The World Bank
Public-private Partnership Project for Water Supply and Sanitation in Sichuan Province (P168025)
Environmental and Social Review Summary
Concept Stage
(ESRS Concept Stage)
Public Disclosure
Date Prepared/Updated: 04/14/2019 | Report No: ESRSC00267
Apr 23, 2019 Page 1 of 10
The World Bank
Public-private Partnership Project for Water Supply and Sanitation in Sichuan Province (P168025)
BASIC INFORMATION
A. Basic Project Data
Country Region Project ID Parent Project ID (if any)
China EAST ASIA AND PACIFIC P168025
Project Name Public-private Partnership Project for Water Supply and Sanitation in Sichuan Province
Practice Area (Lead) Financing Instrument Estimated Appraisal Date Estimated Board Date
Water Investment Project 10/29/2019 3/16/2020
Financing
Borrower(s) Implementing Agency(ies)
Jingyang Project
Management Office
Proposed Development Objective(s)
The project development objective is to improve water supply and sanitation services through a public private
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partnership in selected areas of Deyang Municipality.
Financing (in USD Million) Amount
Total Project Cost 200.00
B. Is the project being prepared in a Situation of Urgent Need of Assistance or Capacity Constraints, as per Bank IPF
Policy, para. 12?
No
C. Summary Description of Proposed Project [including overview of Country, Sectoral & Institutional Contexts and
Relationship to CPF]
This project will be the first water sector PPP project supported by the World Bank Group in China. The approach
developed under this project is intended to be replicated throughout China. The project will support the design and
implementation of a PPP that establishes a modern utility in Jingyang that delivers a full range of WWS services,
increases household connections for water supply and improved sanitation and reduces effluent pollution to the
surrounding water courses. It will seek draw on global best practices for PPP to show how these can be applied in the
rural WSS sector in China. The project has two components as outlined below. Component 1: Improving WSS Services
in Peri-Urban and Rural Areas of Jingyang District (Estimated Cost: US$147 million; IBRD loan: US$97 million). This
component has three key activity areas, being (1) Establishment of a modern WSS Utility: support the establishment
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The World Bank
Public-private Partnership Project for Water Supply and Sanitation in Sichuan Province (P168025)
of systems and equipment to enable full service WSS delivery; (2) Support for Engineering Works: support of: (i)
construction/ upgrading of nineteen sewage treatment plants to meet effluent discharge standards; (ii) consolidation
and upgrading of 34 existing water supply plants into a smaller number of water supply plants with a total combined
capacity of around 40,000 m3/day; (iii) construction of rain, sewage, and water supply pipe networks; (iv) protection
of fifteen drinking water source sites and twenty-three water intakes/wells; and (v) one integrated smart water
management platform for use by the PPP WSS Utility to monitor, manage, and operate the assets. The project will
also finance (vi) the full cost of connecting households to the central water supply and sewer network; (3) Support for
Citizen Engagement: Component 2: Technical Assistance (TA) for PPP Scale Up, Capacity Building, and Project
Management (Estimated Cost: US$3 million; IBRD loan: US$3 million). This component has two key activity areas,
namely: (1) Technical Assistance for Water Sector PPP Scale Up; and (2) Capacity Building and Project Management.
D. Environmental and Social Overview
D.1. Project location(s) and salient characteristics relevant to the ES assessment [geographic, environmental, social]
Jingyang District (Jingyang) is the main district of Deyang City, located in the northeast edge of the Chengdu Plain in
Sichuan Province, about 70 kilometers northeast of Chengdu City, the capital city of Sichuan. The topography of
Jingyang District slopes from the northwest to the southeast. The landform in the west is primarily formed by the
alluvial plain, while the east has rolling terrain.This region is situated amidst the upper tributaries of the Yangtze River,
and is a priority area for pollution control and water quality improvement. The total population of Jingyang is over
750,000, with about 250,000 living in rural areas. In 2016, the district had total economic output of RMB 298 billion.
