PAPER ON THE
US ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
AND ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION WORK IN HONG KONG
CARRIE LAM
WASHINGTON, DC
DECEMBER 1988
EPA-;.
160''
1988.-
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Paragraph Number
fV Introduction
\ Environmental Protection Authorities
*V Air Quality Management .
^ Water Quality Management
Solid Waste Management
Hazardous Waste Management
Toxic Substances and Pesticides
Noise Abatement
Public/Private Partnership
Environmental Education
1
2
15
42
85
103
129
147
151
163
14
41
84
102
128
146
150
162
171
en
CD
HEADQUARTERS LIBRARY
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20460
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INTRODUCTION
1. This paper describes the work and responsibilities of
the United States Environmental Protection Agency and
discusses the lessons that could be drawn by Hong Kong from
the US experience in^ addressing her major environmental
problems. The various; US reports and documents referred to
in the paper are available for perusal by those who are
interested. Description of the Hong Kong situation is
based on my personal understanding and information on the
report entitled Environment Hong Kong 1986 published by the
Hong Kong Environmental Protection Department. As this
paper was written during my stay in the US, attempts have
not been made to verify or update the quoted data and
information. \
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AUTHORITIES
2. As one environmentalist puts it, environmental efforts
are often reactive--emerging in response to a crisis. This
remark is certainly applicable to the US. In 1969, globs
of crude oil began washing up on the beaches of Santa
Barbara, California. Other cases of gross pollution during
the late 1960s led • to the birth of an environmental
movement in the US.: Two landmarks in environmental
protection took place 'in 1970: the celebration of Earth Day
and the creation of the US Environmental Protection Agency
(hereinafter referred to as EPA or the Agency.)
Creation of the US EPA
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3. On 22 April 1970, tens of thousands of Americans
gathered all over the;country in celebration of Earth Day,
with a national outpouring concern for cleaning up the
environment. It was soon clear to President Nixon that the
Administration could ! not respond to public demand to
protect the environment without first creating a single
agency to take charge. An executive reorganisation plan
was drawn up to consolidate a number of federal
environmental activities into a new agency. EPA was
created as an independent agency in the Executive Branch on
2 December 1970. ;
4. EPA was formed by bringing together 15 components from
the Department of the^ Interior, Department of Agriculture,
Food and Drug Administration, Department of Health,
Education, and Welfare, and the Federal Radiation Council.
But many federal agencies and departments continue to
perform functions tha't have a significant impact on the
environment. For example, the Department of Agriculture is
responsible for promoting safe use of pesticides on
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farmlands and developing the Integrated Pest Management
Programme; the US Forest Service looks after all National
Parks across the country; the Pish and Wildlife Service and
the Soil Conservation. Service have active wetlands and
endangered species ^programmes; the Food and Drug
Administration regulates pesticide residues in food and
promotes consumer safety; the Corps of Engineers controls
disposal of dredged and fill material in the ocean; and the
Department of the Interior determines land use, off-shore
drilling, and construction of dams and drainages. On the
other hand, there are federal agencies whose work conflicts
with EPA's mandate: for example, the Department of Energy
and the Department of [Defense are major polluters in terms
of their nuclear plants and equipment. Safe disposal of
the millions of tons of nuclear waste generated by these
facilities remain a major problem yet to be tackled by the
US Government. I
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5. The US EPA is directed by an Administrator appointed
by the President. j He is assisted by a Deputy
Administrator; nine Assistant Administrators, who manage
specific environmental programme areas (i.e. air and
radiation, water, solid waste and emergency response,
pesticides and toxic substances, and research and
development) or direct general Agency functions (such as
external affairs, resource management, enforcement, and
policy planning and evaluation) ; two Associate
Administrators who take charge of international affairs and
regional operations; and ten Regional Administrators who
administer environmental federal laws across the country.
6. Substantial achievements were made during the 1970s,
both in terms of i provision of pollution abatement
facilities and promulgation of environmental laws. In the
early 1970s, Congress! enacted a series of laws—the Clean
Air Act, the Clean Water Act, the Safe Drinking Water Act—
to curb pollution. i In the late 1970s, a new wave of
environmental problems associated with hazardous materials
occurred and Congress passed another series of
environmental laws—the Resource Conservation and Recovery
Act, the Comprehensive Environmental Response,
Compensation, and Liability Act, and the Toxic Substances
Control Act. ; '
'EPA under the Reagan Administration
7. Environmental protection work suffered a severe
setback during the early years of the Reagan
Administration. With lits emphasis on de-regulation and its
pro-industry stance, ; the enforcement vigour of EPA was
largely compromised. Political appointees who were neither
qualified nor committed to protecting the environment
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headed the Interior Department and EPA. All the people
within or outside the Agency to whom I had spoken were
upset by the environmental neglect and mismanagement, and
the low morale of i Agency staff during that period.
Enforcement of environmental laws was relaxed, the budget
was severely cut, and scandals involving senior EPA staff
were uncovered. This era ended in 1983 with the
resignation of the EPA Administrator and the Assistant
Administrator- in charge of Superfund, who was subsequently
indicted and sentenced' to prison.
8. Although EPA has. since recovered some of its lost
ground under more ;capable leadership, the Reagan
Administration remains unenthusiastic about environmental
protection. Amendment's to the Clean Water Act unanimously
passed by Congress were vetoed twice by President Reagan,
action on acid rain jwas unjustifiably delayed, and EPA
continued to suffer extensive budget cuts despite an almost
twofold increase in workload. As Jay Hair, President of
the National Wildlife Federation, described in response to
enquiries in a press conference, environmentalists had been
totally cut off .from; the White House during the Reagan
Administration; inadequate Presidential leadership to
protect the environment was evident at both the domestic
and international level•
9. The lack of federal enthusiasm has, however,
accelerated the growth!of environmental movement in the US.
Membership in many national environmental groups, such as
the Sierra Club and the National Audubon Society, was more
than doubled during the 1980s; new non-governmental
environmental groups and coalitions were formed, and a much
wider agenda was being ; adopted. Environmental concerns are
no longer confined to local air, water, land pollution;
they cover a diversity of subjects from population growth,
global climate change, energy resources to preservation of
wetlands and protection of endangered species. To ensure
that the next President will provide the necessary
national and international leadership on environmental
protection, the American environmental community came
together to prepare a! Blueprint for the Environment for
President-elect Bush. 'The Blueprint contains more than 700
detailed recommendations, and addresses old and emerging
environmental problems.,
10. Although Bush is , part of the Reagan legacy, it is
generally believed that EPA would be given a stronger
profile under his Administration. This is due to increased
public concern over the deterioration of environmental
quality; the strong 'pressure from local environmental
groups and overseas communities, such as Canada and the
United Nations Environment Programme; and Bush's own pledge
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as an environmentalist' during his campaign. His specific
campaign promises on environmental issues include
reductions of acid rain precursors, no net loss in the
country's wetlands, an effective Clean Air Act/ and a
global initiative to address international problems,
including the greenhouse effect. But the first question
that he needs to address is whether to make EPA a cabinet-
level department. In Itheir Blueprintfor the Environment,
environmentalists argue that given the magnitude and
importance of the environmental problems facing the US and
the world, "those primarily responsible for dealing with
them must sit in the highest councils of government." They
therefore recommend the creation • of a new cabinet-level
Department of Environmental Protection to replace the
present EPA. .
Creation of a New Environment and Planning Branch in Hong
Kong '
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11. While the future i status of the US EPA has yet to be
determined, I understand that active arrangements are in
hand in Hong Kong to jcreate a new policy branch for the
environment and planning and, as a .first step, the
pollution control division has already been transferred
from the Health and Welfare Branch to the Lands and Works
Branch. I strongly support the proposed reorganisation:
(a) as an integral part of any aggressive programme to
cope with our environmental problems;
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(b) as a firm indication to the public of Government's
commitment to clean up the environment;
(c) as a step towards coordinating all efforts currently
undertaken by various departments and assuming
supervisory oversight of Government departments which
could turn out to 'be potential polluters; and
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(d) as an opportunity for greater initiatives to be
undertaken in the 'areas of environmental education and
publicity. •
12. At a philosophical level, our concern for the
environment should not be confined to public health
considerations. We sHould have an equal concern for our
land, water, and natural resources which we inherit from
our ancestors and which we should pass onto our future
generations without any significant depletion. The removal
of environmental protection from the jurisdiction of the
Health and Welfare Branch is therefore conceptually a move
in the right direction.'
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13. As a matter of fact, environmental protection work in
many countries places a strong emphasis on nature
conservation and ecological improvements: The Constitution
of the People's Republic of China states that "The State
shall protect, and improve the living environment and
ecological (my underlining) environment, and shall control
pollution and other j public hazards"; the US EPA has
separate offices devoted to the protection of wetlands and
estuaries; the Japanese Environment Agency has a division
on nature conservation; and Singapore has an active
interdepartmental programme to restore damaged ecosystems.
The diversity of species, the existence of wetlands etc.
are necessary for the;normal functioning of ecosystems and
the biosphere, of which man is a part. As the Report of
the World Commission ion Environment and Development puts
it, " .... utility aside> there are also moral, ethical,
cultural, aesthetic, ; and purely scientific reasons for
conserving wild beings;."
14. With formulation of environmental policies and
coordination of environmental protection work being
undertaken by a.new branch, it may not be necessary, in my
view, to further transfer functions currently performed by
other departments, such as the regulation of pesticide use
by the Agriculture arid Fisheries Department, the control
over vehicle emissions by the Police and the Transport
Department, to the Environmental Protection Department.
Ideally, environmental goals and guidelines should be
infused into the work and consideration of each
department. In practice, EPD has undergone substantial
structural changes 'in recent years and has assumed
additional responsibilities. It would not be wise to
overburden it at this stage.
AIR QUALITY MANAGEMENT
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The US Clean Air Act 1970
15. The Clean Air Act of 1970 was Congress' response to
deteriorating air quality in the US as a result of
increased industrialisation, urbanisation, and a growing
dependence on automobiles. The Act requires EPA to set
National Ambient Air Quality Standards to place limits on
pollution levels. Two types of standards specifying
maximum acceptable levels for six pollutants in outdoor air
have been established: primary standards set limits which
protect human health; including "sensitive population",
such as children or the elderly; while secondary standards
protect plants and animals from harmful effects of air
pollution. The six regulated pollutants ares carbon
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monoxide, sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, lead, ozone and
particulates. ;
16. In the case- of; control of emissions from mobile
sources, the US EPA: has promulgated federal emission-
control requirements for new vehicles. Every new model
automobile, whether locally produced or imported, has to go
through an extensive test procedure under the Federal Motor
Vehicle Control Programme in the EPA laboratory in Michigan
before they can be sold in the country. To ensure that
manufacturers are producing their cars properly, the
Agency operates an Assembly Line Test Programme which
involves a random testing of cars immediately off the
assembly line in the i plants where they are manufactured
(which entails visits; to overseas producers in Japan and
West Germany) and an active programme to recall cars in use
for inspection. Individual states also implement
inspection programmes '> under EPA oversight to ensure that
car owners are properly maintaining their cars.
17. Another major aspect of EPA's mobile source emissions
control efforts is its fuel program. Since the early
1970s, EPA has required the lead content of all gasoline to
be reduced over time. ' The lead content of leaded gasoline
was reduced in 1985 from 1.0 gram/gallon to 0.5 gram/gallon
and further in 1986 to|0.1 gram/gallon. (As far as I know,
the maximum permitted lead content in gasoline in Hong Kong
is now 0.15 grams per litre or roughly 0.6 grams per
gallon.) In addition, EPA requires the use of unleaded
gasoline in many cars 'beginning in 1975. Currently, about
70 percent of the gas 'sold is unleaded. Active research is
being conducted on alternative fuels, such as the addition
of methanol to gasoline to reduce carbon monoxide
emissions. ;
18. All these efforts'have significantly reduced the level
of pollutants released from automobiles. Unfortunately,
emission reduction has been accompanied by a growth in car
ownership and .a rapid [increase in mileage travelled. As a
result, many metropolitan areas in the US are still
suffering from the smog problem, notably Los Angeles,
Houston, and Philadelphia.
19. To help ensure compliance with air quality standards
by stationary sources', EPA sets New Source Performance
Standards that limit emissions allowed from new industrial
plants and existing plants which are substantially
modified. Standards are now in effect for most industries.
Since national performance standards apply only to new or
modified plants, these controls are generally not adequate
on themselves to assure acceptable air quality. State
governments are therefore required to draw up and enforce
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state implementation ;plans, which spell out additional
measures necessary tb achieve acceptable air quality.
These usually include, controls on older industrial plants
and other stationary sources.
20. The Clean Air Act also requires EPA to set national
emission standards for substances that are so toxic that
even small amounts may adversely affect health. To date,
EPA has set such standards for eight hazardous substances:
asbestos, arsenic,- benzene, beryllium, mercury,
radionuclides, vinyl chloride and coke oven emissions.
21. Although air quality in the US has generally improved
in the last two decades, with a decrease in the ambient
levels of all the six regulated pollutants, about 100 urban
areas across the country are still unable to meet the
national standards for ozone and carbon monoxide at the end
of the specified deadline of 31 August 1988 and have since
been subject to sanctions in terms of limitations on new
emissions, such as the imposition of a construction ban in
urban regions in southern California.
