REPUBLIC OF TAJIKISTAN MINISTRY OF ENERGY AND WATER RESOURCES OSHC “BARKI TOJIK” CASA 1000 Project Environmental and Social Impact Assessment for Converter and Electrode Stations July 10, 2019 1 ABBREVIATIONS AC ─ Alternative current ALRI ─ Agency for Land Reclamation and Irrigation ARAMS ─ Avian Risk Assessment and Management Study BT ─ Barki Tojik CAREC ─ Central Asian Regional Economic Cooperation CEP ─ Committee for environmental protection COI ─ Center of Influence DC ─ direct current EA ─ Executive Agency EBRD ─ European Bank for Reconstruction and Development EHS ─ Environmental Health and Safety ESIA ─ Environmental and Social Impact Assessment ESMP ─ Environment and Social Management Plan GC ─ Governmental Council GIS ─ Geographic information system HVDC ─ High Voltage Direct Current IFI ─ International Financial Institutions LARF ─ Land Acquisition and Resettlement Frameworks MoEWR ─ Ministry of Energy and Water resources MP ─ Management Plan NGO ─ Non-Governmental Organization OTL ─ Overhead Transmission Lines PMU ES ─ Project Management Unit of the Energy Sector REA ─ Regional Environmental Assessment RPF ─ Resettlement Policy Frameworks RT ─ Republic of Tajikistan TL ─ Transmission line ToRs ─ Terms of Reference WB ─ World Bank UNITS km ─ kilometers kV ─ Kilovolts MW ─ MegaWatt 2 Content EXECUTIVE SUMMARY................................................................................................. 7  I. INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................... 11  1.1 Description of the overall CASA 1000 project ........................................................... 11  1.2 The proposed Subproject ............................................................................................ 11  1.3 Purpose of the ESIA.................................................................................................... 12  1.4 Approach and methodology of the ESIA .................................................................... 13  1.5 Organization of the ESIA report ................................................................................. 13  II. POLICY AND REGULATORY FRAMEWORKS..................................................... 14  2.1 Applicable policy and regulations of Tajikistan ......................................................... 14  2.2 Environmental Acts/Codes/Regulations ..................................................................... 14  2.3 Environmental assessment process ............................................................................. 15  2.4 Land Acquisition and resettlement polices/laws/regulations...................................... 18  2.5 Other important social and environment regulations in Tajikistan related to the project ........................................................................................................................................... 20  2.6. Gender issues ............................................................................................................. 24  2.7. International Treaties related to environment and social standards signed by Tajikistan ........................................................................................................................................... 25  III. WORLD BANK ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT REQUIREMENTS............ 28  3.1. The comparison of National and WB EA requirements ............................................ 32  IV. THE PROPOSED SUBPROJECT DESCRIPTION................................................... 35  4.1. Description of Converter station ................................................................................ 35  4.2. Description of the Converter Station Equipment ....................................................... 35  4.2.1. Other components of the Converter station ......................................................... 38  4.3. Description of the Electrode Station Equipment ....................................................... 40  4.4. Construction Activities .............................................................................................. 41  4.5. Operation and maintenance........................................................................................ 42  4.5.1. Decommissioning ................................................................................................ 42  4.6. Analysis of Sangtuda Subproject Alternatives .......................................................... 43  4.6.1. No Project Alternative ......................................................................................... 43  4.6.2. Alternative locations ............................................................................................ 43  4.6.3. Alternative Construction Methods ....................................................................... 45  4.7. Implementation Schedule ........................................................................................... 45  V. ENVIRONMENTAL BASELINE ............................................................................... 46  5.1. Physical Environment ................................................................................................ 46  5.1.1 Project Influence Area .......................................................................................... 46  5.1.2 Physiography and Land Use ................................................................................. 46  5.1.3. Soils...................................................................................................................... 48  5.1.4 Climate .................................................................................................................. 50  5.1.5. Climate change..................................................................................................... 51  5.1.6 Water resources ..................................................................................................... 53  5.1.7 Groundwater ......................................................................................................... 54  3 5.1.8 Seismicity .............................................................................................................. 55  5.1.9. Geology ................................................................................................................ 55  5.1.10 Air and Noise Quality ......................................................................................... 56  5.2. Biological Environment ............................................................................................. 56  5.2.1 General Ecosystem................................................................................................ 56  5.2.2. Flora and forest resources .................................................................................... 57  5.2.3 Fauna ..................................................................................................................... 58  5.2.4 Aviafauna and IBA ............................................................................................... 60  5.2.5 Protected areas and natural habitats ...................................................................... 61  VI. SOCIO-ECONOMIC BASELINE ............................................................................. 63  6.1. Socio-economic Baseline of the subproject site ........................................................ 63  6.1.1 Administrative Setup ............................................................................................ 63  6.1.2 Population and Demography................................................................................. 64  6.1.3. Agriculture ........................................................................................................... 69  6.1.4. Occupation, Income and Expenditure .................................................................. 69  6.1.5 Access to Infrastructure facilities.......................................................................... 71  6.1.6. Gender and Social Divisions (Status of Women and their role in local development) ........................................................................................................ 76  6.2. Number of social institutions in the target districts ................................................... 77  6.3. Length of roads in target districts .............................................................................. 78  6.4. Small enterprises ........................................................................................................ 78  6.5. Number of disabled people, who receive social benefits ........................................... 78  VII. POTENTIAL ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS AND MITIGATION .................... 81  7.1 Impact Assessment Methodology ............................................................................... 81  7.2 Environmental Considerations During Project Design ............................................... 86  7.2.1 Noise Generated from Equipment ........................................................................ 86  Mitigation....................................................................................................................... 86  7.2.2 Exposure to EMF and Radio Interference ............................................................ 87  7.2.3 Safe Drinking Water, Sanitation and Drainage Facilities ..................................... 87  7.2.4 Risk of Oil Spills and Leaks from Transformers, Reactors and capacitors .......... 88  7.3 Social Impacts Project Siting ...................................................................................... 88  7.3.1 Land Acquisition and Resettlement from the Converter and Electrode Stations Site ........................................................................................................................ 88  7.4 Social impacts due to Project Siting ........................................................................... 88  7.5. Environmental Impacts from Construction ................................................................ 89  7.5.1 Risk of Soil and Water Pollution from Construction Works ................................ 89  7.5.2 Dust and Noise from Construction Activities ....................................................... 89  7.5.3 Waste generation and disposal .............................................................................. 90  7.5.4 Procurement of Quarry Material ........................................................................... 91  7.5.5. Air pollution ......................................................................................................... 91  7.5.6. Fire ....................................................................................................................... 91  7.6. Social Impacts of Construction .................................................................................. 91  7.6.1 Community Health and Safety .............................................................................. 92  4 7.6.2 Workers health and safety ..................................................................................... 94  7.6.3 Employment opportunities for local communities ................................................ 94  7.6.4 Foreign labor use and management, Labor Influx ................................................ 94  7.6.5 Gender concerns and safety of women in construction site .................................. 95  7.7 Impacts from O&M..................................................................................................... 95  7.7.1. Generation of Waste ............................................................................................ 95  7.7.2 Impact on soil and groundwater quality................................................................ 95  7.8 Social Impacts from O&M.......................................................................................... 96  7.8.1 Workers health and safety ..................................................................................... 96 7.8.2 Community health and safety near converter and electrode stations .................... 96  7.9 Cultural facilities......................................................................................................... 96  7.10. Cumulative impacts ................................................................................................. 96  VIII. ENVIRONMENT AND SOCIAL MANAGEMENT PLAN .................................. 98  8.1. Inclusion of Relevant Components of ESMP into Detailed Design .......................... 98  8.2. Inclusion of Relevant Components of ESMP in Contract Documents ...................... 98  8.3. Environmental and Social Management .................................................................... 98  8.3.1Environmental and Social Mitigation in Design .................................................... 98  8.3.2. Environmental Codes of Practice for Construction ............................................. 