Page 1 INTEGRATED SAFEGUARDS DATASHEET APPRAISAL STAGE I. Basic Information Date prepared/updated: 03/01/2007 Report No.: AC2611 1. Basic Project Data Country: China Project ID: P099062 Project Name: China: Shi-Zheng Railway Task Team Leader: John Carter Scales Estimated Appraisal Date: February 8, 2007 Estimated Board Date: October 9, 2007 Managing Unit: EASTE Lending Instrument: Specific Investment Loan Sector: Railways (100%) Theme: Public expenditure, financial management and procurement (P) IBRD Amount (US$m.): 300.00 IDA Amount (US$m.): 0.00 GEF Amount (US$m.): 0.00 PCF Amount (US$m.): 0.00 Other financing amounts by source: Borrower 3,600.00 Financing Gap 600.00 4,200.00 Environmental Category: A - Full Assessment Simplified Processing Simple [] Repeater [] Is this project processed under OP 8.50 (Emergency Recovery) Yes [ ] No [X] 2. Project Objectives The development objective of the Project is to meet growing freight and passenger market demand in the railway corridor between Shijiazhuang and Zhengzhou, while substantially improving the level of service offered to customers. 3. Project Description The project consists of a single component that is the construction of a new 355 km dedicated high-speed passenger rail line between Shijiazhuang in Hebei province and Zhengzhou in Henan province (ShiZheng line). In addition to the physical construction of the ShiZheng line the component will include related technical assistance. The existing double track electrified line between Beijing and Guangzhou is badly congested. In order to handle the projected growth in passenger and freight traffic by rail, it is proposed to build a double track electrified, 2,100 km Beijing-Guangzhou dedicated high-speed passenger line (JingGuang line).The proposed ShiZheng line forms part of the JingGuang line. This project aims to provide a major boost in rail transport capacity by increasing the number of train paths to meet growing freight and passenger market demand in the Page 2 railway corridor between Shijiazhuang and Zhengzhou. This will be achieved by dedicating the new high speed line exclusively to passenger services, concentrating the freight services on the freed-up capacity of existing lines, and increasing train services and performance standards in both market segments. The dedicated passenger line, capable ultimately of maximum train speeds of 350 km/h, is planned to be constructed by 2010 in four sections (Beijing- Shijiazhuang, Shijiazhuang-Zhengzhou, Zhengzhou-Wuhan and Wuhan-Guangzhou). The travel time for passengers between Beijing and Guangzhou will be reduced from present 24 hours to less than 10 hours and between Shijiazhuang and Zhengzhou from 3.3 hours to 1.3 hours. The capacity freed up on the existing slow lines will provide the freight train paths necessary to handle growing demand. This new ShiZheng line will consist of two tracks that run broadly parallel with the existing JingGuang railway line but at some distance from it. In order to enable a high operating speed it will have a relatively straight alignment with large radius curves of 9,000m or more. The terrain is flat and has low seismicity. This line will be electrified. Two types of trains would operate on the line. Type A trains shall have a maximum speed of 300km/h while Type B trains shall operate at a maximum speed of 200 km/h. It is planned to commence construction of this line in the first half of 2007 and commission the line by December 2010. 4. Project Location and salient physical characteristics relevant to the safeguard analysis The proposed high-speed railway line runs from Shijiangzhuang (Hebei Province) to Zhengzhou (Henan Province), central part of China. The project area is rather flat land, features with intensive human settlement and agricultural activities. Based on EA survey, the land to be acquired will be either farmland (ca. 95%) or urban construction land. There is no natural protected area or valuable habitat that would trigger the OP4.04 Nature Habitat. The proposed alignment is carefully selected to avoid densely populated areas. However, there will be 158 residential sensitive sites (including 25 schools and kindergartens) subject to noise impact and 112 sites subject to vibration impact. Due to low coverage of cable-TV, there are 119 villages identified to be potentially impacted by the electromagnetic radiation on TV signals. The proposed alignment will traverse ca. a dozen of rivers, however, most of them are small/seasonal rivers and only four river bridges will have piers inside water (two piers in water at most during construction season). Based on the field survey and confirmation with cultural property authorities, it is concluded that there is no cultural relic within the area of project influence. The nearest cultural relic site is about 2km away from the railway alignment and will not be impacted. Page 3 Due Diligence. The project can is confirmed as a self-standing operation that does not necessarily rely on the other sections of railway to achieve its objectives. While, as part of a reputational risk management measure, the task team conducted a due diligence exercise for both sections connected to the project. The task team reviewed the EIA report for the north section (Beijing-Shijiazhuang), which was approved by SEPA in April , 2006 and found no outstanding issue that could bring reputational risk to the Bank. The south section, Shijiazhuang-Wuhan, is in the stage of. MOR has agreed to provide a copy of this EIA to the Bank when it is available. 