44993 World Bank Financed Yichang to Badong Section of Shanghai-Chengdu Inter-Provincial Highway EnvironmentalAssessment Executive Summary (July 2008) 1. Introduction This document is the Executive Summary o f Environmental Assessment (EA) for the World Bank financed Yichang to Badong Section o f the Shanghai-Chengdu Inter-Provincial Expressway Project (hereinafter known as Yiba Expressway or the Project). The document provides a general summary of the findings in the Project Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and Environmental Management Plan (EMP), including legal and policy framework and applicable environmental standards, major potential adverse impacts to the physical and socio-economic environments inthe Project area, analysis of alternatives, mitigation measures, public consultation programs, and environmental management plan for the Project. The Executive Summary could serve as a concise environmental report to environmental administrators, Project decision makers, project-affected groups, non-government organizations and the general public, as well as to the executive board o f directors o f the World Bank. 1.1 ProjectBackground As a section of the Shanghai-Chengdu Inter-provincial Expressway, the Project is one of the key infrastructure projects in the Hubei province and a segment in the strategic national trunk highway network. As the expressway will eventually link Shanghai at its east end with Chengdu, the capital city o f northwestern province o f Sichuan, at its west end, Yiba expressway will be a critical connector between the more developed coastal region in eastern China and the interior in the middle and the west, and will play an important role in the enormous Develop China's West program. Within the province, it will form part o f the "automobile" corridor, alleviating transportation bottleneck between the provincial capital and the fast growing automobile manufacturing industry in northwest Hubei. Together with the connecting road in the same Project region in Hubei province, the Project will be a significant contributor in development o f regional economies, improvement o f standard of living and poverty alleviation inthe project area. In December 2003, the Shanghai Ship and Shipping Research Institute (SSSRI) was contracted to carry out the Environmental Assessment (EA) for the Yiba Expressway project. With the assistance o f the HubeiProvincial Communication Department (HPCD) and other relevant government departments, the EA team undertook field work including site investigations and data collection between September 2005 and March 2006. During this time period, public consultation and information disclosure was conducted. Additional follow up public consultation was conducted in June and July 2007 and again in January 2008. A draft EIA report was submitted in February 2007 to a World Bank preparation mission for review and comments received from the mission were EA Executive Summary 1 YibaExpressway incorporated into new draft EIA report. The later versions o f the EIA report (from the fourth to the current sixth version) had all been prepared in both Chinese and English languages. Since the third version, the EIA report had been updated based on the Preliminary Design o f July 2007 and the following revision in the design. The forth version o f the EIA report was submitted to the national government for review and the full approval was received from State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA, now Ministry o f Environmental Protection, or MOEP) on October 12, 2007 following the reviews by a SEPA's expert panel and by EnvironmentalProtection Office of MOC. The versions after the official approval and clearance by the government were mainly due to additional changes and newly available information in the design as well as additional comments from the World Bank. As requiredby the domestic procedures and the potential concerns o f the project area, the HPCD also engaged independent qualified institutes to prepare the following reports for the project: the Soil Conservation Planning Report; the Cultural Property Investigation Report; the Cave Biodiversity Report and the Feasibility Study Report for the Yiba Expressway.. The findings and mitigations in these reports have been included in the project EIA where applicable. The Yiba Expressway is classified as a Category A project since it involves construction o f a major expressway on a new alignment and grade highway upgrading partially on new alignment, with potential increased noise, motor vehicle air emission, occupation o f fertile and barren land, community severance, soil erosion and resettlement. This is the fourth World Bank financed expressway projects in Hubei province and HPCD and its EA team have capitalized the previous experience inpreparing the project EIA and EMP and EMP implementation particularly during project construction. The project EA included the field study and assessment o f all, one by one, access roads, spoil soil disposal sites, and every Karst caves, which i s the first time in China where EA covered the every individual auxiliary sites inaddition to the main expressway alignment area. Learning from lesions o f previous projects in EMP implementation and EA requirements enforcement duringconstruction, HPCD has decided to engage professional "Client Environmental Supervision Consultant (CESC)", also the first inChina, to ensure better environmental management and control during expressway construction. These details have beenreflected and included inthe project EA documents. 1.2 Basis of the EA The regulatory and policy requirements for environmental assessment o f this Project were followed duringthe preparation o f EA, as were the World Bank's safeguard policies. Major laws and regulations applied to the EA are as follows: EnvironmentalProtection Law o f PRC, December 26, 1989; Environmental Impact Assessment Law o f the PRC, October 28,2002; Land Management Law o f PRC o f August, August 28,2004; Noise Pollution Prevention Law o f PRC, October 29, 1996; Air PollutionPrevention Law of PRC, April 29,2000; Cultural Relics Protection Law of the PRC, October 10,2002; Water Pollution Prevention Law o f PRC, February 28, 2008; Highway Law o f PRC, January 1, 1998; Water and Soil Conservation Law o f PRC, June 29, 1991; EA Executive Summary 2 Yiba Expressway Rules of Environmental Protection Management for Construction Projects, issued by the State Council of PRC, November 29, 1998; Classification Inventory for Environment Protection of Engineering Project issued by the MOEP, January 1,2003; Highway Project Environmental Impact Assessment Guidelines, MOC, JTGB03-2006. Measures Concerning Environmental Protection and Management for Transportation Construction Projects, issuedby MOC, May 22, 1990; and Notice to Strengthen the Environmental Impact Assessment and Management of Construction Projects Financed by Loan from International Financial Organizations, jointly issued by MOEP, the State Planning Commission, the Ministry of Finance and the People's Bank of China, June 21, 1993. The following local regulations have been considered inthis EIA: Hubei Provincial Environmental Protection Regulations, Hubei Provincial Congress, Dec. 2, 1994; Hubei Provincial Farm Ecological Conservation Regulations, Hubei Provincial Congress, Sept. 29,2006; Hubei Provincial Construction Project EIA Management Method, Hubei Government, Oct. 1993; Notice on Enhancing the Protection of the Lawful kghts of Farmers to be Acquiredwith Land, HubeiGovernment, Feb, 27,2005; Notice on the Classification of Surface Water Bodies. Hubei Government, Jan. 31, 2000; and Decision on the Zoning of Guanzhuang Reservoir as DrinkingWater Supply Area, Yichang Government, May, 2006. The following standardsand technical documents have beenconsidered inthis EIA: General-EIA Technical Guideline,HJ/T2.1-93; Ambient Air- EIA Technical Guideline,HJ/T2.2-93; Surface Water- EIA Technical Guideline, HJ/T2.3-93; Acoustic Environment- EIA Technical Guideline,HJ/T2.4-95; Ecological Impact without Pollution- EIA Technical Guideline, HJ/T19-97; DeignSpecifications for EnvironmentalProtection inRoadProject, JTJ/T006-98; Specifications for EIA for Road Project, (pilot). 1996.7.8; Notice on the Noise Issue in the EIA for Road and Railway projects, Huanfa [2003] 94; and Letters confiming the standards to be applicable inEIA for the Yiba Road Project, HubeiEPB, Ehuanhan [2006] 279. O f the World Bank safeguards policies, Environmental Assessment (OP 4.01) i s the primary requirements and thus the focus of this report. Inaddition, policies on Indigenous People (OD4.20), Involuntary Resettlement (OP4.12), Cultural Property (OP4.1l), and Forest (OP4.36) are also screened in the EIA and applied if triggered. Since no project components will involve international waterways, dam construction or in disputed areas or usage of pest control substance as defined in OP7.50, OP4.37, OP7.60 and OP4.09, respectively, policies related to these subjects are not applied in the EA. Regarding Natural Habitats (OP4.04, 2001), the project will not involve critical natural habitats as identified in OP4.04, ANNEX A, but part of the project impacted area will go through EA Executive Summay 3 YibaExpressway habitats for some commonly seen wildlife. The general principle o f this policy i s applied to the EA. Relevant international environmental agreements in which China i s a signing party has also beenthe considered as a basis for the EA if deemedapplicable. 2. Project Description This highway project starts at a spot some 3 kmto the south of Baihe service area under Jingyi expressway (K75t-720 o f Jingyi expressway), a newly planned Baihe interchange will connect this Project, with a directional ramp, onto the Jingyi expressway, then passes Huanghua, Wuduhe, Gaolan, Gaoqiao, Xiqiuwan, Shenlongxi, and ends at Huoshao'an which is the border between Hubei and Chongqing (4 km to the south o f Liujiaya), and links, with a tunnel, onto Wushan to Fengjie expressway in Chongqing. Total length o f this project i s 173.614 km, total lengtho f bridge i s 70,076.5d148, total length o f tunnel i s 61, 046.51~1'45, 7 interchanges are planned. Design vehicle velocity under this Project i s 80 km/h and 4-lane expressway standard i s applied, subgrade width i s 24.5m, and bridge deck width is the same as that o f subgrade, clearance deck width o f long bridge i s 2x1lm, clearance width o f tunnel is 10.25m7bituminous concrete pavement i s planned (except that longllarge tunnel will adopt cement concrete pavement). Total investment o f this Project is 15.13926billion RMB , The construction o f the Project expressway is scheduled to commence June 2009 and complete inDecember 2013, with 54 months duration. The specific geographic location o f the expressway section is shown in M a p 2-1. The proposed expressway section alignment i s shown inM a p 2-2. 