Despite some rural water and environmental protection projects in the 2000's, accelerating urban construction and
development pose significant challenges to the local water environment in Jingyang. Jingyang District is in the region
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influenced by the subtropical humid and semi-humid climate characterized with distinct seasons and rich
precipitation, which gives rich water resource to Jingyang. The total area of Jingyang District is 648 km2. The district is
the main urbanized area of Deyang Municipality, including 4 urban communities namely Jingyang, Gongnong,
Chengbei, and Chengnan, 10 towns by the name Huangxv, Xiaoquan, Bolong, Dexin, Yangjia, Tianyuan, Xiaogan,
Xinzhong, Shuangdong, and Hexinzhen and 1 township called Donghu Xiang. The project will be developed in the
outskirts and rural area of the Jingyang District to provide service for the total population of 250,000, living in the 10
towns and 1 township. Citizens in the 4 urban communities already have sufficient water supply and will not be
serviced by the project. People in Jingyang District are predominantly Han Chinese, with about 4,700 ethnic minority
people belong to 35 different ethnic groups. However, no ethnic minority concentrated area is expected in Jingyang
District. This is a traditional agricultural area, with recent industrial development, and expected to receive more
industries moving from China’s more developed coastal regions in search of cheap labor and less cost related to land
price. The first draft FSR has been prepared which determined the service scope and the demand. Following on the
first draft, the second draft is being prepared with focuses on water resource availability study and the alternative
study for water supply and wastewater discharge and treatment schemes as well as the service that private sector will
provide to local people. According to the milestones of the project, the FSR will be completed by the appraisal by the
Jingyang District Government, and the private entity will be responsible for completing the preliminary design and the
final design during the implementation. According to the FSR, the alternative of water treatment plant with the
largest capacity is in the northwest of Jingyang District, which is supposed to meet all the water demand of the project
by taking water from the Renmin Canal. However, given the poor quality (irrigation water quality now) and the
competing water demands in the Renmin Canal, this alternative seems not feasible. The other three alternatives
propose to build several small drinking water treatment facilities in the project area by taking water from small
reservoirs and the Renmin Canal which is under careful evaluation in terms of water quality, treatment technology
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The World Bank
Public-private Partnership Project for Water Supply and Sanitation in Sichuan Province (P168025)
and establishment of protection zone. Thus, it is estimated that the size of each proposed water treatment facilities is
much smaller than 50,000 m3/d. The effluent of the wastewater treatment facilities to be constructed under the
project may flow into the Mianyuan River and the Shiting River, which are currently receiving rural and sub-urban
wastewater from the project area where the wastewater treatment capacity is limited.
D. 2. Borrower’s Institutional Capacity
The Government of Jingyang District has very limited experience in managing projects financed by international
financial institutions. The staff of the government has limited technical capacity themselves. Their capacity largely
depends on the quality and capacity of the technical teams hired. For this project, the government of Jingyang District
has allocated funds to hire technical institute, EA consultant and social consultants. A steering committee has been
established within the district government, consisting of the directors from the water resources bureau, housing and
urban-rural development bureau, Environmental Protection Bureau (EPB), planning (DRC), and finance bureau. The
district EPB has good experience in regulating the environmental issues associated with the small-medium size
wastewater and water facilities. Under the committee, a PMO has been established for daily work during the
preparation of the project. Four young staff from the EPB and the DRC are designated to work under the PMO and
coordinate the ESIA preparation. Experienced EIA consultants have been engaged to prepare the ESIA. A social
consultant team has been commissioned to assist PMO to undertake social assessment and stakeholder engagement.
The social team has no previous experience working for Bank financed projects, and they have not been trained for
ESF procedures. The Bank social specialist provided comments on the Terms of Reference for recruitment of social
assessment team in the early stage when the project was expected to follow the pre-ESF safeguards policies. A
workplan was submitted to the Bank during the identification mission, but it needs much more work to address
additional risk management areas such as ESS2, ESS4, and ESS10, in light of the new ESF. It is expected much work will
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be needed from Bank’s social specialists to provide hands-on assistance to the social team in order to prepare the
social assessment, and training on ESF to all consultants working on environmental and social assessment is needed.
