57Insulation against noise
(1)The undertakers shall make a scheme providing for the making of grants towards the cost of insulating buildings, or such classes of buildings as the undertakers may think fit, or any parts of any such buildings, against noise caused, or expected to be caused, by the use of the LRT system.
(2)(a)A scheme under subsection (1) above shall in particular require the undertakers to make grants towards the cost of insulating any habitable room comprised in a residential building if noise caused by the use of the LRT system and audible within that room habitually exceeds either of the levels specified in column (2) of the following table between the hours specified in relation to that level in column (1) of the table; but nothing in this paragraph shall preclude the undertakers from including in a scheme under subsection (1) above provisions authorising them to make grants at their discretion towards any other cost falling within that subsection.
Table
| Hours | Noise level (dB(A) – LAeq) |
|---|---|
| (1) | (2) |
| Between 0700 hours and 2300 hours on any day | 68 |
| Between 2300 hours on any day and 0700 hours on the following day | 63 |
(b)In this subsection “habitable room” means a room which could reasonably be lived in or slept in and includes a living room, a dining room, a kitchen and a bedroom, but excludes a bathroom, a water-closet, a staircase, corridor or landing, a cloakroom, a utility room and an outhouse.
(c)The following provisions of this section are without prejudice to this subsection and in particular, but without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing, an application for a grant for which provision is made by this subsection shall not be invalid by reason of the fact that it is not made on the date specified in accordance with subsection (4) (d) below if it is made during a period beginning with the opening to the public of the part of the LRT system to which the application relates and ending five years thereafter.
(3)The undertakers may make grants in accordance with a scheme made under subsection (1) above.
(4)A scheme under subsection (1) above—
(a)shall specify the areas in respect of which grants are payable;
(b)shall make provision as to the persons to whom, the expenditure in respect of which, and the rate at which the grants are to be paid;
(c)may make the payment of any grant dependent upon compliance with such conditions as may be specified in the scheme;
(d)shall specify a date, not less than two years after first publication of the notice referred to in subsection (6) below, for the submission of a valid application for a grant; and
(e)shall require the undertakers, in any case where application for a grant is refused, to give to the applicant at his request a written statement of their reasons for the refusal.
(5)A scheme under subsection (1) above may make different provisions with respect to different areas or different circumstances and may be varied or revoked by a subsequent scheme under subsection (1) above without affecting grants already made.
(6)(a)As soon as may be after the making of a scheme under this section the undertakers shall publish, once at least in each of two successive weeks in one or more newspapers circulating in the areas to which the scheme relates, a notice stating the general effect of the scheme and specifying a place or places in each such area where a copy of the scheme may be inspected by any person free of charge at all reasonable hours.
(b)A photostatic or other reproduction certified by the secretary of the undertakers or some other person authorised by the undertakers for that purpose to be a true reproduction of a page, or part of a page, of any newspaper bearing the date of its publication and containing a notice mentioned in this subsection shall be evidence of the publication of the notice and of the date of publication.