98  8.3.3. Mitigations and Compliance Monitoring Plans ................................................... 99  8.3.4. Construction Stage Site Specific Management Plans .......................................... 99  8.4. Monitoring Program................................................................................................. 100  8.4.1. Effects Monitoring ............................................................................................. 104  8.5. Performance Indicators ............................................................................................ 106  8.6. Non Compliances by the Contractors ...................................................................... 107  8.7 Biodiversity Management plan ................................................................................. 107  IX. INSTITUTIONAL ARRANGEMENTS .................................................................. 108  9.1. Implementing Agency .............................................................................................. 108  9.2. Project Management Unit ........................................................................................ 108  9.3. Organizational Layers of ESMP .............................................................................. 110  9.4. Construction Supervision Consultant ..................................................................... 111  9.5 Contractors ................................................................................................................ 112  9.6 Independent Environmental Monitoring Consultant (IEMC) ................................... 113  9.7 Project Initiation and Staffing ................................................................................... 115  9.8 Grievance Redress Mechanism ................................................................................. 115  9.9. Assessment of BT Capacity and proposed capacity building .................................. 118  9.10. Reporting................................................................................................................ 119  9.11. Budget .................................................................................................................... 121  X. PUBLIC CONSULTATIONS AND DISCLOSURE ................................................ 123  ANNEX 1 A. MAIN COMPONENTS AND EQUIPMENT SUPPLY & INSTALLATION OF BI-POLE HVDC CONVERTER STATION IN TAJIKISTAN, ASSOCIATED WITH CASA 1000 ..................................................................................................................... 125  ANNEX 2. CONCLUSION OF THE ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF TAJIKISTAN 130  ANNEX 3: ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIAL MANAGEMENT PLAN (ESMP) .. 134  5 ANNEX 4. ENVIRONMENTAL CODE OF PRACTICES .......................................... 146  ANNEX 5. BIODIVERSITY MANAGEMENT PLAN (BMP) FOR CONSERVATION OF THE STEPPE TORTOISE IN THE AREA OF CONVERTER AND ELECTRODE STATION (KUSHONIYON AND VAKHSH DISTRICTS, KHATLON REGION) ... 164  ANNEX 6: CHANCE FIND PROCEDURES OF PHYSICAL AND CULTURAL RESOURCES ................................................................................................................. 191  ANNEX 7. PUBLIC CONSULTATIONS ON DRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT DOCUMENT - IN KHATLON PROVINCE ...... 192  6 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1. CASA 100 project objective. The proposed CASA-1000 project will facilitate the first electricity trade of 1,300 megawatts (MW) of existing summertime hydropower surplus between the two regions, involving the Kyrgyz Republic and Tajikistan in Central Asia and Afghanistan and Pakistan in South Asia. Project preparation was guided by the 4-country minister-level Inter-Governmental Council (IGC) and through consultations with the 10-member Central Asian Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC) program. A Secretariat of the CASA-1000 project was put in place in 2011. The project is expected to consist of the construction and operation of transmission infrastructure in the four countries. The Project has purpose and would contribute to alleviating power supply shortages in Pakistan and Afghanistan and would enhance revenues and economic prospects in the Kyrgyz Republic and Tajikistan. 2. Project components in Tajikistan. Out of the 500-kV line from Datka to Sugd-500 with length of 477 km, about 25 km lies in Tajikistan. Between Sugd-500 and Sangtuda the electricity will be transmitted through the Tajik electrode, which will, therefore, be strengthened with a 500kV single circuit line from Regar to Sangtuda (115 km). Converter station will be built to transform alternative current (AC) used in the national networks into direct current (DC) for transmission a high voltage and vice versa at Sangtuda. The 500-kV high voltage direct current power transmission line will be built from the Converter Station to the border with the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. In addition, an Electrode Station will be built on the territory of the Vakhsh District, which will be connected to the Converter Station by an electrode line with length of 30 km. Within the framework of the Project, an alternating current line of 220 kV (about 12 km) will be built from Sangtuda HPP-1 to the Converter Station and the existing substations Sugd-500 and Regar -500 will be expanded. The converter and electrode stations include: (i) converter station circuit breakers, DC and AC filters, converter transformers, controlled valves, reactors, etc., (ii) electrode station transformers, circuit breakers, feeder bays, bus bars, etc., (iii) control and administrative buildings; (iii) infrastructure facilities: fencing/boundary wall, internal roads and drains; (iv) water supply and sanitation facilities; and (vi) electrode station DC grounding electrode. 3. Expected Beneficiaries. OJSHC “Barki Tojik” and Tajikistan economy due to enhanced revenues and economic prospects. Local communities of 2 jamoats in Kushoniyon and Vakhsh districts, in particular, will be benefited as the project will generate employment opportunities 4. Location. This project will be implemented in Khatlon province of Tajikistan, in Kushoniyon (Bustonqala jamoat) and Vakhsh (Mashal jamoat) districts, located in the valley of the Vakhsh River, in the arid and semi-arid zones. The area is characterized as non-irrigated barren pasture lands with rather flat topography and low hills. 5. Project category. In accordance with the Bank’s Operational Policy (OP) 4.01 on Environmental Assessment, and based on proposed investments and baseline analysis, the project CASA 1000 and of the current subproject were rated Category A because it involves green-field construction of the Converter and Electrode stations with potential adverse environmental and social impacts, including on an IUCN and Country’s Red Book species, that in some cases might be significant due to the fact that civil works will be implemented in the vicinity of environmentally sensitive areas. According to the national legislation the project also is qualified as generating significant environmental and social risks and belongs to National Category 1 for which it is necessary to conduct a full Environmental and Social Impact Assessment. 6. Purpose of the Environmental and Social Impact Assessment. This ESIA has been prepared to identify and assess potential environmental and social impacts of the Project related to construction of converter and electrode stations on the biophysical and human environments and to set out measures to avoid, 7 minimize, mitigate and manage adverse impacts to acceptable levels as defined by Tajik regulatory requirements and international good practice as defined by the applicable international requirements. To conduct this study was used the initial country-specific CASA 1000 project ESIA as well as the project Regional Environmental Assessment (REA) which summarize potential impacts from construction of the converter station and follows the detailed guidance for preparing country specific ESIA. The ESIA identifies potential environmental and social impacts of the project and specify appropriate preventive actions and mitigation measures (including appropriate monitoring plan) to prevent, eliminate or minimize any anticipated adverse impacts on environment. The ESIA was prepared by a local consultant (joint venture PO RF Kuhiston and Infrasokhtor Mushovir LLC) hired by the Client based on the following: (i) analysis of the existing national legal documents, regulations and guidelines; (ii) World Bank safeguard policies, as well as other WB guiding materials; (iii) previous ESIA work, presented in the preliminary ESIA and REA, by providing the site-specific detail from fieldwork; facts, figures; and (iv) results of consultations with the representatives of stakeholders, local population and all interested parties. 7. Potential environmental and social impacts. Construction related impacts are likely to be short term and site specific and can be mitigated by applying internationally recognized best construction practices. These impacts are related to: (a) location, establishment and operation of the construction camps; (b) hauling of construction materials; (c) civil works for construction of the converter and electrode stations; (d) impacts on biodiversity including on endangered species of Central Asian tortoise; and, (e) soil resource management and erosion control activities. Overall the project will generate the following impacts: (i) dust and noise and emission of pollutants during construction activities; (ii) solid and hazardous wastes; (iii) degradation of soil and grass vegetation; (iv) direct impacts on CA tortoises and of their natural habitat at the Converter station; (v) oil spills and leaks from the transformers and relevant facilities which may contaminate soil and water resources; (v) risks of exposure to unconfirmed health effects from electric and magnetic fields; (vi) occupational health and safety risks; (vii) moderate risk of DC electrolytic corrosion due to the electrode station; etc. The project is not expected to cause significant impact to critical and natural forests as it will not include any plantation activity, commercial harvesting or harvesting conducted by small-scale landholders or local communities. Furthermore, during the construction phase, no removal of vegetation for right-of-way maintenance and for access roads and other associated facilities are expected. Social Impacts are mostly positive as it will help in boosting the economy, in general for the country as a whole, and employment opportunites, in particular for the local communities. Some adverse impacts are likely to occur during construction and O&M phases. The former relates chiefly to: community health and safety (traffic related issues; dust and noise from construction, etc.); workers health and safety (risk associated with working at height and electrical equipment; and inadequate facilities in construction camps); and security concerns for the foreign workers.. uring operation and maintenance stage, attention needs to be paid toworkers’ health and safety, as well as to community health and safety aspects. Land acquisition related impacts are not significant as the number of owners (one for conversion station; and two for electrodes) are just three and that land requirements are highly in-significant relative to the lands owned. In any case, following due consent, lands are being secured through purchases on ‘willing buyer- willing seller’ approach. The implementation of proven, internationally accepted, and environmentally sound designs, appropriate management and construction practices during stations construction and operation will be enough to avoid, minimize, mitigate and compensate virtually all potentially specified adverse environmental impacts. For CA tortoises’ conservation, the proposed relocation activities will also significantly reduce their mortality and maintain their number in the adjacent similar natural habitats. 8 8. Potential Positive impacts. The potential benefits of the proposed facilities relate more to social- economic aspects, including creation of new jobs and respectively, more employment and increased income; contribution to poverty reduction and improvement of country’s socio-economic conditions; increased capacity of national transmission company and of other stakeholders. 9. Environmental and Social Management Plan (ESMP). The ESMP provides all necessary details to prevent, mitigate and monitor identified potential project impacts. It describes mitigation and monitoring actions to be taken, including implementing arrangements and responsibilities. It also specifies the ESMP document will be included in the contractor’s bid documents along with Environmental Codes of Practice for Construction (ECPs). The ECPs are generic, non-site-specific guidelines for the construction phase and consist of environmental and social management guidelines and practices to be followed by the contractors for sustainable management of all environmental issues. These documents are prepared based on the best industry practices and World Bank Environment, Health and Safety (EHS) guidelines. The contractor will be required to follow the ESMP and EHS guidelines and use them to prepare sector specific management plans. The ESMP includes also a special Biodiversity Management Plan, targeted and conservation activities for the CA tortoises that might be impacted by the Convertor’s construction activities. 