3. BaselineEnvironment Physical Setting The Project area is located in the north semi-tropical region with a continental monsoon climate. The average annual temperature ranges from 12.7 to 17.6"C, and average annual precipitation i s about 1132 mm. The terrain configuration o f the Project area has a general gradient sloped in general from northwest to southeast with elevations from 1800 to 200 m. The expressway alignment i s in general inthe same orientation with that o f the area mountains. The area from the east starting point to Huanghua i s o f mild terrain, with the elevation ranging within 100-200 m. From Huanghua to Gaolan, the hills become more steep, with the elevation ranging between 500 to 1000 m. From Gaolan to the west endpoint, the terrain is rolling drastically, with the elevationbetween 800 to 1800m. Sensitive Receptors Along the expressway alignment, a total o f 41 villages/townships and three schools are identified through field investigation as sensitive or otherwise vulnerable receptors to changes and activities in the environment which surrounds them, such as construction EA Executive Summary 4 YibaExpressway activities, air pollution, increased noise, etc. These sensitive receptors are located about 15 to 150 m from the proposed expressway central line. The sensitive receptors are the focus o f the monitoring program for the baseline environmental conditions as well as the environmental impact assessment. They are also the key areas for impact mitigation measures designed to protect or otherwise minimize the adverse impacts at these sensitive locations. Ecology Through field survey and analysis o f collected data, it has been identifiedthat within the area 300 m from the both sides o f the expressway, there are 888 species o f seed plants, including 9 species o f gymnosperm plants and 879 species o f angiosperm plants. The vegetation growth in this area i s dominantly shrubs with no major forest, including Liquidambar formosana, Rhus chinensis, Miscanthus jloridulus, Lespedeza bicolor, Pyracantha fortuneana, coriaria sinica, Conyza conadensis, Citrus reticulate, Camellia sinensis, Phyllostachys puoescens, Pinus massoniana, Cupressus funebris , Cunninghamia lanceolata, Quercus variabilis, Quercus acutissim. The proposed Project is to cross Xiangxihe and Shennongxi rivers at K113 and K160. Some fisheries resources were observed in the rivers due to their suitable hydrology although none projected species. The expressway will have one span across over the rivers with no inwater structure and thus no inwater construction activities. Other rivers in the Project area have rapid current, minimumplankton presence and no year round flows due to natural or manmade conditions such as hydro stations. N o meaningful fisheries resources were observed inthese rivers. There are reportedly a total of 13 species o f amphibious animals in the assessment area, none belong to any levels o f protected species. There are also reportedly 17 species o f reptile animals including six poisonous snakes, again none belong to protective categories. In addition there are reported 40 species of birds and 23 species of mammals in the assessment area including eight belong to provincial protection categories. The EA team understands from the data sources that the above mentioned wildlife are generally as reported as they may possibly exist in the project area. The extensive site investigation duringEA didnot observe these many species suggestingthe population o f these wildlife, ifstill do exist as reported, is limited. Air Quality Based on the national EA requirement, existingambient air quality was monitored during the EA to determine the baseline conditions. The monitoring was conducted near four selected sensitive receptors such as villages and schools between October 15 and 19, 2006, with five consecutive-day continued measurements each time. The representative results o f the monitoring at the main expressway and country road are presentedin Table 3-1. The monitoring results show that all measured parameters in the project area were below their respective national ambient air quality standards, indicating good existing ambient air quality at the Project areas. EA Executive Summary 5 YibaExpressway October 19 0.019 0.077 Standards 0.12 0.30 Exceedance(%) 0 0 Noise According to the national EA requirements, existing noise levels in44 sensitive locations along the expressway were measured between May 27 and 30,2006. The locations o f the monitoring points are shown in and the results are presentedinTable 3-2. The noise monitoring results show that both day and night time noise levels in the areas along the proposed main expressway alignment were below the applicable standards, some reaching Class Istandards, showing excellent existing acoustic environment. This i s because there are no major noise sources in these areas except farming activities. In general, the acoustic quality in the monitored villages was good, while near or in township the noise was higher because o f the heavier traffic and other urban activities. The schools along the existing roads were hardly impacted by traffic on the existingroads. The noise level at the primary schools ranges from 45.0 dB(A) to 50.7 dB(A) indaytime. The good acoustic quality was because o f the distance o f the monitored schools from the existingroads. EA Executive Summary 6 Yiba Expressway Remarks 14 Shijiaba Noise from daily activity, in daytime can meet K103+500 40'9 36'0 Class 0, innight can meet Class 0 Yangzhou-Zigui Noise from daily activity, in daytime can meet primary school K1 8+100 45'0 37'2 Class 0, innight can meet Class 0 16 Shujiacao Noise from daily activity and traffic, in daytime K161+850 42'2 39S can meet Class I,innight can meet Class I Water Quality According to the surface water function zoning classification issued by Hubei EPB, Shennongxi River is categorized as Class I1 standard water body in Surface Water Environment Standard (GB 3838-2002), while Huangbo River, Wudu River and Xiangxi River are Class 111.The water quality monitoring conducted between October 9-12, 2005 showed that all measured parameters (COD, Oil, and SS) were within their respective applicable standards. Soil Erosion The primary type o f soil erosion in the project area is water and colluvial erosion, particularly surface and ditch erosion, caused by unfavorable land form, topography, soil and hydrology conditions, coupled with disturbance to the surface vegetation without appropriate control. Common forms o f soil erosion include movement o f surficial EA Executive Summary 7 YibaExpressway materials, ditch failures due to the lack o f vegetation, soil dissolution following heavy rainfalls, and landslides. Soil erosion intensity in the main expressway area is in general around 500 t/km2a or lower. The most serious erosion area within the Project area i s in Xingshan County where 69.6% o f the area i s deemed as heavy to modest soil erosion areas. . Cultural Property A survey by professional archeology, cultural relics institutes and local cultural relics specialists was conducted in September 2005 and again in April 2006, covering the main expressway line, the proposed alternative alignments in considerations, borrow pits and spoil soil disposal sites. The survey included walk-through o f the entire alignment and the other above mentioned areas, visual observation and limited sub-surface investigation through drilling andor sampling where deemed needed by the experts. Four cultural relics have been identified, including the Xingpin Suspended Tombs, Niejiahe Ancient military barracks remains, Baihuguan Site, and Pingyikou Tombs. The Xingpin Suspended Tombs and Baihuguan Site are close to the proposed alignment. According to the protectionplan, there are two cultural properties under the protection at provincial level on the alignment K, they are Xinping Suspended Tombs and Niejiahe Ancient Military Barracks. This proposed road i s carefully aligned to avoid the Niejiahe Ancient Military barracks. However, this project will bypass the protected area for Xinpingsuspended Tombs, at K32+050-K34+050. The information on the cultural sites on alignment K is summarized inTable 3-3 below. Table 3-3 Distributionof Cultural Properties along the road Socio-economic Baseline The total population inthe expressway impacted area is approximately 1.22 million and the total serviced area i s approximately 11737 km2,including approximately 1811 km2o f cultivated land. A large portion o f the impacted area is currently poorly served by road transportation and the people inthe area is rather isolated as result. The Project area has a significant poverty population including 3 poverty county and 900 thousands poverty people mostly living in the remote mountainous areas. The major citieshrban centers along the expressway include Yiling District, Xingshan county and Zigui county o f Yichang City, and Badong county o f Enshi State although the expressway will not go through the any o f these urban areas directly. The expressway will affect directly 41 villages, 3 schools, five major rivers and some small rivers, creeks, irrigation channels, EA ExecutiveSummary 8 YibaExpressway and fish/water ponds, because o f their proximity to the expressway alignment. All the alternative alignments o f the proposed road are within the national Three Gorges Geological Park, but the proposed alignment doesn't go through the core geosite area o f the Geological Park. Locations o f the Sensitive Receptors and Monitoring Spots see Map 3-1. 