5. Environmental and Social Safeguards Specialists Mr Songling Yao (EASSO) Mr Peishen Wang (EASRE) 6. Safeguard Policies Triggered Yes No Environmental Assessment (OP/BP 4.01) X Natural Habitats (OP/BP 4.04) X Forests (OP/BP 4.36) X Pest Management (OP 4.09) X Physical Cultural Resources (OP/BP 4.11) X Indigenous Peoples (OP/BP 4.10) X Involuntary Resettlement (OP/BP 4.12) X Safety of Dams (OP/BP 4.37) X Projects on International Waterways (OP/BP 7.50) X Projects in Disputed Areas (OP/BP 7.60) X II. Key Safeguard Policy Issues and Their Management A. Summary of Key Safeguard Issues 1. Describe any safeguard issues and impacts associated with the proposed project. Identify and describe any potential large scale, significant and/or irreversible impacts: Environment: The major environmental safeguards issues are permanent land conversion of about 1174.5 ha and related loss of vegetation, common construction related impacts (i.e. dust, noise, water pollution, soil erosion, waste management, health and safety, social disturbance etc. during construction stage) and noise, wastewater/solid waste management, traffic safety issues during operation. There will be 19 soil borrow pits, with total planned soil borrow of 19.95million m3 (while 16 of them will be used as spoil disposal sites to avoid site for spoil disposal). If without soil erosion control measures, the total soil erosion will be 0.18 million tons. There will be 158 residential sensitive sites (including 25 schools and kindergartens) subject to noise impact, 112 sites subject to vibration impact, and 119 villages identified to be potentially impacted by the electromagnetic radiation on TV signals. Page 4 Social: A socio-economic survey was conducted and realized that the development objective of the Project is to meet growing freight and passenger market demand in the railway corridor between Shijiazhuang and Zhengzhou, while substantially improving the level of service offered to customers. The potential negative social impacts include land acquisition and resettlement. In the meantime, the survey didn?t find any minority communities in the project area. Hence, only one policy of social safeguard of the Bank, Involuntary Resettlement, OP 4.12 was triggered. The resettlement impact from the project is related to land acquisition and household relocation. Measures were taken to minimize house demolition, land acquisition as well as other resettlement impacts. The final project design requires acquisition of 17568 mu (1171 hectares) of collective land on which 9815 persons live. The project will also require relocation of 3029 households with 15087 persons, and otherwise affects 46 enterprises and 9 schools. During construction, an additional 13284 mu (886 hectares) of collective land will be used temporarily, with compensation, and subsequently returned to owners. The project stands alone to achieve its objectives without necessity relying on the other sections of the railway. The TT also had a due diligence review on resettlement policy and performance for the two railway sections at the two ends of the project. They consist of Beijing-Shijiazhuang Railway in Hebei Province and Zhengzhou-Wuhan Railway in Henan Province, which are also in preparation stage. Tianjin Design Institute has investigated and concluded that the two railway sections are respectively managed by Shitai Railway Company and Shiwu Railway Company, who will be also responsible for the project and committed to execute the same resettlement strategies as that in the RP. On the other hand, in the first two ongoing railway projects, the MOR confirmed that they had followed and implemented the agreed RPs, and did not experience major non- compliance issues. 2. Describe any potential indirect and/or long term impacts due to anticipated future activities in the project area: In the long-term, the project will significantly increase the service quality of railway in term of both passenger and goods transportation, improve the infrastructure and promote social and economic development of the corridor along the railway. 3. Describe any project alternatives (if relevant) considered to help avoid or minimize adverse impacts. The recommended alignment is generally parallel to the existing Beijing-Guangzhou railway. Six alternative sections were carefully assessed in detail for alignment fine tuning, with new stations as key control factor. The final alignment was chosen based on integral consideration of technical, environmental and social aspects, i.e. avoidance of environmentally sensitive areas, less social interference and resettlement, shorter length, less land occupation, and compatibility with local master planning. Page 5 4. Describe measures taken by the borrower to address safeguard policy issues. Provide an assessment of borrower capacity to plan and implement the measures described. A stand alone EMP has been prepared for the project. The EMP specifies the appropriate environmental management and supervision setup, mitigation measures, environmental monitoring plans, training plans and budget allocation necessary to implement the mitigation measures and strengthen the borrower?s capacity. A set of mitigation measures have been included in the EMP to avoid, minimize, mitigate or otherwise compensate the negative impacts from the project. The main measures are summarized below. Design Phase The railway alignment was carefully selected to avoid densely populated areas and sensitive environmental and cultural sites. 