22. The Clean Air Act was a subject of intense debate
during the 100th Congress. When Congress ended without
being able to reauthorise the Act (the Clean Air Act was
last amended in 1977 with an authorisation for
appropriations to expire in 1981. Since then, although
authorities in the Act continue, and funding has been
provided, the Act has not been formally reauthorised by
Congress), both environmentalists and senior EPA staff have
openly expressed their disappointment. The major obstacle
towards an agreement; was the acid rain issue on which
provisions had been put forward to reduce the amounts of
sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxides. The arch-opponents,
as expected, were Congressmen representing states with a
huge stake in coal and automobile industries.
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Air Pollution Control in Hong Kong
23. In Hong Kong, the Air Pollution Control Ordinance
provides powers for the regulation of emission of
pollutants into the atmosphere from stationary sources and
the Road Traffic Ordinance regulates pollution from
vehicles. Their respective subsidiary legislation
stipulates design requirements for furnaces, chimneys, and
vehicle engines. However, unlike the US approach which
stipulates national standards for compliance regardless of
location and the present state of air quality in individual
regions, air quality management in Hong Kong proceeds on
the basis of declared zones. The basic structure of the
Air Pollution Control; Ordinance is the declaration of Air
Control Zones and the establishment of Air Quality
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Objectives. The aim • is to achieve specified objectives
within each declared' zone as soon as practicable by
implementing air quality management plans. This is also
the approach adopted; in Hong Kong's water management
programme. While it is appreciated that the two Air
Control Zones declared'so far already cover the majority of
the population and industrial activity in Hong Kong and
that a fully-fledged; programme would require extensive
monitoring data and • resources, the following factors
perhaps justify a reconsideration of the present approach:
(a) it is practically not feasible to deal with air,
water, or soil in a sectoral fashion. Apart from
being a subject of contamination, the atmosphere is
also a medium for transporting pollutants, hence the
problem of acid rain;
(b) environmental protection should aim at anticipation
and prevention rather than an after-the-fact remedy.
It is sensible both from cost-effectiveness and public
health points of view to abate pollution problems well
before they reach unmanageable dimensions. The
question to ask about environmental protection.is not
"Can we afford to do it eventually?" It is "Can we
afford' not to do it now?" Anticipation and prevention
. is the theme of a recent EPA Science Advisory Board
report entitled Future Risk; Research Strategies for
thejiLi1990s which recommends the shifting of emphasis
from end-of-pipe controls to preventing the generation
of pollution; and;
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(c) the experience of the rapid deterioration of beaches
on the southern shore of the Hong Kong Island and the
subsequent urgency to declare it as a Water Pollution
Control Zone indicates that our valuable environment
could suffer as' a result of prioritisation. An
artificially imposed "waiting list" could give rise to
irreparable environmental damages.
Emission of Toxic Pollutants
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24. The air pollutants which are the subjects of Hong
Kong's Air Quality Objectives are identical to those
regulated under the 1 US National Ambient Air Quality
Standards although no comparison has been made of the
respective maximum acceptable levels. However, there is no
reference in the Hong Kong programme to emission of toxic
pollutants (perhaps with the exception of asbestos which is
the subject of a Code of Practice). As pointed out
earlier, toxic substances can cause damages to human health
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even if they are present in small amounts. In fact, the
treatment and disposal of toxic chemicals is one of my
major concerns after having seen the exorbitant price paid
and is still being paid by the Americans in cleaning up
their hazardous waste 'sites. We should learn from the US
experience that we won't have the time and resources to
damage our environment now and to clean it up later. (See
later section on hazardous waste and the US Superfund
programme.) ;
Pollution from Stationary Sources
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25. According to my understanding, the Hong Kong
Environmental Protection Department regulates air
pollutants from industries under the Air Pollution Control
regulations in respect of (1) specified processes; and (2)
the installation and alteration of furnaces, chimneys and
ovens. Specified processes are those which constitute high
environmental risks and currently include a list of 23
types of metal, plastic, chemical-and petrochemical works,
power stations, and cement works. A licensing system is
being operated for conducting new specified processes while
existing ones are exempted until a time when the plants
used are replaced or modified. The questions are: are the
internal 'standards adopted by the licensing authority
sufficiently stringent to protect human health and the
environment? Is the law being enforced vigorously and
effectively?
26. During my stay i'n the US, I was told repeatedly by
environmentalists that we could not expect industries to
comply with environmental requirements voluntarily. They
have to be hit, and hit hard, in order to make them realize
that it is more economical to incorporate pollution
abatement devices in their industrial process than to face
the possibilities of heavy fines. Polluters must be made
to pay. Fines and other sanctions must be determined at a
level sufficient to !result in the essential deterrent
effect. A fine of a few thousand dollars is certainly not
going to create that impact. Members of the public in Hong
Kong have already suffered more than necessary under a
"gentle and kind" enforcement approach which places
emphasis on advice rather than prosecution. (See para. 3.32
of the EPD's report entitled Environment Hong Kono 1986.)
They have never given: industrialists or even the Hong Kong
Government the endorsement to contaminate the air they
breathe, the water they drink, or the environment they live
in. My experience in the Securities Review Committee
Secretariat told me that regulation is not going. to kill
business; instead 'it is essential to sustainable
prosperity and development, whether in the securities
industry or the manufacturing industry. ("Sustainable
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development" is the theme of a 1987 UN report prepared by
the World Commission on Environment and Development
entitled Our Common Future. It is defined as development
which will satisfy current needs without lessening the
potential for meeting |the needs of future generations. )
Pollution from Mobile Sources
27. In Hong Kong, standards on the design of vehicles are
pegged to those adopted in the western industrialised
nations. The Road Traffic Ordinance (Construction and
Maintenance of Vehicles). Regulations require new vehicles
to meet exhaust emission standards of the Economic
Commission of Europe, tU.K., USA or Australia. In the case
of inspection programmes for in-service vehicles, the
current pre-registration requirement, the annual
examination of vehicles manufactured before a certain date,
and the kerbs ide smok'emeter checks appear to be adequate
safeguards.- !
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28. In my view, there are two other aspects in our air
quality management program which could be looked at in
detail. First, the lead content in fuel. Given the proven
damage of lead on human health, Hong Kong should accelerate
the reduction of lead1 content and the ultimate banning of
all lead in gasoline in future. Second, Hong Kong should
learn the lesson from! the US experience and place greater
emphasis on traffic management to avoid air quality gains
accrued from emission- controls being offset by growth in
Vehicle miles travelled. Apart from the absolute number of
vehicles on the road, attention should be given to reducing
congestion. Laboratory tests in the US have indicated that
emission levels from vehicles are far greater in a
frequent stop-and-start situation than during smooth
traffic. Reduction iin traffic intensity is therefore
important to improving air quality in the urban area.
While opening of the [second cross harbour tunnel and the
building of more highways will help, improvements to the
public transport and the mass transit system should
continue to be a priority.
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Acid Rain
29. Acid rain and interstate air pollution has become an
increasingly serious environmental problem in the US since
the late 1970s. Canada and many northeastern states in the
US are suffering from acid rain formed by the heavy
emissions of sulphur! dioxide from major coal-producing
states in the Mid-West, including Ohio, Indiana, and
Illinois. In the past few Congresses, acid rain had
emerged as the primary, focus of attempts to amend the Clean
Air Act. Several bills had been introduced to tackle the
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problem and, generally speaking, they fell into two
categories: one type of amendments aimed at establishing a
regulatory programme mandating emission reductions (which,
of course, was strongly resisted by the coal-producing
industry and states ,on the ground of drastic economic
implications); another type of legislation proposed a clean
coal programme to be developed under federal assistance.
30. The Reagan Administration has been severely criticized
by environmentalists ; in the US and by its Canadian
counterpart for failing to initiate any control actions on
the excuse that the problem is not sufficiently urgent and
serious to require [immediate action. However, given
mounting evidence of the damaging effects of acid rain on
the ecosystem and President-elect Bush's pledge during his
campaign to do something about it, environmentalists are
optimistic that the : Clean Air Act will be amended to
include acid rain control provisions during the first year
of the next Congress. ;
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31. The Environment Hong Kong 1986 report published by the
Environmental Protection Department states that "acid rain
is clearly occurring in Hong Kong although not at a serious
level." While research efforts are underway to determine
whether acid rain in Hong Kong is caused by air pollutants
emitted locally or from external sources, acid rain is
likely to become an increasingly serious problem as China
resorts to more coal-burning in her pursuit for economic
development. The share of the People's Republic of China
and the Soviet Union !in the global fossil fuel combustion
is rapidly rising and is expected to increase further. In
a recent article written by Dr LI Changsheng for the EPA
Journal, it is stated Ithat China consumes about 580 million
tons of coal annually as fuel: 430 million tons for
industrial use and; 150 million tons for domestic
consumption. Because of market demand pressure and
inadequate facilities; for processing coal, 75 percent of
the coal flows directly into plant boilers or home stoves
in its raw state without washing or other processing. . The
"dirty" coal contains^ on average, 23 percent ash and 1.7
percent sulphur. As !a result, about 15 million tons of
sulphur dioxide are emitted every year causing acid
precipitation in manyj parts of China, particularly in the
southern region. Drt Li is Senior Scientific Adviser of
China's National Environmental Protection Agency currently
on a research fellowship at the EPA laboratory in North
Carolina. :
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32. The US/Canada experience on acid rain and Great Lakes
pollution has demonstrated that environmental problems
transcend national boundaries. They are a mutual threat to
the well being of all inhabitants on the planet and require
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joint efforts. Against this background, stronger
collaboration between Hong Kong and the Chinese authorities
should be developed. ' The joint efforts between Hong Kong
and the Guangdong Environmental Protection Bureau on
monitoring and managing water quality in Deep Bay and the
Shenzhen River are good precedents. Air quality
management, and the question of acid rain in particular,
should be on the list( of a joint agenda for action. (In
1987, the US EPA signed a bilateral agreement with the
People's Republic of China. Potential areas for
cooperative research include exchange of information and
development of data on future energy development plans,
emissions from rice fields and other sources, and
concentration of trace'gases in remote regions.)
33. Other major air quality issues that have attracted a
lot of attention during my stay in the US are indoor air
pollution, depletion of the stratospheric ozone layer, and
the so-called "greenhouse effect".
Indoor Air Pollution
34. Although the US| clean air legislation focuses on
outdoor air pollution', public concern has been mounting
over the adverse effects on public health from several
indoor air pollutants, especially radon. Radon is an
ubiquitous, colourless', odorless gas that occurs naturally
in soil containing uranium. It seeps into buildings
through inadequately sealed basements and slabs. The only
known health effect associated with exposure to elevated
levels of radon is lung cancer. EPA estimates that about
5,000 to 20,000 lung cancer deaths a year in the US, out of
an estimated total of;about 139,000, may be attributed to
radon. '
35. Not knowing the specific soil and bedrock formation in
Hong Kong,- I have no jidea of how relevant the problem of
radon is in Hong Kong. As radon is found at very low
levels--and thus people living in basements are
particularly vulnerable—it may not affect the great
majority of the Hong Kong population who are living in
high-rise buildings. .Radon can be detected by the use of
measurement instruments called radon detectors,_ which are
now widely available in the US. The Air Pollution Control
Division of the Environmental Protection Department in Hong
Kong should consider initiating some tests in the territory
using the available technology.
36. Other sources of ;indoor air pollution include tobacco
smoke, pesticide, asbestos, and lead-based paint. As each
home or office differs in the extent of contamination,
education and advisory action are more desirable than
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regulatory action (this is the approach adopted by the US
EPA regarding radon)!, except that efforts to remove
asbestos from buildings and to ban smoking in indoor areas
should continue to be stepped up.
Stratospheric Ozone Depletion
37. Depletion of ozone in the stratosphere (the portion of
the atmosphere that is ten to 25 miles above the earth's
surface) is the subject of an international convention, the
"Vienna Convention For The Protection Of The Ozone Layer",
and a regulatory treaty, the "Montreal Protocol On
Substances That Deplete The Ozone Layer". The
stratospheric ozone layer serves as a shield against
ultraviolet rays from the sun which can damage human health
and the environment.; Depletion of the ozone layer
increases the amount of harmful ultraviolet light reaching
the earth, which will increase the incidence of skin
cancer. Increased' scientific evidence shows that
depletion is caused by large scale releases of a host of
man-made compounds, known as chlorofluorocarbons(CFCs) into
the atmosphere. CFCs are non-toxic, nonflammable, and
inert chemicals widely used in refrigeration, air
conditioning, packaging (such as foam containers used in
fast food restaurants), and as solvents and aerosol
propellants.
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38. Hong Kong is a member of the Vienna Convention via
inclusion in the United Kingdom's formal ratification to
the Convention. According to the latest report in the
International Environmental Reporter, the United Kingdom
and all other European Community countries have committed
themselves to signing; and ratifying the Montreal Protocol
which calls for a freeze and subsequent reduction in the
use and production of CFCs—reductions to 80 percent of
1986 levels in mid-1993 and 50 percent by mid-1998. The
Protocol has so far been ratified by 16 nations including
the US, Canada, Japan,! and Norway. It is expected to come
into force on 1 January 1989. Following the United
Kingdom's ratification of the Montreal Protocol, Hong Kong
should consider becoming a party to the Protocol under a
similar mechanism as in the case of the Vienna Convention
in an effort to help save the ozone layer. (Although the
People's Republic of China is currently not a member of the
Convention and the Protocol, sources in EPA told me that
there are good prospects for China to participate because
the Protocol contains i specific provisions which cater for
developing nations—they are allowed to increase their
consumption and production of CFCs for a ten-year period to
meet growing domestic needs before being brought under
control. Furthermore, there are already very positive
progress in the development of CFC substitutes. Du Pont,
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the world's -largest CFC manufacturer, has announced its
plan .to market CFC substitutes as early as 1993 and to
phase out all CFCs before the end of this century.)
