|
Hong Kong has seven main laws to control pollution. These are the Waste
Disposal Ordinance, the Water Pollution Control Ordinance, the Air Pollution
Control Ordinance, the Noise Control Ordinance, the Ozone Layer Protection
Ordinance, the Dumping at Sea Ordinance and the Environmental Impact Assessment
Ordinance. Most of these laws have subsidiary regulations and other statutory
provisions, such as technical memoranda, to give effect to the principal
laws.
The Government has adopted a system of environmental
quality objectives as a general principle in its pollution control laws.
The objectives are set at levels that will meet environmental goals, such
as the protection of public health or the preservation of a natural ecosystem.
The system aims to achieve the required environmental benefits in the
most cost-effective and economically sustainable manner. Limits imposed
on polluting emissions are no more stringent or costly than is necessary
to achieve the conservation goal, which also makes the maximum safe use
of the environment's natural capacity to absorb and recycle wastes.
In 2003, EPD inspectors made more than 68 720 inspections
to enforce control on air, noise, waste and water pollution. These included
regular checks on environmental compliance and investigations of pollution
complaints from the community. The enforcement work resulted in more than
577 prosecutions and $5.03 million in fines. To streamline enforcement
operation from a customer-oriented perspective, the EPD has set up multi-skilled
teams to deal with all types of pollution problems in any single site
inspection.
Apart from law enforcement, the department has organised
seminars and formed partnerships with various trades such as the construction
industry, the catering industry, the vehicle repair trade and the property
management sector to promote good environmental practices and compliance
with pollution control regulations. |