Land acquisition and resettlement is the responsibility of county land bureau, and normally implemented at township
level by resettlement office comprising township officials and village representatives. Land acquisition and
resettlement has become daily operations for local land bureaus to support urbanization, and it is expected that staff
with experience could be readily identified and recruited if there is a need. The responsibilities of the government and
the private entities in this project are not clear at current stage. The team suggested to incorporate appropriate
requirements of the environmental and social management capacities into the bidding documents and contracts for
the private entities to be selected during the implementation stage.
II. SCREENING OF POTENTIAL ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIAL (ES) RISKS AND IMPACTS
A. Environmental and Social Risk Classification (ESRC) Substantial
Environmental Risk Rating Moderate
Although the specific information of the physical investment on the drinking water and wastewater facilities, i.e.
capacity and location, are unknown, it is clear that the total size of the project is to be medium. Overall, the project
will have positive environmental and social benefits in terms of reducing the water-borne diseases and water
pollution in receiving water bodies by providing clean drinking water and collecting and treating the wastewater. The
adverse environmental and social impacts of the project in construction stage include noise, dust, solid waste and
wastewater, the social disturbance, such as the traffic safety. In the operation stage, the project will produce odor,
noise and sludge, occupational health concern due to bacteria and pathogens within the wastewater treatment
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Public-private Partnership Project for Water Supply and Sanitation in Sichuan Province (P168025)
facilities, and health and safety issue by the use of liquid chlorine for disinfection in the water and wastewater
treatment facilities. These impacts in operation stage are expected to be at limited magnitude given the overall size of
the project. The environmental impacts are moderate, site-specific, predictable and/or reversible. These adverse
impacts can be readily and reliably managed through the environmental mitigation hierarchy. Per the Environmental
and Social Directive, the environmental risk for this project is classified as Moderate. The client has good experience
and adequate capacity in managing environmental issues associated with the wastewater and water facilities at the
size commensurate with this project. The client has allocated funds to hire professional institutions for FSR, EIA and
social documents and assigned qualified staff to work in the PMO to deal with environmental issues on daily basis
during the cycle of the project. So the environmental risk on the capacity of the borrower is moderate.
Social Risk Rating Substantial
. An initial visit to the project sites and early discussions with key stakeholders suggested that impacts described in
ESS5 (restrictions to land and other income sources) is at moderate scale, involving small patches of land acquisition
of a few hundred square meters and possible resettlement to allow construction of water supply facilities. There are
existing facilities invested by both public and private players, such as 3 waste water treatment plants currently being
constructed by different companies, and 34 water supply stations/centers will be consolidated. The environmental
baseline in the project area is overall not sensitive or vulnerable, with project implementation expected to affect
mainly areas with existing human habitat and infrastructure footprints.
The client’s internal management structure in relation to water supply and waste water treatment is complex, calling
for coordination among different agencies, a challenge faced by most previous projects in China. A few key
stakeholder agencies, such as labor bureau and administration of workplace safety, are missing from the currently
identified and invited list by the PMO. There are over 90 staff employed by these facilities, who are key stakeholders
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to be consulted. Given the institutional complexity, the lack of experience of the PMO in implementing Bank financed
projects, and that the social consultants already commissioned will be among the first to observe new ESF
requirements, the amalgamated social risk for this project is classified as Substantial. A more hands-on approach will
be adopted to assist the social assessment team in conducting social impact assessment, which will focus on all ESSs
and in particular ESS1 and ESS10. Experienced consultants will be recommended to join forces with the existing social
team. Specific actions will be considered at a later stage to strengthen coordination among local agencies.
B. Environment and Social Standards (ESSs) that Apply to the Activities Being Considered
B.1. General Assessment
ESS1 Assessment and Management of Environmental and Social Risks and Impacts
Overview of the relevance of the Standard for the Project:
The environmental and social specialists reviewed the previous draft FSR and conducted site visit. Based on the
information collected, it is expected that the adverse environmental and social impacts of the project in construction
stage include the noise, dust, solid waste and wastewater, and social disturbance/community safety due to increased
traffic, construction workers, and construction of pipeline in villages connected with gas supply. In the operation
stage, the project will produce odor, noise and limited amount of sludge, occupational health issue, and community
health and safety issue by the use of liquid chlorine for disinfection. It is expected that this project will not cause
significant land conversion and the likelihood of presence of critical natural habitats in the project area is very low.