10. Biodiversity Management Plan: (a) provides the baseline and results of the field surveys of the species in the project area; (b) describes the A. horsfieldii species and its habitat in Khatlon oblast; (c) identifies potential impacts of the project activities on the species; (d) outlines actions and measures necessary for addressing adverse impacts with the focus on tortoise resettlement on new sites; (e) provides implementing arrangements of the BMP, along the roles and responsibilities of all involved parties. The BMP was prepared based on national and WB safeguards requirements on Biodiversity Conservation by NGO Kuhiston (Ms. M. Babadjanova, Dr.of sc.in Biology, and Mr. F. Boborajabov, Mr. D. Dadobaev) in consultation with Mr. E. Usmanov, PhD in Biology, who is the Lead Specialist in the country for A. horsfieldii species, and who’s scientific thesis in particularly on biology, habitat and protection of the CA Tortoise Species. While preparing the BMP the team consulted the specialists from the Institute of Zoology of Academy of Science (Mr. K. Saidov, PhD in Bilogy) on the proposed relocation and monitoring activities. 11. Operational Management Plans. Contractor will be required to prepare operational management plans, before mobilization and commencement of construction works, to be approved by the PMU and CSC. Contractor is also required to prepare among others, a Contractors Social and Environmental Management Plan (CESMP). This will include: management of workforce and camp site installation, code of conduct, HIV/AIDS, migrant labors, site preparation and Restoration, construction impacts, wastes, safety etc. 12. ESMP Supervision and monitoring. This will be done based on the Environmental and Social Monitoring plan which outlines the parameters to monitor, location, procedures, roles and responsibilities of parties during the different stages of the project. The Project Management Unit (PMU) will be responsible for implementation of the Project. The PMU has the Social and Environmental monitoring department, which will be responsible for overall supervision of implementation of ESMP and RAP. The PMU will also establish a project level Grievance Redress Mechanism (GRM) based on its existing institutional mechanism. 13. ES Reporting. The ESIA describes also reporting types, purpose, frequency of reports submission and responsibilities of all involved parties in this process. Barki Tojik”/PMUES will submit bi-annual environmental reports to WB. Construction Supervision Consultant will develop quarterly and bi-annual environmental monitoring reports for BT/PMU. 9 14. ESMP institutional responsibilities and capacities to perform environmental and social safeguards. The State Joint-Stock Holding Company “Barki Tojik” (BT) will be the Project owner/Executing Agency (ExA). To implement the Project, the Government of the Republic of Tajikistan set up the ‘Project Management Unit for Elektro-Energy Sector’ (PMU). Within this PMU the Social Sector and Environmental Monitoring Department has been established which will be responsible for the ESMP implementation. The organizational layers of the ESMP include “Barki Tojik”/PMU – for overall environmental and social responsibility at the national level; Project Environmental Officer and Social Officer for day-to-day implementation of environmental and social responsibilities on behalf of the Barki Tojik; PIC Contractor; Independent Environmental Monitoring Consultant (IEMC). The evaluation of the ExA institutional capacity has shown that national institutions and implementing entities although have basic capacities to perform their duties concerning ExA and enforcing the ESMP provisions, there is need for additional capacity building activities. In this regard the Project will support additional training activities to ensure the environmental requirements and the ESMP provisions would be fully implemented. 15. ESIA disclosure and consultation. In June 2019, the Project Management Unit (PMU) has conducted public Consultations on the findings of environmental and social assessment of the proposed project and draft ESMP. The public consultations were held with the affected communities in both Kushoniyoun and Vakhsh districts, where electrode and converter stations are located on 12 June 2019 to share the results of ESIA with the local communities for their feedback and comments. The draft ESIA in English and Russian languages were posted on the websites of the “Barki Tojik” th (http://www.barkitojik.tj/en/activity/projects/335/197375/index.php) on 29 May 2019 for consideration and comments by stakeholders, and for access to the general public, prior to these public consultations. The executive summary of the ESIA was translated to Russian and were disclosed in BT website, disseminated to jamoats of the project districts and made available to the local communities. After public consultations, the draft document was revised taking into account received comments. The final version of the ESIA document will be posted on the website of the PMU of the MEWR and disclosed on the World Bank website. . 10 I. INTRODUCTION 1.1 Description of the overall CASA 1000 project 1. Project background. The proposed CASA-1000 project will facilitate the first electricity trade of 1,300 megawatts (MW) of existing summertime hydropower surplus between the two regions, involving the Kyrgyz Republic and Tajikistan in Central Asia and Afghanistan and Pakistan in South Asia. Project preparation was guided by the 4-country minister-level Inter-Governmental Council (IGC) and through consultations with the 10-member Central Asian Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC) program. A Secretariat of the CASA-1000 project was put in place in 2011. The project is expected to consist of the construction and operation of transmission infrastructure in the four countries, associated technical assistance during implementation, and mechanisms for the sharing of benefits with communities along the transmission corridor and would contribute to alleviating power supply shortages in Pakistan and Afghanistan and would enhance revenues and economic prospects in the Kyrgyz Republic and Tajikistan. 2. Components of the project:  A 500 kV line from Datka in Kyrgyztsan to SS Sughd-500 in Tajikistan (477 km) to transfer the surplus power from the Kyrgyz Republic to Tajikistan, with the Tajikistan internal network transferring its power to Sangtuda;  A 115 km 500 kV HVAC line between the Regar and Sangtuda substations in Tajikistan;  Around 750 km high-voltage direct current (HVDC) line from Sangtuda substation in Tajikistan to Nowshera substation in Pakistan via territory of Afghanistan, and as part of HVDC line, a 117 km of 500 kV HVDC line in Tajikistan from Sangtuda SS to the border with Afghanistan.  Converter station with a capacity of 1300 MW connected to the substation "Sangtuda" in Tajikistan;  Converter station with a capacity of 1300 MW in Nowshera.  Within the framework of the Project, A 500 kV HVAC line (about 12 km) will be built from Sangtuda HPP-1 to the Converter Station and the existing substations Sugd-500 and Regar-500 in Tajikistan will be expanded. 3. Tajikistan possesses considerable hydropower resources. About 55% of the total water resources of Central Asia are in Tajikistan. The total hydropower potential of the country (mainly in the south) is estimated at 527 billion kWh per annum. For the time being, the country uses only 6.6% of its potential. 4. Within the fuel and energy balance structure, hydropower resources make up more than 90%. The considerable hydropower potential of the country could allow the country to increase power sales and exports and develop energy-intensive industries. Currently, the country annually produces more than 17 billion kWh of power, of which 99 % is from hydroelectric resources. The major power generation source is the Nurek hydropower station, which at times cannot operate at its full capacity due to low water volume in its’ reservoir. Easier access to the distribution networks of OSHC Barki Tojik would improve power supply to new consumers. 1.2 The proposed Subproject 5. The Converter Station of 1300 MW from the proposed subproject will receive power from CASA-1000 through a 500 kV DC transmission line for conversion of direct current to alternating current. The Converter Station converts power from Alternating Current (AC) into Direct Current (DC), and vice versa, as required. The Converter Station includes specialized converter transformers, breakers, filtering equipment, inverters, controls, ground electrodes, and static and dynamic compensation equipment. 11 6. The map below is showing location of the Converter and Electrode Stations to be constructed in Tajikistan and its place in overall CASA-1000 project area. Figure 1: Location of Proposed Converter and Electrode Stations 7. Construction of about 750 km of 500 kV HVDC overhead transmission line to interconnect the electricity network of Tajikistan from the Sangtuda converter station, to the Pakistan network at the Nowshera converter station. The line will have a transmission capacity of 1,300 MW in either direction, using a bipolar and earth-return configuration and consists mainly of self-supported lattice tower structures, conductors, and insulators. About 120 km of the line will be in Tajikistan, 560 km in Afghanistan, and 70 km in Pakistan. 1.3 Purpose of the ESIA 8. This ESIA has been prepared by the OJSHC: Barki Tojik in accordance with the World Bank and GoT guidelines with an objective to: (i) ensure all relevant environmental and social issues are mainstreamed into the design and implementation of the proposed subproject, (ii) consider in an integrated manner the potential environmental and social risks, benefits and impacts of the proposed subproject and identify 12 measures to avoid, minimize and manage risks and impacts while enhancing benefits, and (iii) ensure compliance with national and World Bank requirements. 1.4 Approach and methodology of the ESIA 9. The scope of this ESIA is based on Safeguards Policies of the World Bank as well as national EA requirements and is covering the areas of proposed converter station and electrode station. 10. The purpose of the ESIA is to assess potential environmental, health, safety and social risks and impacts of the proposed investment and propose suitable mitigation measures where required along with monitoring activities. The ESIA followed several steps:  Review of preliminary CASA 1000 country specific ESIA, project Regional Environmental Assessment (REA), monitoring and baseline reports, and technical reports/studies related to proposed project;  Conduct field visits to collect primary or secondary data relevant to the sub-project area to establish the baseline environmental and social condition;  Assess the potential impacts on environmental and social attributes due to the location of proposed converter and electrode stations through field investigations and data analysis;  A detailed assessment of potential impacts of the Project activities and prepare detailed mitigation measures.  Preparing an Environmental and Social Management Plan (ESMP) as part of ESIA;  Identify critical environmental and social parameters required to be monitored, subsequent to the implementation of the sub-project and prepare an environmental and social monitoring plan;  Disclose the draft ESIA at EA website and prepare project brief to be made publicly available;  Carry out consultations with various stakeholders including affected communities. 11. During site visits the specialists had consultations with key stakeholders including PMU, district authorities, environmental departments at district level, specialists of linear bodies, local population of target areas for their opinions on the Project. The results of the consultations as well as an evaluation of the institutional framework have been incorporated into this assessment. 