Global Warming and Energy Efficiency
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39. In the US, the so-called "greenhouse effect" has, in
the last six months, .been described by scientists as the
greatest global problem to be faced by humankind. It has
been described by environmental leaders as a problem the
consequences of which! would equal that of a nuclear war.
The growing concern is the result of increased scientific
consensus on the warming of the atmosphere by emissions of
gases through fossil fuel burning and other human
activities. In June 1988, Dr James Hansen, director of the
National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Institute
of Space Studies toldr a US Senate Committee that there is
sufficient evidence -to conclude that the "greenhouse
effect" is already warming the earth. Scientists tell us
that the consequences of global warming will definitely
include a significant'sea-level rise as oceans expand and
polar ice melts, leading to extensive flooding in low-lying
coastal areas. ;
40. As carbon dioxide emissions from-fossil fuel burning
is responsible for' 50 percent of global warming,
environmentalists, scientists, and politicians in the US
are re-opening a debate on energy efficiency and
alternative energy sources. An energy policy is expected
to be one of the most controversial subjects for the Bush
Administration. I
41. In Hong Kong., energy supply in the next few decades is
assured by the mammoth coal-fired power plants in Castle
Peak and the nuclear 'plant in Daya Bay. The question is
whether we could reduce our dependence on fossil fuels and
nuclear power which; have proven environmental risks.
Energy efficiency has ;to be recognised as an integral part
of any strategy to deal with urban air pollution, acid
rain, and global ' warming. In this respect, the US fares
poorly: the US spends' about US$200 billion more each year
than it would have to I at Japanese energy efficient levels.
Energy, efficiency should be promoted and practised in our
everyday life. I remember a publicity campaign on energy
saving conducted in Hong Kong during the world oil crisis;
but concerted . efforts towards less wasteful use of our
resources and an environmentally attractive and sustainable
economy should not wait until another major crisis emerges.
It is time to consider mounting a publicity campaign to
promote more efficient' use of energy.
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WATER QUALITY MANAGEMENT
i
42. In the past few months, whenever people asked me what
was the major environmental problem in Hong Kong, I
answered without hesitation that it is the pollution of our
water. Hong Kong's poor water quality is reflected in her
filthy harbour, polluted beaches, and the frequency of
incidents of red tide and seafood contamination.
(
43. Hong Kong has the benefit of being surrounded by
waters which have in the past satisfied our economic,
social, and recreational needs. Like all people who live
near the ocean, we have historically used our coastal
waters as a cheap and convenient dump site. We are
convinced that given Fthe huge absorbing power and self-
correcting mechanism of the ocean, it would have no problem
in assimilating the - wastes of human civilization and
rendering them harmless. But the growth in population,
industrialisation, and urbanisation has created millions of
gallons of. sewage and industrial discharges into our waters
that the threshold of nature is eventually exceeded. The
results are the severe! water pollution problems that we are
facing today. i
44. But all is not lost yet! During my stay in the US, I
saw the quality of the Potomac River, which was once
unswimmable, in a satisfactory state as a result of
improved sewage treatment in the Washington, DC, area; I
read about improvements in the water quality in many of the
streams and rivers in'. the US as a result of regulation of
industrial discharges;, and I was told how Lake Erie, once
proclaimed dead in the 1960s, was brought back to life.
Nearer home ,there is the restoration of the Singapore
River as a result of ah improved sewerage system undertaken
by the Singapore Government in the 1970s and early 1980s.
Water Quality Management in the US
45. EPA's water quality management programme is organised
around three main themes: (a) reducing the pollution of
free-flowing surface waters and protecting their uses; (b)
preventing the degradation and destruction of critical
aquatic habitats, including wetlands, nearshore coastal
waters, lakes, and oceans; and (c) maintaining the quality
of drinking water. Congress has provided EPA and other
federal and state agencies with primary statutes and
resources to deal with.these problems.
Protection of Surface Water: the Clean Water Act 1972
46. Although the first piece of water pollution control
legislation was passed by the US Congress in 1948, water
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i
quality management prior to 1972 was almost wholly the
responsibility of the states. Under the Water Quality Act
of 1965, states are required to develop state water quality
standards specifying . required levels of cleanliness for
water bodies. If water quality standards in a particular
water body were being violated, individual dischargers
identified could be required to reduce their pollutant
discharges. j
47. Unfortunately, reliance on the states' ability, at
that £ime, did not work. By 1970, many waterways in the US
were severely polluted] fish kills were common, accelerated
eutrophication was recognized as a problem, and numerous
water bodies were unusable for recreation. In an extreme
case, the water in Ohio's Cuyahoga River was so polluted
with chemicals that it actually caught fire. It was
becoming clear that states, working for the most part
individually, did noti have the institutional muscle and
financial resources to handle water pollution problems.
Public concern grew and Congress responded by enacting the
Clean Water Act in 1972.
|
48. The federal solution contained in the Clean Water Act
consisted of a two-pronged approach: uniform national
discharge standards for all point source dischargers; and
money from the federal treasury for the construction of
wastewater treatment facilities.
I
The National Pollutant|Discharge Elimination System
49. Under, the Clean Water Act, all industrial and
municipal facilities [that discharge wastewater directly
into the country's rivers, streams, and other water bodies
must have a permit issued under the National Pollutant
Discharge Elimination System (NPDES). EPA develops
uniform, nationally consistent effluent limitations (these
are pollutant-specific and industry-specific discharge
limits) for industrial categories and sewage treatment
plants. These limitations are based on a consideration of
the best available i technology that is economically
achievable. The permitting authority, which can be EPA or
a state agency, then 'determines NPDES permit limitations
using these national standards. These permits have to be
renewed at least once every five years and the renewal
exercise provides an opportunity for the review of
discharge limitations based on the latest available
information and technology.
50. The NPDES permits also contain monitoring and
reporting requirements on the part of the discharger.
These are specific instructions on how sampling of the
effluent should be done to check whether the effluent
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I.
limitations have been met and the type of the monitoring
required. The monitoring results are regularly reported to
EPA and state authorities. When a permittee fails to
comply with effluent limitations or monitoring and
reporting requirements, EPA or the state may take
enforcement action. . There are approximately 48,400
industrial and 15,300 ;municipal facilities that currently
have NPDES permits. j
t
51. Apart from technology-based standards, the Clean Water
Act also requires individual states to develop water
quality standards for' every stream within their borders.
These standards include a designated use such as fishing or
swimming and prescribe criteria to protect that use. The
criteria are pollutant specific and represent the
permissible levels of .substances in the waters that would
enable the use to be achieved. Water quality standards are
the basis for all water management decisions. Hence an
industrial plant discharging pollutants into a particular
stream may be subject to more stringent limitations in its
NPDES permit than those promulgated on a national basis, if
such are required to meet the state's specific water
quality standards. Water quality standards are reviewed
every three years and are revised as needed.
(
52. Although the 1972 Clean Water Act contains special
provisions for addressing the problem of toxic discharges,
little progress has been made in this regard. EPA's
failure to develop an |effective toxics strategy under the
Clean Water Act led thje Natural Resources Defense Council,
a non-governmental environmental group, to sue the Agency.
The result was a series of amendments to the Act in 1977
which required EPA ,to develop and enforce stringent
industry-by-industry toxic effluent limits established on
the basis of the best available technology. But the
deadline for the development of these effluent limitations
has been missed, then extended, and missed by EPA.
Construction Grants Programme
53. The second Clean Water Act strategy focused on
financial assistance to municipalities. The Act authorises
EPA to provide funds to states to support the construction
of municipal sewage treatment plants. An US$18 billion
three-year grant programme was initially authorised by
Congress to provide money for almost any type of wastewater
treatment projects {up to 75 percent.) In total, the
federal government has granted to states and localities
approximately US$48 billion under the Clean Water Act in
assisting the construction of or improvement to over 4,600
sewage treatment plants across the country. An additional
50 million people in the US have been served by secondary
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18
wastewater treatment (secondary treatment to remove 85
percent of key constituents such as oxygen demanding
materials and suspended solids is the minimum treatment
required of all sewage treatment plants nationwide in the
US) since . 1972 and water quality improvements are
noticeable in many lakes, streams, and rivers.
Nonpoint Source Pollution
54. No matter how tightly or successfully point source
dischargers are. controlled, water pollution remains a
problem because of the I increased runoff and discharges from
nonpoint sources. Rain carries off oil, grease, and other
contaminants from city streets into streams and coastal
waters. Likewise, fertilisers, pesticides, and other
chemicals from farm fields are drained into rivers and
bays by way of the stiormwater drainage system. Nonpoint
sources of pollution pose a greater problem because they
are so difficult to identify and control. The pollutants
come from many different sources, such as construction,
agriculture, landfills, etc.
55. In the US, the jmost widespread source of nonpoint
source pollution is• \agricultural activities. A 1985
assessment found that agricultural activity was the primary
cause for 106,000 or 64 percent of the river miles in the
US suffered from nonpoint source pollution. This
agricultural component of nonpoint source pollution is
currently being addressed in most of the states by
voluntary programmes which provide education and training
to farmers. These ^programmes have not been entirely
successful especially ;in cases where controlling nonpoint
source pollution is not in the economic interest of the
farmer. (By contrast,;Hong Kong has made a more aggressive
attempt to address the agriculture waste problem through
implementation of the Livestock Waste Control Scheme, The
relatively lenient non-regulatory attitude adopted towards
the farming community in the US is not surprising given the
importance attached to her agriculture business. As a
matter of fact, until•very recently, rapid growth in food
production in the US jhas been achieved very much at the
expense of the environment.)
The Water Quality Act 1987
i
56. To address the remaining water pollution problems,
Congress enacted the Water Quality Act in 1987, overriding
a presidential veto !(which called the Act a "budget
buster".) The Water Quality Act goes beyond the 1972 Act's
prime concern with the!cleanliness of wastewater discharges
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i
and places an emphasis on the overall water quality.
key provisions include:
Its
(a) Controlling nonpoint source pollution by requiring
each state to assess the problem of nonpoint source
pollution within itheir boundaries and to establish a
management programme with assistance from a US$400
million federal grant fund;
i
i
(b) Controlling industrial and municipal stormwater
discharges by requiring large dischargers—industrial
plants and municipal sources serving more than 500,000
people—to obtain;a permit within specified deadlines.
EPA is required to develop regulations on the issue of
such permits within two years;
(c) Identifying and controlling "toxic hot spots" under a
joint EPA-state national surface water toxics control
programme. Thej Act requires states, under EPA
oversight, to identify those waterways within their
borders where, toxic discharges continue to contribute
to water quality nonattainment and to develop a
strategy to ensure compliance with water quality
standards. One measure to control toxic pollutants
is to specify more stringent NPDES limitations for
industrial dischargers and to require more intensive
pretreatment (at' present, industries using public
sewage systems are already required to meet
pretreatment standards designed to prevent the
discharge of pollutants, particularly toxics, that
will adversely affect or simply pass through secondary
treatment facilities); and
r
(d) Managing sewage 'sludge generated by the country's
15,000 sewage treatment plants by developing limits on
toxic pollutants , present in sewage sludge and its
appropriate disposal.
57. The Water Quality Act also introduces significant
changes to the provision of financial assistance to state
and local governments for the construction of sewage
treatment facilities. > Under the Act, the Construction
Grants Programme will! be replaced by a State Revolving
Fund Programme, Under this new programme, the federal
government will award initial grant money to "the states for
use as capital in instituting a water pollution control
revolving loan fund. Each state will use its revolving
fund to make loans for local wastewater treatment works
construction. • The repayments for principal and interest
from these loans will be used to replenish the fund.
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Protection of Oceans,
Protection, Research,
20
Wetlands, and Estuaries: the Marine
and Sanctuaries Act
58. Stories on the television networks and in the
newspapers last summer on medical waste washed ashore
popular beaches in the states of New York and New Jersey
have brought the question of pollution in the ocean to
public attention. In the US, almost half of the population
live along the coasts and, historically, the oceans have
been treated as huge sinks. Ocean dumping of. dredge
material, sewage sludge, and industrial wastes is a major
source of ocean pollution. These wastes are often highly
contaminated with heavy metals and toxic chemicals like
PCBs. When they .are dumped into the , ocean, the
contaminants can be taken up by fish and other marine
organisms which in turn pose serious hazards to human
health through consumption of contaminated seafood. Human
activities have also( led to the substantial loss of
wetlands which play an important role in improving and
maintaining water quality in adjacent water bodies and in
sustaining many forms of fish and wildlife.
59, In response to national concern regarding the
environmental threat of ocean dumping, Congress enacted the
Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act in 1972,
commonly known as the'Ocean Dumping Act. Under this Act,
EPA designates recommended sites and times for ocean
dumping and actual dumping at these sites require a permit.
EPA and the US Corps' of Engineers share the permitting
authority, with the Corps responsible for the permitting of
dredged materials and ' EPA responsible for all other types
of materials. The US; Coast Guards monitor the activities
and EPA is responsible for assessing penalties for
violations. ;
60. Ocean dumping of 'industrial waste has decreased since
1973 but the ocean has continued to be a cheap dump site
for the increased amount of sewage sludge generated from
the many, newly constructed sewage treatment plants. The
Ocean'Dumping Act was ! subsequently amended with an express
aim to end all ocean clumping practices in 1981. This law
was successfully challenged by the City of New York and six
cities in New Jersey which, up to this date, are still
dumping their sewage sludge at a designated site 106 miles
offshore. Incidents of medical waste washed ashore beaches
in the two states have created mounting pressure for an
end to these practices. As a result, New Jersey has
committed itself to ending sludge dumping by 1991. In the
face of continued resistance by the City of New York,
Congress recently enacted the Ocean Dumping Ban Act which
prohibits all sewage sludge and industrial dumping into the
ocean after December 1991.