Assessment will be carried out in the further preparation stage to identify the modified habitats and natural habitats,
and to avoid or minimize the impact on modified habitats and avoid impacts on natural habitats. Local laws and
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The World Bank
Public-private Partnership Project for Water Supply and Sanitation in Sichuan Province (P168025)
practice regulating labor and working conditions will be assessed at preparation stage, and mitigation measures will
be considered based on findings. It is expected that land acquisition/resettlement cannot be avoided. The presence
of ethnic minorities as described in ESS7 will be further assessed by the social assessment commissioned by the PMO.
IPP will be developed if ethnic minorities are identified in Jingyang District. The EIA, SIA, ESMP, ESCP, SEP and RAP will
be prepared prior to the appraisal, and the dam safety reports may be developed later on during the implementation
stage. Given the possibility that some physical activities may not be determined before the appraisal, an ESMF will be
developed to guide the preparation of ESIA documents for such activities.
Areas where reliance on the Borrower’s E&S Framework may be considered:
Although China has an advanced E&S Framework, its use for the project is not recommended due to the limited
experience of the implementing agencies in implementing and applying ESF and its associated environmental and
social standards. Also, a comprehensive assessment of the borrower framework has not been completed.
ESS10 Stakeholder Engagement and Information Disclosure
The key stakeholders identified at current stage include the residents near water supply facilities and wastewater
treatment plants and networks, the management of the reservoirs and the Renmin Canal, and government agencies
regarding management of water supply, water resources, cultural heritage, and natural habitats. Namely, key
government agencies include housing and urban-rural development bureau (where the PMO is hosted, responsible
for water supply to urban areas and waste water treatment), water resources bureau (responsible for water supply to
rural areas), planning commission, finance bureau, EPB, labor bureau, administration of work safety, land bureau, and
possibly forestry, civil affairs, ethnic minority affairs commission for confirming status of ethnic minorities in Jingyang
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District, and public health bureau. A few agencies have not been involved in project preparation and will have to be
invited, such as administration of work safety, labor bureau, etc. Existing facilities including current WUAs managing
water supply centers/stations established at township level, and three waste water treatment plants invested by
private companies, will be included into the project. These facilities have over 90 employees, whose livelihoods may
be affected depending on how the project will absorb these facilities. The Stakeholder Engagement Plan (SEP) will be
developed and disclosed at the early stage of the preparation. These key stakeholders will be engaged and consulted
during the project preparation by the means of interview, hearings and questionnaires. The private entities are
regarded as the key stakeholder for this project and will be engaged during the implementation stage. The GRM will
have a dedicated component to respond to complaints related to construction nuisance, especially since there will be
civil works to connect households to sewers. A more detailed workplan will be needed from consultants conducting
environmental and social assessment on their SEP. The list of key stakeholders and area of interests of these
stakeholders will be agreed between bank team and the consultants. Additional key stakeholders will include staff of
existing facilities whose livelihoods will be impacted by how these facilities will be incorporated into the project and
how they should be involved in maintenance and management of project invested facilities if deemed necessary, as
well as end users of water supply and sanitation such as villagers who benefit from improved water source and
sanitation. If ethnic minorities are identified, FPIC will be included as a process in the assessment. All the ESIA
documents will be disclosed locally and at the website of the Bank.
B.2. Specific Risks and Impacts
A brief description of the potential environmental and social risks and impacts relevant to the Project.
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Public-private Partnership Project for Water Supply and Sanitation in Sichuan Province (P168025)
ESS2 Labor and Working Conditions
The project may involve limited number of direct workers, contracted workers, and community workers. The labor
management procedure for the direct workers, contracted workers and community workers will be developed as part
of the ESMP, and the requirements for management of occupational health and safety will be developed and
integrated into the ESMP. In addition, government staff will be involved in the preparation of the project. The GRM
will be established separately for this ESS2 in the ESIA document. The labor management procedure and the GRM on
ground should be before the employment of the first workers. In one of the townships, a prison with around 10,000
prisoners has been identified. The project will provide services to the prison in terms of water supply and waste
water treatment. Initial assessment confirmed that no prisoners will be allowed outside the prison for the whole
duration of serving time. This will be further assessed as part of the social assessment.