4. EnvironmentalImpacts 4.1 Soil Erosion Soil erosion will occur duringthe Project construction phase when surface vegetation and soil are damaged. The primary area o f potentially increased soil erosion includes deep cuts, high fills, earth borrow pits, construction waste/excessive earth disposal sites, temporary construction sites, treatment o f special geological conditions and other areas where surface soil will be disturbed. According to the modeling result, the soil erosion intensity will reach 10,519 t h 2 a during construction and for the whole construction period the total soil lost i s expected to be 0.44 million t (without mitigation matures), which i s 0.38 million t higher than the current level o f soil erosion over the same number o f years if there were no project, according to the project soil conservation assessment and planning report. I t i s anticipated that the most severe soil erosion would occur in the areas o f spoil deposit pits, main structure and bridge/tunnel, which thus are considered to be the focus for soil conservation. The increased soil erosion will also occur in the early operation phase in areas where vegetation planting i s not fully matured to rehabilitate the disturbed soil. It i s expected that about 2 years after project operation, the soil erosion will reach about 80-100% erosion level before the land disturbance, when newly planted vegetation will mature. Some o f soil control measures, such as concrete sloping, however, will reach its 100% effectiveness immediately after it is completed. 4.2 Impact on landuses and vegetation The Project will permanently occupy 8395.3 mu (15 mu to a hectare) o f land including 31.84% o f woodland, and 36.72% o f cultivatedland. Inaddition, while borrow pits are not needed according to the excessive earth from tunnel and excavation, the amount o f spoil i s a lot, so that a number o f deposit sites are required. The total o f 63 disposal sites will occupy approximately 2564.2 mu land. The vegetation, including crops, shrubs, trees and other vegetation on the occupied land will be impacted by the Project. Compared with the total cultivated land in the Project areas, that occupied by the Project and thus the impacts to agriculture i s relatively small (the decrease of cultivated land per capita range from 0.05% to 0.78%). Except in the expressway pavement area itself, impacts on vegetation in other portion o f the expressway areas will be short termed as the slopes, central separation media, open space o f the interchange areas, borrow pits, disposal sites and other temporary occupied areas will be landscaped and rehabilitated with lawns, trees bushes and other vegetation. Infact, it is expected, these landscape programs will result in a net increase in vegetation coverage rate inareas along the expressway. 4.3 Impacts on Ecology EA Executive Summary 9 Yiba Expressway In the construction stage, the majority of ecological impacts are to come from site clearance, removal o f vegetation at the beginning o f construction which would result in loss o f habitat and vegetation for animals. Threats o f the local ecosystem, biodiversity, animal activities within the cleared and occupied areas and their immediate vicinities will be affected. Unplanned land occupation at ecological sensitive areas, damage to vegetation beyond proposed working areas, and illegal hurtingby construction workers, etc. due to lacking o f awareness or training could result in certain impacts to the area ecology. Duringthe operation phase, the expressway, where it runs on the group instead o f elevated viaduct or tunnels would divide the land or habitats. However, the expressway has a large portion o f the tunnels and elevated viaducts (totally 75% o f the total expressway length) including some in the relatively sensitive areas, greatly minimize the impacts such as habitat severance and surface vegetation damages. 4.4 Impacts on Water Environment Construction Phase Impacts on the water environment during the construction phase include primarily discharge o f sanitary sewage from the construction camps and in water construction activities for some o f the bridges. Each construction camp, with an estimated 100 workers, will generate about 5m3/d o f sanitary sewage per day which, if not treated properly, would affect the water quality o f the receiving environment, such as Boling River, Huangbo kver, Wudu River, Gaolan River, and Xiangxi kver. In addition, municipal solid waste generated from the camps, ifnot handled properly could also affect water quality through contaminated surface runoff. Bridge construction could result in re-suspension o f river sediments. The construction machines operating in or near the rivers could also be a risk for oil contamination from potential leaks or spills. The area affected will generally be a short distance downstream from the bridge construction sites. Tunnel construction often modifies groundwater pattern. Inareas where a tunnel is to be constructed beneath local groundwater tables, groundwater will discharge from the cuttings or roadbed, leading to lowered groundwater tables, dead vegetation cover due to the water cut off, and soil erosion. The wastewater generated within the site o f tunnel construction is mainly from drilling and dust removal, and muddy water intruded from groundwater. As the wastewater often contains oil and sand, it tends to appear alkaline. If the wastewater from tunnel construction is discharged directly into rivers or aquifers underneath the tunnel, the river or groundwater quality will be affected. Based on the national list of hazardous waste, some o f the construction solid waste such as deposable lubricating oil, mineral oil, organic solvent, acid and alkali, oil paint belong to hazardous waste. If these solid wastes are not properly management, storage, transportation and disposal, it will be lead to serious impact to the water body. ODerationPhase Wastewater sources from the operation phase will include sanitary sewage from service stations and parking lots, car washing effluents and pavement runoff o f the first flushin a rainfall event. The wastewater from point sources will be treated to the applicable EA Executive Summary 10 YibaExpressway standards before discharge so the impacts will be limited. The surface runoff i s very small compared with the receiving river flows and as such the impact is expected to be insignificant, based on EA modeling result. The transportation of hazardous materials, both road transportation and water navigation could pose a risk o f water contamination from traffic accidents occurring near the rivers which involve vehicles and water vessels loaded hazardous materials and result in major spills. Based on the frequencies o f occurrence o f such severe accidents, the prediction results indicate that there existing a very small probability o f water contamination from this source. If they do happen, catastrophic consequence may result to water quality, aquatic life and eco-system, health and safety o f the people living downstream from the accident locations. The Three Gorges reservoir located downstream from the Xiangxi River and Shennongxi River super bridges, which are part o f expressway component. The hydraulic modeling shows that the designed dam increase and the resulting water level rise in the river, will not affect the bridges and the navigation under the bridges as the bridges i s designed for 100 year flood which i s able to accommodate the water rise. The proposed project will have no effect on the hydrology o f the water body along the alignment, and have no effect on the flood control inthe rain season. 4.4 Noise Impacts Construction Phase Construction noise will be primarily from construction machinery and trucks. Based on the noise intensity and compounded effect of simultaneous operation of multiple machines, an noise attenuation model predicts that at 40m from construction machines, the noise levels will be reduced to below the applicable day time noise standards. I t will take about 250 m for the noise to meet the standards at night. Based on the site investigation, there are only a very small number o f mostly rural residents who live within 40 m from the construction sites so the impacts will be very limited. There are, however, a large number o f people within the 200 m area from the construction sites. There would be a significant noise impacts if construction machines operate at night. In addition, residents living on both sides o f access roads will be impacted by the higher noise levels from increasedtraffic o f construction transportation vehicles. Oueration Phase Noise levels for the 41 villages and three schools which are located near the proposed expressway are predicted for the years 2013, 2019 and 2027. The results show that the noise at 9 villages will be within the applicable standards during the day time during the predicted years. With the increase o f traffic on the expressway, some villages will start to be exposed in higher noise. With regard to the schools near the expressway, the noise model predicts that three schools will be impacted by noise. The noise will exceed the standard by 1.1-6.8 dB(A) inthe day time and by 4.5-10.3 dB(A) inthe night time. 4.5 Air Impact Construction Phase EA Executive Summary 11 YibaExpressway Airborne dust will be a primary air contaminant during the construction phase. The sources o f the dust will be unpaved access roads, Disposal areas, materials storage areas and transportation. The factors affected dust airborne will include climate conditions and type o f construction activities. The impact area can be up to 150 m from the source o f dust. Another source of air emission is asphalt and concrete mixing stations. The impacted area can be up to 200 m leeward from the source. As the asphalt stations are flexible in terms o f exact location, the impact can be avoided if the asphalt station positions are carefully selected with environmental considerations. Operation Phase Using an air dispersion model and motor vehicle emission model, it is predicted that NOx concentrations are expected not to exceed the standards duringwhole the operation stage under the normal weather conditions (stability of Class D) but maybe exceed the standards under the unfavorable weather conditions. The green house gases will be in general reduced. The project has a total o f 45 tunnels which will all have emissions from ventilation on both ends. The site investigation showed that within 100 m o f all tunnel exits, there are no sensitive receptors. Based on the model calculate, the emissions from tunnel exits are not expected to cause air quality in the ambient air to exceed the applicable standards, following dilution and dispersion. 