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Following is a question by the Hon Choy So-yuk and an oral reply by the Secretary for the Environment, Mr Edward Yau, in the Legislative Council today (May 21):
Question:
It has been reported that the air quality in Guangdong and Hong Kong and the roadside air quality in Hong Kong have both shown signs of deterioration. In the Pearl River Delta Regional Air Quality Monitoring Network - A Report of Monitoring Results in 2007 published last month, the Government pointed out that the average number of air pollution exceedance days recorded in Guangdong and Hong Kong last year was nearly 34% of the total number of days in the year, representing an increase of 2.19% compared with that of the year before. It has also been reported that although the Hong Kong Government had spent almost $700 million of public money in the past five years to improve roadside air quality, roadside air pollution in Hong Kong in the first quarter of this year was the worst among the records since 2000 when they were first kept, with the number of exceedance hours exceeding 10% of the total number of hours, and the number of exceedance hours in Central even reached 310, which was the worst in the past nine years. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a)of the number of complaints relating to the air quality and roadside air quality in Hong Kong received by the Government in the past three years;
(b)besides meteorological factors, whether the Government will assess what other factors attribute to the deterioration of the air quality in Guangdong and Hong Kong and the roadside air quality in Hong Kong; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
(c)apart from the measures mentioned in the paper provided for the meeting of this Council's Panel on Environmental Affairs on January 28, this year, what other countermeasures focusing on the above state of deterioration of the two kinds of air quality the authorities have put in place?
Reply:
Madam President,
Before answering the specific questions, I would like to first elaborate on the state of our air in recent years.
Apart from local and regional air pollutant emissions, meteorological factors can also affect air quality. The long-term trend of air quality mainly depends on the changes in the emission levels of air pollutants. Meteorological factors play a part in short-term fluctuations in air quality, though they have little impact on the long-term trend.
As weather conditions can fluctuate between years, the air quality in a specific month can deviate from that of previous years. Therefore, it is inappropriate to select air quality data in a short period, such as a specific month or a couple of months, and compare the data with those of the same period in previous years to assess whether air quality has improved or deteriorated.
The best way to assess air quality changes as well as the effectiveness of air pollution control measures is to examine the long-term trends of major air pollutants, i.e., the annual average pollutant concentrations over the past years.
According to data from the Environmental Protection Department (EPD), the annual average concentrations of major air pollutants measured at the general and roadside air quality monitoring stations did not vary much in the past three years, i.e., from 2005 to 2007, and showed improvement as compared with 2004 (see Annex 1). As compared with 1999, the annual average concentrations of air pollutants measured at roadside air quality monitoring stations have improved as a result of the implementation of a wide range of vehicle emission control measures (see Annex 2).
Let me come back to the specific questions.
(a)Complaints received by the EPD normally involve specific emission sources or subjects for follow-up enforcement actions. The department received a total of 12,343, 13,264 and 14,304 complaints relating to specific air pollution sources in 2005, 2006 and 2007 respectively. Nearly 50% of the complaints about air pollution in the past three years were related to vehicle emissions, while the rest mainly involved specific pollution sources, such as cooking fumes from restaurants, dust from construction sites and foul smell.
(b)Hong Kong and the Pearl River Delta (PRD) Region have seen rapid economic growth in recent years. The gross domestic product of Hong Kong has increased by 30% while that of Guangdong doubled over the past five years. Such buoyant economic activities have resulted in additional demand for electricity, transportation and industrial activities. The air pollutants emitted from power generation, transportation and industries in Hong Kong and the neighbouring PRD are the primary sources affecting the air quality in Guangdong and Hong Kong, and the changes in the emissions from these sources are the basic factors contributing to the improvement or deterioration of air quality in the two places. Improving air quality requires concerted efforts by the governments, enterprises and the community in the two places. Nevertheless, given the commitment of both governments and the collaboration mechanism in place, the emission reduction measures implemented in Guangdong and Hong Kong should improve the air quality of both places in the long run. I believe that the results will eventually be reflected in the long-term trend of the air monitoring data from the PRD Regional Air Quality Monitoring Network.
