Hong Kong’s environment minister has proposed halving the time to assess the ecological impact of local construction projects to speed up the development of housing and tackle sluggish supply.

At a Legislative Council panel meeting on Monday, Secretary for the Environment Wong Kam-sing proposed shortening the entire environmental impact assessment (EIA) process to between 18 and 24 months from the current duration of three to four years.

Under the proposal, the minister said an assessment could be carried out at the same time as the design work of the construction project, which cannot proceed under the current legislation until an environmental study is approved.

“This is to ensure better use of the time and resources of the whole society to achieve a better balance between the environment and development and a better focus on environmental protection efforts,” Wong said.

Undersecretary for the Environment Tse Chin-wan said the proposed changes, which are part of a review of the Environmental Impact Assessment Ordinance, would not compromise public participation, adding that the creation of a centralised database for all EIA studies could prevent future legal disputes.

The database, which would be developed by the Environmental Protection Department, would standardise evaluation methods for baseline surveys, which assess a site’s conditions and predict the potential impact of construction on an area.

The system would encompass all environmental data, including ecological information, from all the EIA studies and government bureaus.

The amendments to the EIA process, first proposed by Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor in her policy address last year, aim to speed up land development and boost the supply of houses.

To further accelerate the process, Lam also called for the Development Bureau to review existing procedures and administrative arrangements on town planning, land resumption and road works.

Deputy Director of Environmental Protection Samuel Chui Ho-kwong said the review of the EIA process was expected to be completed within the year, adding that he would submit the proposal to the Legco panel on environmental affairs once it was finished.

The lengthy EIA process has been viewed by some as a hurdle to the development of housing and infrastructure, with critics citing a legal battle in 2010 involving the current legislation which raised the construction cost of the city’s section of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge to HK$6.5 billion (US$830 million).

The Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge.

A Tung Chung resident had filed a judicial review stating the EIA report did not take into account the air pollution the bridge might cause following its completion, leading to a development delay of more than 15 months.

While most Legco panel members have expressed their support for the legal amendments, others have questioned whether a shorter EIA process could still delay infrastructure creation as part of national development according to Beijing’s 14th Five-Year Plan to establish the Greater Bay Area.

Lawmaker Chan Yuet-ming cited estimates from mainland Chinese experts that the EIA process in Guangdong province could be completed within nine months.

“An ecological census, which takes nine months to one year, has to cover the four seasons,” Wong said, defending the policy. “This basic scientific data is the common basis that applies to Hong Kong and internationally.”

Meanwhile, some environmental groups have supported the proposed creation of a central database to consolidate the city’s “patchy” data and provide information to assist future surveys.

“If the government can update the information regularly, then it can provide a comprehensive understanding of Hong Kong’s ecological data,” said Jeffrey Hung Oi-shing, chief executive of Friends of the Earth Hong Kong.

“But the government must act as a gatekeeper as to who can access such sensitive materials, such as endangered species. It should classify data by their sensitivity level,” he added. “Sensitive data should only be made available to project proponents or consultants.”