1.1.1.1
The Project Proponent is the Electrical and Mechanical
Services Department (EMSD) and the Works Agent is the Architectural Services
Department (ArchSD). Meinhardt Infrastructure
& Environment Ltd (MIEL) was commissioned by the ArchSD as the
Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Consultant to conduct the EIA study for
this Project, which will be carried out in parallel with the design work.
1.2.1.1
This Project is to construct and operate a temporary vehicle
workshop facility for around 5 years to replace the existing EMSD Hong Kong
Workshop in
1.2.1.2
The proposed EMSD
Hong Kong Workshop will be a single storey building comprising various facilities for vehicle repair and
maintenance operation as well as parking of vehicles when not in
operation. The facility will occupy
a site area of about 2,080 m2 and the vehicle repair and maintenance
areas will be covered by a steel shelter with a 5.2 m high clearance. The rest of site will, also, be covered
by hardstanding as part of the access road and parking bays. A detailed description of the Project is
provided in Section 3 of the EIA report.
1.2.1.3
This Project is
a designated project under Item A.6, Part I, Schedule 2 of the EIAO: “A
transport depot located less than 200 m from the nearest boundary of an
existing or planned (a) residential area; (b) place of worship; (c) educational
institution; or (d) health care institution” and requires an Environmental
Impact Assessment (EIA) to be undertaken and an Environmental Permit (EP) to be
obtained prior to construction commencement. An application for the EIA Study Brief
under section 5(1) of the Environmental Impact Assessment Ordinance (EIAO) was
submitted by the EMSD on 13 June 2011 with a Project Profile (No.
PP-442/2011). The EIA Study Brief
No. ESB-231/2011 was issued by the Environmental Protection Department (EPD) on
20 July 2011.
1.3.1.1
The environmental issues covered in this EIA study and
assessment areas, as specified in the EIA Study Brief (No. ESB-231/2011), are
presented below:
·
Potential noise and air quality impacts from the
construction and operation of the Project to sensitive receivers near the
Project;
·
Potential water quality and sewerage impacts from the
construction and operation of the Project;
·
Potential waste management implications and land
contamination issues arising from the construction and operation of the
Project;
·
Potential landscape and visual impacts during the
construction and operation of the Project; and
·
Potential cumulative environmental impacts of the Project
and associated works, through interaction or in combination with other
existing, committed and planned projects in their vicinity, and that those
impacts may have a bearing on the environmental acceptability of the Project.
1.4 Purpose of this EM&A Manual
1.4.1.1
The purpose of this EM&A Manual is to guide the set-up
of an EM&A programme to check the compliance with the recommendations of
the EIA study for the EMSD Hong Kong Workshop, to assess the effectiveness of
the mitigation measures recommended in the EIA report (the Implementation
Schedule for Environmental Mitigation Measures (EMIS) is included in Appendix 1.1 of this EM&A Manual),
and to identify any further requirements for additional mitigation measures and
remedial action. This EM&A Manual
outlines the monitoring and audit programme for the Project. It aims to provide systematic procedures
for the monitoring, auditing and minimising of environmental impacts associated
with the activities of the Project.
1.4.1.2
All the environmental legislation of
1.4.1.3
This EM&A Manual contains the following information:
·
The responsibilities of the Contractor, Engineer,
Environmental Team (ET), and the Independent Environmental Checker (IEC) with
respect to the EM&A requirements during the course of the Project;
·
The requirements with respect to the construction schedule
and the EM&A programme to track the varying environmental impacts;
·
The details of methodologies to be adopted, including all
field laboratories and analytical procedures, and details on the quality
assurance and quality control (QA/QC) programme;
·
The rationale on which the environmental monitoring data
will be evaluated and interpreted;
·
The definition of Action and Limit levels;
·
The establishment of Event and Action plans;
·
The requirements for reviewing the pollution sources and
working procedures required in the event of the non-compliance with
environmental criteria and complaints;
·
The requirements for the presentation of EM&A data and
appropriate reporting procedures; and
·
The requirements for reviewing the EIA predictions and
effectiveness of mitigation measures/environmental management systems and the
EM&A programme.