ESS3 Resource Efficiency and Pollution Prevention and Management
This project will not be located in water scarce areas, and the water consumption in the project area will not be
significantly increased. Conversely, the valuable groundwater will be conserved by using surface water to replace the
groundwater in this project. In addition, this project will neither consume large amount of energy and raw materials,
nor use or procure pesticides. This project will not produce toxic waste but general wastes, such as spoils and
wastewater in construction stage and sludge in operation stage. These general wastes will be readily managed by
good engineering design and mitigation measures. During the operation, liquid chlorine may be used for disinfection.
But this can be easily avoidable by good engineering design, such as use of ClO2 or UV.
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ESS4 Community Health and Safety
Limited number of workers will be introduced to the site for construction of the facilities given the overall size of the
project. The water supply and wastewater pipelines will be constructed along the roads that will disturb the local
traffic during the construction phase. In addition, the increased traffic of vehicles transporting equipment and
materials on the roads near the communities may pose safety impact. Thus a traffic management plan will be
developed as an integral part of the ESIA. The need for establishing any labor camps will be determined during the
preparation of the ESIA and the potential impact of influx of worker will be assessed. However, given the size of the
project and its dispersion across the large project area, labor influx would be expected to be minor and impacts on
communities not severe. A labor camp management plan with code of conducts will be developed if any labor camps
will be established. This project will not affect any ecosystem services for the communities. The risk of water-borne
diseases will be reduced by the project by providing clean drinking water and collecting and treating wastewater. Use
of the liquid chlorine may pose threat to community safety, but this can be avoided by good engineering design.
Otherwise, an emergency preparedness and response plan will be prepared as a part of the EIA and ESMP. Use of
security personnel at the sites is very limited that will not bring material treat to local communities. In addition, this
project will not build or repair any dams. But some alternatives propose to take water from some reservoirs, thus, if
such alternatives are adopted in the later stage of project preparation, dam safety reports should be prepared by the
client and submitted to the Bank for review.
ESS5 Land Acquisition, Restrictions on Land Use and Involuntary Resettlement
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The World Bank
Public-private Partnership Project for Water Supply and Sanitation in Sichuan Province (P168025)
Small patches of land in the size of a few hundred square meters are expected to be taken at places where water
supply facilities and waste water treatment plants and related networks need to be constructed. Temporary
restrictions to land during construction period will also be an impact to local communities. A fresh water pond of 40
hectares will be acquired as water resource reserve area. The pond belongs to local village collectively and is
currently contracted out to about 20 households for fish cultivation. These households will be compensated based on
their contractual arrangements and make up their loss caused by early termination of contracts. This will be factored
in the resettlement plans to be prepared before project appraisal. SEP will also include assessment of local people’s
views on the site selection of water supply and wastewater treatment plants. Construction should be done at idle
season to avoid and minimize restrictions to income resources, and any loss of income as a result of construction will
be compensated. This should be communicated to affected persons in advance. The RAP and resettlement
framework to be prepared should be informed by consultations with the affected persons.
ESS6 Biodiversity Conservation and Sustainable Management of Living Natural Resources
As described in D1, the size of each of the wastewater and water facilities will be small that will not lead to significant
land conversion. In addition, given that the project area is in the Chengdu Plain which is already intensively developed
by human activities for thousands of years, and the project area is in the outskirts and rural area around the urban
developed area, the possibility of existence of critical habitats is very low. However, TORs for the ES instruments to
be produced during further project preparation will include the identification of modified habitats and natural
habitats in the project area, an assessment of any potential risks the project might bring to them, and measures to
avoid or minimize impacts on the modified habitats and avoid impacts on the natural habitats. In addition, this
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project will neither introduce alien species nor purchase and use natural products.
