with the details and time frames set out in the submission under condition 2.4

4. Environmental Monitoring and Audit Requirements during Construction of the Project

4.1 The EM&A programme shall be implemented as set out in the EM&A Manual attached to the Application (No. AEP-119/2002). Any change to the programme shall be justified by the ET leader and verified by the IEC as conforming to the information and requirements contained in the EIA Report (No. AEIAR-014/1999), the Application (No. AEP-119/2002), the Environmental Review Report and the EM&A Manual attached to the Application (No. AEP-119/2002) before submission to the Director for approval.

4.2 Samples and measurements shall be taken in accordance with the requirements of the EM&A Manual attached to the Application (No. AEP-119/2002) in conducting the baseline monitoring and impact monitoring.

4.3 The remedial actions described in the Event/Action Plans of the EM&A Manual attached to the Application (No. AEP-119/2002) shall be fully and properly carried out in accordance with the time frames set out in the Event/Action Plans, or as agreed by the Director.

4.4. Records of measurements and actions taken under conditions 4.2 and 4.3 respectively of this Permit shall be logged and kept, within 3 working days of the collection of data or completion of action, for the purpose of preparing and submitting the EM&A reports and making the information available for inspection on site.

4.5 Two hard copies and one electronic copy of the Baseline Monitoring Report shall be submitted to the Director at least 2 weeks before commencement of construction of the Project. The submission shall be verified by the IEC. Additional copies of the submission shall be made available to the Director upon his request.

4.6 One hard copy and one soft copy of monthly EM&A Report shall be submitted to the Director within 2 weeks after the end of the reporting month. The EM&A Reports shall include a summary of all noncompliance (exceedances) of the environmental quality performance limits (Action and Limit Levels). The submissions shall be verified by the IEC. Additional copies of the submission shall be provided to the Director upon request by the Director.

4.7 All environmental monitoring and audit data submitted under this Permit shall be true, valid and correct.

5. Environmental Monitoring and Audit Requirements during Operation of the Project

5.1 The Permit Holder shall, at least 6 months before the operation of the project, deposit with the Director a monitoring plan for the purpose of assessing the accuracy of traffic noise predictions, by comparing the project noise impact predictions with the actual impacts. The monitoring plan shall contain monitoring locations, monitoring schedules, methodology of noise monitoring including noise measurement procedures, traffic counts and speed checks, and methodology of comparison with the predicted levels. At least one monitoring location at the noise sensitive receivers protected by noise mitigation measures shall be proposed. At least three sets of measurements shall be conducted and the monitoring shall be done within the first year of operation of the project. Monitoring shall be conducted in accordance with the deposited monitoring plan unless with prior justification. Monitoring details and results, including the comparison between the measured noise levels and the predicted levels, shall be recorded in a report. The report shall be certified by the Permit Holder before deposited with the Director, within one month after the completion of the monitoring.

5.2 The Permit Holder shall deposit with the Director 3 copies of an audit report, certified by the ET Leader and verified by the IEC, demonstrating the satisfactory completion of the measures recommended in the landscape proposal as described in conditions 2.4 and 3.2 of this Permit. The audit report shall be deposited within 3 weeks after completion of the mitigation measures.

5.3 The Permit Holder shall deposit with the Director 3 copies of audit report, certified by the ET leader and verified by the IEC, demonstrating the satisfactory completion of the noise measures described in condition 3.1 of this Permit. The audit report shall be deposited within 3 weeks after completion of the mitigation measures.

6. Electronic Reporting of EM&A Information

6.1 To facilitate public inspection of the Baseline Monitoring Report and monthly EM&A Reports via the EIAO Internet Website and at the EIAO Register Office, electronic copies of these Reports shall be prepared in Hyper Text Markup Language (HTML) (version 4.0 or later) and in Portable Document Format (PDF version 4.0 or later), unless otherwise agreed by the Director and shall be submitted at the same time as the hardcopies as described in Conditions 4 and 5 of this Permit. For the HTML version, a content page capable of providing hyperlink to each section and sub-section of these Reports shall be included in the beginning of the document. Hyperlinks to all figures, drawings and tables in these Reports shall be provided in the main text from where the respective references are made. All graphics in these Reports shall be in interlaced GIF format unless otherwise agreed by the Director. The content of the electronic copies of these Reports must be the same as the hardcopies.

Notes :

1. This Permit consists of three parts, namely, PART A (Main Permit), PART B (Description of Designated Project) and PART C (Permit Conditions). Any person relying on this Permit should obtain independent legal advice on the legal implications under the Ordinance, and that the following notes are for general information only.

2. The Permit Holder may apply under section 13 of the Ordinance to the Director for a variation of the conditions of this environmental permit. The Permit Holder shall replace the original Permit displayed on the construction site by the amended Permit.

3. A person who assumes the responsibility for the whole or a part of the designated project may, before he assumes responsibility of the designated project, apply under section 12 of the Ordinance to the Director for a further environmental permit.

4. Under section 14 of the Ordinance, the Director may with the consent of the Secretary for Environment and Food, suspend, vary or cancel this environmental permit. The suspended, varied or cancelled Permit shall be removed from the display on the construction site.

5. If this Permit is cancelled or surrendered during the construction or operation, another environmental permit must be obtained under the Ordinance before the construction or operation of the project could be continued. It is an offence under section 26(1) of the Ordinance to construct or operate a designated project listed in Part I of Schedule 2 of the Ordinance without a valid environmental permit.

6. Any person who constructs or operates the designated project contrary to the conditions in this Permit, and is convicted of an offence under the Ordinance, is liable -

(i) on a first conviction on indictment to a fine of $ 2 million and to imprisonment for 6 months;

(ii) on a second or subsequent conviction on indictment to a fine of $ 5 million and to imprisonment for 2 years;

(iii) on a first summary conviction to a fine at level 6 and to imprisonment for 6 months;

(iv) on a second or subsequent summary conviction to a fine of $1 million and to imprisonment for 1 year; and

(v) in any case where the offence is of a continuing nature, the court or magistrate may impose a fine of $ 10,000 for each day on which he is satisfied the offence continued.

7. The Permit Holder may appeal against any condition of this Permit under Section 17 of the Ordinance within 30 days of receipt of this Permit.

Environmental Permit No. EP-119/2002

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