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61. As a measure to ^protect the country's wetlands, the
Clean Water Act contains provisions to regulate the
discharge of dredged or fill materials into waters of the
US as a measure to protect the country's wetlands. The
Water Quality Act of 1987 introduces procedures to. plan for
and manage water quality in estuaries. EPA has established
a National Estuary Programme under which estuaries of.
national significance that are threatened by pollution are
identified for special protection. Other federal
programmes such as the National Wildlife Refuge System
administered by the US Fish and Wildlife Service also help
prevent loss of America's wetlands.
Protection of Drinking|Water: the Safe Drinking Water Act
62. Drinking water is provided to 200 million Americans
(about 80 percent of the total population) by 58,000
community water supply systems and to nonresidential
locations such as campgrounds, schools, and factories by
160,000 small-scale suppliers.. The rest of the population
are served by private, wells. The drinking water supplied
to about half of all Americans is drawn from ground water,
which comprises about; 90 percent of the country's fresh
water. .Untreated water drawn from ground water and surface
waters, such as lakes and rivers, can contain contaminants
that pose acute and chronic threats to human health.
63. SPA's drinking water programme is focused on two
areas: minimizing the- contamination of ground water and
surface waters needed for human consumption, and monitoring
a*hd treating drinking •water. EPA's efforts in protecting
surface water is addressed in a previous section under the
Clean Water Act.
' • ' i
64. Water supply regulation first began in 1914, under
authority of the Public Health Services Act which
established drinking iwater standards to protect public
health. The standardstsetting authority was transferred to
the EPA when it was created. A survey of drinking water
systems in several states in 1970 revealed that half of the
systems did not meet bacterial monitoring standards. These
findings led .to concern over the need for more stringent
federal regulation of the nation's drinking water.
65. The Safe Drinking Water Act, passed in 1974, is the
basis for comprehensive regulation of drinking water. The
Act directs the Administrator of EPA to prescribe national
drinking water standards to protect public health, permits
states to enforce the requirements, and provides for
protection of underground sources of drinking water. The
Act has undergone certain fine tuning and improvements
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i
since its enactment, and was last amended in 1986. The new
amendments require EPA to set binding numerical standards
for levels of more than 80 contaminants in drinking water
based on the degree to which they can be removed by the
best available technology. The most recent standards being
promulgated are in respect of lead in drinking water. The
Act also substantially broaden the federal role in
protecting ground water from contamination. While
regulation of groundj water remains the domain of the
states, EPA is authorised to give grants to assist the
states' programmes. ' Protection of ground water from
contamination is also! a major goal of other EPA statutes
and programmes such as< Superfund, regulation of underground
storage tanks, and requirements of disposal of hazardous
waste under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act
which are discussed in|later sections of this paper.
I
t
Water Quality Management in Hong Kong
t
66. Comparatively speaking, I am more familiar with water
pollution problems and regulation in Hong Kong than with
other environmental programmes. This is due to my previous
Sai Kung District Office experience which has given me a
taste of a bit of everything in the area of water
pollution: over-stressed Clearwater Bay beaches during the
summer season; a Ho Chung River that changes colour from
time to time (depending on the discharges from a nearby
dyeing factory); a highly polluted Chung Mei Tuk typhoon
shelter inhabited by boat people; leaking septic tanks in
the rural villages; and urban developments in Junk Bay and
the Sai Kung New Town with their sewage treatment needs.
i
67. While progress has been made in the last few years
regarding effective management of our rivers, streams, and
coastal waters, a lot more has to be devoted to restore our
waters to an acceptable level which is vital to the health
and welfare of the community. I am afraid we have in the
past, and probably also currently, relied too much on the
so-called assimilating; absorbing, and diluting capacity of
the sea to handle our waste problems. I think we have
arrived at a stage that we cannot afford not to remedy the
situation- immediately', even though such remedies may
require very substantial investments.
The Water Pollution Control Ordinance
I
68. As in the case of the air quality management
programme under the1 Air Pollution Control Ordinance
discussed earlier, the Water Pollution Control Ordinance
empowers the Government to tackle water pollution by
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t
declaring Water Control Zones and setting respective Water
Quality Objectives for, these zones. So far, only the Tolo
Harbour and Channel has been declared as a Water Control
Zone. {I am not aware ;of the latest position regarding the
proposal to declare the southern shore of the Hong Kong
Island as the second Water Control Zone.) The effect of
the ordinance is to prohibit the discharge of effluents
into a Water Control ,Zone by industrial plants that fall
within specified industrial categories and by sewage
treatment works unless they are granted a permit by the
licensing authority. ,The permit will usually specify the
volume and rate of the discharge and the quality of the
effluent taking into; consideration the declared Water
Quality Objectives of the zone, and the quality and
quantity of other wastes discharged into the receiving
waters. However, discharges that are already in existence
prior to the coming Into effect of the legislation are
automatically exempted from control provided that they
meet the necessary land and lease conditions. An exempted
discharge may be increased by up to 30 percent without loss
of the exemption. If it is increased beyond this limit, or
a significant component is added to it, a licence will be
required. f
69. Before going i-nto detail about the permitting
programme, I would like, first of all, to reiterate my
concerns over a sectoral approach to environmental
protection work as argued in paragraph 23 above. I think
we have witnessed sufficient evidence of deterioration in
our water quality to initiate territory-wide controls. A
first task faced by the Hong Kong Government is to hold,
and hot lose, ground. We cannot afford to allow the
quality of our waters,to be further deteriorated which, in
some cases, may lead to irreversible damages.
A Water-Quality-Based Approach to Hong Kong's Water
Pollution Problem |
>
70. The US experience has an impact on my
conceptualisation of the problem and hence has given rise
to some of my reservations on the water-quality-based
approach or strategy 'currently adopted in managing Hong
Kong's water pollution problem. Generally speaking, a
water-quality-based approach begins with an examination of
the receiving waters and works backward from there to-
impose controls on polluters where necessary. This is the
approach adopted by the US prior to the enactment of the
Clean Water Act in, 1972 and which has been proved
inadequate to safeguard the country's water quality. The
Clean Water Act brought in a new technology-based approach
which set discharge f limits on the basis of available
technology and applied them to all dischargers, regardless
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of the quality of the receiving waters. Water-quality-
based objectives were re-instituted in the Water Quality
Act 1987, but as EPA's Deputy Assistant Administrator for
Water argued, "the water-quality-based approach could only
be tried again now that a huge base programme has been
established."
71. In my view, a water-quality-based approach, especially
one which is targeted towards special types of industries
or dischargers and specially designated water bodies, is
inadequate to deal with the extent of the water pollution
problem in Hong Kong. This is because:
(a) water quality in Hong Kong has rapidly deteriorated in
the last few years and the sources of pollution are
extremely diverse. It would be difficult if not
impossible for the regulatory authority to track down
all the culprits and place them under control. Unless
a territory-wide basic control structure is in place
to subject dischargers to at least a minimum set of
limitations, the task of identifying and reducing
these pollution sources would take many years to
accomplish;
(b) in practice, it is difficult for the regulatory
authority to put in practice a water-quality-based
approach—to decide how much pollutants each
discharger discharging into a Water Control Zone could
release requires a high level of technical expertise
and scientific data. . The licence procedure, as it now
stands, seems cumbersome, and in practice, may involve
the licensing authority entering into endless debates
with the discharger over the pollutant level of its
discharge and its effects on the receiving waters.
What if a discharger is unhappy about the effluent
limitations in his licence? What if a discharger said
that "let us prove to you that our effluents
discharged after all.are not that bad"; and
(c) the exemption provisions under the present
legislation further weaken the effectiveness of a
water-quality-based approach. The regulations now in
practice place no time limit on how long those
exempted facilities are going to enjoy the privilege
to pollute our waters which are already under great
stress. The 30 percent threshold described in
paragraph 68 above is extremely complex and resource-
intensive to operate because it places the burden on
the regulatory authority to collect and interpret the
data rather than requiring exemptees to monitor their
discharges and report regulatory to the relevant
authority. While I can appreciate the rationale for
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reducing to a minimum the impact of any new
regulations on existing industries, I think the
leniency should be tied to some targeted goals or
objectives. In the US, many control programmes
contain provisions requiring existing industries or
plants to comply after a certain date, or exempting
them from the usually more stringent new source
standards but regulating them under an overall
pollutant control programme.
72. The effectiveness of the water pollution control
legislation will no doubt be reviewed in the light of its
operational difficulties and improvements to water quality
within the water control zone. The review should perhaps
give consideration to applying a strategy that will combine
the present water-quality-based approach with a technology-
based approach imposing certain limitations on the levels
of pollutants (either in terms of concentration, e.g.
x mg/1 or absolute loadings, e.g. x Ib/day) that can be
discharged from a specific category of industry or a
municipal treatment plant. As regards existing
dischargers, the respective legislation should be amended
to empower the regulatory authority to impose limitations
if these are considered necessary to comply with the Water
Quality Objectives of the receiving waters.
Wastewater from Industrial Sources
73. Another reason for establishing a basic structure of
controls for industries and other major dischargers is to
regulate the amount of toxic pollutants in their effluents.
As we know, toxic chemicals can have severe, sometimes
irreversible, impacts on human health and the aquatic
environment. The control of toxics is complicated by the
fact that there are over thousands of commercial chemicals
currently in use in the factories. In Hong Kong, large
scale industrial developments such as those at Tai Po and
Yuen Long Industrial Estates are required to obtain
consents for wastewater discharges which may require on-
site treatment in order to minimise their impact on the
sewage treatment facilities or the quality of the receiving
waters. However, the majority of the factories in Hong
Kong are either discharging their wastewaters into the
public foul sewers connected to a Government wastewater
treatment plant or indiscriminately releasing them into the
stormwater system, in which case the effluents will end up
in the sea without any treatment.
74. The situation of waste effectively by-passing proper
treatment is believed to be a main cause for water
pollution in Hong Kong. But even with treatment, there is
no guarantee of complete removal of toxicity in the
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wastewater. Public wastewater treatment plants, both in
the US and in Hong Kong, were not designed for toxic waste
coming from some industries. Because of this, problems can
occur if some especially toxic wastes, say from our
plastics manufacturer, or from a plant making transistor
radios, become mixed up with the relatively less harmful
wastewater entering the public treatment plant. Without
the necessary toxic-removal capability, highly toxic
substances can remain in the effluent discharged from a
treatment plant or in the remaining sludge. To prevent
this, the US and many industrialised nations require their
industrial plants to separate their wastewater and to
apply on-site treatment to remove the toxic substances
before discharging into the public sewers.
75. Toxic wastes are ubiquitous: they can be disposed of
through the media of land, sea, or air. Given the severe
harm that they can do and the general absence of stringent
control over their use and disposal in Hong Kong; the whole
question on the use and disposal of toxic substances should
be given priority attention. This subject is further
discussed in later sections on hazardous waste treatment
and toxic substances.
Wastewater from Municipal Sources
76. The problem of municipal wastewater can only be
resolved by adequate sewage treatment facilities. Such
facilities are expensive—since 1972, the US federal
government has already expended US$48 billion under the
Construction Grants Programme; states and localities have
contributed another US$17 billion; and Congress authorised
the use of an additional US$18 billion nationwide for
assistance in the construction of wastewater treatment
plants under the 1987 Water Quality Act—but the price of
not having them in time will be far greater.
Unfortunately, while the economic costs are startling
clear, the benefits of clean water are usually intangible,
thus making a reasonable cost-benefit analysis on which
decisions are to be based extremely difficult.
77. Although the majority of the population in Hong Kong
are served" by public sector sewage treatment facilities,
the degree of treatment applied varies and, in most cases,
it is doubtful whether the effluent water from our sewage
treatment facilities are sufficiently clean at the time it
enters our sea. The entire Hong Kong Island and urban
Kowloon are only served by preliminary or primary treatment
and their effluents are disposed of through submarine
outfalls into the harbour. On the contrary, secondary
treatment is a requirement of all public treatment works in
the US. In other industrialised countries, even secondary
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treatment is now being regarded as insufficient.
Additional efforts or advanced treatment, such as
filtration and disinfection, are made to remove pollutants
in the wastewater before they can be released and returned
to nature.
78, As pointed out previously, there is a limit on how far
we can rely on the safe receptive capacity of the sea,
which is also expected to meet the recreational needs of
over six million people. Raw sewage washed ashore some of
our popular and once beautiful beaches is not only an
eyesore; it directly affects the health of swimmers and
will eventually make our waters unswimmable. In the US,
people are paying all types of user fees for clean water,
such as sewer bills or connection charges. If people in
Hong Kong are made aware of the consequences, I believe
that they would be willing to pay a price for clean water.
Secondary treatment should be made an objective in our
municipal wastewater treatment programme. There is no
alternative to building more secondary treatment facilities
and upgrading existing plants if this objective is to be
achieved.
