This EIA study has focused on the assessment and mitigation of the
potential impacts associated with the phased construction and operation of the
Project. One of the key outputs has
been the identification of mitigation measures to be undertaken so that
residual impacts comply with regulatory requirements including the EIAO-TM. To confirm effective and timely implementation
of the mitigation measures, it is considered necessary to develop Environmental
Monitoring and Audit (EM&A) procedures and mechanisms by which the
Implementation Schedule (Annex 13A) may be tracked and its effectiveness
assessed.
The objectives of carrying out EM&A for the Project include:
·
Providing baseline information against which any short or long term
environmental impacts of the projects can be determined;
·
Providing an early indication should any of the environmental control
measures or practices fail to achieve the acceptable standards;
·
Monitoring the performance of the Project and the effectiveness of
mitigation measures;
·
Verifying the environmental impacts identified in the EIA;
·
Determining Project compliance with regulatory requirements, standards
and government policies;
·
Taking remedial action if unexpected results or unacceptable impacts
arise; and
·
Providing data to enable an environmental audit to be undertaken at
regular intervals.
The following Sections summarise the recommended
EM&A requirements for the Project.
Further details are provided in the EM&A Manual.
The EIA Study concluded that no
adverse fugitive dust impact is anticipated during the construction phase, and
so dust monitoring is considered not necessary. However, it is recommended to conduct
regular environmental site inspections, i.e. on a monthly basis, at the GRSs at
the BPPS and the LPS to check the implementation of the dust control measures
and good site practices as recommended in
Section 4.10.1 throughout the
construction phase.
These measures are also
summarised in the Implementation Schedule
provided in Annex 13A.
No adverse air quality impact is
anticipated during the operation of the Project. Environmental monitoring and audit
during the operation phase is not considered necessary.
This EIA Study concluded that no
unacceptable risks are foreseen as a result of the construction of the proposed
Project with safety management measures and safety systems outlined in Section
5.3.3 and Annex 5B in
place to manage and minimise the external hazards from construction activities.
These safety measures are
summarised in the Implementation Schedule
provided in Annex 13A.
The EIA study concluded that no unacceptable risks are foreseen as a
result of the operation of the Project with safety management measures and safety systems outlined in Section
5.3.3 and Annex 5B in
place to manage and minimise the external hazards from operational activities. The safety management
system developed for the Project will include regular inspections and audits.
These measures are summarised in the Implementation Schedule provided in
Annex 13A.
The EIA study of the Project concluded that no unacceptable
impacts will be associated with the construction or operation of the Project. Based on this, no construction or
operational noise monitoring is considered necessary.
A number of mitigation
measures and standard site practice measures for marine and land-based
construction activities have been recommended to reduce potential impacts to
water quality sensitive receivers.
These measures are summarised in the Implementation Schedule provided in
Annex 13A.
Regular site audits
will also be carried out throughout the marine-based construction works in
order to confirm that these measures are implemented.
The EIA indicated
that marine water quality monitoring at selected WSRs will be required for marine
dredging and jetting
works for the pipeline construction.
The full details of
the EM&A programme for water quality are presented in the EM&A
Manual for this Project.
The EIA indicated
that marine water quality monitoring at selected nearby WSRs will be required
during the first year of the LNG Terminal operational phase.
Marine water quality
monitoring at
selected nearby WSRs will also be
required for maintenance dredging (if any) during operation phase of the LNG
Terminal.
The full details of
the EM&A programme for water quality are presented in the EM&A
Manual for this Project.
It is recommended that monthly site
audits of the waste management practices be carried out at land-based work
sites (at the GRSs at the BPPS and the LPS), and at marine-based work sites (on
marine vessels) to determine if wastes are being managed in accordance with the
recommended good site practices and the Waste Management Plan. The audits will include all aspects of
waste management including waste generation, storage, handling, recycling,
transport and disposal. The
recommended construction phase waste management measures are summarised in the Implementation Schedule provided in Annex 13A.
No operation phase EM&A is considered necessary.
This EIA Study in Section 9.11 recommends that mitigation measures are implemented during the
construction phase. During the
construction phase, the following EM&A measures will be undertaken to verify
the predictions in the impact assessment and ensure the environmental
acceptability of the construction works:
· Water quality impacts will be monitored and checked through the implementation of a Water Quality EM&A programme (refer to Section 13.6.1 for details). The monitoring and control of water quality impacts will also serve to avoid unacceptable impacts to marine ecological resources and marine parks;
· A marine mammal exclusion zone will also be implemented and monitored by qualified observers for the presence of marine mammals during Jetty underwater percussive piling works and dredging and jetting works of the BPPS Pipeline and the LPS Pipeline; and
· Baseline, impact and post-construction monitoring of marine mammal using vessel-based line transect survey and passive acoustic monitoring (PAM) will be undertaken to keep track of potential changes in the usage of waters in the vicinity of the Project’s works areas by FP.
Details of the methods for the
above monitoring works are elaborated in the EM&A Manual.
The recommended construction
phase mitigation measures are summarised in the
Implementation Schedule provided in Annex 13A.
The assessment presented above
has indicated that unacceptable operational phase impacts are not expected to
occur to marine ecological resources.
Consequently, no marine ecology-specific operation phase EM&A
measures are considered necessary. During
the operation phase, water quality impacts will be monitored and checked
through the implementation of a Water Quality EM&A programme (refer to Section
13.6.2 for details). The
monitoring and control of water quality impacts will also serve to avoid
unacceptable impacts to marine ecological resources.
The recommended operational phase
mitigation measures are summarised in the Implementation Schedule
provided in Annex 13A.
This EIA Study concludes that no
unacceptable impacts are anticipated to occur during the construction and
operation of this Project, therefore, monitoring of fisheries resources during
these project phases is not considered necessary.
Monitoring activities designed to
detect and mitigate impacts to water quality during construction and operation
phases are also expected to serve to protect against impacts to fisheries. The details of the water quality
monitoring programme are presented in the EM&A Manual.
The recommended construction and
operational phase mitigation measures are summarised in the Implementation Schedule provided in Annex 13A.
This EIA Study concluded the visual impacts from the Project are
acceptable. A number of measures to
be implemented during design and construction of the Project are recommended
in Section 11.8, to
further enhance the visual elements associated with the Project. These are summarised in
the Implementation Schedule provided in Annex 13A.
No construction and operation phase EM&A programme is considered
necessary.
This EIA Study concluded no
impacts to archaeological resources are expected, therefore no mitigation
measure and environmental monitoring is required.