4.6 Socio-economic Impact Community Severance There are 7 interchanges, 2 overpasses and 41 underpasses in the proposed expressway. In addition, where the road passes large farmland, agricultural vehicle passages are designed to ensure the agricultural operation convenience. As the expressway will have a large proportion o f tunnels and elevated viaducts, the actual severance impact will not be as highas the expressway length implies.Under the project, there will be 148 bridgesand 44 culverts. As such, the existing river and irrigation systems will be intact, so as to ensure irrigation system functioning. Cultural Relics According to the report prepared by o f Hubei Provincial Relics and Archaeological Research Institute during the Project EA, the proposed expressway will affect four cultural relics. I t will go through the Baihuguan site o f the New Stone Age (3000-4000 BC), with a total area o f 5000 m2, and bypass Xingpin suspended tomb o f Zhanguo-Song-Ming Dynasties (400 BC-13OOAD) with a total area o f 3000 m long inthe north and south. Preservative excavation will be conducted at Baihuguan and Pingyikou sites. in order to avoid the blasting effect during the tunnel construction, the design team adopted the EA option to cross the Xingpin suspended tomb via a bridge instead o f tunnle. N o actions are needed for the other two sites due to their distances to the proposed expressway alignment. Although the Xingpin suspended tomb i s a provincial protection culture relic site, the proposed bridge i s 195 m far away from the control zone and necessary consolidation works will be conducted. While the Baihuguan and Pingyikou Tombs cultural relics sites do not have significant historical, cultural or architecture EA Executive Summary 12 Yiba Expressway values and are not included in any o f the state, provincial or county level cultural relic lists. Based on the current assessment by provincial archaeologists, as well as further consultation with other specialists, a cultural heritage protection plan including the necessary mitigation and budget had been prepared and approved by Hubei Provincial Cultural Bureau inAugust 2007. Three Gorges National Geological Park The expressway will go through ShennongxiScenic Spot of BadongZone and Xiaofeng Scenic Spot of Yinchang Zone of the national Three Gorges Geological Park. The original K alignment, K30-K60 sectionthrough the Xiaofeng Scenery zone and about 2500 m to one Class IGeology Protection Site (at K38) and about 500 m to another Class Iprotection site (at K29+500) and about 500 m to a Class I1protection site. While at this distance it would not impact the geology protection sites. All the spoil soil disposal sites and access roads are far away from the above geology protection sites, andhaveno impact to them. Cave Diversity Inthe winter of2007 and inJune, 2008, the cave biodiversity experts made two surveys for the caves along the alignment within the range o f 500 meters. The survey reports show that the location o f caves a relative far away from the alignment, no new and endangered species are found. But before and duringthe construction, proper efforts will be made to minimize the possible impact the caves. The details can be refered to the annex 1o f EIA. Health and Safetv Health risks are primarily related to increased transit population during construction (construction workers) and operation (visitors) in the regions. The increased mobile population could potentially bring and spread infectious diseases in the Project area. The in-hygieneand un-healthy life style o f the workers could spread diseases such as hepatitis and HIV-AIDS to local residents as well as among themselves. The safety risk i s primarily inthe construction phase with the local residents, particularly children who have little awareness o f construction site safety and traffic safety. Ina linear construction site there will be hardly full control o f the site and the construction areas will be mostly open with no control from public access. The curious students may hang around the sites after the school causing safety risks. Deep cuts and other excavation, if near normal roads could also be a safety hazard at night. The explosion operation for deep cuts and materials borrowing and the resulting flying stones, as well as explosive handling, will be among the most dangerous activities on the construction sites which pose risks to residents. The explosive operation could also affect the safety and structure integrity o f houses in a 500 m radius area through strong vibration o f the explosion as well as damaging roof tiles and windows from flying stone from explosion. Tourism The proposed expressway will greatly improve the accessibility to the Project areas including local tourist attractions and as a result, more visitors are expected to visit local parks and conservation areas, such as the Yangze River Three Gorges. The proposed road will pass through three local important tourist attractions, they are Shennongxi Scenic Spot, Gaolan Scenic Spot and Xiaofeng Tourism Spot. The increased tourists and motor EA Executive Summay 13 YibaExpressway vehicle traffic will bring higher loads to the environment and eco-system in the park, including air emission, sewage, and solid waste generation as well as potentially excessive developments inhotels, restaurants, shops and other services. Economic development and poverty alleviation The expressway will greatly improve the transportation conditions o f the project area. Currently from the Badong to the provincial capital o f Wuhan will take 8-10 hours while when the expressway i s in operation this trip will only take about 5-6 hours. The greatly improved transportation conditions will help shipping o f local agricultural produces and resources out to the urban centers, contributing to local economic development. In addition, the greatly improved transportation conditions will help attract outside investment to the region contributing further economic development. As the lack o f transportation infrastructures and relative isolation o f the region is one o f the major causes o f the under development and poverty in the region, the Project will help the poverty reduction effort and improve the standard o f living to the local urban and rural residents for the access to services and others in the urban areas. 4.7 Resettlement and Relocation The resettlement and relocation o f the proposed expressway will occupy permanently 8395.3 mu o f land, including 3083.2 mu farmland, 2673 mu woods, 1386.8 mu garden. The proposed project will affect four counties, 11townships, 53 villages and 138 village groups. The total directly affected families who either lost land, houses or both will be 302652.1m2 with 8204 people. The Project will also occupy yards, water wells, walls, tombs, trees, irrigation systems, country roads and utilities within the expressway area. The impacts will also include mismanagement o f land and house compensation funds, unsatisfactory with land re-assignment and insufficient compensation for house replacement. However, in general, the new houses following the relocation are expected to be better and bigger than the houses they replace with using the resettlement and relocation compensation funds, representing an improvement o f housing conditions and the standards of living. The total cost o f resettlement and relocation, including compensation to all affected, is estimated to be US$ 82.86 million. 5. Analysis of Alternatives The analysis of alternatives and determination of expressway alignment include the following process: first, three transportation corridors between Yichang and Badong, the ultimate destination of this expressway, were identified and compared and the one with the least environmental impacts was selected (in which this expressway is a section). Within this corridor, two alternative alignments were then identified and compared with the one with the least environmental impacts selected as the preferred alignment. Finally on the preferred alignment, fine modifications were introduced in several sections to compare with the original alignment in an attempt to further avoid and minimize potential adverse impacts o f the expressway. The expressway alignment i s determined based on these three steps in analysis and comparison o f different alternatives. EA Executive Summary 14 Yiba Expressway The three corridor alternatives analyzed at the first stage are (see Map 5-1 for details): North Corridor: starting from the Yichang (Shuanglian interchange o f Yichang- Jingmen Expressway), through Huanghuachang, Gaoyang, Gaoqiao and Xiqiuwan, and ending at Badong. South Corridor: starting from Yichang point, through Yemingzhu, Letianxi, Guizhou and Xiqiuwan, to the end point Middle Corridor: from the start point, through Huanghuachnag, Letianxi, Xiakou and Xiqiuwan, to the end point North Corridor i s selected based on the best transportation condition, which inturnwould have smaller amounts o f disturbance and impacts to the natural and socio-economic environments. Furthermore, the area within North Corridor i s relatively stable geologically, with mild soil erosion. In addition, the cuts and fills within North Corridor would be the smallest compared with the other two corridors, implying least disturbance and least need for disposal. Thirdly, the North Corridor has the least negative effect on the three Gorges national geological parks of Yangtse River, and it also has the limited impact on the local ecology and environment. It also has the limited impact on the groundwater and the landscape, although the land occupation and the building demolition are big than the other two corridors, which may be alleviated by the appropriate mitigation and compensation measures duringthe project implement. The North Corridor also receives the widest supports from the local governments which i s also an important consideration inthe analysis o f alternatives by the EA and other project teams. Mitigation measures have been proposed and included in the engineering design where appropriate as well as in the Project EMP for mitigating adverse impacts expected to be caused by North Corridor, particularly in areas where North Corridor has higher impacts than other corridors. The other two corridors have obvious deficiency on construction and operation. The middle corridor includes a tunnel with 18.5 km length which is difficult in construction and expensive inoperation. The south corridor has already been occupied by an exclusive road to the Three Gorge Reservoir. Thus it i s very difficult to be approved that two high class roads be constructed within a same corridor. Besides as the exclusive road is enclosed and managed by the reservoir management, it i s impossible to use it for the purpose o f this project. The alternatives analyzed at the second stage in the preferred corridor are (see Map 5-2 for details): Within the preferred corridor, limitedby the site topography and geology, there are two possible alignments for considerations and comparison, Alignment K (50.098 km) and Alignment A+B (51.574 krn). The two alignments overlap at the Baihe Interchange o f Jingmen -Yichang Expressway. The two alignments would go separate alignments before merged again near the end of this section of expressway at Qingjiahe. The Alignment K would have 41 bridges with a combined length at 17960 m and 12 tunnels with a combined length o f 9638 m while the Alignment A+B, 40 bridges with a combined length o f 14010 m and 11 tunnels with a combined length o f 16270 m. Through a detailed analysis o f the potential impacts, and comparison o f the two alignments, Alignment K is selected as the preferred alignment based on 1.476 km shorter distance and thus less disturbance to the environment, lower soil erosion, less earth work, less cuts and fills and less tunnels, lower biodiversity and lower amount o f EA Executive Summary 15 YibaExpressway .