19 soil borrow sites are identified using mostly wasteland. Earth/stone works are carefully planned so that 16 borrow pits can be used for spoil disposal without opening new disposal site. Temporary land/access road occupation is planned to combine with permanent land acquisition/local road to the extent possible. Ambitious re-vegetation plan has been developed for side slope protection, alignment corridor greening and restoration of borrow areas. Large amount of bridges/culverts (246 km, ca. 69.3% of the total length) are designed to minimize disruption of surface water, irrigation system and flood drainage. The entire line will adopt continuous welded rail and vibration-absorption subgrade to reduce noise and vibration impacts. Noise mitigation measures are comprehensively developed for all 158 sensitive sites to be impacted, including installation of noise barriers (95 sites), noise insulation windows (151 sites) and resettlement. Septic tanks and secondary bio-contact treatment facility are designed for 6 new passenger stations to ensure standard compliance discharge of sewage. Ground-source heat pump technology is adopted for heating in these stations to avoid air emission from boilers. Social severance impact is carefully considered in the project design stage. A total of 280 passageways/culverts have been designed, to reduce the social severance impact on various towns, villages and residential areas, taking into account the requirements of various agricultural vehicles. Construction Period The land that is temporarily used will be re-stored promptly following its use. Top soil (0.3-0.4m) of temporary land occupation and borrow area will be kept aside for later reclamation purpose. Timely re-vegetation combined with engineering measures (concrete and stone pitching) will be conducted for cutting/filling slope protection. A comprehensive soil erosion prevention/control plan has been developed. Page 6 Water-spraying will be carried out in construction sites and access road to suppress construction dust. The frequency of watering will be increased in dry or blustery weather. The construction access road will be paved or covered with gravel. Covering canvas will be used for the transportation and storage site of bulk materials. Wheel washing before leaving the site will be adopted for construction sites near cities/towns. Vehicles will be properly maintained to minimize air emission pollution. Dedicated workers will be assigned for site/road clean up. In order to minimize impact on surface water, during the construction period, construction material storage sites will be kept away from surface water bodies and will be properly managed (e.g. covered). Construction wastewater will be treated with settling tank before discharge. Bridge foundation construction will be arranged in dry season, and cofferdam method will be adopted. Wastewater from bridge foundation construction will be drained into settling pond to minimize impact on surface water. Domestic wastewater from the construction camps will be treated by septic tanks. Solid waste from the camps and construction camp will be stored in specific enclosed sites and collected/transported to municipal landfill sites for proper disposal. The parking and maintenance sites for construction vehicles will be paved, and oil-containing wastewater will be treatment with oil separation/collection tank. Construction sites and access roads will be carefully selected to avoid residential areas. Public notice of construction commencement will be disclosed in local bulletins to inform the public. Operation of high-level noise construction will be kept away from the residential areas, and low-level noise equipment will be used. The main construction activities will be strictly controlled during daytime. In case of night-time construction near sensitive sites, local EPB?s approval will be needed and prior notice to public will be provided. When necessary, temporary cover/noise barrier will be used in case construction is close to sensitive sites. Before construction begins, the contractors will be notified of the procedure for treating and reporting on cultural property and historical sites that may be encountered during the construction. The contractors will be required to stop their construction immediately and wait for the investigation and appraisal by professional archaeologists. The construction can be resumed when approval has been obtained from the department in charge of cultural