79. Modern wastewater treatment plants do not exist
everywhere. There are some rural areas in the territory
which are not going to be served by public sewers in the
foreseeable future. Although the amount of wastewater
generated by each of these settlements is relatively small,
they together could cause severe damages to our streams and
watercourses. We have already tackled the largest source
of the problem by the Livestock Waste Control Scheme which
will effectively restricts the dumping of animal waste into
the watercourses. The remaining problems of illegal sewage
discharges from households and overflow septic tanks should
be addressed and should preferably take the form of advice
and assistance rather than regulation.
80. Huge expenditures for wastewater treatment plants,
large and small, are of little value unless they are
properly maintained and operated. A large part of Hong
Kong's water pollution problem is caused by malfunctioning
privately owned treatment plants. Likewise, the stormwater
system should be protected from illegal connections and
discharges to serve its original purpose. The US
experience has indicated that controlling pollution from
point sources alone is inadequate to restore water quality.
Pollution from nonpoint sources can create the same level
of degradation if left uncontrolled. Efforts against
water pollution is a tough, on-going task requiring
cooperation in all fronts. Responsible departments
including the Environmental Protection Department, the
Buildings and Lands Department, the Electrical and
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Mechanical Department, the Marine Department, the Urban
Services and the Regional Services Departments should step
up their enforcement and monitoring efforts in serving as
vanguards of our waters.
Sewage Sludge Management and Ocean Dumping
81. With more wastewater plants in operation, disposal of
sewage sludge has emerged as a problem. Sewage sludge can
have a number of beneficial uses if it is sufficiently
treated and clear of harmful contaminants. Otherwise,
sewage sludge is either buried in landfills or dumped into
the ocean. As described earlier, ocean dumping of sewage
sludge was a controversial subject in the US in the last
few months. Growing concern has eventually led to the
enactment of the Ocean Dumping Ban Act which prohibits all
ocean dumping by 1992.
82. At present, ocean dumping is practiced in Hong Kong
under the Dumping At Sea Act 1974 (Overseas Territories)
Order 1975, which prohibits dumping at sea without a
licence. There are currently three dumping grounds in use
in Hong Kong waters, at south of Cheung Chau, east of the
Ninepin Group of islands, and in Mirs Bay. Ocean dumping
of sludge is also under consideration at a site east of the
WagIan Island.
83. Given my limited information on the sort of wastes
being dumped into the sea, it is difficult to assess its
implications in the light of the US experience. However,
there has been a growing consensus in the US and in the
international environmental community that ocean dumping,
especially in -coastal waters, can give rise to a series of
hazards to human health and the marine environment. The
present designated dumping grounds in Hong Kong, especially
the more popular Cheung Chau site is close to areas where
people inhabit, and hence the implications should not be
underestimated. I think, as a matter of principle, ocean
dumping should be reduced rather than extended as a means
of waste disposal, and any further proposals to make use of
the sea as a cheap dump site should be reconsidered.
84. Unlike the US, provision of safe drinking water in
Hong Kong is solely, a government business, except in those
rural communities which are not yet served by a government
supply. I do not intend to cover the issues associated
with drinking water in this paper but efforts to tackle
pollution in our rivers, streams, and other watercourses
will certainly help to reduce contamination of our surface
waters. Materials that I have collected on the US safe
drinking water legislation and programmes could provide
useful reference if the environmental protection
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authorities in Hong Kong would need to focus attention on
this subject at a later stage.
SOLID HASTE MANAGEMENT
85. "Everybody wants us to pick it up, and nobody wants us
to put it down." This is how the US EPA describes an
average American's attitude towards solid waste. Solid
waste includes all non-hazardous solid, liquid, or
contained gaseous refuse generated by industrial,
commercial, and residential sources. The following
discussion is focused on municipal solid waste, most of
which is generated by residential and commercial sources,
or what everybody calls garbage.
The Solid Waste Crisis in the US: Shortage of Landfill
Spaces
86. The US is currently generating a total of about 160
million tons of solid waste each year, or an average of
about 130 pounds per person per year. This amount is
expected to increase to about 193 million tons by the year
2000. The US certainly lives up to its reputation as a
"throwaway society". Here, supermarkets, fast-food
restaurants, and offices are filled with large amounts of
disposable products and convenient packaging which are
ended up in the trash bins in no more than a few minutes
after consumption. The piles of advertisement supplements
in the Washington Post and the junk mail in the letter box
often create disposal problems. Having worked in a
federal agency for a few months, I am not surprised at all
that more than 40 percent of the solid waste stream in the
US consists of paper and paper products generated from
offices, homes and factories. Papers and circulars are
duplicated quite unnecessarily, again just to be thrown
away at the end of the working day.
87. While annual generation of waste is gradually
increasing, the capacity for acceptable disposal in the US
is rapidly decreasing. At present, most solid waste is
still disposed of in landfills, one third of which are
expected to be full in the next five years. Yet because of
the NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard) syndrome and concerns over
potential health hazards, many states are unable to site
new landfills. This lack of landfill capacity is
dramatised by the incident of a New York garbage barge
wandering at sea for three months in the spring of 1987
looking for a place to unload its "cargo".
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Incineration as an Alternative to Landfilling
88. Incineration is an alternative to landfilling: it
reduces waste volume by up to 90 percent and does not
require any change in the current operation of the waste
collection system. Lack of new landfill space coupled with
the growing, waste volumes has made incineration an
attractive option for state and local administrators. Most
new incinerators in the US are waste-to-energy facilities
that convert the heat from burning garbage to steam or
electricity. Some are equipped with facilities to remove
glass and metals from the incoming waste stream while
others are mass burn facilities where unsegregated solid
waste is simply shovelled into the furnace. During my stay
in the US, I have visited one- of these resource recovery
facilities (the mass burn type) serving 260,000 residents
in the City of Alexandria and the Arlington County in the
state of Virginia. It is built with the state-of-the-art
West German technology and apparently has not created any
environmental nuisance. The energy it produces is sold to
the local power company.
89. Proposals for new incinerators, like those for
landfills, often meet public opposition—residents in
Prince George's County in Maryland have recently voted down
a County proposal to build a new incinerator. The public
is increasingly concerned about air pollution from these
plants and the toxic ash. Such concerns are to a certain
extent valid as garbage burned in these plants are unsorted
(they are brought in by the conventional garbage trucks,
dumped onto a tipping floor, and then fed by cranes and
conveyors into a furnace) and emissions from every
incinerator tested showed traces of toxic substances.
Some analysts especially point out the potential problems
of burning materials containing chlorine compounds.
(Plastics and bleached paper are the two major sources.)
During combustion, these substances react to form
chemicals, such as dioxins and furans, which are highly
toxic and have proven damaging effects on human health. A
recent Energy From Waste study conducted by the National
Swedish Environment Protection Board admitted that waste
incineration is the largest source of dioxin and mercury
emissions. The study also pointed out that the current
amount of emissions from incinerators are far too high and
should be reduced by a • combination of measures such as
waste reduction at source and "cleaning" the waste that is
being burned, by using various incineration technologies,
and by flue gas cleaning.
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Solid Waste Management in the US
90. Solid waste management in the US is regulated under
the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act passed by
Congress in 1976. The Act gave EPA regulatory and
assistance responsibilities in this area but planning and
implementation of an acceptable waste management scheme was
the primary responsibility of state and local governments.
In 1979, EPA promulgated certain performance standards and
criteria for both new and existing waste disposal
facilities including landfills. But incinerators are
largely unregulated except in terms of emission controls
under the Clean Air Act. The Agency is currently working
on regulations concerning emissions from new waste-to-
energy facilities, which are expected to be issued in
November 1989. The transport and disposal of incinerator
ash remains an area where there is no regulation and has
been the subject of severe criticism by environmentalists.
91. The management of solid waste, which used to be
primarily a local responsibility, now emerges as a national
problem in the US. In September 1988, EPA issued a
consultative document entitled TheSolid Waste Dilemma: An
Agenda For Action which seeks public comment on a series of
suggestions to deal with the problem. The document
recommends using the hierarchy of "integrated waste
management" to solve solid waste generation and management
problems at the local, 'regional, and national levels. The
hierarchy favours source reduction (including reuse) to
first decrease the volume and toxicity of waste. Recycling
(including composting) is the preferred waste management
option to further reduce the volume of waste that needs to
be disposed of and to slow the depletion of natural
resources. While landfills and incinerators will continue
to be necessary to handle some wastes, they should be lower
on the hierarchy because of the potential risks to human
health and the environment. The document also sets a
national goal of managing 25 percent of the solid waste
through source reduction and recycling by 1992.
92. Reduction at source and recycling are the least costly
and environmentally the most attractive options to cope
with the mounting solid waste problem. But they require
the greatest extent of mass participation: involving
changes in the design of products and packaging for
effective waste management by industries, involving
modifications in refuse collection arrangements to cater
for sorted garbage, and, most important of all, involving
all citizens in changing their buying and consumption
habits and sorting their garbage. All these could not be
expected to happen without government assistance,
guidance, and economic incentives.
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93. A few states in the US are pretty advanced in their
recycling programme. At least ten states currently have
beverage container refund laws ("bottle bills" which
either require consumers to pay a 5-10 cent deposit when
they purchase beverages in disposable containers or provide
a refund value to each bottle returned) and at least five
states have.enacted variations of mandatory recycling laws.
New Jersey's 1987 mandatory recycling law, the Source
Separation and Recycling Act, is one of the more stringent.
It requires counties to adopt solid waste management plans,
to be approved by the state, specifying materials to be
recycled (e.g. newspaper, glass, cans). After the plans
are approved, municipalities will adopt ordinances
requiring residents to separate from their refuse at least
four of the approved materials. Penalties for violations
may range from fines to refusal to pick up all trash. The
plan also includes a strategy for collection and marketing,
such as providing tax breaks for the purchase of recycling
equipment and a state government commitment to purchase
products made from recycled materials.
Solid Waste Management, in Hong Kong
94. Like the US, Hong Kong is also experiencing a rapid
growth in the solid waste stream. In 1985, about 6,880
tons of waste were generated every day from residential,
commercial, and industrial sources. The figure for 1986
was 8,100 tons, or an increase of 17.7 percent. With
growing population and increased affluence, the amount is
estimated to rise at an average rate of about 10 percent
per year, such that by the year 2000, Hong Kong will need
to find capacity for 16,000 tons of waste each day.
Incineration
95. Landfilling. and incineration are the two means to
dispose of waste in Hong Kong. There are three municipal
incinerators and four landfills now in use in Hong Kong. I
remember locating these facilities on a map of Hong Kong to
my tutor and she was surprised at their proximity to urban
areas. Despite the building of higher stacks, the Kennedy.
Town and Lai Chi Kok incinerators are sources of frequent
complaints. Residents living in the nearby estates are
naturally concerned about air pollution generated from
these facilities. Since incineration has to be retained to
handle some of our waste, in the short term, incineration
facilities should be subject to more regular inspection,
close monitoring, and technical improvements to reduce
nuisance and health hazards. In the long term,
consideration should be given to turning our incineration
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plants into waste-to-energy facilities applying the latest
available technology.
Landfilling
96. Landfilling is the cheapest way to dispose of waste,
but it could also create the greatest potential of health
and environmental hazard. Older landfills are simply pits
where trash is dumped, compacted, and then covered. Rain
water coming into contact with the garbage dissolves
materials creating leachate that can run off into the
surface water or emit hazardous gases, especially in the
case where codisposal of chemical waste in the landfills is
practiced. The severity of this problem is illustrated in
the US by the fact that one out of every five hazardous
waste sites on the National Priority List that require
cleanup under the Superfund programme is a former municipal
landfill. I am not sure about the extent of pollution
prevention measures being adopted in our past and present
landfills, but the US experience and the fact that our
landfills are so close to urban residence should call for a
detailed examination. This at least goes some way towards
an "anticipate-and-prevent" approach.
97. In anticipation of the increased waste problem in Hong
Kong, I understand that - plans are in hand to provide two
huge landfill sites in the Western New Territories and the
North Eastern, New Territories, and consultants have been
engaged to study ways and means to reduce their impact on
health and the environment. While landfills will continue
to be essential to handle our waste, they should be made as
safe as possible through a combination of proper design and
operation, and a ban on certain types of waste from the
landfill..
98. The two new planned landfills may provide adequate
disposal capacity up to the year 2015, but they will
merely address the symptoms rather than the cause of the
problem. To tackle the waste problem at its root, waste
minimisation and recycling should be made a priority. A
cursory examination of our daily habits will indicate that
we are probably consuming a lot of things quite
unnecessarily and throwing away too much. The conservation
merit in Chinese culture is gradually being eaten away by
increased affluence and an emphasis on speed and
convenience. The number of plastic bags one gets after a
visit to the market or the supermarket is sometimes quite
ridiculous. People need to be educated to appreciate that
what we throw away today will remain for the next few
generations. This is particularly true in the case of
plastic products which take ages to bio-degrade in a
landfill. It is time for us to spread the message of
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resource.conservation if we wish to create a better living
environment for ourselves and our future generations.
Recycling
99. The benefits of recycling are clearly recognizable;
the question is how to make it work. Getting consumers to
participate and establishing markets for recovered
materials are crucial to any successful recycling
programmes. . Consumers can separate their garbage to set
aside recyclables, e.g. glass, cans, and newspapers, for
pickup; permit others to retrieve the valuable components;
or return selected items, e.g. used batteries and tires, to
the place of purchase or take them to a collection or
redemption centre. In some places in the US, such as the
Shenandoah National Park I visited, there are reverse
vending machines to accept returned containers and disburse
deposit refunds. After inserting their containers,
customers are issued either cash or a 'redeemable voucher.