-c u- 0 biomass, and less cultural relics, although the Alignment K has higher number o f sensitive receptors such as scenic spots and higher amount o f housing relocation and displaced persons. The most important, Alignment A+B passes through the upstream o f Guanzhuang Reservoir, which is the drinking water source. Thus this may lead to potential impacts in the construction and operation phase, particularly including accidental pollution o f water quality. In addition, Alignment K receives better supports from local governments and less community severance and social impacts by the expressway construction and operation. The section o f Gaolan to Baiwan is o f the most complex geological and topographical conditions. Three Alternatives, K, C and D have been developed detailed comparison. Fromthe technical factors, Alignment K is better than C and D.The total length o f tunnel and bridge under Alignment K i s 788 m and 638 m less than C and D respectively. Alignment K has the shorter length o f bridge and tunnels. Alignment K is RMB 4.368 billion, RMB 225 million and RMB 482 million less than Alignment C and D respectively. Alignment K is also preferredinterms o f geology, as the geological disaster is less frequent and intensity is not as heavy as in Alignment C. Alignment C and D, the geological disaster in the area is more frequent and intense. It is difficult to construct a road under such unstable geology conditions. Alignment D will disturb the weather station inXingshan and Zhaojuntai history property. The location selection o f the largest bridge on Shennongxi River has been carefully investigated. It is found that the bridge to be constructed under Alternative E i s located on a steep cliff where the geological stability i s poor as carst topography dominates this area. Thus Alternative K is preferred. Alignment K is preferred with less land occupied, but the earth work amount is substantial. As the ecological settings along the two alterative routes are almost identical, the potential impacts are thus similar. In addition, the social and water environmental setting are similar for the two alternatives. The major difference i s the existing geological factors. The bridge to be constructed under Alignment E i s located on a steep cliff where the geological stability is poor due to Karst formation in this area. It is difficult to construction the super large bridge. 6. Mitigation For the adverse environmental impacts o f the Project, the EA has developed a series o f measures to avoid, minimize, mitigate or otherwise compensate the adverse impact from the project. These mitigation measures are summarized below: 6.1 Design Phase Soil Erosion To control soil erosion, all sections vulnerable to soil erosion will be applied to engineeringcontrol measures. For the most unstable areas, such as steep cuts above the expressway, concrete grids or stone pavement will be applied to the slopes to completely stabilize the soil surface. For the milder and more stable slopes, the area will be landscaped. The Project will have 63 spoil soil disposal sites. While some are in the EA Executive Summary 16 Yiba Expressway natural depression or valleys, other will be piled above ground. In these areas, retaining walls will be built to stabilize the piles and the piles will also be surrounded by interception ditches and drainage systems. All stockpiles o f the spoil soil will be finally covered with native soil and landscaped. A number of measures to minimize noise have been incorporated into the design for sensitive receptors at which the noise level is predicted to exceed the applicable standards. These measures, and the proposed implementation time, are summarized in Table 6-1 In addition, in several villages where no mitigation measures are planned because the predicted noise levels are below the applicable standards, increasednoise monitoring will be implemented to ensure the actual noise levels after expressway operation comply with the predictions. Mitigation measures will be taken if the monitored data show noise levels exceed the standards. Construction Yanghzou-Zigui school Water To minimize the impact on water quality, wastewater treatment facilities will be designed and built at the service areas, including motor vehicle maintenance and repair shops, car washing operations, as well as other domestic facilities at the service areas along the expressway. Aerobic biological wastewater treatment process has been selected and incorporated into the design which i s capable o f removing COD and suspended solid to meet the applicable discharge standards as per Integrated Wastewater Discharge Standards (GB8978-1996). The car washing wastewater will first go through a pre-treatment for oil removal before enter into the biological wastewater treatment unit. In addition, the two branch management center and two maintenance center are very small and septic tanks will be installed for wastewater treatment before discharge. Community Severance To minimize the impacts o f community and farmland severance, numerous rounds o f consultation have been conducted with the affected villagers. Inareas where the road will intersect with local roads, there are 7 interchanges, 2 overpasses and 41 underpasses. As the road is to be built inan area with highly rolling terrain which requires a large number o f tunnels and bridges on the route, it i s estimated that the traffic blocking impact on the EA Executive Summay 17 Yiba Expressway local people i s minimum. The provisions in the crossing design have been provided to allow various farm vehicles to use as well as for future expansion. Cultural Relics The measures to be taken in the protection area o f Xinping Suspended Tombs include: the tomb and the surrounding area will be reinforcedwith physical and chemical methods, including provision o f support and spray o f reinforcement agent; the tombs and surrounding area will be investigated with record; monitoring equipment to monitor the movement o f the cliff for long term will be procured and installed at site with specific management procedure in place; mitigation equipment to reduce the vibration will be installed at site to reduce the impact on the tombs. Preservative excavation at the Baihuguan and Pingyikou relic sites will be conducted and completed prior to the commencement o f expressway construction. During this process, all valuable archaeological and cultural articles from the sites will be uncovered, studies and kept by the county museum. The excavated sites will be photographed, measured, documented or modeled before handed over to contractors for expressway construction. Contractors will be educated to strictly follow the procedures in case there i s any chance find duringconstruction. The procedure calls for immediate halt o f construction activities and contact relevant authorities. Contractors may resume work at the site if so instructed by authorities and cultural relics specialists following their on site investigation. Three Gorges National Geolopical Park As the main project and all the spoil soil disposal sites and access roads are far away from the geology protection sites, the impacts to the Three Gorges National Geological Park will be insignificant. However, the Project will result in indirect impacts to the park through better access to the park and attraction to more tourists. To mitigate the indirect impacts, an environmental management plan for the parks will be prepared. The specific measures will include locating motor vehicle parking lot be carefully designed to minimize the land occupation and impact on landscape, and providing sufficient garbage bins and washroom facilities. Within the core area (geology protection sites) o f the Park, high filling and deep cutting will be prohibited to conserve the landscape in the Park; borrow and deposit pits, service zone, road maintenance stations will be banned. The road and side slope o f the roadbed will be be covered with green materials or vegetation, so as to ensure a harmony with the surrounding environment. Resettlement and Relocation All relocated residents will be properly compensated and received training for new employment. Special consideration will be given to the elderly, illiterate and farmers in terms o f compensation. For people whose sources of well water will be disrupted by the construction by the construction o f tunnels, additional water wells and other water supply sources will be developed. 