1. Introduction

1.1 Background

1.1.1 This Project is to construct and operate a new offices-cum-vehicle depot building (the Depot) to accommodate the existing facilities in Sai Yee Street Vehicle Depot. The Project Proponent is the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD), which is responsible for the operation of the Project after completion of construction works. P&T Architect and Engineers Limited was awarded as the lead consultant, for the design and construction supervision of the Project. URS Hong Kong Limited was appointed as the environmental sub-consultant to undertake the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) study for this Project.

1.2 The Assignment

1.2.1 As mentioned in Section 1.1.1, this Project is to construct and operate a new offices-cum-vehicle depot building to accommodate the existing facilities in Sai Yee Street Vehicle Depot. The Site is located on an urbanized area at Yen Ming Road. It is an area zoned as “Government, Institution or Community” use, whilst commercial, residential and institutional uses are located nearby. The site location of this Project is shown in Figure 1-1. The Site constitutes an area of previously developed reclaimed land which was occupied by Civil Engineering and Development Department (CEDD) as site offices and associated storage (just returned).

1.2.2 The proposed offices-cum-vehicle depot building will be a five-storey building comprising various facilities for vehicle washing and repair operation, parking of vehicles as well as offices. It will occupy a site area of about 8,278m². A detailed description of the Project is provided in Chapter 3.

1.2.3 In accordance with Item A.6, Part I, Schedule 2 of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Ordinance, this Project is a designated project under the category of “A transport depot located less than 200m from the nearest boundary of an existing or planned residential area / educational institution. An EIA is required and an Environmental Permit (EP) is to be obtained prior to construction commencement. An application for the EIA Study Brief under Section 5(1) of the EIA Ordinance (EIAO) was submitted by the FEHD on 17 April 2012 with a Project Profile (No. PP-463/2012). The EIA Study Brief (No. ESB-245/2012) was issued by the Environmental Protection Department (EPD) on 25 May 2012 to proceed with an EIA study for the Project.

1.3 Purpose and Objectives of this EIA

1.3.1 This EIA Report was prepared in accordance with the abovementioned EIA Study Brief (No. ESB-245/2012), the purpose of this EIA study is to provide information on the nature and extent of the potential environmental impacts arising from construction and operation of the Project and associated works that will take place concurrently. This information will contribute to the decisions by the EPD on:

· The overall acceptability of any adverse environmental consequences that are likely to arise as a result of the Project;

· The conditions and requirements for the detailed design, construction and operation of the Project to mitigate against adverse environmental consequences wherever practicable; and

· The acceptability of residual impacts after the proposed mitigation measures is implemented.

1.3.2 According to the EIA Study Brief (No. ESB-245/2012), the specific objectives of this EIA study are as follows:

· To describe the Project and associated works together with the requirements and environmental benefits for carrying out the Project and the types of designated projects to be covered by the Project;

· To identify and describe elements of community and environment likely to be affected by the Project and/or likely to cause adverse impacts to the Project, including natural and man-made environment and the associated environmental constraints;

· To provide information on the consideration of alternative options of the Project including scale/size, extent, layout, configuration/orientation, design and construction methods with a view to avoid and minimise potential environmental impacts to the environmentally sensitive areas and sensitive uses; to compare the environmental benefits and dis-benefits of different options; to provide reasons for selecting the preferred option(s) and to describe the part environmental factors played in the selection of preferred option(s);

· To identify and quantify emission sources, including air and gaseous emission, noise emission, sewage and wastewater emission, waste generation and land contamination, and determine the significance of impacts on sensitive receivers and potential affected uses;

· To identify any potential landscape and visual impacts and to propose measures to mitigate these impacts;

· To propose the provision of infrastructure or mitigation measures so as to minimize pollution, environmental disturbance and nuisance during construction and operation of Project;

· To investigate the feasibility, practicability, effectiveness and implications of the proposed mitigation measures;

· To identify, predict and evaluate the residual environmental impacts (i.e. after practicable mitigation) and the cumulative effects expected to arise during the construction and operation phases of the Project in relation to the sensitive receivers and potential affected uses;

· To identify, assess and specify methods, measures and standards, to be included in the detailed design, construction and operation of the Project which are necessary to mitigate these environmental impacts and cumulative effects and reduce them to acceptable levels;

· To investigate the extent of the secondary environmental impacts that may arise from the proposed mitigation measures and to identify constraints associated with the mitigation measures recommended in the EIA study, as well as the provision of any necessary modification; and

· To design and specify environmental monitoring and audit requirements to ensure the effective implementation of the recommended environmental protection and pollution control measures.

