INTEGRATED SAFEGUARDS DATA SHEET CONCEPT STAGE Public Disclosure Copy Report No.: ISDSC6895 Date ISDS Prepared/Updated: 26-Nov-2014 Date ISDS Approved/Disclosed: 02-Dec-2014 I. BASIC INFORMATION A. Basic Project Data Country: Uzbekistan Project ID: P146334 Project Name: Regional Roads and Development Project (P146334) Task Team Mustapha Benmaamar Leader: Estimated 15-Dec-2014 Estimated 15-Jun-2015 Appraisal Date: Board Date: Managing Unit: GTIDR Lending Investment Project Financing Instrument: Sector(s): Rural and Inter-Urban Roads and Highways (70%), General transportation sector (10%), Other domestic and international trade (20%) Theme(s): Infrastructure services for private sector development (40%), Trade facilitation and market access (60%) Financing (In USD Million) Total Project Cost: 240.00 Total Bank Financing: 200.00 Public Disclosure Copy Financing Gap: 0.00 Financing Source Amount Borrower 40.00 International Bank for Reconstruction and Development 200.00 Total 240.00 Environmental B - Partial Assessment Category: Is this a No Repeater project? B. Project Objectives 14. The proposed Project Development Objectives (PDOs) are to reduce road user costs, improve road safety on the project roads and to develop a framework program for regional road asset management. C. Project Description The proposed project would consist of three components totaling US$240 million. Component 1: Road Rehabilitation and Safety (US$230.0 million). The component will finance part Public Disclosure Copy of the priority regional road rehabilitation roads program. The Project will rehabilitate the priority roads in three of the thirteen Oblasts. The 3 Oblasts will be determined during project preparation using a screening method based on a set of criteria to be discussed with the Government. Specifically, the Project will finance the rehabilitation works including structure renewal as well as existing ancillary road connections (crossroads, access roads, drainage systems). This component will also support integration of road safety considerations into the design of the project's road sections and their subsequent implementation towards the mainstreaming of these practices in all roads; Component 2 (US$5.0 million): Institutional Strengthening Component. This component is envisioned to among others, (i) to carry out a Road Safety Management Capacity Review, develop a Road Safety Strategy and Action Plan and implementation of Road Safety Improvements Interventions on a set of road sections (ii) Support the GoU to improve road management practices and financial/institutional sustainability of the road sector (iii) Support to the GoU to improve the operating environment for the local construction industry; (iii) Institutional strengthening of the Republican Road Fund to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of its organizational arrangements (i.e. internal business processes, multiannual planning and development; development and implementation of a communication strategy; training and various other studies to be determined. Component 3 (US$5.0 million): Project management support: Design and Supervision Consultants to provide support as may be necessary in project management, procurement, and financial management, environmental and social safeguards. The main interventions will consist of rehabilitating the existing roads, using the same alignment. The Project will not build new roads - the rehabilitation work will be extended to existing access Public Disclosure Copy roads for safety reasons and structural reasons. It is anticipated that the environmental impacts therefore would be temporary and mitigatable, so the project is categorized as 'B'. D. Project location and salient physical characteristics relevant to the safeguard analysis (if known) Locations of the project activities are not decided yet and will be determined during project preparation. Detailed design work is expected to be completed for the initial works prior to appraisal. E. Borrowers Institutional Capacity for Safeguard Policies The Project will be implemented through the existing Project Management Unit (PMU), within Republican Road Fund (RRF). The PMU is staffed with the full time safeguards specialists, who are capable of the implementation of environmental assessment documents (EAs/EMPs/EMP checklists). as well as social safeguards documents (RAP/RPF). The team has gained good experience working with the Asian Development Bank and bilateral donors on the Uzbekistan sections (404 km) of the Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation Road Investment Program (CAREC) since 2006. Part of the ECAPDEV Grant will be allocated to support and further enhance the PMU capacity during project preparation. F. Environmental and Social Safeguards Specialists on the Team Mark C. Woodward (GSURR) Esra Arikan (GENDR) Rebecca Emilie Anne Lacroix (GSURR) II. SAFEGUARD POLICIES THAT MIGHT APPLY Public Disclosure Copy Safeguard Policies Triggered? Explanation (Optional) Environmental Assessment OP/ Yes This policy is triggered because civil works to BP 4.01 be implemented under the project represent environmental risks which are mainly temporary and limited by the period of construction. However, since it is planned not to build new