6.2 Construction Phase Temporary Land Occupation EA Executive Summay 18 Yiba Expressway The construction workspace will be minimized to reduce the impact o f land occupation. Areas which must be occupied for temporary uses will be re-vegetated immediately after the completion o f construction. Workers will be educated to protect trees and other vegetation as much as possible during construction. Temporary settling ponds will be built in soil stock piles, cuts and other excavation areas near water bodies to control erosion. To minimize soil erosion on disturbed soil and areas highly vulnerable to erosion, temporary protection measures such as grass mats will be applied in places where permanent protectionworks cannot be complete intime for the draining season. Ecolopical The shrubs and trees in the project area are the primary concern for ecological protection for this expressway project. To protected wildlife in the area, the construction will be carefully scheduled to reduce construction duration and the blasting operation. The construction camps will be banned to build in the heavy treed areas. The contractors will be requested and bound by contracts to cooperate with the staff from local forest service in defining the red line for construction site and the marking of valuable plants for protection. All contractors must go through a training program before the start o f construction for tree and wildlife protection. Construction Noise Large and noisy construction activities will keep away from populated areas (150 m minimum) to the maximum extent possible. Operation of loud construction machinery and major construction activities will strictly restricted to the day time. Temporary noise barriers will be constructed to protect the sensitive receptors such as schools if the construction must be carried out inthe short distance. Construction traffic will be directed to avoid sensitive locations if possible. Where such traffic must go through villages or townships, speed bumpers will be built on the roads to slow down the traffic to reduce noise and safety risks. Where night time construction must be conducted for technical reasons (e.g., continued concrete pouring for pillars o f bridgesand elevated viaducts), the affected residents must be noticed before hand and measures including temporary noise barriers and temporary relocation o f the affected will be taken for the most vulnerable people such as the sick and elderly. Water To minimize adverse impacts to surface water during construction, cofferdam techniques will be used in bridge column construction with complete isolation o f work areas from the river water. Rwer crossing construction activities will be scheduled to the extent possible during the low flow periods. To mitigate the potential impact from wastewater discharged from construction camps, no sewage from construction camps will be allowed to discharge without treatment. The sewage will be either held at the site and empties to treatment facilities regularly or through on site treatment such as septic tank (at least 20 m3) to meet the irrigation discharge standards. Environmental supervision will be enhanced on construction stage, especially on the bridges o f the Huangbo River, Xiangxi River and Shennongxi Rwer which has the Class I1 standards, the highest among all water bodies inthe project area. The wastewater produced in the construction o f tunnels will be discharged into settling tanks to remove solids before discharge or recycle for use in construction. The dynamic EA Executive Summary 19 Yiba Expressway design and careful construction in Karst formation will be applied to handle this geology features. To control the potential geological hazards mostly associated with Karst formation inthe project area, the design has included construction methods including crossing over, strengthening, diverting and incepting o f Karst water, piling, removing o f loosing materials, seal o f land depressions and diverting surface water and similar engineering measures to control the risk associated with this geology features and ensure project safety. Unpaved access road and construction sites, if they are near villages or schools, will be water sprayed twice a day (once in the morning and once in the afternoon), or more on dry and windy days to suppress airborne dust. The mixing stations and other point sources o f air emissions will be located leeward far enough from sensitive receptors (at least 300 m). Access roads will be paved with gravel to reduce generation o f air-borne dust. Trucks loaded with soil and other dusty materials, as well as materials stockpiles will be covered with canvas. Tunnel construction will adopt wet drilling, with sufficient ventilation. Where needed, water spray will be used to suppress air borne dust in areas where be exposed. All workers in the tunnel construction sites must wear proper personal protection equipment (PPE) including facial masks to ensure worker health and safety. ConstructionCamps Construction camps will be appropriately located to minimize the disturbance to the surrounding communities and the natural environment. Solid and liquid waste will be stored with proper protectionand removed from the sites regularly with qualified vendors for disposal. The camps will be maintained in sanitary, hygiene, orderly and good housekeeping conditions to minimize the health hazards to the workers and adverse impacts to the surrounding environment. Any construction camp is forbidden on 200 m area o f the both sides o f the Huangbo River, Xiangxi River, Shennongxi Rwer. Workers will be educated for hygiene and healthy lifestyle at the construction sites to control infectious diseases and protect the workers and the local communities. Warning signs, public education, necessary barriers, etc. will be provided to protect public safety at the construction sites, especially duringexplosion operations. CulturalRelics Two cultural relics which are right on the project alignment will undertake protective excavation prior to the commencement o f construction. The result o f excavation will be moved to provincial museums for permanent protection and displays. A procedure for handling "chance finding procedure" has been prepared and included in the EMP which will also be provided to the contractors in the bid document and eventually in the construction contracts. All contractors will be requested to halt construction until the chance finds have been studied by professional archaeologists and instructed to resume construction. Proper training on the chance finding procedure will be mandatory to all contractors before the start o f construction. EA Executive Summay 20 Yiba Expressway Contractor ManaPement Experience with previous World Bank financed expressway project in Hubei province has indicated that high awareness and full participation o f contractors in environmental management at construction are critically important to ensure environmental performance. Environmental protection will start from pre-qualification o f contractors when environmental awareness and management systems will be an evaluation criterion. The environmental mitigation measures, management and monitoring plans will be incorporated into bid documents to ensure there will be sufficient funding for these activities and the environmental management will be contractual obligations to the contractors. Finally, short course training will be provided to all winning contractors and construction supervision companies on environmental policies and regulations, potential impacts, mitigation measures, daily monitoring and reporting requirements, chance find procedures, and emergency handling. Spoil Disposal Site The 63 spoil disposal sites have been carefully designed based on the 1:2000 relief map, including the retaining wall with enough strength, slope protection, drainage facilities and access road for construction. The spoil disposal sites located in the Gaolan tourist area and Xiaofeng tourist area will include landscape effects to minimize the visual impacts. If the contractors propose the new site area in the construction, it will need the agreement by the HPCD and local government particularly EPB to ensure sufficient technology and environmental considerations. If the spoil disposal site will be located near river ways, it will also need agreement from the river management authorities and approved by the local government. For those spoil disposal sites near the residents, it is prohibited to conduct any filling or unloading activities at night. Water will be sprayed regularly to reduce the dust. The access road width and length will be controlled and replant the vegetations after the construction. In the vegetative area, it will be small-sized construction before the spoil disposal inorder to drive the wildlife away. Access roads The temporary access roads will be carefully located to avoid farmland, forest and crops; where possible, the access locations will be selected in such a way that they will be used by the local communities after the construction completion. Safety warning signs will be installed and safety considerations and engineering measures will b given full consideration in the access road design. Usage the existing road cooperated by the local government to avoid the traffic jam, especially much more heavy construction vehicles come-and-go, it will lead to the Yixing Road traffic increase. It i s may destruct the existing roads, impact the local transportation, and increase the risk o f the traffic accident. So, it will be enhance the transportation safety management such as set the transportation caution signs, scientific construction arrangement, minimized the impact to the villagers along the proposed freeway. When through village, schools and hospitals, all access roads will be hardened from 25 m before approaching these sensitive receptors until 25 m after leaving them. When the construction is completed, the access road, if not beneficially used by the local communities, will be fully rehabilitated to its original state and landscaped as needed. EA Executive Summary 21 YibaExpressway 6.3 OperationPhase Ecologv A t the two side o f the sections where wild animals are active (K75-K85, K97-K101+600, K120-K144), sing o f whistle banwill be set up. No new school, hospital or other sensitive facilities will be allowed to buildwithin 250 m from the central line o f the expressway to prevent noise impacts to these facilities in the future. If Huanghua Town and Wudu Town decide to modify their development planning in which they tend to extend toward the proposed road, it is suggested that in the area within the distance o f 200 m from the road will be constructedwith storehouse, plant and greening works. Traffic management will be enforced and motor vehicles will not be allowed for speedy which generate excessive noise as well as safety concerns. The road surface will be regularly maintained to