The Government welcomed the Legislative Council’s passage of the Air Pollution Control (Amendment) Bill 2024 today.

To more effectively combat unlicensed specified processes operations that may cause serious air pollution, the bill introduces a statutory closure notice mechanism.

At the same time, the amendment exercise optimises the scope of “cement works” and the definition of “premises” under specified processes to avoid misinterpretation or control circumvention, such that the trade could enjoy a clearer and fairer business environment.

The amendment exercise also tightens five existing Air Quality Objectives (AQOs) and adds three parameters newly introduced by the World Health Organization to its Global Air Quality Guidelines.

Among the 15 updated AQOs, seven are set at the most stringent levels of the guidelines, which are on par with those of other advanced economies.

The bill will come into effect on April 11.

The Government said Hong Kong’s air quality has continued to improve through the implementation of local control measures and close collaboration with the Guangdong Provincial Government.

Over the past two years, the city has recorded a 40%-80% decrease in the concentrations of major air pollutants, attaining the best air quality level since its return to the motherland, it added.