property. Construction workers will receive education on basic knowledge of disease control, especially some infectious diseases. Necessary self-protection devices, such as safety helmets, earplugs and other safety protection devices, will be provided to workers. Enclosures at construction sites and other dangerous place will be established to prevent access by the public. Operation Period Page 7 The new railway line will be fully fenced during operation stage, to ensure safety of communities along the railway. Adequate passageways will be arranged to minimize the social severance impact. Noise barriers will be properly maintained to ensure noise reduction effectiveness. New sensitive sites (schools, kindergartens etc) shall be planned beyond recommended distance of 390m. Management on wastewater treatment facility of new stations will be strengthened to ensure compliance of discharge. Solid waste will be properly collected and disposed of in local municipal landfills. Monitoring of electro-magnetic radiation impact on TV signal will be conducted during operation to confirm whether provision of cable-TV access is needed. A total budget of RMB 5.6 million is reserved for this purpose in the project budget. The proposed project will be the 11th World Bank project to be implemented by the borrower MOR, who has developed ample in-house capacity to implement, supervise and monitor both the EMP and the RAP. Social In the RP preparation, the MOR engaged, in early 2006, the Third Survey & Design Institute of China Railways in Tianjin and the Southern China Communication University to prepare the RP, compliant with the Bank policies and Chinese laws and regulations. The TT reviewed the RP and concluded it satisfactory to the Bank requirements. The RP has investigated in-deepness potential resettlement impacts due to land acquisition and house demolition by the project, and explored resettlement strategies and compensation rates based on up-to-date Chinese land regulations and WB Involuntary Resettlement, OP 4.12. In order that resettlement objective of keeping at least standard of living for the affected can be achieved, the RP developed household relocation schemes, livelihood development schemes, as well as restoration measures for other kinds of impacts on enterprises, schools, infrastructure, and so on. Meanwhile, itemized budgets for all the resettlement actions also have been made and integrated into the project cost and investment plan. Livelihood development: The project will take 17568 mu of land from 316 villages, totally resulting in about three percent decrease of land holdings in the affected villages. Moreover, in the affected villages no more than 10 percent of their land will be contributed. So, land acquisition impacts there seem minor. The most useful measure is to redistribute the remaining land within villages. In addition, such effective measures are planned as land redistribution, cash compensation, land improvement, and so on. In mean time, there is about 13284 mu of land will be temporarily used, and it was planned in the RP that ahead compensation will be paid according to compensation rates defined in the RP to maintain the income of the affected. Those planned measures will be conducted Page 8 and monitored and evaluated by resettlement management system, including external monitor. Household relocation: The 3029 affected households will relocate in their original villages only after fully compensated, based on contracts reached with resettlement offices. Compensation rates are sufficient to allow affected households to build up new house of better quality within their same villages. During the restoration of housing, local government will provided with supports in terms of approval of new residential plots, waiver of house-related taxes, etc. Restoration of enterprises and schools: The project will affect 47 enterprises and 8 schools. In addition to compensation for assets and relocation costs, the RP includes a transitional subsidy covering any lost wages or profits during relocation. These enterprises are expected to relocate nearly. All workers are expected to maintain their present employment with enterprises. The 8 schools are will be fully and timely restored, just neighboring their present locations. Infrastructure restoration: those facilities will be affected in or after the project construction have been investigated and planned to restore with consultation done and to be done. The investment for the restoration has been estimated and integrated into the project budgets, by which local sector authorities can be responsible for the adequate infrastructure. At the same time, those actions are to be under management of the resettlement supervision and monitoring. Organizational capacity: The proposed project will be implemented by the Ministry of Railways, who is very familiar with the Bank?s safeguards policies. It has developed in- house capacity to implement, supervise and monitor the RP. Meanwhile, tow Railway Field Offieces have also built up ROs and two provincial ROs will be established, in order to properly implement the RP. An independent monitoring agency will monitor compliance. 