reduce the noise with the vehicle movement. The main engineering mitigation measures are installation o f noise barrier, noise window, planting, and relocation. Air emission Motor vehicle air emissions control requires integrated approach from numerous government agencies as well as private sector stakeholders. The province will enforce applicable standards for motor vehicles and usage the clean energy such as the electric and light oil with the low sulfur and implement the motor vehicle inspection programs to minimize the air emissions from the increased motor vehicle traffic on the expressway. Strengthen fire and traffic management, including no pass, control o f explosive and flammable vehicles, etc. An emergency response team will be established consisting o f Project Company, road bureau, fire department, traffic police, environmental bureau, local hospital and monitoring center. The team will be responsible to handle promptly accidents in the tunnels, minimizing the impact to the people, properties and the environment, Establish emergency response plan with the following accident handling procedures: 0 stop the traffic into the tunnel upon the notice o f a fire inthe tunnel; @ duty staff notice immediately the emergency response team and other organizations as may be appropriate; @ make public announcement to the people still in the tunnel to guide them to safety; 0 guideto emergency vehicles andpersonnel; @ direct traffic away fromthe site; @ control other equipment such as ventilation to help with the suppression o f fire; @ control other equipment such as lighting, monitoring, etc. to assist people evacuation. Water There are many auxiliary facilities such as service areas, parking areas, management centers o f the proposed project. The wastewater produced from the auxiliary facilities will be discharged in to settling tanks to remove solids with the sediments cleared and transported in timely manner and the supernatant being recycled into the process of construction. Wastewater treatment facilities will be constructed at the service zone, parking zone and management center to treat the domestic wastewater before being EA Executive Summary 22 YibaExpressway discharged into water body. The wastewater containing oil from the car washing process will be reused after treatment by oil-water separator. Any excessive wash water will go through oil water separator before sent to the treatment station together with the municipal wastewater. A septic tank with 20 m3volume will be used in each toll station. The effluent from septic tank can be usedfor municipal irrigation and the sediments will be clearedby local sanitation staff. A collection system and holding tank will be installed at each o f the bridges in the two Class I1 water quality rivers to collect any potential accidental release o f hazardous materials. Transportation of hazardous materials A leading group including relevant government authorities had been set up to handle transportation o f hazardous materials and emergency response in an event o f a traffic accident involving trucks located with hazardous materials, particularly in sensitive locations such as bridges or other places near surface water bodies. Licensing and permitting procedures will be strictly enforced to control the traffic involving hazardous materials on provincial expressway. National Geological Park The plan for vehicle speed limit, hornban, fuel andmaterial spillage control will be developed and implemented.Furthermore, the road will be well maintained, and environmental monitoringplan to the Geological Park will be carried out for long term. The Geology Park is already inthe process to develop plan for the anticipated increase in tourists following the completiono f the expressway. This will include carefully planned and controlledfacilities developments such as hotels and restaurants, sufficient sanitation facilities such as washrooms and garbage bins, and waste collection and treatment and disposal systems. Cave Diversity Before the start o f construction, fence will be erected at the nearby caves, which could be impacted by the construction. N o contractor workers or other personnel will be allowed to enter into the caves for hunting,collect stalactite or other activities. The contractor will be requiredto conduct all its on site activities including settingup construction camp at least 200 m from these four caves, to minimize the direct impact o f construction activities to the caves. Inaddition, the contractors and expressway operators will also be requiredto maintain environmental quality and minimize pollution. Particularly during construction, the contractor will be demanded not to place any construction materials or waste near the cave exits. Ifa construction camp must be set up near the cave, the camp will not be allowed to discharge sewage directly to the surrounding environment with the sufficient treatment (at least septic tank treatment or further depending on the actual receiving water or area). The surrounding vegetation will be reserved to the maximum extent possible. Monitoring Extensive environmental monitoring programs will be implemented during both construction and operation phases (details in the chapter 7) to ensure that adverse environmental impacts are as projected during the EA and the mitigation measures proposed will be implemented and effective. In adequate mitigation or new adverse EA Executive Summary 23 YibaExpressway impacts emerged beyond the EA prediction will be detected by the monitoring programs promptly and appropriate new actions will be taken to address them. EnvironmentalManagement Plan An environmental management plan (EMP) has been developed in a separate and stand alone document. The EMP includes policies basis and applicable environmental standards, environmental management system, mitigation measures and monitoring plans for both the construction and operation phases. Objectives The EMP provides a framework for the implementation of mitigation measures and environmental management and monitoring during the Project implementation. As such, it represents the commitment o f Project proponent as well as the governments o f the Project area for environmental protection, pollution control and impact minimization. More specifically, the EMP is to: 0 Set out the legal and policy framework as well as applicable environmental standards with which the Project will be compliance; Identify and design with sufficient details and specifics of mitigation measures for adverse impacts o f the Project; 0 Specify institutional roles and responsibilities for mitigation measures implementation and environmental management during Project; Outlines the requirements for environmental monitoring and reporting needs; and Provides an independent document which may be used during Project implementation for Project supervision. Management and Supervision Organizations There will be two levels o f organizations which will be responsible for environmental performance o f the Project. The first i s environmental management organizations including the Environmental Office o f the Ministry o f Communications, the HPCD, the Project Management Office (PMO) which is the Project proponent, the expressway company to be established which will be responsible for the expressway operation and various technical groups for environmental monitoring and design. The other level i s the environmental supervisory organizations which include MOEP and Environmental Protection Bureaus o f different levels o f government inthe Project region. In order to achieve a satisfactory outcome of the Project's EMP, the project owner will appoint a Client's Environmental Supervision Consultant (CESC) to supervise and monitor the implementationo f the EMP throughout the construction phase o f the project. The CESC reports to the project owner directly. Involvement o f the CESC can ensure that the Project's EMP is adequately implemented. The CESC will check, review, verify and validate the overall environmental performance o f the Project through audits and inspections. This will provide confidence that the reported results are valid and the relevant monitoring program or codes o f practice as provided in the Project EMP are fully complied with. In addition, the project owner will also engage an Environmental EA Executive Summay 24 Yiba Expressway Monitor Consultant (EMC), responsible for regular and focused environmental monitoring of the construction sites. 7.3 Environmental Monitoring The EMP also includes environmental monitoring programs for both construction and operation phases. The parameters to be monitored include relocation and resettlement, soil erosion, noise, dust, degradation of water quality, stream sedimentation, solid waste disposal, and electromagnetic radiation. During the construction phase, environmental monitoring will be conducted intwo approaches: daily and routine monitoring consisting of mainly visual observations and limited equipment measurements such as hand-hold noise meters; and periodic monitoring by professionals using standard methods recognized by regulatory authorities. Monitoring reports will be compiled at intervals o f once every three to four months, summarizing the findings o f the monitoring. The reports will be submitted to project proponent as well as relevant agencies and the World Bank. Duringthe operation phase, noise levels will be monitored once every six months while air and water quality will be monitored once a year. The specific monitoring programs for air, noise and water are summarized in Table 7-1 through Table 7-3. Intunnels longer than 1km C0,N02 2 timeslyear 5 days According to GuanzhuangPrimarySchool, technical Operation GaolanPrimarySchool, NO2 2 timedyear 5 days specification Yangzhou Zigui Primary TSP School and Xiadengliafan S frequency Duration 4 timedyear Huangbo River, WuduRiver, with each for Construction Gaolan River, Xiangxi River Permanganate consecutive 2 days One each and Shennongxi River index, SS, oilduringbridge time in construction mooning and afternoon Operation WWTW of servicezone COD, NHS-N SS, oil 2 timedyear 2 day EA Executive Summary 25 YibaExpressway Table 7-3 MonitoringPlan for Acoustic Quality Phase Monitoring Sites Param Frequenc Lasti Sampl e t e r Y ng time ing time Lianghekou, Chiqiping, Yanjiahe, Yuquantan, One time in Construction Huangjiahe, Zaojiaoshu, 4 timedyear, ad the morning