ESS7 Indigenous Peoples/Sub-Saharan African Historically Underserved Traditional Local Communities
Whether there are ethnic minorities as defined by World Bank ESF in project sites is unknown at this stage. This will
be assessed as part of the social assessment. A quick research of information indicates that the total ethnic minority
population in Jingyang District is 4,732 in year 2016 and that there are 35 different ethnic groups such as Man, Hui,
Zang, Tu, and Zhuang etc.. This will be confirmed by the social assessment. Ethnic Minority Development Framework
(EMDF) will be prepared before appraisal if the social assessment confirmed that ethnic minorities present in the
project area. Finding from the social assessment with regard to ethnic minority presence will be reviewed by Bank’s
social specialists.
ESS8 Cultural Heritage
Given that the specific locations of the facilities are unknown, the impacts on cultural heritages will be assessed
during the preparation of the EIA. However, TORs for the ES instruments to be produced during further project
preparation will include the identification of cultural heritage in the project area, an assessment of any potential risks
the project might project to cultural heritage, and the production of a cultural heritage management plan, if required.
In any case, a chance find procedure will be produced as part of the ESIA/ESMP. The social assessment should also
include identification of intangible cultural heritage and assess impact from project activities. Safeguards instruments
will be prepared if physical or intangible cultural heritage is identified.
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Public-private Partnership Project for Water Supply and Sanitation in Sichuan Province (P168025)
ESS9 Financial Intermediaries
This project will not involve any FIs.
C. Legal Operational Policies that Apply
OP 7.50 Projects on International Waterways No
OP 7.60 Projects in Disputed Areas No
III. WORLD BANK ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIAL DUE DILIGENCE
A. Is a common approach being considered? No
Financing Partners
there are no financing partners
B. Proposed Measures, Actions and Timing (Borrower’s commitments)
Actions to be completed prior to Bank Board Approval:
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EIA, SIA, ESMP, ESMF, RAP, RPF, EMDF, ESCP, SEP will be completed prior to appraisal and the Bank Board Approval.
Possible issues to be addressed in the Borrower Environmental and Social Commitment Plan (ESCP):
Completion of the dam safety reports, if any, before the preliminary designs for water supply facilities are completed;
Implementation of SEP, particularly with private entities;
Implementation of the EMDF, RAP, ESMF and ESMP;
Commitment to prepare and implement the relevant instruments per ESSs’ requirements, including, if necessary,
improvement on labor and working conditions for workers identified as required by ESS2; and in particular, the
preparation of ESIA, ESMP, RAP, RPF and EMDF according to the ESMF for the activities not clear in the preparation
stage;
a brief description of the environmental and social design standards to be met on the project;
submitting for the Bank review and clearance the PPP organization’s ESMS that will apply to the design, construction
and operational phases of the project as well as the following plans (Traffic Management Plan, Labor Camp
Management Plan, Emergency Preparedness and Response Plan, dam safety reports, Cultural Heritage Management
Plan, if any, and Chance Finds Procedures);
commitment to consider the E&S in the TORs for the TAs according to the ESF.
C. Timing
Tentative target date for preparing the Appraisal Stage ESRS 30-Sep-2019
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Public-private Partnership Project for Water Supply and Sanitation in Sichuan Province (P168025)
IV. CONTACT POINTS
World Bank
Contact: Yongli Wang Title: Environmental Engineer
Telephone No: 5788+7619 / Email: ywang35@worldbank.org
Contact: Aimin Hao Title: Social Development Specialist
Telephone No: 5788+7715 / Email: ahao@worldbank.org
Contact: Yiren Feng Title: Senior Environmental Specialist
Telephone No: 5788+7723 Email: yfeng@worldbank.org
Borrower/Client/Recipient
Implementing Agency(ies)
Implementing Agency: Jingyang Project Management Office
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V. FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT
The World Bank
1818 H Street, NW
Washington, D.C. 20433
Telephone: (202) 473-1000
Web: http://www.worldbank.org/projects
VI. APPROVAL
Task Team Leader(s): Victoria Hilda Rigby Delmon, Gang Qin
Safeguards Advisor ESSA Surhid P. Gautam (SAESSA) Cleared on 19-Apr-2019 at 11:25:30
Practice Manager Sudipto Sarkar (PMGR) Concurred on 23-Apr-2019 at 12:30:38
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