5. Identify the key stakeholders and describe the mechanisms for consultation and disclosure on safeguard policies, with an emphasis on potentially affected people. Public consultations were carried out during the initial field survey stage and after draft EIA is available and disclosed. People consulted include project affected people, local governments and relevant experts. Various techniques were used in public consultation, including survey questionnaires, public meetings, and interviews with affected groups and individuals as well as small discussion groups. The primary concerns of the public include the noise and vibration, traffic safety, land acquisition and compensation, and social disturbance during construction. The EA team responded to the public concerns by ensuring that: adequate design of noise barriers/sound insulation windows is provided for 158 sites, vibration absorption techniques are adopted for 83 sections, and adequate compensation for resettlement (with total budget allocation of RMB 337 million); full fencing of the railway line for traffic safety; and other measures developed in the EMP. Page 9 In compliance with EIA process requirements of the Chinese government and the World Bank, the draft EIA was disclosed on July 12, 2006 with advertisement published in China Environment News. The final EIA was locally disclosed again on ?.. Social The project conceptualization is based on extensive consultation with stakeholders, including diverse levels of governments, village leaders. All the affected households, enterprises and schools were identified through the census and inventory. Project information was provided to the affected via various channels such as newspaper, TV, posters and public meetings. Focus group discussion and extensive key informant interviews were conducted with local government officials and the affected villages to finalization of the project location and schemes, compensation rates, relocation arrangements and livelihood restoration measures. Peoples needs and concerns have been incorporated into the RP. The DPs participated in the resettlement planning process, particularly in the census, inventory and the formulation of the relocation and rehabilitation programs. The RP was placed in the Bank?s InfoShop and was in all project county libraries on Jan 10 2007, with an announcement separately on local newspaper in Henan and Hebei. B. Disclosure Requirements Date Environmental Assessment/Audit/Management Plan/Other: Date of receipt by the Bank 01/05/2007 Date of "in-country" disclosure 01/10/2007 Date of submission to InfoShop 03/02/2007 For category A projects, date of distributing the Executive Summary of the EA to the Executive Directors 03/06/2007 Resettlement Action Plan/Framework/Policy Process: Date of receipt by the Bank 01/05/2007 Date of "in-country" disclosure 01/10/2007 Date of submission to InfoShop 03/02/2007 * If the project triggers the Pest Management and/or Physical Cultural Resources, the respective issues are to be addressed and disclosed as part of the Environmental Assessment/Audit/or EMP. If in-country disclosure of any of the above documents is not expected, please explain why: C. Compliance Monitoring Indicators at the Corporate Level (to be filled in when the ISDS is finalized by the project decision meeting) OP/BP/GP 4.01 - Environment Assessment Page 10 Does the project require a stand-alone EA (including EMP) report? Yes If yes, then did the Regional Environment Unit or Sector Manager (SM) review and approve the EA report? Yes Are the cost and the accountabilities for the EMP incorporated in the credit/loan? Yes OP/BP 4.12 - Involuntary Resettlement Has a resettlement plan/abbreviated plan/policy framework/process framework (as appropriate) been prepared? Yes If yes, then did the Regional unit responsible for safeguards or Sector Manager review the plan? Yes The World Bank Policy on Disclosure of Information Have relevant safeguard policies documents been sent to the World Bank's Infoshop? Yes Have relevant documents been disclosed in-country in a public place in a form and language that are understandable and accessible to project-affected groups and local NGOs? Yes All Safeguard Policies Have satisfactory calendar, budget and clear institutional responsibilities been prepared for the implementation of measures related to safeguard policies? Yes Have costs related to safeguard policy measures been included in the project cost? Yes Does the Monitoring and Evaluation system of the project include the monitoring of safeguard impacts and measures related to safeguard policies? Yes Have satisfactory implementation arrangements been agreed with the borrower and the same been adequately reflected in the project legal documents? Yes D. Approvals Signed and submitted by: Name Date Task Team Leader: Mr John Carter Scales 02/08/2007 Environmental Specialist: Mr Peishen Wang 02/09/2007 Social Development Specialist Mr Songling Yao 02/09/2007 Additional Environmental and/or Social Development Specialist(s): Approved by: Regional Safeguards Coordinator: Mr Glenn S. Morgan 02/26/2007 Comments: Sector Manager: Ms Junhui Wu 02/28/2007 Comments: