15.          ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING AND AUDIT REQUIREMENTS

Introduction

15.1        This section further elaborates the requirements of environmental monitoring and audit (EM&A) for the construction and operation of the Project, based on the assessment results of various environmental issues.  The following sections summarize the recommended EM&A requirements.  Details of the EM&A programme and the specific monitoring requirements are presented in a stand-alone EM&A Manual.

Cultural Heritage Impact  

Construction Phase

Marine and Terrestrial Archaeology

15.2        No specific EM&A requirements would be required during construction phase.

Built Heritage and Historical Landscape

15.3        The use of sensibly designed screen hoardings for mitigating visual impact as proposed in Section 7 is also recommended for reducing the potential visual impact on identified heritage buildings to acceptable levels. Based on this, audit requirements recommended in Section 15.11 for visual impact would be applicable for the protection of heritage resources.

15.4        The only declared monument/site of cultural heritage within the assessment area, Flagstaff House, is located about 210m away from the nearest SCL tunnel. Given the considerable separation distance, there would be neither adverse vibration nor visual impacts on the declared monument/site of cultural heritage, and thus no specific EM&A requirements would be required.  Vibration monitoring on other built heritages identified in the assessment will be agreed with Antiquities and Monuments Office (AMO)/ Buildings Department (BD) / Geotechnical Engineering Office (GEO) and implemented under the requirement of the Buildings Ordinance and/or Blasting Permit as appropriate.

Operation Phase

15.5        No specific EM&A requirements would be required during operation phase.

Ecological Impact  

15.6        Specific EM&A activities for ecology are considered not necessary during the construction and operation phases of the Project. Monitoring and audit activities for detecting and mitigating any unacceptable impact on water quality would also serve to protect marine ecological resources. Mitigation measures recommended for controlling water quality impact under Section 11 should be regularly audited during construction phase.  

Fisheries Impact  

15.7        As no unacceptable impacts have been predicted to occur during the construction and operation phases of the Project, specific monitoring for fisheries resources is considered not necessary.  Nevertheless, the implementation of the water quality mitigation measures recommended in Section 11 should be checked as part of the environmental monitoring and audit procedures during the construction phase as presented in the standalone EM&A Manual.

Landscape and Visual Impact

Mitigation Measures 

15.8        Potential landscape and visual impacts have been carefully considered during the development of the Project design to (1) avoid impacts on important landscape resources as the first priority; and (2) locate, design and reduce physical extent of the works as far as possible, as well as identify mitigation measures, so as to minimize impacts on existing trees and open spaces, and to minimize the degree of visual impact.

15.9        The landscape and visual mitigation measures should be incorporated in the detailed design. The construction phase and operational phase mitigation measures proposed in the EIA are presented in Section 17. Where feasible, the construction phase mitigation measures should be adopted from the commencement of construction and should be in place throughout the entire construction period while the mitigation measures for the operation phase should be adopted during the detailed design and be built as part of the construction works so that they are in place on the date of commissioning of the Project.  

15.10      Any potential conflicts among the proposed mitigation measures, the Project works, and operational requirements should also be identified and resolved early. Any changes to the mitigation measures should be incorporated in the detailed design.

Audit Requirements

15.11      Site audit should be undertaken during the construction phase of the Project to check that the proposed landscape and visual mitigation measures are properly implemented and maintained as per their intended objectives.  Site inspections should be undertaken by the Environmental Team (ET) at least once every two week during the construction period.

Construction Dust Impact  

15.12      With the implementation of the dust suppression measures stipulated in the Air Pollution Control (Construction Dust) Regulation, good site practices and proposed mitigation measures, no adverse dust impact would be expected at the ASRs in the vicinity of the construction sites.  Routine 24-hour dust monitoring requirements are recommended in the EM&A Manual to ensure the efficacy of the control measures.  Details of the EM&A programme are provided in a stand-alone EM&A Manual.

Airborne Noise Impact

Construction Phase

15.13      Construction noise impacts from this Project would be expected at noise sensitive receivers (NSRs) and are identified in this EIA.  Appropriate mitigation measures would be required in order to alleviate the impacts to meet the EIAO-TM criteria.  Noise monitoring during construction phase needs to be carried out to ensure that such mitigation measures would be implemented properly.