In countries where there is a more developed and widespread
concern for the environment, voluntary programmes have.
taken the place of schemes tied to a monetary incentive.
For example, in Switzerland and West Germany, bottle
collection containers are scattered across the country for
residents to drop off their disposable bottles.
100. The other side of the recycling coin is strong and
stable markets for the recovered materials. In the US,
Australia, and Scandinavian and West European countries,
recycling is undergoing a major transition, from small-
scale operations to large, state-of-the-art recycling
programmes generating business for professional waste
management companies. Economic, legislative, and market
factors are helping to make recycling a viable option to
deal with our solid waste crisis. The mere sorting of
garbage or collection of recyclable materials alone is not
recycling: markets for recycled products have to be
developed through government initiatives, such as a change
in government purchasing rules that would give an advantage
to products containing recycled materials, and development
of technology to turn trash into treasure in order to slow
down the depletion of natural resources.
101. At present, the recycling industry in Hong Kong is
mainly export-oriented and there is no mass participation.
Statistics showed that in 1986, there was a significant
decrease in the volume and value of recovered materials
exported. The potential of local recycling in Hong Kong
should be explored in detail and individual citizens should
be encouraged to participate. Recycling (including reuse
of a lot of materials) is not only important in reducing
the waste stream, slowing the depletion of natural
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resources, but it is actually a very good education tool to
increase awareness among the general public of waste
management.
102. Promotion of recycling will require stimulation of
markets for recyclable materials and demands for recycled
products. . As illustrated above, there can be a host of
innovative ideas to promote recycling but what is needed is
concerted effort and organisation. I suggest that the
Government should consider establishing an
interdepartmental group to study the issue in detail, to
look at the available possibilities, to examine the
necessary incentives, and to come up with a list of actions
to promote recycling. It would be very helpful for this
group to learn about overseas experience, and, in this
respect, Japan is probably the best example. (Japan is now
recycling about 50 percent of her solid waste. By
contrast, the US is recycling only about ten percent of its
municipal solid waste.) In addition, there is a huge body
of information on the latest.recycling markets, technology,
and citizen participation programmes in the US which could
be of immense reference value.
HAZARDOUS WASTE MANAGEMENT
103. Hazardous waste sites topped the list of environmental
concerns in a recent poll conducted among the US public.
Environmental risks associated with the skull and
crossbones symbol has in the last decade attracted greater
public attention in the US than the conventional forms of
air and water pollution. As the experience of trying to
throw away toxic waste in the US has proven, there is no
place that is "away". Improperly managed and discarded
hazardous waste will eventually surface and threaten public
health, water, and the environment.
Hazardous Waste Management in the US
104. In the US, a new wave of environmental problems
arising from the past hazardous waste disposal was brought
to national attention in a series of incidents of large
scale contamination in the mid-1970s. These included the
one took place in Love Canal, Niagara Falls, New York,
where people were evacuated from their homes after
hazardous waste buried for over 25 years seeped to the
surface and into basements. In Times Beach, Missouri,
where oil contaminated with dioxin was used on roads and
subsequently polluted the soil and groundwater, the US
Government was obliged to buy up the entire community.
105. Growing national concern led to the enactment of two
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federal laws on hazardous waste management. The Resource
Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976, or RCRA, regulates
the management and disposal of newly created hazardous
waste; and the Comprehensive Environmental Response,
Compensation and Lability Act of 1980, or Superfund,
establishes a fund to finance cleanup of waste spills and
uncontrolled disposal sites for hazardous waste.
The US Resource Conservation and Recovery Act 1976
106. RCRA promulgates a "cradle-to-grave" approach covering
the generation, transportation, storage, treatment, and
disposal of hazardous waste. Such a "cradle-to-grave"
approach includes five basic elements:
(a) Identification—generators and the types of waste they
produce must be initially identified;
(b) Tracking—the hazardous waste being transported from
the point where it is generated to the point of
treatment or disposal must be accompanied by a
manifest describing the waste, its quantity, the
generator, and the receiver;
(c) Permitting—all hazardous waste treatment, storage,
and disposal facilities must be subject to a
permitting process to enable the regulatory agency to
ensure its safety;
,(d) Restrictions and controls—hazardous waste facilities,
after being issued with a permit, must continue to
comply with certain standards specifying acceptable
conditions for operation and storage; and
(e) Enforcement and compliance—generators and receivers
must be penalised if they fail to comply with the
regulations.
107. The permitting procedure is fundamental to hazardous
waste management under RCRA. But progress in implementing
the permit programme has been very slow. Since the
enactment of the legislation in 1976, EPA and the states
have issued permits to only 16 percent of the 4,000 active
hazardous waste management facilities in the country. That
is to say, the great majority of these facilities are still
being operated in a sub-standard fashion and could very
well appear later on in the National Priority List of
hazardous waste sites that require cleanup action under
Superfund.
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The US Superfund Programme
108. Under the Superfund programme, EPA has implemented a
process to clean up abandoned hazardous waste sites. The
process begins with site identification, followed by a
preliminary assessment to determine whether there is an
immediate threat which would require emergency attention or
whether further investigation is needed. The investigation
report is then evaluated by reference to a Hazardous
Ranking System which will determine whether the site should
be included in the National Priority List, EPA's official
list of hazardous waste sites that warrant attention under
the Superfund programme. The spirit of the Superfund
legislation is to make responsible parties do or pay for
the cleanup. But in reality, the identification of parties
responsible for contaminating a site which has been
abandoned for a long time proves to be extremely difficult.
Even when the culprits could be identified, negotiations
with them are time-consuming. As a result, progress under
Superfund has been very slow. Of the close to 1,200 sites
on the National Priority List, only 14 have so far been
cleaned up. The rest remain as chemical time bombs.
109. In addition, Superfund is an extremely costly
programme. A total of US$1.6 billion was spent during its
first five-year period. In 1987, Congress reauthorised
Superfund with a US$8.5 billion budget for the next five
years. Furthermore, scientists and environmentalists are
becoming increasingly sceptical of the permanent and
complete nature of such cleanup actions. They are wary of
the transportation of hazardous waste uncovered from a
Superfund site to a RCRA site which has yet to meet
regulatory standards.
Hazardous Waste Management in Hong Kong
110. In Hong Kong> it is estimated that industry produces
about 40,000 tons of chemical waste every year. This
figure should ,not be alarming and might even be an
underestimate as our textile, leather, plastics, and
painting industries are all generators of chemical wastes,
most of'them are potentially hazardous.
111. There is at present no chemical waste treatment
facility in Hong Kong and it is doubtful whether any
treatment of chemical wastes, which are residues in the
manufacturing process, is being undertaken on-site. Very
often, these wastes are discharged into the municipal
sewage treatment system, and in the worst case, they are
simply disposed of unscrupulously to drains and open
sewers. Codisposal of chemical waste with municipal waste
at certain landfills is practiced on a limited basis under
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authorisation by the Environmental Protection Department.
As a result/ hundreds of toxic substances and chemicals,
with known or unknown impact on human health and the
environment, end up on our land and, through seepage or
leachate, in our water.
112. As far as I understand, there are plans to step up
regulation of chemical waste in Hong Kong. These include a
proposed chemical waste treatment plant in Tsing Yi, a
notification system for all disposal of chemical waste, and
studies on precautionary measures regarding land disposal.
However, unless what .is being implemented is a complete and
full-proof "cradle-to-grave" scheme, we are only
transferring these hazardous substances from one site to
another, from one medium to another (e.g. simply burying
them would result in a subsequent contamination of water
through run-off and pollution of the air through gaseous
emission), and delaying the problem. The present control
arrangements and those proposed need to be strengthened in
order to satisfy the five basic components of a "cradle-to-
grave" approach outlined above.
113. While availability of information on the generation
and disposal of chemical waste under the proposed
notification system is essential, it alone is not going to
solve the problem. As pointed out in another context,
industries cannot be relied upon to protect the
environment voluntarily. Some sort of permit system
accompanied by penalties for violations has to be in place
to force industries to accept proper waste disposal as an
integral part of their operation. The Superfund programme
in the US and our own asbestos problem have clearly shown
that remedial actions are expensive,. and do not guarantee a
perfect solution.
114. Two other areas in hazardous waste management which
have attracted recent attention in the US are leaking
underground storage tanks and disposal of medical waste,
both are the subjects of new legislation or regulations.
Underground Storage Tanks
115. Several million underground storage tanks containing
hazardous substances or petroleum products are in use in
the US, almost half of them are petroleum storage tanks
owned by gas stations. An estimated 400,000 of them are
thought to be leaking because of tank corrosion, piping
failures, installation mistakes, spills or overfills.
Substances released from these leaking tanks can
contaminate groundwater supplies, poison crops, and damage
sewer lines.
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116. Congress responded in 1984 to the problem of leaking
underground storage tanks by amending the Resource
Conservation and Recovery Act to empower EPA to develop
regulations to protect human health and the environment
from leaking tanks. As a first step, all owners or
operators of underground storage tanks are required to
register their tanks with their respective state agencies,
providing information on tank age, storage, and contents.
This enables states to establish, for the first time, an
inventory of tanks in their jurisdictions.
117. In October 1988, EPA promulgates regulations for
underground storage tanks. These require the meeting of
requirements concerning correct installations, spill and
overfill prevention, corrosion protection, and leak
detection by underground storage tanks installed after
December 1988. As regards tanks installed before December
1988, they are required to meet requirements for corrosion
protection, spill and overfill prevention, and leak
detection. Generally speaking, owners or operators are
financially responsible for the cost of cleaning up a leak
or compensating other people for bodily damage or property
damage caused by their leaking tanks.
Medical Waste
118. The problem of medical waste disposal has caught the
attention of the news media and the public as a result of
incidents of medical waste washed ashore in the summer of
1988 leading to beach closure in New York and New Jersey.
The wastes include used needles and syringes, bags and
vials containing blood traces, and other disposable items
used in hospitals and clinics, many of which are
potentially infectious. According to the US EPA, the
washing up of medical wastes could be due to a variety of
sources, including illegal dumping at sea, sewer overflow,
stormwater runoff, illegal drug users, and the generally
inadequate handling of solid wastes at landfills and
coastal transfer facilities.
119. It is estimated that hospitals in the US generate
about 3.2 million tons of medical waste per year. EPA
estimates that ten to 15 percent of hospital waste is
potentially infectious. In 1986, EPA published the EPA
Guide for infectious Waste Management which outlines
environmentally acceptable techniques for managing
infectious waste. But like the solid waste problem,
management and regulation remains very much a state and
local business.
120. In response to growing concern expressed by the
public, Congress enacted a Medical Waste Tracking Act in
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the fall of 1988. The Act requires the EPA Administrator
to promulgate regulations for a two-year demonstration
programme to track medical waste from its generation to its
disposal. The programme is intended to be established in
the states of New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, the Great
Lakes, and any other states that choose to be included.
Meanwhile, a Medical Waste Task Force has been formed
within EPA to develop an action plan, to coordinate with
states and other organisations, and to communicate with the
public. The Task Force is expected to put forward
recommendations on the management of medical waste by
February 1989.
121. Leaking underground storage tanks and medical waste
are potential areas of environmental concerns in Hong Kong
especially in view of our population density. Fire and
environmental hazards associated with underground storage
tanks have in the past led to residents' resistance against
the siting of gas stations in their proximity. Again,
applying the "anticipate-and-prevent" principle, studies
and discussion should be initiated on these areas. The
adequacy of protection against these potential hazards
under the Dangerous Goods Ordinance (which defines
dangerous goods and control their storage and transport),
the Pharmacy and Poisons Ordinance (which specifies
approved medicines and poisons and provides for their
control and disposal), and the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance
(which controls disposal of dangerous drugs), should be
examined.
Household Hazardous Waste
122. Although industries are the main generators of
hazardous waste, there are many hazardous materials around
the house which call for proper treatment and disposal.
Paint, drain cleaners, furniture polishes, pesticides,
disinfectants, and many household items contain toxic
chemicals that should not be simply poured out on the
ground or down the drain. These chemicals may damage our
sewers and affect the proper functioning of the wastewater
treatment- facilities which are not designed to deal with
toxicity.
123. Given the small amounts generated by each household,
it is impossible to bring them under federal or state
regulation in* the US. As a result, many state and local
authorities and non-governmental groups specialising in
waste management have launched innovative campaigns
designed to educate the public, while at the same time
slowly systematizing the disposal of hazardous waste
generated daily at the household level. Such locally-based
programmes are . underway in the states of California,
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Florida, Washington, Massachusetts, and Alaska.
124. In Hong Kong, the Consumer Council has from time to
time alerted the public of safety precautions in the use of
household hazardous substances. These include following
label instructions, keeping children away from hazardous
materials, proper storage, etc. However, the environmental
impact of such hazardous -substances does not end when a
pesticide can is thrown into the trash bin. People should
be educated on the proper disposal of household hazardous
waste and, better still, on minimising the use of hazardous
materials.
Export: of Hazardous Waste
125. In a global context, the export of hazardous waste has
become a subject of increased concern. With more stringent
regulations regarding hazardous waste and rising disposal
costs at home, many disposal firms in industrialised
nations are looking for disposal sites overseas. Their
destination is usually in the Third World countries which
are starved of foreign exchange. Such transfer of
hazardous waste is often not accompanied by adequate
notification, information on the potential hazards of
mismanagement, and without regard whatsoever to the
receiving country's ability and knowledge to handle such
wastes.
