Implementation of Environmental Impact Assessment on Transport Infrastructure Projects in Hong Kong

The process of environmental impact assessment (EIA) has been employed by many government administrations in developed countries and areas to prevent environmental destruction owing to transport infrastructure development. The Hong Kong EIA Ordinance was enacted in 1997. Ideally, the EIA process should be able to harmonize the conflicts between development and the environment. As in the case of transport infrastructure development projects in Hong Kong, the project proponents are either Highways Department or the railways corporations largely owned by Government. When the Environmental Protection Department, the EIA authority, disapproves the EIA reports of these government or quasi-government proponents, it leads to time consuming and very expensive appeal process. Both parties spend public money in the appeal case but the environment may not be effectively protected. The public starts to question whether EIA process is an effective tool to harmonize environmental and development conflicts. This paper argues, with two recent controversial examples, that mediation process in handling the environmental and development conflicts should be incorporated in the EIA process.