1 ISDS THE WORLD BANK GROUP AW*rld Frcą of Poverky Infohop 24321 June 13, 2002 Integrated Safeguards Data Sheet (Initial) Date ISDS Prepared/Updated: 06/13/2002 Section I - Basic Information A. Basic Project Data Country: CHINA Project ID: P076714 Project: Second Anhui Highway Project Task Team Leader: Yasuhiro Kawabata Authorized to Appraise Date: February 13, 2003 IBRD Amount ($m): 250.00 Bank Approval: August 12, 2003 IDA Amount ($m): Managing Unit: EASTR Sector: TH - Highways Lending Instrument: Specific Investment Loan (SIL) Theme: TRANSPORT Status: Lending I.A.2. Project Objectives: The project aims to provide an efficient, safe, and cost-effective highway infrastructure and improve transport links to support the social and economic development of Anhui Province. To meet this development objective, the project will produce the following outputs: * Transport capacity increased and market integration promoted in the low-income southeast area of Anhui * Accessibility to low-income areas in the province improved * Safety of road transport improved * Institutional capacity of the Anhui Provincial Communications Department (APCD) and related sector institutions strengthened, through policy, institutional and organizational reform and provision of training, technical assistance and equipment. I.A.3. Project Description: All project components have been designed to address the sector issues described in Section B.3. Improving Accessibility to Low-Income Areas. The main project component is construction of the 115-km TTH. It serves a part of the Tianjian-Shanwei (Fujian) highway, which is one of the National Trunk Highway. The TTH will link the low-income areas in southeastem Anhui with the major provincial cities and eventually with coastal provinces through the NTHS. It will help promote interprovincial trade and tourism-related industries in the area, particularly in Huangshan. Support Economic Growth. To support economic growth in remote areas, the proposed project 2 ISDS includes a component to improve the rural road network. The RRIP will upgrade about 240 km of rural roads in seven counties, including four poor counties, from Class 3/4 to Class 2/3 standards. The improved rural road network will strengthen the linkage between rural areas and major urban centers and promote the integration of the regional markets. Traffic Safety. The project will build on the knowledge and experience gained under the ongoing Anhui Highway project. The objective of this program is to mainstream blackspot improvements in the long-term highway investment and maintenance program. Some segments and blackspots identified under the Highway Accident Study will be improved. The urgent needs for human resource development through training of staff of the Anhui Provincial Communication Department (APCD) and other provincial offices, including traffic police, will be addressed. Road experts of Chinese universities and research institutes will provide training on safety audits for design, construction, operation and maintenance of highways. Institutional Development and Improving Construction Quality. Though a previous project had started to address certain institutional issues, the proposed project will deepen strengthening of the Anhui road agencies to adapt to market based methods including the road maintenance/management and road safety. I support of this, the project will provide training, technical assistance and equipment to APCD and related agencies. Construction quality remains a serious concern of the highway sector from both technical and administrative viewpoints. Quality control suffers partly because of the lack of authority given to the supervision team by the employer. The project will investigate current supervision practices and develop proposals for future directions. Components: 1. Expand highway capacity and promote regional integration by constructing approximately 1 5 km of trunk highway 2. Improve accessibility to low-income counties by rehabilitating and improving 240 km of the class 3/4 highway network 3. Improve road safety by upgrading selected dangerous key sections of the road network 4. Strengthen the highway management capacity of APCD through technical assistance and training, including: - Study on practices and future directions in the supervision industry - Study on highway asset management and overloading of vehicles 3 ISDS I.A.4. Project Location: (Geographic location, information about the key environmental and social characteristics of the area and population likely to be affected, and proximity to any protected areas, or sites or critical natural habitats, or any other culturally or socially sensitive areas.) The project site is located in the south-east Anhui. The proposed project alignment runs very close to the Huangshan and Jinhuashan scenic sites and passes through Taiping Lake, a scenic and popular lake in the province. Huangshan is one of top ten protection sites in China and has been recognized by UNESCO as a World Cultural and Natural Heritage site. Jinhuashan has 93 temples and many cultural properties, which makes it an important sacred place of Buddhism in China. B. Check Environmental Classification: A (Full Assessment) Comments: C Safeguard Policies Triggered Policy Applicability Environmental