1.4.1.4
This EM&A Manual is a dynamic document that should be
reviewed regularly and updated as necessary during the construction and
operation of the Project.
1.5.1.1
The construction programme of this Project is shown in Appendix 1.2, based on which this EIA
was carried out. The construction
works are planned to be commenced in around August 2012 and completed in November
2013, upon which mobilisation and installation of the equipment will be carried
out. The anticipated operation will
be commenced tentatively in February 2014 and completed in July 2017.
·
2012 August: Commencement
of construction works
·
2013 November: Completion
of construction works and mobilisation and installation of equipment
·
2014 February: Commencement
of operation of the Project
·
2017 July: Completion
of operation of the Project
1.6.1.1
According to the construction programme shown in Section 1.5
above, the EM&A programme of this Project would be implemented according to
the following tentative schedule.
Details should refer to Sections
2-9.
·
2012 July: Baseline
monitoring (prior to the commencement of works)
·
2012 August: Impact
monitoring (throughout the construction period)
·
2013 November: Ceasation
and termination of EM&A programme (upon confirmation of substantial
completion of the Project and no construction works would be carried out)
1.7 Impact Prediction Review Procedures
1.7.1.1
The procedures for reviewing the impact prediction in the
EIA study will include:
·
Specifying the
requirements for submission of EM&A data, including monitoring and audit
records;
·
Implementation of Event and Action Plans and
follow-up action;
·
Listing all relevant environmental protection and
pollution control legislation and the required licenses and permits;
·
Communication with regulators vis a vis offences under relevant environmental ordinances, prosecutions, etc;
·
Waste disposal
documentation;
·
Incident reporting and investigations;
·
Resolution of public complaints;
·
Work programmes and methods including any
variations to EIA predictions;
·
Design issues, including any variations to EIA
predictions; and
·
Review of monitoring and audit criteria, etc.
1.8 Assessing Effectiveness of Environmental Management System, Practices and Procedures
1.8.1.1
The effectiveness of environmental management system,
practices and procedures for the EM&A Programme should be assessed with
reference to the following:
·
Effective monitoring environmental impacts and effectiveness of measures
to mitigate its environmental impacts by specifying the environmental
parameters and/or impact to be monitored (e.g. monitoring frequency,
methodology, locations, equipment/instrumentation, Action/Limit levels to
trigger corrective measures) and the auditing procedure and statistical
validation of the impacts.
·
Effective auditing of the environmental performance by requiring
a) Analysis and
interpretation of all monitoring and any audit data, to assist in the
prevention and mitigation of impacts on the environment;
b) Examination
of all available information related to the investigation of the nature, and
causes of actual, potential and cumulative environmental impacts and
complaints/queries; and
c) Proposals
for (i) remedial measures for the resolution of impacts; (ii) effective
implementation of proposed mitigation measures; (iii) documentation and summary
of audit findings; (iv) liaison and consultation of with the public and
concerned groups on the effects of project works on the environment audit.
1.9.1.1
The roles and responsibilities of various parties involved
in the EM&A process and the organisational structure of the parties
responsible for implementing the EM&A programme are outlined below. The project organisation and lines of
communication with respect to environmental protection works are shown in Figure 1.1.
1.9.2.1
The Engineer is responsible for overseeing the construction
works and ensuring the works to be undertaken by the Contractor in accordance
with the specifications and contractual requirements. The duties and responsibilities of the
Engineer with respect to the EM&A programme include:
·
To supervise the Contractor’s activities and ensure the
requirements in the EM&A Manual to be fully complied with;
·
To inform the Contractor when action is required to reduce the
environmental impacts in accordance with the Event and Action Plans;
·
To lead the regular site inspections and audits attended by
the Contractor and Environmental Team (ET); and
·
To adhere to the procedures for carrying out the complaint
investigation.