1.5 Organization of the ESIA report 12. Chapter 1 provides introduction to the whole CASA-project and sub-project on converter and electrode stations, presents puspose, approach and metholology of this given ESIA. Chapter 2 presents country policy and regulatory frameworks, including core laws on environmental protection and assessment, relebvant ratifientd international conventions, land acquisition and resettlement polices/laws/regulations, and gender issues. Chapter 3 reviews the prevailing World Bank safeguards policies and national regulatory requirements relevant to environmental assessment. Chapter 4 presents description of the subproject and other salient information relevant for environmental and social assessment. Description of the baseline environmental and social conditions is presented in Chapter 5 and Chapter 5. Assessment of potential environmental and social impacts as well as the appropriate mitigation measures to address these negative impacts have been discussed in Chapter 7. Chapter 8 presents the environmental and social management plan (ESMP). Chapter 9 describes institutional arrangements for the implementation of ESMP and budget, and Grievance Redress mechanism. It also provides assessment of executive agency capacity. Finally, Chapter 10 presents results of the consultations that have been carried out with the stakeholders and details of disclosure. 13 II. POLICY AND REGULATORY FRAMEWORKS 2.1 Applicable policy and regulations of Tajikistan 13. Overview. Tajikistan has developed during last decade most of the needed environmental laws and regulations (see Table 1). Table 1: Selected environment-related legislation Air quality  Law on Air Protection  Law on Hydrometeorological Activity Mineral resources  Law on Mineral Waters  Water Code Land management  Land Code  Law on Land Administration  Law on Land Valuation Forests  Forestry Code Biodiversity  Law on Protection and Use of Animals Health and safety  Law on Securing Sanitary and Epidemiological Safety of the Population  Law on Industrial Safety of Hazardous Installations  Law on Radiation Safety Waste and chemicals management  Law on Production and Consumption Waste These laws along with the Regulations approved by the GoT create a favorable legal framework for environmental protection in the country as well as for usage and protection of its natural resources. 2.2 Environmental Acts/Codes/Regulations 14. Framework environment law. The “framework environment law”/Law on Environment Protection was adopted in 2011 (21 July 2011, № 208). The previous Law on Nature protection was adopted in 1993 and amended in 1996, 2002, 2004 and expired in 2011. The Law stipulates that Tajikistan's environmental policy should give priority to environmental actions based on scientifically proven principles to combine economic and other activities that have an impact on the environment with nature preservation and the sustainable use of resources. The Law defines the applicable legal principles, the protected objects, the competencies and roles of the Government, the State Committee for Environment, the local authorities, public organizations and individuals. The Law stipulates also measures to secure public and individual rights to a safe and healthy environment and requires a combined system of ecological expertise and environmental impact assessment of any decision on an activity that could have a negative impact on the environment. The Law also defines environmental emergencies and ecological disasters and prescribes the order of actions in such situations, defines the obligations of officials and enterprises to prevent and eliminate the consequences, as well as the liabilities of the persons or organizations that caused damage to the environment or otherwise violated the Law. The Law establishes several types of controls over compliance with environmental legislation: State control, ministerial control, enterprise control and public 14 control. State control is affected by the Committee for Environment Protection, the Sanitary Inspectorate of the Ministry of Health, the Inspectorate for Industrial Safety and the Mining Inspectorate. Adopted in 2014, the amendment to the law allows environmental inspectors to use firearms and other special means. Public control is carried out by public organizations or trade unions and can be exercised with respect to any governmental body, enterprise, entity or individual. The Law has also several articles related to agriculture. They regulate, for instance, the use of fertilizers and pesticides, the use of biological and chemical substances and protection against such contamination in food, soil protection and the rational use of land, and protection against pollution from livestock farms. 15. Water Code. The Water Code (2000) stipulates the policies on water management, permitting, dispute resolution, usage planning and cadastre. It promotes rational use and protection of water resources exercised by all beneficiaries and defines the types of water use rights, authority and roles of regional and local governments for water allocations among various users, collection of fees, water use planning, water use rights and dispute resolution. The Code delegates Water User Associations to operate and maintain on-farm irrigation and drainage infrastructure. Since 2010, the Water Code of 2000 has been amended and supplemented in 2011 and 2012. In 2011, users of hydropower sources, which produce less than 30,000 kWh of electricity, were except from payment for the use of water resources. In 2012, a new chapter was added to the Code, devoted to basin management of water resources. It provides for the creation of the National Water Council to coordinate the activities of various bodies for basin water resources management and the development of basin plans for the use and protection of water resources, as well as the establishment of basin water councils. 16. Land Code. The current Land Code (1992) defines the types of land use rights, the authority and the role of regional and local governments for land allocation, collection of land taxes, land use planning, land use right mortgaging and settlement of land disputes. It defines the rights of land users and lease holders and defines the use of a special land fund for the purpose of land privatization and farm restructuring. The law does not provide for purchase or sale of allotted land. The Land Code regulates land relations and it is directed at the rational “use and protection of land and fertility of the soil…1 .” The land may be used in a rational manner only and the Code allows local authorities to decide what constitutes “rational” land use. It includes also mechanisms that make it possible to take the land-use permit away from farmers, including in situations where land use causes land degradation. This decision is taken by the rayon administration. 17. Land Administration (2001). The Law obliges the authorities to map and monitor the quality of land, including soil contamination, erosion and water logging. 2.3 Environmental assessment process 18. Basic EA Laws. There are two laws in the country that stipulate all aspects of the EA: (a) Law on Environment Protection; and (b) Law on Ecological Expertise. The Chapter V, Articles 35-39 of the Law on Environment Protection (2011), introduces the concept of state ecological review (literally, state ecological “expertise” – SEE) which seeks to examine the compliance of proposed activities and projects with the requirements of environmental legislation and standards and ecological security of the society. The mentioned laws stipulate the mandatory cross-sectoral nature of SEE, which shall be scientifically justified, comprehensive, and objective and which shall lead to conclusions in accordance with the law. SEE precedes decision-making about activities that may have a negative impact on the environment. Financing of programs and projects is allowed only after a positive SEE finding, or conclusion, has been issued. The following activities and projects subject to state ecological review: a) draft state programs, pre-planning, pre-project, and design documentation for economic development; b) regional and sectoral development programs; c) spatial and urban planning, development, and design; d) environmental programs and projects; 1 Land Code (1992) 15 e) construction and reconstruction of various types of facilities irrespective of their ownership; f) draft environmental quality standards and other normative, technology, and methodological documentation that regulates economic activities; g) existing enterprises and economic entities, etc. The laws stipulate that all types of economic and other activities shall be implemented in accordance with existing environmental standards and norms and shall have sufficient environmental protection and mitigation measures to prevent and avoid pollution and enhance environmental quality. The EA studies analyzing the short- and long-term environmental, genetic, economic, and demographic impacts and consequences shall be evaluated prior to making decisions on the sitting, construction, or reconstruction of facilities, irrespective of their ownership. If these requirements are violated, construction will be terminated until necessary improvements are made, as prescribed by the Committee for Environmental Protection and/or other duly authorized control bodies, such as sanitary, geological, and public safety agencies. 19. Environmental Impact Assessment. An Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) study is a component of the State Ecological Expertise, as set out in the 2011 amendments to the Environmental Protection Law. In 2012 the new Law "On Environmental Expertise" was adopted. In pursuance of this law, the Government subsequently adopted the following:  the Procedure of environmental impact assessment (adopted by the Resolution of the Government of the Republic of Tajikistan as of 01.11.2018 №532): Guidelines on the composition, order of development, coordination and approval of design estimates for construction of facilities, buildings and structures and EIA chapters, SEA and feasibility documents;  A List of objects and kinds of activity for which preparation of documentation for environment impact assessment is mandatory (adopted by the Resolution of the Government of the Republic of Tajikistan as of 01.11.2018 №532). The List is very extensive: it contains 180 types of activities, grouped according to four environmental impact categories: from A (in Cyrillic sounds A) "high risk" to Г (in Cyrillic sounds G) "local impact"). If the facility/activity is not included in the list, then it is not required to pass either an EIA or a SEE. 20. The EIA is the responsibility of the project proponent. The Procedure for carrying out the EIA (Government Resolution No. 532 of 2018) establishes general requirements for the contents of the EIA documentation. The State Ecological Expertise for all investment projects is the responsibility of the Committee for Environmental Protection under Government of Tajikistan (CEP) and its regional offices. Furthermore, according to the 2012 Law on the State Ecological Expertise, all civil works, including rehabilitation, should be assessed for their environmental impacts and the proposed mitigation measures reviewed and monitored by the CEP. The Law “On Ecological Expertise” and the “Procedure on Environmental Impact Assessment” of 2013 lays down the principles of performing the EIA in Tajikistan. According to this law, national and interstate power lines are considered activities with potentially high environmental risk. CASA-1000 Project is categorized an interstate transmission/power line project, hence requires an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) studies2 to be prepared by the entity developing such a project. 21. Together with a detailed project description, the EIA study is the basis to go for the environmental permit and has to be submitted to the Committee. As a rule, the Committee prepares an expertise to the project within one month. In preparation of this expertise, all subdivisions that might be involved in the project do participate. With this expertise, the permission is given, is not given or given with requirements and obligations that have to be followed by the company during construction and/or during operation. If the Committee comes to the conclusion that an environmental permit cannot be given because e.g. limit values are exceeded, or other environmental aspects are not sufficiently mitigated, the developer can change its design and submit the impact assessment again.  