Assessment (OP/BP/GP 4.01) * Yes 0 No 0 TBD Forestry (OP/GP 4.36) 0 Yes 0 No * TBD Natural Habitats (OP/BP 4.04) O Yes O No * TBD Safety of Dams (OP/BP 4.37) Q Yes * No O TBD Pest Management (OP 4.09) * Yes O No O TBD Involuntary Resettlement (OP/BP 4.12) 0 Yes C' No * TBD Indigenous Peoples (OD 4.20) * Yes O No Q TBD Cultural Property (OP 4.1 1) O Yes *No O TBD Projects in Disputed Territories (OP/BP/GP 7.60)* 0 Yes * No 0 TBD Projects in International Waterways (OP/BP/GP 7.50) 0 Yes 0 No 0 TBD *By supporting the proposed project, the Bank does not intend to prejudice the final determination of the parties' claims on the disputed areas Section II - Key Safeguard Issues and Their Management D. Summary of Key Safeguard Issues Please fill in all relevant questions. If information is not available, describe steps to be taken to obtain necessary data II.D. Ia. Describe any safeguard issues and impacts associated with the proposed project. Identify and describe any potential large scale, significant and/or irreversible impacts. The proposed preliminary project alignment runs very close to the Huangshan and Jinhuashan scenic sites and passes through Taiping Lake, a scenic and popular lake in the province. Huangshan is one of top ten protection sites in China and has been recognized by UNESCO as a World Cultural and Natural Heritage site. Jinhuashan has 93 temples and many cultural properties, which makes it an important sacred place of Buddhism in China. Given these considerations, a thorough and detailed Environmental Assessment (EA) is needed to address the potential adverse impacts of the project, especially any indirect impacts due to an accelerated increase in tourism as a result of the proposed new highway. Other potential environmental issues include noise, dust, water pollution and erosion during both the construction and operation phases. Air pollution, traffic management and safety, waste management and disposal will be of concern during the operation stage. Special attention will need to be paid to soil erosion and the aesthetics of the highway alignment selection and design because of the sensitive situation of scenic and tourism resources in the corridor. The potential impacts on the Taiping Lake of 4 ISDS the added tourism and impact on the bird wildlife (specially if the lake is a winter breeding area) will need to be assessed. Although the project will not support Forestry operation, the potential impact of the highway, the connecting roads and rural roads on illegal logging will need to be assessed. II.D.lb. Describe any potential cumulative impacts due to application of more than one safeguard policy or due to multiple project component. At this stage, OP 4.01 (Environmental Assessment), OPN 11.03 (Cultural Property), and OP 4.12 (Involuntary Resettlement) have been triggered in preparing the project. No cumulative impact is expected from the application of the policies. II.D. I c Describe any potential long term impacts due to anticipated future activities in the project area. The opening up of the new expressway is expected to form a part of the national trunk road, and promote new development in the region. The TTH may have potential long-term impacts on the Huangshan Scenic site, Jiuhua Scenic Site and Taiping Lake, as a result of increase in tourists traffic in the two parks and the Taiping reservoir area. II.D.2. In light of 1, describe the proposed treatment of altematives (if required) Not required II.D.3. Describe arrangement for the borrower to address safeguard issues OP 4.01 Environmental Assessment. APCD has engaged an independent consultant - Shanghai Ship and Shipping Research Institute (SSSRI) - to carry out the Environmental Impact Assessment according to the Bank's safeguard policies. SSSRI is quite familiar with the Bank's requirement because of its previous experience in Hubei XiaoXiang Expressway project. A draft Terms of Reference for EIA was prepared in February 2002 and was submitted to SEPA for review and approval. The Bank is also reviewing the TOR to ensure that the selection of the alignment is carried out with due consideration to the relevant OPs. SSSRI will also engage a competent authority to conduct cultural property survey along the alignment and present the documentation as part of the EA process. The SSSRI EA team will include a bio-diversity expert and a cultural relics expert familiar with the Huangshan and Jiuhua area to assist with the selection of the expressway alignment and identify and minimize/mitigate the impact of the alignments on the Parks and the Taiping Lake. OP 4.12 Resettlement. The major social issues will be related to land acquisition and the resettlement of affected households. Minimizing adverse impacts is a key consideration in the selection of the alignment for the TTH. Different alternatives have been compared and analyzed. The preferred option assumes the least resettlement impact. The rural road improvement component has been identified according to a set of criteria. The criteria include poverty and other social indicators. APCD has gained much experience in preparing and implementing the ongoing Anhui Highway project. It has begun 5 ISDS mobilizing to start the resettlement planning process for the proposed project, which will include a social