15.14      Noise monitoring should be carried out at the designated monitoring stations, and measurement should be undertaken at a minimum logging interval of 30 minutes.  Prior to the commencement of the Project, baseline monitoring should be measured for a continuous period of at least 14 consecutive days at a minimum logging interval of 30 minutes for daytime.  During impact monitoring, noise measurement should be conducted at the designated monitoring locations once a week.  Ad hoc noise monitoring should also be carried out if necessary.  Details of the EM&A programme are provided in a stand-alone EM&A Manual. 

Operation Phase

15.15      The assessment has indicated that the noise from the proposed fixed plant noise sources would comply with the EIAO-TM noise criteria if the noise emissions from the proposed fixed plant are properly designed to meet the recommended maximum allowable sound power levels. No specific monitoring for the fixed plant operation is deemed necessary.

Ground-borne Noise Impact

Construction Phase

15.16      Adverse ground-borne construction noise impact due to the Project would not be envisaged. Ground-borne noise monitoring is thus considered not necessary during construction phase.

Operation Phase

15.17      Prior to the operation phase of the Project, a commissioning test should be conducted to ensure compliance of the operational ground-borne noise levels with the noise criteria.  Details of the test requirements are provided in a stand-alone EM&A Manual.

Water Quality Impact  

Construction Phase

15.18      Based on the above assessment of the water quality impact, an EM&A programme is considered necessary to obtain a database of baseline information of water quality before the dredging and filling works, and thereafter, to monitor any variation of water quality from the baseline conditions and exceedances of Water Quality Objectives (WQOs) at sensitive receivers in Victoria Harbour during these marine construction works. Monitoring parameters will include dissolved oxygen (DO), turbidity and suspended solids (SS).

15.19      Details of the EM&A programme are to be provided in a stand-alone EM&A Manual.  If the water quality monitoring data indicates that the proposed dredging and filling works result in unacceptable water quality impacts in the receiving water, appropriate actions should be taken to review the dredging and filling operation and additional measures such as slowing down, or rescheduling of works should be implemented as necessary.

Operation Phase

15.20      Adverse water quality impacts associated with the operation of the Project are not expected, and thus, no monitoring programme would be required.

Waste Management Issue

Construction Phase

15.21      It is 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 relevant legislation and waste management guidelines. 

15.22      It is recommended that the waste arisings generated during the construction activities should be audited regularly by the ET to determine if wastes are being managed in accordance with approved procedures.  The audits should look at all aspects of on-site waste management practices including waste generation, storage, recycling, transport and disposal.  Apart from site inspections, documents including licences, permits, disposal and recycling records should be reviewed and audited for compliance with the legislation and Contract requirements.  In addition, the routine site inspections should check the implementation of the recommended good site practices and other waste management mitigation measures.

15.23      A Waste Management Plan (WMP), as part of the Environmental Management Plan (EMP) should be prepared in accordance with ETWB TC(W) No.19/2005 and submitted to the Engineer for approval.  The recommended mitigation measures should form the basis of the WMP.  The monitoring and auditing requirement stated in ETWB TC(W) No.19/2005 should be followed with regard to the management of C&D materials.

Operation Phase

15.24      It is expected that large quantities of waste would not be generated from the operation of the Project and adverse environmental impacts would not be anticipated with the implementation of good waste management practices. Waste monitoring and audit programme for the operation phase of the Project would not be required.

Land Contamination Issue

15.25      Based on the Stage 1 SI results of the soil and groundwater samples, adverse land contamination impact during construction would not be envisaged. Thus, specific EM&A requirement is considered not necessary. Nevertheless, visual inspection is recommended as best practice during construction activities that disturb soil.

15.26      As one site had constraints (e.g. accessibility, site operation) in which the SI was not able to be carried out/completed during this EIA study, the SI shall be undertaken in Stage 2 after the land resumption/site decommissioning and prior to the commencement of the construction work. Precautionary measures recommended in Section 13 shall be referenced if site remediation is required..

Hazard to Life

15.27      Blasting activities regarding the marine transport of explosives should be supervised and audited by the competent site staff to ensure strict compliance with the blasting permit conditions.   

15.28      The recommended mitigation measures as outlined in the implementation schedule in Section 17 should be implemented to meet the EIAO-TM requirements.