As short-term air quality is easily affected by meteorological factors, normally we need data spanning a period of about five years to make objective and scientific assessment of the changes in air quality for establishing the trend. As the monitoring data measured by the PRD Regional Air Quality Monitoring Network only cover a period of two years, they are not sufficient for trend analysis and assessment of the effectiveness of the emission reduction measures for the time being.
That said, we will endeavour to monitor and assess air quality in the two places. Both the Guangdong and Hong Kong Governments will continue to gather more data through the monitoring network over the next few years. The data, together with the estimated pollutant emission levels, will be used to assess the air quality trends and the effectiveness of the emission reduction measures of the two places. The Mid-term Review of the PRD Regional Air Quality Management Plan (Mid-term Review) completed earlier this year has laid the groundwork for collecting relevant information for the monitoring of the effectiveness of the measures.
To improve roadside air quality, the Government has implemented a wide range of measures since 1999 to reduce vehicle emissions. These measures include providing grant for owners to replace diesel taxis and light buses with liquefied petroleum gas models, introducing ultra low sulphur diesel (ULSD), implementing the most stringent emission and fuel standards for vehicles, tightening control on smoky vehicles, requiring pre-Euro diesel vehicles to be retrofitted with particulate removal devices, offering grant for the replacement of pre-Euro and Euro I diesel vehicles with Euro IV models.
These measures have borne results. Since the introduction of ULSD, roadside sulphur dioxide level between 1999 and 2007 has dropped by 22%, and is now broadly comparable to that recorded at general monitoring stations. Moreover, the above measures have brought down the levels of respirable suspended particulates and nitrogen oxides at roadside by 15% and 24% respectively. The number of smoky vehicles spotted has also decreased by 80%.
Notwithstanding, the high vehicle density, the large number of old vehicles and the built-up environment in the urban area impede the dispersal of air pollutants in the territory, rendering the above measures insufficient for achieving desirable roadside air quality levels. We will continue to collaborate with the public and the transport trade to come up with more effective measures for further improvement of roadside air quality.
(c)In the paper submitted to the Panel on Environmental Affairs of the Legislative Council on January 28 this year, we listed out in detail a series of emission reduction measures to be launched in Guangdong and Hong Kong in the coming years.
To improve regional air quality, the Guangdong Provincial Government, apart from implementing existing emission reduction measures, will also introduce the enhancement measures recommended in the report of the Mid-term Review. These measures include requiring newly built power plants to install denitrification system, tightening local emission standards for industrial and commercial boilers, enhancing cleaner production requirement for volatile organic compound (VOC)-containing products, setting limits on the VOC contents of consumer products, and tightening control on emissions from vessels.
For Hong Kong, apart from the series of measures outlined in the report of the Mid-term Review, we launched a Cleaner Production Partnership Programme in April this year to help and encourage Hong Kong-owned enterprises operating in the PRD Region to adopt cleaner production technologies and practices. The Programme is now open for application.
With regard to improving roadside air quality, the Government will continue to expand the railway network to reduce reliance on road transport. A number of new and major railway projects have been firmed up for implementation. Moreover, the Government has offered since April 1, 2008 First Registration Tax concession to vehicle owners who purchase new environmentally-friendly commercial vehicles that meet approved standard (i.e. Euro V emission standard). Public consultation on the proposal to require drivers to switch off vehicle engines while waiting was completed in end-March 2008. The feedback is being analysed for drawing up a regulatory framework with broad-based support.
Moreover, the EPD commenced in June 2007 a study to comprehensively review the Hong Kong Air Quality Objectives (AQOs) with reference to guidelines and standards of the World Health Organisation as well as those being adopted by places such as the EU and the United States. The study will also look into the long-term air quality management strategy for achieving the new AQOs, covering the necessary control measures and technologies, interface with transport and planning policies, implementation framework and timetable, etc.
Ends/Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Issued at HKT 17:41
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