Qinjiaya, Wangjiayuanzi, Leq, A hoc 2 days and inthe Xiadengjiafan, Guanzhuang night Primary School Intunnles 2 timedyear 2 days GuanzhuangPrimary School, Yangjiahe, One time in Operation Xiadengjiafan, Gaolan themorning Primary School, 2 timedyear 2 days and inthe Yangzhouzigui Primary night School 7.4 Institutional Strengthening and Training To ensure the environmental performance o f the Project, the EMP emphasizes the institutional building and strengthening. Besides an organizational structure involving various management and supervision organizations for environmental decision making, monitoring, reporting and further mitigation planning and implementation, the EMP includes detailed programs for personnel training. The programs involve training aboard and domestically for professional, managerial and technical personnel from the governments, project proponent and operation units, environmental institutions and contractors and construction supervisions. The environmental training for contractors and construction supervisions will be held prior to the commencement o f construction. The objective is to ensure that each contractor and construction supervision unit will have staff on site full time for environmental monitoring on a daily basis. The training will cover the basic knowledge o f environmental protection and pollution control, the result o f EIA and requirements o f EMP, methodology o f site environmental management and monitoring, and reporting requirements. The training for HPCD, PMO, the company of expressway, and environmental institutions will cover environmental management, regulatory framework, applicable environmental standards and their implications to the Project, mitigation planning, environmental decision making and pollution control technologies. Some o f this training will be carried out overseas. 7.5 Estimated Cost for Environmental Management The cost for environmental management and mitigation measures have been estimated and included inthe Project budget. The estimated cost is summarized inTable 7-4. EA Executive Summary 26 Yiba Expressway 8. Public Consultationand InformationDisclosure Two rounds o f public consultation have been carried out duringthe EA: the first round at the EA preparation stage in September 2005 and the second round at draft EA report between June and July 2007. Various methods have been used in public consultation, including public opinion surveys through questionnaires, public meetings at villages and with local people's representatives, and interviews with affected groups and individuals. The people consulted included mainly those who will be affected directly by the project. Relevant government and non-government organizations and experts on various environmental and socio-economic issues have also had been consulted. In total, 320 copies of a public opinion questionnaire were distributed and 291 were returned. Among people surveyed, some are well aware o f the Project (16.82%) or have some knowledge o f it (54.21%). The vast majority o f the people felt the expressway necessary and wish to see the construction start as soon as possible. O f the environmental concerns, 76.64% o f people surveyed cited noise and 60.75% concerned about dust duringconstruction. Most o f the affected people (63.55%) would like to see landscaping and tree planting as a measure to mitigate adverse impacts o f the project. In total, 41 villages, 3 schools, more than 20 local government agencies and eight non-government groups participated inthe two rounds o f public consultation. There were 3 public meetings and tens o f the group interviews. The main public concerns raised in the process included appropriate compensation for land acquisition and resettlement and relocation, timely rehabilitation or restoration o f affected irrigation systems, construction safety, noise at schools, better access to and exits from the expressway, and sufficient passage ways across the expressway. The EA team has responded the public concerns by including setting up land acquisition and resettlement offices under HPCD to develop, supervise and implement resettlement action plan (RAP), developing plans for irrigation system restoration, conducting public education and erecting warning signs for construction safety, constructing sufficient passageways and crossings with provisions for pedestrians and farm vehicles to mitigate community severance impacts, install fences at the sensitive sections o f the access roads EA Executive Summary 27 YibaExpressway to provide safety protection to students, residents and livestock, install noise barrier, ventilated noise insulation windows and tree planting to minimize the impacts o f noise from the expressway, and provide full consideration to local economy and transportation needs such as appropriately locating access rampshnterchanges, employment opportunities during construction, etc. In compliance with EIA process requirements of Chinese government and the World Bank, the completed draft EIA and EMP reports as well as part o f the public consultation records were distributedin public places along the expressway, such as libraries, book centers, etc. The concerned public can have the access to and review of the reports at these places. In addition, the Project information and availability o f the reports were advertised in Hubei Daily, the provincial wide newspaper and one o f the most popular internet web sites in the province (www.hbjt.gov.cn). The public consultation and information disclosure are summarized in the tables below. The EA team plans to disclose the final EA reports in public places to the general public once the final version is completed. Public consultation activities and information disclosure for this Project is summarized in Table 8-1 and Table 8-2, respectively. Table 1-1 PublicC nsultation Substance By whom, with When Where Bank's whom requirement Explain the project By EA team with March2004 More then 20 relevant OP4.01 contents and major affectedpeople government agencies work and collect and local agencies along the expressway concerns, usingpublic meetings andinterviews Draft EA report using By EA team with September More then 10relevant OP4.01 public opinion affectedrural 2005 government agencies, 30 questionnaires residents affectedpeople and received 107 copies questionnaires Draft EA report, public By EA team, with March to three public meetings OP4.01 meetingsand interviews affectedrural September were heldnear the residentsand local 2006 Xiaofeng tourist area, agencies Xinping tomb relic site and Guanzhuang reservoir drinking water source Draft EA report using By EA team, with June to July Villages, schools and OP4.01 public opinion affectedrural 2007 organizationsalongthe questionnaires public residents expressway, received meetingsandinterviews 184 copies questionnaires. EA Executive Summary 28 Yiba Expressway Document Date of Location Disclosed Content Bank's disclosure requirement Draft EA March Government offices of Public Notice on brief OP4.01 report 2006 Longqian, Huanghua, description of Shanghai to BP 17.50 Wudehe, Shuiyuesi, Xiakoui, ChengduExpresswayHubei Xiqiuwan and Yanduhetowns Yichang to Badongsection Environmental Impacts Draft EA March City/county libraries of DraftEA report for OP4.01 report 2007 Yichnang, Yiling, Huigui, Shanghai to Chengdu BP 17.50 Xinshan and Badong ExpresswayHubei Yichang to Badong Section Newspaper I Aprils, I Hubei Daily I Advertisement of Yiba I OP4.01 Advertising 2007 expressway environmental BP 17.50 information World wide April 5, Hubei Communication Public notice of Yiba OP4.01 web sites 2007 Website (www.hbjt.g0v.cn ) expressway environmental BP 17.50 information 9 Conclusions The Yichang to Badong expressway will play an important role in alleviating transportation bottleneck between provincial capital Shanghai and Chengdu in the northwest province o f Sichuan, promoting regional economic development, improving access to market and services, and the standard o f living, and assisting in poverty alleviation. As a segment o f a major transportation trunk road to northwest China, the expressway will also contribute to the Develop China's West program. Ingeneral, the proposed Yiba Road fits into the legal framework, and the road network development planning o f Hubei Province and China. Environmental considerations dominate the alignment selection process. One o f such example i s that the road route i s carefully designed to avoid the concentrated drinking water source on Guanzhuang Reservoir, Xiangxi Rwer and the Longquan Town Planning Zone. However, constrained by topographical and geological conditions, it has to cross the Yongze River National Geological Park, Shennong and Gaolan Scenic Spot Areas. So far, agreements from the regulatory departments have beengranted for these road sections. The construction and operation o f the expressway will result in a number o f adverse impacts to the physical and socio-economic environment in the Project regions. These impacts include permanent occupation o f land, vegetation and agriculture, increased soil erosion, increased noise and air emissions along the expressway alignment, particularly in the environmentally sensitive receptors, community severance, health and safety o f local residents, water quality and irrigation systems, and resettlement and relocations. Some o f these impacts can be obvious. However, with the mitigation measures designed specifically for the adverse impacts, the impacts will be prevented, reduced, minimized or otherwise compensated. Furthermore, an environmental management systems involving environmental management and supervision organizations, environmental monitoring, institutional strengthening and personnel training will be established to ensure the environmental performance o f the EA Executive Summary 29 Yiba Expressway Project. Inaddition, to ensure successful implementation o f these measures, an EMP will be developed to cover all the relevant aspects such as institutional arrangement for environmental management and supervision, environmental monitoring and training. The appropriate implementation o f the mitigation measures, as well as the environmental management systems, the adverse impacts will be reduced to acceptable levels. The Project i s environmentally acceptable and feasible when mitigation measures and EMP are implementedeffectively. EA Executive Summary 30 Yiba Expressway