2 Resolution of the Government of the Republic of Tajikistan dated June 3, 2013, № 253 “On the list of objects and types of activity that requires developing materials on environmental impact assessment” 16 22. Types of Ecological Expertise. According to the 2011 Law on Ecological Expertise, ecological expertise is intended to prevent negative impacts on the environment as a result of a proposed activity, forecast impacts from activities that are not considered as necessarily damaging to the environment and create databases on the state of the environment and knowledge about human impact on the environment. This Law and the Law on Environment Protection envisage two types of ecological expertise – State ecological expertise and public ecological expertise, which are not given equal importance. While State ecological expertise is a prerequisite for beginning any activity that may have an adverse environmental impact, public ecological expertise becomes binding only after its results have been approved by a State ecological expertise body. The State Ecological Expertise is authorized to invite leading scientists and qualified outside specialists to participate in the review. Approval should be issued within 30 days, unless the project developer agrees to an extension, and remains valid for two years, if the decision is positive. For very complicated projects the term of consideration and approval can be extended till 60 days. According to the Law on SEE the public ecological expertise of economic activities or other activities implementation of which can negatively impact the environment of population which live in relevant area can be carried out by any public organization and citizen. They have right to send the proposals to the responsible government bodies concerning environmental issues of implementation planned activities; to receive information on results of conducted state ecological expertise from relevant responsible bodies. The materials reflecting the public expertise delivered to the experts’ commission should be taken into consideration under preparation of conclusion of state ecological expertise and decision making on realization of expertise object. The public ecological expertise is carried out under the state registration of application of public organization. The registration can be done by local executive authorities (7 days) in place where the expertise activities are planned. The public organizations which are organizing this expertise, should inform the population of initiation of expertise and then on its results. 23. Screening categories. The laws on Environment Protection and EE stipulate the Government will approve a list of activities for which the full Environmental Impact Assessment is mandatory. The List of 2018 contains 180 types of activities, grouped according to four environmental impact categories (from (A) "high risk" to (Г (in cirillic)) "local impact"). The current system of environmental impact assessment does not provide for any preliminary assessment of the project to decide on the need for an EIA (screening), nor to define the scope of the issues covered and the content of EIA materials as specific procedural steps. The List of objects and activities for which the development of EIA materials is required is very detailed and, in the opinion of government bodies, for this reason there is no need to procedurally consider the issue of carrying out an EIA in each specific case. 24. EA administrative framework. The Environmental Protection Law states that a SEE should be conducted by the CEP, which is designated as a duly authorized state environmental protection body. It has a comprehensive mandate that includes policy formulation and inspection duties. The CEP has divisions at oblast (region), city and rayon (district) level, in the form of Departments of Environmental Protection (DEPs), within the Hukumat (local administration) at each city or rayon. A small unit in the ministry is entrusted with guiding and managing both EIA and SEE. EIA preparation is the responsibility of the proponents of public- and private-sector projects, who, in addition to complying with various environmental standards, procedures, and norms, shall meet the standards of other sectors and environmental media line agencies, such as sanitary-epidemiological, geological, water, etc. 25. Public participation. Article 12 of the Environment Protection Law proclaims the right of citizens to live in a favorable environment and to be protected from negative environmental impacts. Citizens also have the right to environmental information (Article 13), as well as to participate in developing, adopting, and implementing decisions related to environmental impacts (Article 13). The latter is assured by public discussion of drafts of environmentally important decisions and public ecological reviews. Public representative bodies have an obligation to take into consideration citizens’ comments and suggestions. The Law on the EE also provides the rights to the citizens to conduct a Public Environmental Expertise (art. 7). 17 On 17 July 2001 Tajikistan acceded to the 1998 Aarhus Convention, the provisions of which have priority over domestic law that also stipulates the rights for Public EE. The element of public participation in the EIA procedure is described in detail in the Procedure (Order) for Conducting an EIA of 2014. Public participation procedures are envisaged for all categories of projects, although in practice they are mainly applied to Category I projects. The Procedure (Order) for conducting the EIA of 2014 changed the focus and timing of public discussions. The previous version of the Procedure for the EIA of 2006 provided for the participation of the public at an early stage of the process (i.e., after submitting a draft declaration of intent to the competent environmental authority) and it was indicated that comments and suggestions from the public were taken into account in drafting the technical task for carrying out the EIA, which is agreed with the competent authority. In fact, this ensured the participation of the public at the stage of defining the range of EIA tasks (scoping). The procedure for conducting the EIA of 2014 assumes public discussions only after the preparation of the EIA report by the project's customer. 26. Environmental norms and standards. Norms are set for air and water pollution, noise, vibration, magnetic fields and other physical factors, as well as residual traces of chemicals and biologically harmful microbes in food. The exceeding of their thresholds results in administrative action, including financial sanctions. Several ministries determine environmental quality standards, each in its field of responsibility. For example, admissible levels of noise, vibration, magnetic fields and other physical factors have been set by the Ministry of Health and social defense of population. 27. Implementation and compliance. A number of legal acts establish liability for violations of environmental laws, which can be enforced by several State bodies. In particular, the 2010 Code of Administrative Violations establishes administrative liability for organizations, their officers and individuals for a range of violations, from the careless treatment of land to violation of the rules for water use or water protection or failure to comply with a State ecological expertise. The administrative sanctions for environment related violations can be imposed by the administrative commissions of hukumats, courts, the CEP’s inspectors, the Veterinary Inspectors of the Ministry of Agriculture, and the State Committee for Land Management and Geodezy. The most common administrative sanction is a fine of up to 10 minimal monthly salaries for individuals and up to 15 minimal salaries to officers of organizations. The 1998 Criminal Code covers crimes against ecological safety and the environment, such as violations of ecological safety at work, poaching, and spoiling land, violation of rules for the protection and use of underground resources. The maximum fine is up to 2,000 minimal monthly salaries and the maximum sentence is up to eight years in prison. 2.4 Land Acquisition and resettlement polices/laws/regulations 28. The Land Code of the Republic of Tajikistan is the most systematized code of rules regulating the complex of legal relations arising during the process of ownership and use of land. Matters related to suspension of land use rights, in case of their acquisition, and compensation of losses to land users and losses connected to withdrawal of land from the turnover are considered in two chapters and nine articles of the Land Code. These articles contain basic provisions on land acquisition for public and state purposes. The Code allows the state to confiscate the land from land users for the needs of projects implemented in the interests of state and at the state scale, and describes methods, system and order of protection of rights and interests of persons who’s land is subject for withdrawal for the purposes of the project, and provides for the complex of compensatory measures to cover the land users losses. The Regulation about an order of compensation of the land users’ losses and losses of agricultural production, approved by the Resolution of the Government of the Republic of Tajikistan # 641, dd. 30th December 2011, establishes concrete and detailed order of reimbursement of the land users’ losses. 29. The Code establishes the responsibility of land owners, land users, landlords and tenant operators to take: land protection measures to guard their lands from chemical contamination, littering with industrial 18 and consumption waste, and other negative (adverse) impacts that lead to land degradation; and cleanup measures for contaminated land. 30. Land in the Republic of Tajikistan is the exclusive property of the State (Art. 2). Assignment of land to certain categories and transfer them from one category to another is performed in accordance with the procedure established by the Government of the Republic of Tajikistan (Article 3 , Article 9). Article 171 defines the basis for the the right to use the land with the right of alienation. According to Article 10 of the Land Code individuals and legal entities are land users in Tajikistan. 31. Chapter 2 sets the rights and obligations of land users, and Chapter 3 - the procedure for providing land for use. Land use in the RT is paid. Land charges levied annually in the form of land tax, rent on time. 32. Part 4 of the abovementioned article states that damages and expenses for restoration of disturbed land plots caused to the land user by the temporary use (occupation) of land plot shall be reimbursed in accordance with the requirements of the Land Code by the individuals and legal entities who had occupied those lands. 33. As the Land Code does not provide for special rules regarding the order of compensation of damages and losses for restoring damaged lands caused to the land user by temporary occupation of the land plot, guided by the principles of analogy of statute (analogy by law) it shall be applied regulations provided for land users damages compensation related with withdrawal of land plot, taking into account the features of temporary land use. Thus, according to Article 41 of the Land Code damages caused to the land user during temporary use and all losses shall be valued at market price, which is determined by taking into account the location of the land and paid by temporary land user. 34. Land Code does not provide special form of application for obtaining consent for temporary land use in order to perform geological, surveying and other temporary research works. That's why the temporary land user may apply to the local authorities with a letter in an unconditional form with a description of planned works and permits for carrying out these works. 35. Following are main provisions regarding the problem of involuntary resettlement indicated in the Land Code:  Acquisition of the land plots for the purposes of the state and public needs have to be done after provision of the equivalent land plot;  New dwelling, production and other buildings, analogues to be confiscated have to be constructed on the new plot in established order;  Losses occurred during the land plot acquisition must be compensated in full amount, including missed profit, and losses should be calculated at market cost;  Construction of buildings and compensation of losses will be made by the institutions and organizations in whose favor the land is confiscated (project beneficiaries);  Provision of the new land plot, construction of buildings, compensation of all types of losses, including lost incomes, have to be done before the official land acquisition from the land users. 36. The amount of compensation will be determined by establishing a commission at the district level where the acquisition will take place. This commission will be chaired by the Deputy Head of District and members include representatives from various national ministries, Barki Tojik and community. Determination of losses of land users during the acquisition of agricultural lands should be established based on corresponding documents, provided by the land user. 19 37. In case of non-achievement of a consensus on the size of compensation of losses and amount of damage, the land user can apply to court with a request to fully compensate damage occurred during the land exemption. 38. Order of compensation for damages of landholders or users of other registered rights related with the land and losses related with withdrawal of lands from the turnover, approved by the Decree of the Government of the Republic of Tajikistan No.641 dated December 30, 2011 (Order of Compensation). 39. According to the Order of Compensation during assessment of damages caused to the land user, the following should be taken into consideration:  cost of production (ploughing, mineral fertilizing, planting and other works);  cost of unharvested crop;  losses caused to the land user in connection with failure with its obligations / commitments under the contracts (if any). 