1.9.3.1
The Contractor should report to the Engineer. The duties and responsibilities of the
Contractor are:
·
To implement the recommendations and requirements of the EIA
study;
·
To provide assistance to the ET in carrying out the relevant
environmental monitoring;
·
To submit the proposals of mitigation measures in case of
exceedances of the Action and Limit levels, in accordance with the Event and
Action Plans;
·
To implement the mitigation measures to reduce the
environmental impacts where the Action and Limit levels are exceeded until the
events are resolved; and
·
To adhere to the procedures for carrying out the complaint
investigation as required in the EM&A Manual.
1.9.4.1
The ET will conduct the EM&A programme to ensure the
Contractor’s compliance with the Project’s environmental requirements during the
construction phase.
1.9.4.2
The ET should be led and managed by an Environmental Team Leader
(ETL), who should possess at least 7 years of experience in EM&A. The ET should monitor the mitigation
measures implemented by the Contractor on a regular basis to ensure the compliance
with the intended aims of the mitigation measures. The duties and responsibilities of the ET
are:
·
To monitor various environmental parameters as required in
the EM&A Manual;
·
To carry out site inspections to investigate and audit the
Contractor’s site practices, equipment and work methodologies with respect to the
pollution control and environmental mitigation, and anticipate the environmental
issues for the proactive and practicable action before problems arising;
·
To analyse the EM&A data, review the success of EM&A
programme to confirm the adequacy of mitigation measures implemented, and the
validity of the EIA predictions and to identify any adverse environmental
impacts arising and report the EM&A results to the Independent
Environmental Checker (IEC), Contractor, and Engineer;
·
To prepare the reports of environmental monitoring data and
site environmental conditions; and
·
To review the proposals of mitigation measures by the
Contractor in case of exceedances of the Action and Limit levels, in accordance
with the Event and Action Plans.
1.9.5
Independent
Environmental Checker (IEC)
1.9.5.1
The IEC should advise the Engineer on the environmental
issues related to the Project. The
IEC should possess at least 7 years of experience in EM&A. The duties and responsibilities of the
IEC are:
·
To review and audit in an independent, objective and
professional manner in all aspects of the EM&A programme;
·
To validate and confirm the accuracy of the monitoring
results, monitoring equipment, monitoring locations, monitoring procedures and
locations of sensitive receivers;
·
To carry out random sample checking and audit of the
environmental monitoring data and sampling procedures, etc;
·
To conduct random site inspections during construction;
·
To audit the recommendations and requirements of the EIA study
against the status of the implementation of environmental protection measures
on-site;
·
To review the effectiveness of the environmental mitigation
measures and environmental performance of the Project;
·
On as-needed basis, to verify and certify the environmental
acceptability of the Environmental Permit (EP) holder’s construction
methodology (both temporary and permanent works), relevant design plans and
submissions under the EP;
·
To verify the investigation results of the environmental complaints
and the effectiveness of corrective measures;
·
To verify the EM&A reports that have been certified by
the ETL; and
·
To provide feedback of the audit results to the ET/EP holder
according to the Event and Action Plans in the EM&A manual.
1.10 Structure of this EM&A Manual
1.10.1.1
Following this introductory section, the remainder of the EM&A
Manual is set out as follows:
·
Section 2 sets out EM&A
requirements for noise;
·
Section 3 sets out EM&A
requirements for air quality;
·
Section 4 sets out EM&A
requirements for water quality;
·
Section 5 details auditing
requirements for waste management implication and land contamination;
·
Section 6 details auditing
requirements for landscape and visual impact;
·
Section 7 describes the scope and
frequency of the environmental site audits and sets out the general
requirements of the EM&A programme; and
·
Section 8 details the EM&A
reporting requirements; and
·
Section 9 describes the
termination of the EM&A programme.