3.1.4 Paa and resources

The elements of this part describe the competent public actors as well as specific institutional principles to the arrangement of a public policy. As for Mainland China, the relevant actors are mainly in three areas: transport, environment and development departments. At national level, there are Department of pollution prevention & control, which is dominated by Ministry of Environmental Protection of the People’s Republic of China, Ministry of transport of the People’s Republic of China as well as National Development and Reform Commission. At provincial and municipal level, there will also be correspondent-dominating departments in these three areas respectively.

Of course, distribution of resources like technology, monitoring equipment, personnel, finance, should also be well dealt with between departments, making sure every procedure under control. It is noteworthy that time management has also to be taken into consideration: e.g. the new national environmental law (Ambient air quality standards) was formulated in 2012, but actually it will not come into force until 2016.

3.1.5 Procedural elements

Procedural elements are the external shells or layers of the PAP, to implement a public policy, actors have the responsibility to acknowledge relevant principles of PAP, to ensure financial resources and services, so as to achieve good interaction between themselves and those groups who are affected.

The transparency of the exchange of information is worth notable especially in Mainland China that the public may have doubts to which extent and through which approach that citizens have rights to access to monitoring data. From the governmental documents of monitoring act, it is stated that the monitoring information will be published through both governmental website and mass media like television and broadcast.

Aarhus Convention (The UNECE Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters) is an international convention, which grants people right to access to local or national information freely concerning environmental issues. It is a sign of democratic progress in public transparency and participation, which promotes better trust of political-administrative authorities among the public. It was adopted on 25th June 1998 in the Danish city of Aarhus, as of 2 April 2013, there were 47 Parties to the Convention, 32 Parties to the Protocol on Pollutant Release and Transfer Registers (PRTRs) and 27 Parties to the amendment on public participation in decisions on the deliberate release into the environment and placing on the market of genetically modified organisms (GMOs). Unfortunately, as for Mainland China, it neither signed to the convention nor it was ratified.

2. Hong Kong

3.2.1 Concrete objectives

The air quality standards in Hong Kong are also in a period of transition. The current Air Quality Objectives was set up by the Environmental Protection Department in 1987, under the regulation of Air Pollution Control Ordinance (APCO) (see Figure 3.6). However, Hong Kong is also proposing a new Air Quality Objectives at present, which tends to be into force from 2014. Figure 3.7 gives the comparison between the old and new AQOs.

Figure 3.7 Current Air Quality Objectives (Hong Kong, until 2014)

Pollutant	Concentration in Microgrammes per Cubic Metre (μg/m3)
	Averaging time
	1hr	8hrs	24hrs	3mths	1yr
Sulphur Dioxide (SO2)	800	—	350	—	80
Total Suspended Particulates (TSP)	—	—	260	—	80
Respirable Suspended Particulates (PM10)	—	—	180	—	55
Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2)	300	—	150	—	80
Carbon Monoxide (CO)	30000	10000	—	—	—
Photochemical Oxidants (as ozone)	240	—	—	—	—
Lead (Pd)	—	—	—	1.5	—

Figure 3.8 Proposed New Air Quality Objectives (Hong Kong, from 2014)