40. If during temporary occupation of land plot and performance of seismic works, for example, works partly or completely disrupted the activity of hydraulic structure, road network or structures of the land user, the amount of damages shall be calculated as it is expressed in this Order (shall be defined by the appraisal) or the damaged structures shall be changed/constructed new structures or existing structures shall be fixed (repaired). For calculation of damages stated in this paragraph any appraisal company or individual entrepreneur that hold duly issued license can be hired. NOTE: In practice, during determination of amount of losses the market value is measured based on the information (certificates /calculations) of local authorities on the costs for growing certain crops and land fertility (productivity) of certain territories of the region or district. It should be noted that the use of official information of governmental authorities contributes for prevention of disputes, both with dekhkan farms and state authorities, in determination of the cost of land users' losses. 41. Also, it worth noting that the losses of land users related with temporary land use shall be determined by providing certifying document by land user. 42. At the end of the temporary land use in order to determine the amount of compensation the parties (land user and temporary user) shall sign and put seal on the act on defining compensation amount. 43. Reviewed abovementioned regulations and business practice in Tajikistan we can conclude that the following steps must be taken: i. Consent of the local authorities; ii. Consent of the land users; iii. Compensation of damages/losses/reclaiming. 2.5 Other important social and environment regulations in Tajikistan related to the project 44. Law on health protection of the population No 420 dated 15 May 1997 (in edition of 22 July 2013) sets responsibility of employers and officials to protect health of population, including the following:  sanitary and epidemiological welfare and environmental protection, disease prevention;  creation of healthy conditions for labour, housekeeping and rest of employees; 20  compliance with sanitary and hygiene norms and rules of housekeeping inside and outside industrial facilities;  provision of information about harmful production factor to employees and local people. 45. Law on protection of labour No 517 dated 19 May 2009 (in edition of 1 August 2012) envisages right of employees on protection of labor during performing of work, compulsory social insurance against industrial accidents and occupational illnesses or any other injuries connected to performing of work, benefits and compensations to employees involved in work with hazardous or harmful conditions, and pay for damage, got during work. 46. Law on public sanitation and epidemiology welfare No 1010 dated 22 July 2013 sets legislative, organizational and economical frameworks, measures, relating provision of sanitation and epidemiology welfare of population. It defines right of citizens on friendly environment (natural environment, labour conditions, accommodation, recreation, training, food, consumerable and used goods) and for full access to reliable information on sanitation and epidemiology situation, condition of environment, quality and safety of products of manufacturing and technical purpose, food and drinking water. 47. Regulates sanitation and epidemiology requirements to water supply sources and water bodies, drinking water and drinking water supply of population, residential buildings, atmospheric air of residential areas, industrial facilities, soils, housekeeping, collection, usage, transportation, storage and disposal of industrial and domestic wastes. 48. The Labour Code of the Republic of Tajikistan (adopted on May 12, 1997, amended in 2016) sets down the main principles of government policy in the labour field, provides state guarantees of the rights of citizens and is aimed at ensuring the legitimate interests of employees, employers and the state. 49. It contains the main OSH principles:  a working environment that meets safety and health requirements;  the right of the employee to access information on OSH;  the responsibility of the employer for violation of OSH requirements;  restrictions on hard physical work and work in harmful or hazardous labour conditions;  guarantee of the right of the employee to safe labour;  training and instruction of employees on OSH matters;  development and introduction of instructions on OSH that are mandatory for the employees;  monitoring compliance with the OSH rules and instructions;  mandatory registration and investigation of occupational accidents;  free issue to the employees of work clothes and footgear, other means of individual protection, preventative nutrition and other means;  compensation of damage to health or in connection with the death of an employee; and  effective monitoring of the use of labour of women, young persons and invalids; 21 50. The Law of the Republic of Tajikistan on Fire Safety (July 21, 1994, No.995) establishes the general rules, organizational and economic principles of ensuring fire safety in the Republic, describes the duties of government bodies, non-governmental organizations, officials and individuals in combating fires. 51. The Law of the Republic of Tajikistan On Occupational Safety at Hazardous Production Facilities (February 28, 2004, No. 14, amended in 2007) sets down the legal, economic and social principles of safe operation of hazardous production facilities and is aimed at preventing accidents in hazardous facilities and ensuring the capacity of organizations operating hazardous production facilities to localize the consequences of such accidents, guarantees of compensation of damage caused by accidents to physical and legal persons, the environment and the state; 52. The Law of the Republic of Tajikistan on Occupational Safety in the Republic of Tajikistan lays down the main provisions on ensuring the constitutional rights of citizens to occupational safety and guarantees the right to safe labour, sets down the main principles of occupational safety in the work-place and envisages economic mechanisms of ensuring occupational safety. 53. The law applies to all the ministries, agencies, concerns, associations, enterprises, organizations, institutions, cooperatives, lease and other organizations regardless of the form of ownership and business activities. 54. The main principles and areas of state policy on occupational safety:  recognition and respect of the priority of the life and health of workers over the results of the activities of organizations;  guaranteed rights of workers to safe labour;  state management of occupational safety and health;  uniform occupational safety requirements for all the enterprises regardless of the form of ownership and conduct of business;  cooperation between the employer and the employee and their representatives at the occupational safety organizations;  state supervision and monitoring of compliance with OSH laws;  state funding of occupational safety;  training of occupational safety specialists at higher and secondary specialized education institutions;  promoting the development and introduction of occupational safety technology and protective means;  wide use of the achievements of science, technology and advanced domes-tic and foreign experience of occupational safety management;  free issue to workers of work clothes and footgear, individual protection means and health and preventative nutrition;  conduct of a tax policy that encourages the creation of safe and healthy labour conditions at enterprises;  mandatory investigation and registration of every occupational accident and professional disease and informing the public about the levels of occupational accidents and diseases;  social protection of the interests of workers who have suffered in occupational accidents or contracted occupational diseases;  establishing a system of indicators of labour conditions and occupational safety for the purpose of government statistics; 22  international cooperation and compliance with international agreements in the field of occupational safety. Main Supporting Legislation on Occupational Safety: ♦ Decree of the Council of Ministers of Tajikistan On Measures Connected with the Introduction of the Law of the Republic of Tajikistan On Occupational Safety in the Republic of Tajikistan (1993); ♦ Decree of the Presidium of the Council of the Trade Union Federation of the Republic of Tajikistan and Gosgortekhnadzor of the Republic of Tajikistan on approving the regulations on investigation and registration of occupational accidents in the Republic of Tajikistan of February 9, 1993, No.24/2. ♦ Decree of the Council of Ministers of Tajikistan on compensation by enter-prises and government organizations of damage caused to employees by occupational accidents or diseases or any other work- related impairment of health of March 20, 1994, No. 134 (with amendments and additions of April 17, 1998, No. 118, and March 11, 2000, No. 103). ♦ Decree of the Government of the Republic of Tajikistan on the list of hazardous production facilities, workshops and trades where the workers are entitled to a short working day and extra annual leave of December 31, 2002, No. 521. Technical Standards, Norms and Rules GOSTs: Systems of Occupational Safety and Health Standards OSH. Standards 55. Under an agreement signed by the CIS heads of state on December 9, 1994 the Republic of Tajikistan recognizes the GOST, SNiPs, SanPiNs developed and applied by the Gosstandart of the former USSR and the Russian Federation. 56. The state standards, norms and rules are developed for individual sectors by the Standardization, Metrology, Certification and Commerce Inspection Agency un-der the Government of the Republic of Tajikistan which proceeds under the Regulations approved by the Government of the Republic of Tajikistan on De-cember 28, 2006. Norms and Rules ♦ Sanitary rules and norms (SanPiNs); ♦ Construction norms and rules (SNiPs); ♦ State standards of occupational safety and health systems (GOST OSH); ♦ Norms of harmful substances content (maximum allowable concentrations and levels). Regulatory Documents on Occupational Safety and Health Systems 57. The occupational safety and health systems at enterprises are managed on the basis of the Labour Code of the Republic of Tajikistan, the law On Occupational Safety in the Republic of Tajikistan and the Norms and Rules On Occupational Safety that describe the duties of the owner and the employer concerning occupational safety and health, the duties of the OSH officer, the procedure of financing OSH measures and guarantees of the right to labour protection. 23 58. The owner of the enterprise and the employer are directly responsible for the compliance of employees with the occupational safety requirements in their work places. 59. The employer, pursuant to Article 8 of the Law on Occupational Safety in the Republic of Tajikistan: 1. Ensures safe and healthy labour conditions, supervises hazardous and toxic production factors, and informs the employees on changes in this field in a regular and timely manner; 2. Develops and implements annual plans of measures to improve occupational safety and health; 3. Encourages and contributes to effective cooperation between the employer and the employees in ensuring safe and healthy labour conditions; 4. In harmful and hazardous production facilities as well as in facilities with special temperature and pollution environments issue to the employees for free work clothes and footgear and other individual protection, washing and disinfectant materials. 5. Annually allocates funds and material resources for OSH measures depending on the labour conditions and the rate of occupational accidents and diseases. Such funds and materials may not be used for any other purposes. 6. Establishes sanitary points (first-aid kits) in every production unit. 7. Organizes at his own cost medical and preventative services for employees, etc. 8. Provides compensation for hazardous work (in the shape of extra wages, additional leave, a shorter working day) and incurs other costs to guarantee safety and health (transfer to lighter jobs, refusal of the employee to work in conditions that do not meet the OSH requirements, etc.). 60. In accordance with the laws on occupational safety the enterprises where all the work places meet OSH standards are entitled to tax breaks granted by the local government bodies. Tax breaks are also offered to enterprises which produce individual and group protection means, measuring instruments, equipment and devices that facilitate work. However, no mechanisms to implement economic incentives measures have been put in place in the Republic of Tajikistan. 61. The system of OSH management that was developed and was in force before the collapse of the former USSR is currently dysfunctional and does not meet modern requirements. Some of its elements are used mainly by large associations and enterprises as subsystems of production management. The necessary links between OSH management at the national level and the industry level are lacking.3 2.6. Gender issues 62. The Constitution of the Republic of Tajikistan recognizes international law as a component part of the national legal system, 38 and Tajikistan is a State Party to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and to other fundamental human rights treaties. 