1.4 Approach to EIA Study

1.4.1 The following general principles and approaches for evaluating the potential environmental impacts were adopted in this EIA study:-

Description of the Environment

1.4.2 The characteristics of the existing environment were described for the identification and prediction of potential impacts which are likely to arise from implementing the Project. Baseline environmental surveys were conducted where necessary and relevant reports / documents were reviewed to determine the existing environmental conditions on the Project site and in all surrounding areas likely to be affected by the Project.

Impact Prediction

1.4.3 Individual aspect assessments were undertaken in accordance with the relevant guidelines on assessment methodologies given in the Technical Memorandum on Environmental Impact Assessment Process (EIAO-TM).

1.4.4 Similar methodologies applied in the assessments have previously been adopted in other EIA studies in Hong Kong, which have been generally accepted for use in predicting environmental impacts and for the comparison of assessment results with the EIAO-TM requirements. Limitations are however envisaged of these methodologies and the accuracy of the prediction will be affected by the degree of uncertainty in input data for quantitative assessments. For example, base data for future conditions such as weather conditions, which have to be considered during the formulation of assessment conclusions. These have been addressed by the adoption of realistic but worst case assumptions have been made in order to provide a conservative assessment of environmental impacts. Where worst case assumptions have been used, it would be stated in the assessment methodologies.

Impact Evaluation

1.4.5 The predicted changes and effects resulting from the Project were evaluated with respect to the criteria given in the EIAO-TM and were in quantitative assessments as far as practicable.

Impact Mitigation

1.4.6 Mitigation measures have been identified and evaluated to avoid, reduce and remedy the impacts. Priority was given to avoidance of impacts as a primary means of mitigation. The effectiveness of the proposed mitigation was assessed and the residual environmental impacts were identified and considered for their acceptability.

1.4.7 An implementation schedule for the mitigation measures was prepared to identify when and where each mitigation measure is required, and to identify which parties are responsible for its implementation and where necessary, for its maintenance.

1.5 EIA Study Scope

1.5.1 The environmental issues covered in this EIA study, as addressed in the EIA Study Brief (No. ESB-245/2012), are as follows:

· Potential air quality impact from the construction and operation of the Project; potential air quality impact on the sensitive receivers near the Project site from air pollutant emission sources (such as vehicular emission, industrial emission from chimneys and odour emission sources);

· Potential noise impact on sensitive receivers caused by the Project, including impact from construction equipment during construction, operational noise impact from fixed noise sources, and arrangement of traffic route;

· 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.

1.6 Structure of this Report

1.6.1 This EIA Report comprises 12 chapters including this introductory section, which described the background, purpose, scope and approach of the EIA study. The other sections are outlined below:

· Chapter 2 describes the consideration of alternative schemes of the Project and the reasons for selecting the preferred scheme and construction methods. It also summarises the Project’s anticipated environmental benefits;

· Chapter 3 presents the Project site and its surrounding environment, preliminary design of the Depot and the major activities in the Project;

· Chapter 4 identifies and assesses the potential air quality impacts arising during the construction and operation of the Project;

· Chapter 5 identifies and assesses the potential construction and operational noise impacts arising from the Project;

· Chapter 6 identifies and assesses the potential water quality and sewerage impacts during the construction and operation of the Project;

· Chapter 7 identifies and assesses the potential waste management implications and land contamination issues during the construction and operation of the Project;

· Chapter 8 identifies and assesses the potential landscape and visual impacts arising during the construction and operation of the Project;

· Chapter 9 summaries the environmental outcomes arising from this Project;

· Chapter 10 defines the scope of the EM&A requirements for the Project;

· Chapter 11 presents the overall conclusion for this EIA Report; and

· Chapter 12 provides information on the implementation of the mitigation measures.