126. Under current rules in the US, wastes defined as
hazardous cannot be legally exported unless: (1) the
exporter notifies EPA; and (2) the country receiving the
wastes consents to accept it. In reality, there are
problems of prompt notification and enforcement. The
receiving country's consent is also no guarantee of proper
treatment given the poverty in many of these countries and
the alleged corruption in their governments. The problem
is aggravated by illegal dumping of hazardous waste on the
soil of a Third World country. In a conference on
hazardous waste export, the Nigerian Ambassador condemned
such waste disposal on African soil as "an attack on
African dignity."
127. The export of hazardous waste to developing nations
has attracted increased attention in the international
forum. More than 40 nations and 15 international
organisations are working on an international convention to
regulate transboundary shipments of hazardous waste, under
the auspices of the United Nations Environment Programme.
In May 1988, the European Parliament unanimously passed a
resolution calling for a ban on large scale export of
hazardous waste from Europe to developing countries. At a
meeting in June 1988, 11 out of the 12 countries
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represented at the European Community Environment Council
favoured a ban on toxic waste shipments to developing
countries: the United Kingdom was the only country that
objected.
128. I am not aware of any involvement of Hong Kong in this
international trade of hazardous waste. However, in the
context of' chemical waste management, the absence of
treatment facilities in Hong Kong may have required the
export of some of our chemical waste, either to another
country for treatment or for disposal. This problem is
flagged here for further examination.
TOXIC SUBSTANCES AND PESTICIDES
129. As described in previous paragraphs, the release of
toxic chemicals to air, water, and land is regulated under
the respective laws and pollution abatement programmes.
This section discusses the regulation and control of the
use of pesticides and other commercial chemical substances
in the US.
The US Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act.
130. Pesticides are widely used in agriculture and in our
everyday life. An average citizen is exposed to pesticides
through food, drinking, and personal use of pesticides at
home. Farm workers are exposed to even greater levels of
pesticide on a routine basis. The large scale application
of a variety of synthetic organic pesticides has been
hailed as the. major contributing factor to the dramatic
increase -in agriculture output in the US after World War
II. However, health effects and environmental risks
associated with the use of pesticides have ushered in a
series of regulatory attempts.
131. In the US, the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and
Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) was first enacted in 1947. The
main provision of FIFRA was a requirement that all
pesticides must be registered prior to their sale.
Registration, then administered by the Department of
Agriculture, was very much a matter of routine. The method
of registration was to register the label, requiring it to
specify the ingredients, specify the crops, pests, for
which the pesticide was intended, and to bear appropriate
instructions and cautions for use. Under the Act, if the
Department of Agriculture refused to register a pesticide,
the manufacturer could still market it "under protest", in
which case the Department of Agriculture had to prove the
pesticide's harmfulness. The "under protest" provision was
removed in 1964 but regulation of pesticides remains
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largely inadequate. Since then, thousands of pesticide
products have been registered although their safety
standards are doubtful.
132. In response to growing concerns about the effects of
pesticides on fish and wildlife and' human health, the most
notable of which are expressed in Rachel Carson's Silent
Spring published in 1964, the pesticide law was largely re-
written in the early 1970s, and the registration and
regulation authorities were transferred to the then newly
established EPA. The amended FIFRA establishes a broader
regulatory programme which requires manufacturers to
provide data on the potential effects of the chemicals on
health, fish and wildlife, and the nature of residues
likely to occur in food and feed crops in seeking a
registration. The Act specifically requires EPA to
register pesticide products on the basis of both safety and
benefits.' In other words, EPA has to determine whether a
pesticide can perform its intended function without causing
"unreasonably adverse effects" upon human health or the
environment while taking into account the potential
benefits of the proposed use. This balancing of risks and
benefits approach has often been a controversial subject
and has, in some extreme cases, led to cost-benefit studies
which give a price tag to each human life lost.
Reregistration of Pesticides
133. To ensure that previously registered pesticides
measure up to current scientific and regulatory standards,
the amended FIFRA requires the review and "reregistration"
of all existing pesticides: there are more than 45,000
commercial pesticide products in the market, involving
about 600 active ingredients. Owing to the sheer magnitude
of the task and the lack of adequate resources, progress on
"reregistration" has been very slow. To date, EPA has only
issued "Registration Standards" for about 180 active
ingredients that require reregistration under FIFRA.
134. In an attempt to speed the registration process, a
scheme of "conditional registration" has been put into
practice since 1978. This allows EPA to approve on a case-
by-case basis registration of a new product conditionally
if it does not increase the risk of unreasonable adverse
effects on the environment. Three types of conditional
registration may be approved: for pesticides identical or
substantially similar to currently registered pesticides;
for current registration to add new uses; and for
pesticides containing new active ingredients subject to
certain conditions. If subsequent testing shows that the
new products have unacceptable adverse implications, they
are then withdrawn, restricted, or banned. In addition,
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under certain circumstances, EPA may take action to suspend
the registration of a pesticide to prevent an imminent
hazard. The "conditional registration" provision has been
severely criticized by environmentalists as a device to
sidestep the registration requirements and confirms a
situation that another environmentalist described: that
pesticides in the US are innocent until proven guilty.
135. The enforcement of FIFRA has so far been handicapped
by two provisions in the law which I find absolutely
ridiculous. The first requires EPA to accept certain
suspended and cancelled pesticides for disposal at
government expense while another requires EPA to reimburse
holders of such suspended and cancelled pesticides for
financial losses suffered, up to the cost of the
pesticide, the so-called indemnification provision.
The 1988 Amendments to the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide,
and Rodenticide Act
136. Some of these loopholes in the law are plugged by the
FIFRA Amendments signed into law in October 1988. These
amendments end automatic indemnity payments for all persons
other than certain end users, such as farmers, and that all
indemnity payments made will come from the Treasury and not
from EPA's -operating budget. Among other things, the
amended FIFRA also stipulates a substantial, acceleration of
the reregistration process for previously registered
pesticides and authorizes the collection of fees from
manufacturers to support registration activities. Congress
hoped that with an enhanced programme, all reregistration
should be completed in a period of nine years.
Regulation of Pesticide Residues in Food
137. As an additional measure of public protection from the
adverse effects of pesticides, EPA is required under the
Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA) to set
tolerance levels for .all pesticides used on food or feed
crops. These are amounts of pesticide residues that may
safely remain in a treated food or feed crop after
harvesting. " They are usually set well below—normally 100
times below—the level that might cause harm to people or
the environment. The Food and Drug Administration is
responsible for enforcing these tolerances by inspecting
agricultural commodities, both domestic and imported, to
ensure that residues in food for sale in the market do not
exceed the limits established by EPA. In addition, the US
Department of Agriculture inspects meat and poultry for
such residues. Any food found to have residues in excess
of the tolerance level is subject to seizure and
destruction.
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Integrated Pest Management
138. Scientists, agriculturalists, and environmentalists in
the US are promoting the concept of Integrated Pest
Management (IPM) as a means to reduce dependence on
pesticides. IPM is an ecological approach to pest
management that takes into account the biology of the pest
and its integration with the environment. Although IPM may
include the use of chemicals, it leaves toxic chemicals as
a last resort to be applied in the minimum amounts
possible. There have been some success stories in IPM, but
the feasibility of its application on a large scale remains
to be tested. Meanwhile, use of pesticides will continue
to serve as a quick fix.
139. Given the popularity of pesticide products in the
home, EPA is in the process of examining the extent of
consumer exposure to unsafe levels of pesticides from home
and garden products. Through publications and improved
labelling of products, consumers are being educated about
the safe use of pesticides.
Pesticide Regulation in Hong Kong
140. In Hong Kong, the regulation of the use of pesticides
and contamination in food produce is scattered in a number
of statutes, with the implementation and enforcement work
being undertaken by a number of branches and departments,
such as the Agriculture and Fisheries Department, the
Municipal Services Branch, the Urban and Regional Councils
and their supporting departments. As .we import a great
proportion of our food, the control over imported produce
seems particularly important. In the past, there has been
isolated incidents of contaminated vegetables imported from
China, posing direct health hazards to residents in Hong
Kong.
141. Given my limited knowledge on the present arrangements
regarding pesticide regulation in Hong Kong, I am not going
to comment in detail. However, it would be helpful to
recognise that the safe and efficient use of pesticides has
a significant impact on our environment. Are Hong Kong
residents being adequately protected from pesticide
products that might pose adverse health and environmental
hazards? Are we permitting on our shelves products that
might have been banned or restricted in another country?
Are consumers generally well aware of safe pesticide use?
Do we have sufficient labelling requirements? While the
Environmental Protection Department currently has no active
role to play in the regulation of pesticides, it appears to
me that coordination of present efforts in this area is a
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subject worthy of the attention of the new Environment and
Planning Branch,
Control of Toxic Substances in the US
142. The potential damages of toxic substances, many of
which have useful commercial values, were brought to
national attention in the US in the early 1970s as a result
of a number of large scale contamination incidents.
Chemicals found posing hazards included mercury,
polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), asbestos, vinyl chloride,
etc. At that time, each of these substances was dealt with
on an ad hoc basis under the various air, water, and
pesticide legislation. To provide a framework to deal
comprehensively with these problems of toxic substances,
the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) was enacted by
Congress in 1976. Basically, the law does three things: It
seeks to prevent pollution incidents through requirements
for premarket testing; it places the burden of proof on
the manufacturer or distributor of the chemical; and it
provides authority to control toxic substances not subject
to existing laws. EPA is charged with the responsibility
to enforce TSCA and reporting, testing, and record keeping
requirements have been stipulated to facilitate control of
toxic substances.
PCBs
143. Since enactment of TSCA, EPA has worked to address
problems associated with PCBs, asbestos, dioxin, and
chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs). The Agency has also gathered
information on the toxicity and releases of a large number
of chemicals and has set up an inventory of all chemicals.
In .the case of PCBs, EPA has banned the manufacture,
processing, and use of PCBs. The Agency has also
established regulations for the disposal of PCBs. It is
estimated that about 400 million tons of PCBs are still
being used or stored in the US. Efforts to ensure their
proper disposal in the next few years are one of the
Agency's 'priorities.
Asbestos
144. In the case of asbestos, EPA has worked to reduce the
exposure of school children to asbestos under the Asbestos
School Hazard Abatement Act of 1984 (which provides an
interest-free loan or grant to schools for asbestos control
projects) and the Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act of
1986 (which requires schools to identify and respond to
their asbestos problems.) The Agency has established
centres for the training of asbestos control and removal
personnel but the actual progress in removing asbestos from
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buildings has been slow. In October 1988, Congress
enacted the Asbestos Information Act which requires
manufacturers to supply information to EPA. The Agency has
yet to develop a strategy for eliminating exposure to
asbestos.
Regulation of Toxic Substances in Hong Kong
145. In Hong Kong, regulations governing the handling and
disposal of asbestos and PCBs have recently been
promulgated. Financial assistance is made available to
facilitate public schools to remove asbestos from their
buildings. But the extensive use of asbestos in the older
buildings, in particular large public housing estates
affecting a substantial population, means that we are
facing a problem which requires enormous resources. A
related problem is whether Hong Kong has adequate trained
personnel to undertake the task. We are aware that
improper asbestos removal action, which will increase -the
chance of the inhalation of these toxic materials, is going
to create much greater hazards than asbestos use itself.
146. Information gathering is a crucial part in the control
and regulation of toxic substances. While Hong Kong can
generally rely on the studies in other industrialized
countries for information on the health and environmental
effects of a chemical, we need to have information on the
sources and routes of exposure to a chemical in the local
situation. The Bhopal disaster in India and the lethal
fire in a leather factory in Hong Kong a few years ago have
illustrated the extent of threat caused by the absence of
information on what is going on in our industrial plants.
An examination of the various statutes relating to toxic
substances should be examined with a view to strengthen the
data-gathering provisions in order to assist determination
of the nature and extent of risks posed by these
chemicals. Similarly, coordination of present efforts on
the control and regulation of toxic substances appears to
be a profile that could be assumed by the new policy
branch.
NOISE ABATEMENT
Control of Noise Pollution in the US
147. Although -the Noise Control Act and some of the
regulations issued under its authority remain in effect, a
federal noise control programme is virtually non-existent
in the US. First enacted in 1972, the Noise Control Act
gave EPA the basic authority to control noise pollution
through a comprehensive approach. Under this legislation,
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EPA was authorised to establish noise emission standards
for products, to provide for the coordination of federal
research on noise control, and to propose regulations to
abate noise from aircraft operations. During the Carter
Administration, EPA's Noise Control Programme was expanded
to regulate noise from trucks, railroad engines and cars,
and to require labelling for products which emit excessive
noise.
148. The federal Noise Control Programme underwent a
gradual phase-down during 1981 and 1982, finally ceasing to
exist at the end of the fiscal year 1982. EPA's Office of
Noise Abatement and Control was shut down and the Assistant
Administrator for Air, Noise, and Radiation was retitled
the Assistant Administrator for Air and Radiation. In the
judgement of the Reagan Administration, noise .control is
one of the areas which properly should be regulated by
state and local governments instead of the federal
government.
Noise Control Legislation in Hong Kong
149. On the contrary, the Hong Kong Government is enhancing
its noise . control programme through enactment of
legislation. The Noise Control Bill 1988, introduced in
June 1988, seeks to significantly expand the present scope
of noise regulations contained in various ordinances to
deal with the four major sources of noise:
(a) Piling and construction;
(b) Domestic premises and public places;
(c) Industrial and commercial premises; and
(d) Plant items and equipment.