39 In 2014, the parliament ratified the Optional Protocol to CEDAW, which allows individual women in Tajikistan to submit complaints to the CEDAW Committee and gives them an additional remedy for violations of the convention. 40 Important steps have also been taken to implement UN Security Council resolutions on women, peace, and security (1325 and 2122) with the drafting of a national action plan. The Constitution guarantees equal rights on the basis of sex (Article 17), and principles of nondiscrimination are enshrined in basic legislation, for example, the Family Code, the Labor Code, the Land Code, the Criminal Code, the Law on Education, and the Law on Public Health. While there are no laws that directly restrict women’s 3 Source: ADB Tajik Country Gender assessment (https://www.adb.org/sites/default/files/institutional- document/185615/tajikistan-cga.pdf) 24 rights, additional guarantees that aim to “protect” women, such as the Labor Code’s night work prohibition, have nonetheless kept women from being employed in male-dominated industries. 63. In 2005, Tajikistan adopted the Law on State Guarantees of Equal Rights and Opportunities for Men and Women, which is the only law to define the concepts of gender and sex-based discrimination. The law prohibits discrimination based on sex, while distinguishing special measures to protect pregnancy and the health of women and men, and it guarantees equal rights in public authorities, civil service, education, labor, and the family. 64. The primary institution responsible for gender policy is the Committee for Women’s and Family Affairs (Women’s Committee), which has diverse functions ranging from conducting research to considering complaints from citizens, promoting women’s rights through the media, monitoring international standards compliance, coordinating the work government and nongovernment bodies do on gender equality, and training. The Women’s Committee operates 110 regional information-consultation and crisis centers throughout the country, funded through local budgets. A network for gender mainstreaming also links seven ministries and agencies, including the Women’s Committee. 65. Since 2006, Tajikistan has adopted several policy documents, national programs, and strategies that support gender equality goals 2.7. International Treaties related to environment and social standards issues signed by Tajikistan 66. International environmental treaties to which Tajikistan is a party. Tajikistan became party to a series of international treaties relevant to the project:  Convention on Biological Diversity on 29 October 1997 and to its Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety on 12 May 2004;  Convention for the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage (1992);  The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (1997);  The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (1998);  The Ramsar Convention (2000);  The Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (2001).  Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) (2016) 67. Tajikistan is a member of the international labour organization since 1993 and has ratified 49 conventions, including, ILO conventions, the core conventions protecting workers’ rights and the UN conventions protecting the rights of the child and of migrant workers. Table 2: ILO Convention and its ratification by Tajikistan Date of Name of ILO convention ratification by Tajikistan C029 - Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29) 26 Nov 1993 25 Date of Name of ILO convention ratification by Tajikistan C087 - Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 26 Nov 1993 (No. 87) C098 - Right to Organize and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98) 26 Nov 1993 C100 - Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100) 26 Nov 1993 C105 - Abolition of Forced Labour Convention, 1957 (No. 105) 23 Sep 1999 C111 - Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111) 26 Nov 1993 C138 - Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138) Minimum age specified: 16 years 26 Nov 1993 C182 - Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182) 08 Jun 2005 C081 - Labour Inspection Convention, 1947 (No. 81) 21 Oct 2009 C122 - Employment Policy Convention, 1964 (No. 122) 26 Nov 1993 C014 - Weekly Rest (Industry) Convention, 1921 (No. 14) 26 Nov 1993 C052 - Holidays with Pay Convention, 1936 (No. 52) 26 Nov 1993 C077 - Medical Examination of Young Persons (Industry) Convention, 1946 (No. 77) 26 Nov 1993 C095 - Protection of Wages Convention, 1949 (No. 95) 26 Nov 1993 C103 - Maternity Protection Convention (Revised), 1952 (No. 103) 26 Nov 1993 C120 - Hygiene (Commerce and Offices) Convention, 1964 (No. 120) 26 Nov 1993 C142 - Human Resources Development Convention, 1975 (No. 142) 26 Nov 1993 C143 - Migrant Workers (Supplementary Provisions) Convention, 1975 (No. 143) 10 Apr 2007 C148 - Working Environment (Air Pollution, Noise and Vibration) Convention, 1977 (No. 26 Nov 1993 148) C155 - Occupational Safety and Health Convention, 1981 (No. 155) 21 Oct 2009 C159 - Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment (Disabled Persons) Convention, 1983 26 Nov 1993 (No. 159) Source: International Labour Organization http://www ilo.org/ - UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, and specifically Article 32.1(4); and 4 Article 32.1 of the Convention requires that States Parties recognize the right of the child to be protected from economic exploitation and from performing any work that is likely to be hazardous or to interfere with the child's education, or to be harmful to the child's health or physical, mental, spiritual, moral or social development.  26 - UN Convention on the Protection of the Rights of all Migrant Workers and Members of their Families. 68. Taking into consideration international treaties have the superiority under the national legislation, mentioned above Conventions constitute also a legal basis in the relevant areas of environmental protection in the country. 27 III. WORLD BANK ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIAL SAFEGUARDS 69. Overview. The Bank undertakes environmental screening of each proposed project for which it will provide funding to determine the appropriate extent and type of environmental assessments (EA). The Bank classifies a proposed project into one of four categories, depending on the type, location, sensitivity and scale of the project and the nature and magnitude of its potential environmental impacts. The four EA Categories are A, B, C, and FI. Category FI is applied to all proposed projects that involve investment of Bank funds through a participating financial intermediary (PFI) to be used for sub-projects of which the environmental impacts cannot be determined during appraisal of the World Bank project. 70. World Bank’s Safeguard Policies and their relevance to project. There are key 10 Environmental and Social World Bank Safeguard Policies which are intended to ensure that potentially adverse environmental and social consequences of projects financed by Bank are identified, minimized and mitigated. World Bank Safeguard Policies have a three-part format: Operational Policies (OP) - statement of policy objectives and operational principles including the roles and obligations of the Borrower and the Bank, Bank Procedures (BP) - mandatory procedures to be followed by the Borrower and the Bank, and Good Practice (GP) - non- mandatory advisory material. 71. World Bank’s Safeguard Policies and their relevance to project are presented in the Table 3 below. Table 3: World Bank’s Safeguard Policies and their relevance to sub-project Security policy Application Explanations Environmental Assessment OP / BP Yes The project will generate a series of environmental and social 4.01 impacts and is rated Category A because it involves This Policy aims to ensure that greenfield construction of a converter and electrode stations projects proposed for Bank financing on a natural habitat which supports a species included in are environmentally and socially country’s Red Book. sound and sustainable; to inform Construction and operation converter and electrode stations decision makers of the nature of and related infrastructure would generate some impacts environmental and social risks; to related to: local destruction of soil and vegetation cover; soil increase transparency and and water pollution; solid wastes management; labor safety; participation of stakeholders in the etc. These adverse impacts will be temporary and limited to decision-making process. construction period. The impact during the operation will take place during the entire period of operation of the converter station but will be moderate within right-of-way (ROW). Project social impact will mainly consist of limited land withdrawal, and a temporary disturbance of operational mode of the existing infrastructure is possible as well. To address these impacts the ESIA has been undertaken and an ESMP was drafted, which were disclosed according to national and the WB disclosure policy requirements and consulted with all interested parties. The natural habitat OP / BP 4.04 Yes This project is expected to cause impacts to an endangered This Policy aims to safeguard natural species of steppe tortoise (Testudo (Agrionemys) horsfieldi), habitats and their biodiversity; avoid and on its nature habitat which is not considered as critical, significant conversion or degradation as this species can be widely identified in many other places of critical natural habitats, and to in the country. To address these impacts the ESMP contains a ensure sustainability of services and special Biodiversity Management Plan which include products which natural habitats activities for removing the tortoise from the project sites to be provide to human society. done by specialists from Institute of Zoology in the spring time along with the follow-up monitoring activities. 28 Security policy Application Explanations Forests OP / BP 4.36 No Based on the ESIA and field observations the Forest Policy is This Policy is to ensure that forests are not triggered because within the proposed stations there are managed in a sustainable manner; no forests and respectively the project is not expected “…to significant areas of forest are not impact the health and quality of forests or affect the rights and encroached upon; the rights of welfare of people and their level of dependence upon or communities to use their traditional interaction with forests or aim to bring about changes in the forest areas in a sustainable manner management, protection, or utilization of natural forests or are not compromised. plantations”. Pest Management OP 4.09 No The OP 4.09 is not triggered as the project will neither finance This policy is to ensure pest the procurement of pesticides nor create conditions which management activities follow an may lead to their increased use. The current practices for Integrated Pest Management (IPM) maintenance of electrode and converter stations in Tajikistan approach, to minimize environmental do not include use of pesticides for this purpose. and health hazards due to pesticide use, and to contribute to developing national capacity to implement IPM, and to regulate and monitor the distribution and use of pesticides. Physical Cultural Resources (OP/BP No The electrode and converter stations will not cause any risks 4.11) historical and cultural heritage as they are located outside This policy is to ensure that: Physical settlements and on open spaces. Cultural Resources (PCR) are identified and protected in World Bank financed projects; national laws governing the protection of physical cultural property are complied with; PCR includes archaeological and historical sites, historic urban areas, sacred sites, graveyards, burial sites, unique natural values; implemented as an element of the Environmental Assessment Indigenous Peoples (OP/BP 4.10) No There are no indigenous people in the project area. IP – distinct, vulnerable, social and cultural group attached to geographically distinct habitats or historical territories, with separate culture than the project area, and usually different language. The Policy aims to foster full respect for human rights, economies, and cultures of IP, and to avoid adverse effects on IP during the project development. Involuntary Resettlement Yes (OP/BP4.12) This policy is not triggered as no lands will be acquired This policy aims to minimize involuntarily. Lands are being secured through purchases on displacement; treat resettlement as a a willing buyer-willing seller basis. development program; provide affected people with opportunities for participation; assist displaced persons in their efforts to improve their incomes and standards of living, or at least to restore them; assist displaced people regardless of legality of