roads but only rehabilitate the existing roads the impacts are predictable, manageable and mitigatable. The potential impacts may include destabilization of slopes, loss of some land due to rehabilitation or small scale expansion within the ROW, , disturbance of drainage systems, extraction of road construction materials, increased dust production and air and noise pollution, disturbance to ecosystem to a certain extent. It is not known at this stage if the client will use existing borrow pits or will need to build new pits for the rehabilitation works. Assuming the client will not build new borrow pits, the simple environmental impacts arising from rehabilitation works could be managed by SMP checklists. The client will prepare a project EMP which will outline the generic impacts, mitigation and monitoring measures. As soon as the exact project locations are Public Disclosure Copy determined, client will use an EMP checklist template and fill that by using site specific information to prepare the site specific EMPs. Those EMP documents (in checklist form) determine site-specific impacts which are likely to occur due to the program implementation, propose adequate mitigation measures, define responsibilities and arrangements for the implementation of those measures, and outline the monitoring mechanism. Natural Habitats OP/BP 4.04 No It is anticipated that the project activities will be conducted on the existing routes and they will not involve large scale new construction. The policy is not triggered because no significant impacts are envisaged on natural habitats, and the mitigation of those impacts will be duly addressed by respective EMP checklists. Forests OP/BP 4.36 No Pest Management OP 4.09 No Physical Cultural Resources OP/ TBD No impact on physical cultural resources is Public Disclosure Copy BP 4.11 anticipated, however the environmental screening process will screen for potential impact and all construction contracts will include provisions for addressing chance finds should they occur. Indigenous Peoples OP/BP 4.10 No Involuntary Resettlement OP/BP Yes The policy is triggered because although land 4.12 acquisition is not envisaged, the project may potentially lead to the loss or disruption of income sources of vendors and businesses operating in project affected areas, as well as potential encroachments on rights of access and way. Land acquisition is not foreseen, as all road sections affected by the project belong to the State or respective municipalities, and acquisition of private land will not be necessary. However, as existing roads will be rehabilitated and ancillary roads may be renewed the project may potentially disrupt the economic activities and sources of income of roadside vendors and busnesses, and affect rights of way and access. Once project sites are confirmed, it will also be determined whether project activities will require compensation for any Public Disclosure Copy trees or plants located along the roads. As it is expected that detailed designs for all road segments will not be available prior to appraisal the client will prepare an RPF. RAPs, commensurate with the extent of impact, will be prepared prior to appraisal if needed for all segments for which detailed designs will be ready and, subsequently, during implementation, for any other segments that would need them. During preparation the Bank team will visit the proposed alignments to assess the likelihood of land take and/or other social impacts. Safety of Dams OP/BP 4.37 No Projects on International No Waterways OP/BP 7.50 Projects in Disputed Areas OP/BP No 7.60 III. SAFEGUARD PREPARATION PLAN A. Tentative target date for preparing the PAD Stage ISDS: 03-Feb-2014 Public Disclosure Copy B. Time frame for launching and completing the safeguard-related studies that may be needed. The specific studies and their timing1 should be specified in the PAD-stage ISDS: The general project EMP and RPF will be ready before appraisal and need to be disclosed in the country and at the Infoshop. And for the projects, for which the designs are ready, there should be site specific EMPs (checklist format) and RAPs (if needed) consulted and disclosed by the appraisal. For the ones which are not ready by appraisal, the client has to prepare the EMP checklists and RAPs (as needed) and conduct public consultation meetings during implementation phase. Social dimensions of regional roads development will be addressed through close attention in this project to roads-induced socio-economic benefits and the shared prosperity agenda. This will entail vigilance and assessment work on differential benefits of regional roads upgrading for communities, social groups of different income levels, disaggregated by gender, livelihood base, etc. IV. APPROVALS Task Team Leader: Name: Mustapha Benmaamar Approved By: Regional Safeguards Name: Agnes I. Kiss (RSA) Date: 01-Dec-2014 Coordinator: Practice Manager/ Name: Juan Gaviria (PMGR) Date: 02-Dec-2014 Manager: Public Disclosure Copy 1 Reminder: The Bank's Disclosure Policy requires that safeguard-related documents be disclosed before appraisal (i) at the InfoShop and (ii) in country, at publicly accessible locations and in a form and language that are accessible to potentially affected persons.