150. The enactment of stringent legislation must be
accompanied by vigorous enforcement in order to achieve the
goal of a quiet environment. As an attempt to address the
problem at source, stronger emphasis must be placed on
planning against noise. Town planning and land zoning
proposals should be scrutinised to minimise the annoyance
caused by noise to sensitive neighbourhoods, such as
schools and residences. It has to be recognized that
planning against noise is more effective and less costly
than noise abatement projects.
PUBLIC/PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP
151. The success of environmental protection requires the
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participation and involvement of the community/ in
particular those sectors which have a direct interest on
the subject and thus have a greater role to play.
"Partnership" is a popular concept within the US federal
government, naturally because of the de-regulatory
philosophy of the Reagan Administration and its inclination
to delegate most of the executive responsibilities to state
and local governments. in the US EPA, partnership between
the federal agency and states is emphasised? states are
charged with the responsibility to plan, implement, and
enforce pollution control measures under federal guidance
and financial assistance. EPA's Resource Management
Division is in the course of formulating a Public-Private
Partnership Strategy which will determine the types of
partnerships that are viable under -the current regulatory
and legislative climate. EPA acknowledges that it has not
given sufficient attention in the past to the question of
how people—state and local governments or private sector
business—will fund the present and future activities that
federal regulations impose. As a first step, EPA has
recently provided US$2 million to private companies and
research centres under "cooperative agreements" to help
develop innovative new technologies for cleansing hazardous
wastes and cleaning up hazardous waste sites.
152. In my view, the concept of partnership should be given
a wider application. The government should consider as
partners not only other regulatory authorities or the
regulatees, but also the professional community and
environmental groups which share common goals. I am not
aware of any concerted efforts of the US EPA in this
respect, and on the contrary, the feedback I obtained from
environmentalists suggests a very flimsy relationship
between EPA and the environmental community; some even
described EPA's attitude towards environmental groups as
paranoid.
Environmental Groups in the US
153. Having visited over a dozen non-governmental
environmental groups in the US, I must say that I am more
impressed by people working in these groups—their
personality, work and achievements, perception of
problems—than by people within the Agency. Whether they
are scientists, lawyers, or administrators by profession,
most of them have a strong passion for protecting the
environment. All the environmental groups are non-profit-
making organisations funded by membership dues, foundations
or private donations. Generally speaking, they can be
grouped into three main categories.
154. The first group consists of traditional membership-
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based organisations which have, throughout the years, taken
on a diversified portfolio, for example, the Sierra Club
and the National Audubon Society. While these groups are
active in promoting appropriate Congress action and
legislation to tackle environmental problems, they continue
to place a heavy emphasis on servicing their members, in
organising nature-oriented activities for members, in
publishing colourful magazines, and in generally promoting
an appreciation of the natural environment.
155. The second group consists of organisations which are
more action-oriented in addressing environmental problems
in the country. Although the tactics adopted by these
organisations in achieving their goals may differ, their
approach is usually more direct and visible. Organisations
like the Natural Resources Defense Council and the
Environmental Defense Fund are known for challenging EPA
and other regulatory authorities in court: they often sue
EPA for failing to meet statutory deadlines or act in
accordance with -the mandates stipulated by Congress. These
organisations are strongly staffed by attorneys and have a
significant input to the making of environmental laws.
They maintain close liaison with Congressional aides and
prepare draft legislation for the consideration of
Congressmen. On the other hand, there are groups like the
Greenpeace which tend to adopt more confrontational
strategies, although I was assured by the officer-in-charge
of Greenpeace's Washington Office that they too try to work
within the system.
156. The third group is composed of research-oriented
organisations which are nonpartisan in nature and which
refrain from any lobbying work. Their main objective is to
improve existing knowledge and information, to expand the
scientific base, and to come up with feasible options to
enable policy-makers to arrive at more informed decisions.
The WorldWatch Institute, the World Resources Institute,
and the Renew America Project are organisations that belong
to this category. These organisations usually have a
multidisciplinary staff consisting of scientists,
economist, agriculturalists, climatologists, etc. and many
of them command respect in their respective fields. They
frequently testify before Congress to present their
research products and appear in open forums to discuss
their views with a hope to arouse public concern.
157. The above categorisation inevitably commits the error
of over-generalisation: there are many groups which do not
fit neatly into any of these compartments, such as the
National Wildlife Federation which tends to cover all three
aspects adequately. In addition, there is a growing trend
of environmental groups forming themselves into coalitions
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to facilitate exchange of information, such as the Global
Tomorrow Coalition, or alliances on a special issue, such
as the National Clean Air Coalition. Needless to say, all
these groups also have an important role to play in
environmental education. Their publications are often of
very high quality. I am particularly impressed by
publications of the Worldwatch Institute: its WorldWatch
Papers are well-researched, thoroughly argued expositions
on individual subjects ranging from global food supply to
transport and traffic problems; its bi-monthly Worldwatch
Magazine is critical of current developments; and its
annual State of the World document is highly appraised of
and has been translated in most foreign languages including
Chinese.
Partnership with Environmental Groups
158. Cooperation and partnership with these environmental
groups will certainly be advantageous to environmental
protection work undertaken by the government. Given their
wide membership base and their extensive grassroots
contacts, they can complement the role of the regulatory
authorities by serving as useful tentacles to uncover
potential environmental hazards and point their fingers at
polluters. Most important of all, they will be a powerful
force in promoting environmental education.
159. Most of the environmental groups currently in Hong
Kong, such as the Conservancy Association, Friends of the
Earth, etc., are not very well established, partly because
of lack of funding and partly because of a general apathy
towards environmental matters among the great majority of
the population. But they have potential for further
development and the Government could help to give a push by
recognising their contribution in public, by consulting
them in the formulation of policies, and by involving them
in community projects. Unofficially, there should be more
contacts between administrators in the government and
leaders in these environmental groups. Given our common
goals in improving the environment of Hong Kong, ongoing
communication and cooperation is certainly more effective
than suspicion and confrontation.
Industries as Partners
160. Partnership with industries is- apparently a more
tricky question as they are naturally resistant of any form
of regulation. The only example of industry taking an
active interest in environmental problems that I have seen
in the US is on the CFC and ozone depletion issue. The
Alliance For Responsible CFC Policy is formed by the major
CFC producers in the US and has been actively involved in
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finding CFC substitutes. (There are of course sound
commercial reasons for doing so in view of the potential
market value of new substitute products.) Recently, they
have come out to support a more aggressive programme to
phase out CFCs than that prescribed under the Montreal
Protocol. •. '
161. As a pioneer to establish a business-environment
connection, the National Wildlife Federation has
established a Corporate Conservation Council since 1982 to
foster cooperation between two traditional adversaries:
corporate executives and conservation advocates. The
Council's membership includes Dow Chemical, ARCO, Du Pont,
3M, and other large American corporations. • While
assessments on the success of this scheme vary, the
Corporate Conservation Council at least opens a direct
dialogue between industrialists and environmentalists.
Promoting Public/Private Partnership in Hong Kong
162. Currently in Hong Kong, public/private partnership is
practiced through our traditional consultative machinery,
with the Environmental Pollution Advisory Committee (EPCOM)
being Government's principal source of advice on pollution
matters. The Committee is chaired by an unofficial and
consists of members drawn from the Legislative Council, the
Urban and Regional Councils, District Boards, industry
associations, and environmental groups. While this
consultative structure fits perfectly well into Hong Kong's
political system and has proven to be a useful source of
advice, the concept of "partnership" can be applied more
extensively and may take one or more of the following
forms: >
(a) Close liaison with local professional groups, such as
the Institute of Engineers, the science and technology
faculties in the universities, the Hong Kong
Productivity Council, the Hong Kong Consumer Council,
etc. to explore innovative ways to abate and prevent
pollution problems. These bodies can be engaged and
funded to conduct special research or studies for the
government;
(b) Establishment of working groups under EPCOM involving
a larger cross-section of the community, such as
schools, mass media, etc. on a specified project like
environmental education; and
(c) Cooperation with industries and private companies who
do business in the field of environment in organising
joint exhibitions and conferences on viable
alternatives to reduce pollution.
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All in all, it is important to spread the message and to
create the image that government is not the lone fighter in
the war against pollution; that a clean and healthy
environment is everyboby's business and everyone has a part
to play.
ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION
163. This paper concludes with a discussion on the subject
of environmental education, but not because it is the least
important. On the contrary, it is fundamental to
environmental protection work in all parts of the world and
particularly in Hong Kong where an environmental ethic has
yet to be developed. Public knowledge, understanding, and
support are essential for progress in improving the quality
of our environment. While the government can stipulate
more stringent regulations to deal with pollution, its
citizens may not follow willingly if they fail to
understand or support the reasons behind those actions.
EPA's Role in Environmental Education
164. EPA was set up as a regulatory agency, and has very
much remained so up to this date. EPA's Office of Community
and Intergovernmental Relations, where I have spent a
couple of months, is supposed to assume a coordinating role
on environmental education matters, to serve as a link
between community groups and the Agency, and to provide a
clearinghouse for information and resources on
environmental education. Unfortunately, the performance of
this office has a lot to be desired. There is no definite
plans or strategy to .carry out its mandate; information
about ongoing programmes in the non-governmental groups and
even within the Agency itself is scattered and incomplete;
and work is done on an extremely piecemeal fashion.
165. During my stay in the office, the main focus was on
the President's Environmental Youth Awards programme. This
programme is designed to encourage young people from
kindergarten to grade 12, individually or collectively, to
participate in projects with an environmental impact.
Every year,' each of EPA's ten regions will select a
national winner who is then sent on an expense-paid trip to
Washington to attend an award presentation ceremony. The
award-winning projects for the year 1988 include a sixth
grade class initiative on a recycling project in their
school in New York, a twelfth grade student's research
project on soil erosion in Florida, and a boy scout group's
efforts to construct trails and picnic tables in a National
Park. While the idea of this award programme is a
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commendable one, it alone is not going to have a strong and
lasting impact on the community.
Role of States In Environmental Education
166. One of my assignments in the Office of Community and
Intergovernmental Relations was a survey of the states'
efforts and programmes on environmental education. States
like California and Washington have a strong and cohesive
programme while other states are merely paying lip service.
In some of the states, environmental education is an
integral part of the school curriculum. Instruction in the
wise use of natural resources and protection of the
environment is very often infused into the health, science,
and social sciences curriculum, rather than taught as a
separate subject. The State of California publishes a.
Guide for the Development of an Interdisciplinary
Environmental Education Curriculum which provides
guidelines to local educators. Schools and local
educational authorities also resort to some national
education programmes and teaching aids, such as Project
WILD, Project Learning Tree, or Project CLASS, to promote
environmental education. These programmes are usually
developed by non-governmental groups with a grant from a
private donation or a government source. For example,
Project CLASS (Conservation Learning Activities for Science
and Social Studies) was developed by the National Wildlife
Federation in 1982 with a grant from the National Science
Foundation. It teaches thinking skills through
environmental activities and has become an environmental
education supplemental text approved for use in the public
school system.
Role of Environmental Groups in Environmental Education
167. The non-governmental environmental community has
played a tremendously impressive role in promoting
environmental education and citizen participation.
Television series, resource guides, teaching aids,
information packets, and colourful pamphlets have been
produced on a great variety of subjects. While many of
these publications and efforts are targeted at children,
there are dozens of newsletters, magazines, and bulletins
which aim at informing the adult population of
environmental issues and arousing their concern towards
environmental degradation.
168. During .my visits to some of these organisations, I
have picked up a wide variety of samples of these products
and have subscribed to a number of their more information-
rich and thought-provoking magazines. The Center for
Environmental Education has some of its children's
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publications translated into foreign languages/ such as
French and Spanish. It will certainly be a good idea for
educators and environmentalists in Hong Kong to expose
themselves to these readily available materials and to
establish regular contacts with environmental groups in the
US in the area of environmental education. Nonetheless, it
is important to recognise that environmental education
materials must have a local flavour: they have to address
local concerns and put forward local solutions.
Environmental Education in Hong Kong
169. In my view, environmental education should be one of
'the major areas that deserve a greater attention in Hong
Kong. As our efforts on the Clean Hong Kong Campaign have
indicated, we cannot achieve a clean environment unless
people change their habits to stop littering. Understanding
and support of the community is also crucial to our
implementation of policies, which sometimes can be
unpopular to certain sectors of the population, such as the
Livestock Waste Control Scheme.
170. Environmental education should start at our schools
although it should, by no means, be confined there. Our
environment will have ai better chance if children are
brought up to appreciate the conservation of natural
resources and the importance of clean air, clean water,
etc. They can also be a powerful force in influencing the
habits of their parents. However, I am not in favour of
environmental education being taught as a separate subject
in schools. Instead, it should be infused into all
relevant subjects, such as natural science or health
science in the primary school curriculum or physics,
geography, and social science studies at the secondary
level.
171. Apart from schools and environmental groups, the
media, voluntary organisations such as Boy Scouts, Girl
Guides, and our district boards all have a role to play in
promoting community awareness and citizen involvement.
Celebration of the World Environment Day in June every year
provides a good occasion to spread the message. In
addition, I think we should revive the Tree Planting Day in
November. It would not be difficult to draw up a list of
ideas and proposals to promote environmental education, but
it is more important to coordinate our efforts. I
therefore recommend that an interdepartmental working group
to be chaired by the new Environment and Planning Branch
should be established to undertake this task. Possible
membership would include the Department of Education, the
Environmental Protection Department, the City and New
Territories Administration, the Agriculture and Fisheries
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Department, the Country Park Authority,
Information Services Department.
and the
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