assessment, inventory of adverse impacts, census of affected persons and the formulation of a resettlement action. An outside expert has been engaged to head a team to conduct a social assessment in the project areas (both TTH and rural roads). OD 4.20 on Indigenous People. A social assessment will be conducted to determine the existence of ethnic minority groups in the project areas (both expressway and rural road components), and whether a development action plan is necessary if they are found living in the project areas. If necessary, an ethnic minority people development action plan will be developed. Il.D.4. Identify the key stakeholders and describe the mechanisms for consultation and disclosure on safeguard policies, with an emphasis on potentially affected people. Environment: The key stakeholders related to the project include APCD, local affected people along the alignment, local communities and governments in the area of the Parks, the related natural resources/tourism management and culture property authorities and UNESCO. Consultation with these key stakeholders will be conducted at least twice during the EIA preparation process. The first round of consultation was carried out in April after the preparation of the draft TOR. The second round will be conducted after the first draft EIA is prepared. The results of public consultation will be incorporated into alternative analysis and mitigation measures. Social: All the affected households and villages will be identified through the census and social assessment. Project information will be provided to the affected villages and local governments through newspaper, posters and public meetings. Particular attention will be given to the screening for ethnic minority groups in the project areas to ensure that they are identified and the information dissemination methods are appropriate and adequate, and that the ethnic minority groups that participate in the project planning process are fully informed. Focus group discussions and key informant interviews will be designed as part of the consultation strategy to disseminate project information, collect people's concerns, needs and recommendations, and consult the affected people about the resettlement and rehabilitation strategy so that their concerns can be incorporated into the project design. Information dissemination and consultation will be designed to continue during project implementation. A resettlement information booklet, including the detailed entitlements of each household and compensation and entitlement policies and grievance procedures will be distributed to the affected people before resettlement implementation. The affected communities will play a key role in finalizing and implementing their livelihood restoration programs. Both internal and independent monitoring of the resettlement will be designed in the Resettlement Action Plan for project implementation. The Resettlement Action Plans will be placed in local libraries and their availability will be advertised in local newspapers. E. Safeguards Classification. Category is determined by the highest impact in any policy. Or on basis of cumulative impacts from multiple safeguards. Whenever an individual safeguard policy is triggered the provisions of that policy apply. ] SI. - Significant, cumulative and/or irreversible impacts; or significant technical and institutional risks in management of one or more safeguard areas 6 ISDS [X] S2. - One or more safeguard policies are triggered, but effects are limited in their impact and are technically and institutionally manageable S3. - No safeguard issues [ ] SF. - Financial intermediary projects, social development funds, community driven development or similar projects which require a safeguard framework or programmatic approach to address safeguard issues. F. Disclosure Requirements Environmental Assessment/Analysis/Management Plan: Expected Actual Date of receipt by the Bank 12/3 1/2002 Date of "in-country" disclosure 2/15/2003 Date of submission to InfoShop 2/20/2003 Date of distributing the Exec. Summary of the EA to the ED 2/20/2003 (For category A projects) Resettlement Action Plan/Framework: Expected Actual Date of receipt by the Bank 12/31/2002 Date of "in-country" disclosure 2/15/2003 Date of submission to InfoShop 2/20/2003 Indigenous Peoples Development Plan/Framework: Expected Actual Date of receipt by the Bank Date of "in-country" disclosure Date of submission to InfoShop Pest Management Plan. Expected Actual Date of receipt by the Bank Date of "in-country" disclosure Date of submission to InfoShop Dam Safety Management Plan: Expected Actual Date of receipt by the Bank Date of "in-country" disclosure Date of submission to InfoShop If in-country disclosure of any of the above documents is not expected, please explain why. Signed and submitted by Name Date Task Team Leader: Yasuhiro Kawabata 06/11/2002 Project Safeguards Specialists 1: Chaohua Zhang/Person/World Bank Project Safeguards Specialists 2: Peishen Wang/Person/World Bank Project Safeguards Specialists 3: Approved by: Name Date Regional Safeguards Coordinator: Glenn S. Morgan 06/11/2002 Sector Manager/Director: Jitendra N. Bajpai 06/13/2002 For a list of World Bank news releases on projects and reports, click here SEARCH EEDSACK - SITE MAP__ SHOWCASE