tenure; pay compensation for affected assets 29 Security policy Application Explanations at replacement cost; the OP. Annexes include descriptions of Resettlement Plans and Resettlement Policy Frameworks Safety of Dams (OP/BP4.37) No The project will not be financing any new dam construction This Policy is to ensure due or making any modifications to existing dams. The assets consideration is given to the safety of financed under the project are not expected to be at risk for dams in projects involving extensive damage in case of dam failure. construction of new dams, or that may be affected by the safety or performance of an existing dam or dams under construction; important considerations are dam height & reservoir capacity Projects on International Waterways No Only existing summer surplus will be utilized under the (OP/BP7.50) CASA-1000 project. No additional generation capacity will The Policy aims to ensure that projects be required or built for the project. The existing operation will neither affect the efficient modes of the hydropower plants and/or quantity of water utilization and protection of being released are not expected to change from the current international waterways, nor practices. The legal documents to be agreed upon with the adversely affect relations between the clients may incorporate covenants to address this aspect as Bank and its Borrowers and between appropriate. riparian states Disputed Areas (OP/BP7.60) No The project will not be implemented in disputed territories. The Bank may support a project in a disputed area if governments concerned agree that, pending the settlement of the dispute, the project proposed for one country should go forward without prejudice to the claims of the other country Disclosure Policy (BP17.50) supports Yes This policy is triggered. ESIA and RAP have been disclosed decision making by the borrower and in BT website. Consultations have been carried out during Bank by allowing the public access to May 2019 at the project site with the affected communities. information on environmental and ESIA and RAP will be sent to World Bank to be disclosed at social aspects of projects and has its external website specific requirements for disclosure 72. World Bank Screening Categories and Environmental Assessment Procedures. Environmental Screening is a Mandatory Procedure for the Environmental Assessment 4.01 OP/BP. The Bank undertakes environmental screening of each proposed project for which it will provide funding to determine the appropriate extent and type of the Environmental Assessment to be conducted. The Bank classifies a proposed project into one of four categories, depending on the type, location, sensitivity and scale of the project and the nature and magnitude of its potential environmental impacts5. These four Categories are A, B, C, and FI. Category A projects is likely to have significant adverse environmental impacts that are sensitive, diverse, or unprecedented. These impacts may be sensitive, irreversible, and diverse, with attributes such direct pollutant discharges large enough to cause degradation of air, water, or soil; large-scale physical disturbances of the site and/or surroundings; extraction, consumption, or conversion of substantial amounts of forest and other natural resources; measurable modifications of hydrological cycles; hazardous materials 5 See: Environmental Assessment Update Sourcebook, Environmental Department April 1993. The World Bank 30 in more than incidental quantities; and involuntary displacement of people and other significant social disturbances. The impacts are likely to be comprehensive, broad, sector-wide, or precedent-setting. Impacts generally result from a major component of the project and affect the area or an entire sector. They may affect an area broader than the sites or facilities subject to physical works. The EA for a Category A project examines the project's potential negative and positive environmental impacts, compares them with those of feasible alternatives (including the "without project" scenario), and recommends any measures needed to prevent, minimize, mitigate, or compensate for adverse impacts and improve environmental performance. For a Category A project, the borrower is responsible for preparing a report, normally a full Environmental Impact Assessment (or a suitably comprehensive regional or sectoral EA). Category B projects has potential adverse environmental impacts on human populations or environmentally important areas - including wetlands, forests, grasslands, and other natural habitats - which are less adverse than those of Category A projects. These impacts are site-specific; few if any of them are irreversible; and in most cases mitigation measures can be designed more readily than for Category A projects. The scope of EA for a Category B project may vary from project to project, but it is narrower than that of Category A assessment. Like Category A, a Category B environmental assessment examines the project's potential negative and positive environmental impacts and recommends any measures needed to prevent, minimize, mitigate, or compensate for adverse impacts and improve environmental performance. The findings and results of EA for Category B projects are described in the Project Appraisal Document. Category C. An EIA or environmental analysis is normally not required for Category C projects because the project is unlikely to have adverse impacts; normally, they have negligible or minimal direct disturbances on the physical setting. Professional judgment finds the project to have negligible, insignificant, or minimal environmental impacts. Beyond screening, no further EA action is required. Category FI. A Category FI project involves investment of Bank funds through a financial intermediary, in subprojects that may result in adverse environmental impacts. 73. The Bank reviews the findings and recommendations of the EA to determine whether they provide an adequate basis for processing the project for Bank financing. When the borrower has completed or partially completed EA work prior to the Bank's involvement in a project, the Bank reviews the EA to ensure its consistency with this policy. The Bank may, if appropriate, require additional EA work, including public consultation and disclosure. 74. WB Public Consultation and Disclosure requirements. For all Category A and B projects proposed for WB financing, during the EA process, the borrower consults all involved parties, including project-affected groups and local nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) about the project's environmental aspects and takes their views into account. The borrower initiates such consultations as early as possible. In addition, the borrower consults with such groups throughout project implementation as necessary to address EA- related issues that affect them. For meaningful consultations between the borrower and project-affected groups and local NGOs, the borrower provides relevant material in a timely manner prior to consultation and in a form and language that are understandable and accessible to the groups being consulted. Public availability in the borrowing country and official receipt by the Bank of any Category A and B EA report for projects proposed for WB funding, are prerequisites to Bank appraisal of these projects. 75. World Bank Group Environment, Health and Safety Guidelines. The EHS Guidelines are technical reference documents with general and industry-specific examples of Good International Industry Practice (GIIP) and are referred to in the World Bank’s Environmental and Social Framework and in IFC’s Performance Standards. The EHS Guidelines contain the performance levels and measures that are normally acceptable to the World Bank Group, and that are generally considered to be achievable in new facilities at reasonable costs by existing technology. The World Bank Group requires borrowers/clients to apply the relevant levels or measures of the EHS Guidelines. When host country regulations differ from the 31 levels and measures presented in the EHS Guidelines, projects will be required to achieve whichever is more stringent. The General EHS Guidelines contain information on cross-cutting environmental, health, and safety issues potentially applicable to all industry sectors. This document should be used together with the relevant Industry Sector Guideline(s). The EHS Guidelines for Electric Power Transmission and Distribution include information relevant to power transmission between a generation facility and a substation located within an electricity electrode, in addition to power distribution from a substation to consumers located in residential, commercial, and industrial areas. 3.1. The comparison of National and WB EA requirements 76. Overview. While the basic provisions of the National EA rules and procedures are to some extent similar to the WB requirements, there are several important differences. These differences are related primarily to the following: (a) project environmental screening categories; (b) Environmental and Social Management Plan; (c) EA disclosure and public consultation; and (d) EA reviewing process. 77. Differences in screening categories. A list of objects and kinds of activity for which preparation of documentation for environment impact assessment is mandatory (adopted by the Resolution of the Government of the Republic of Tajikistan as of 01.11.2018 №532). The List is very extensive: it contains 180 types of activities, grouped according to four environmental impact categories (from (A) "high risk" to (G) "local impact"). If the facility is not included in the list, then it is not required to pass either an EIA or a SEE. The EIA is the responsibility of the project proponent. The current system of environmental impact assessment does not provide for any preliminary assessment of the project to decide on the need for an EIA (screening), nor to define the scope of the issues covered and the content of EIA (scoping) materials as specific procedural steps. The List of objects and activities for which the development of EIA materials is required is very detailed and, in the opinion of government bodies, for this reason there is no need to procedurally consider the issue of carrying out an EIA in each specific case. The Procedure for carrying out the EIA (Government Resolution No. 509 of 2014) establishes general requirements for the contents of the EIA documentation. The State Ecological Expertise for all investment projects is the responsibility of the Committee for Environmental Protection under Government of Tajikistan (CEP) and its regional offices. Furthermore, according to the 2012 Law on the State Ecological Expertise, all civil works, should be assessed for their environmental impacts and the proposed mitigation measures reviewed and monitored by the CEP. 78. List of facilities and activities of National category I is close to WB category A projects. Power lines of national and interstate importance as per national legislation relate to National Category I. In the case where World Bank and national categorization/EA requirements differ, the more stringent requirement will apply. This refers mostly in the case of deciding about Category C subprojects. In these case the client will apply the WB criteria. 79. Differences concerning ESMP. While the national legislation requires for all projects with potential environmental impacts relevant mitigation measures, it doesn’t require a special ESMP which should specify, along with the proposed mitigation activities a monitoring plan and reporting requirements, institutional arrangements for ESMPs implementation as well as doesn’t require needed capacity building activities and necessary expenses in this regard. 80. Differences concerning reviewing and approval of EA studies. As mentioned above, the national EA reviewing process relates to the SEE, while according the WB requirements is a part of the whole EA process. The SEE seeks to examine the compliance of proposed activities and projects with the requirements 32 of environmental legislation and standards and ecological security of the society. The mentioned laws stipulate the mandatory cross-sectoral nature of SEE, which shall be scientifically justified, comprehensive, and objective and which shall lead to conclusions in accordance with the law. SEE precedes decision- making about activities that may have a negative impact on the environment. Financing of programs and projects is allowed only after a positive SEE finding, or conclusion, has been issued. The SEE is conducted by a special Unit within the CEP. 81. Differences regarding EA disclosure and public consultation. Conducted analysis shows there is currently more harmonization between World Bank and national requirements in this regard. WB for Category A projects requires two rounds of disclosure and consultation for the TORs and draft ESIA while in Tajikistan this is not the case. The disclosure requirements for Tajikistan system are well defined, and, for the most part, adequate. One shortcoming is the lack of clarity on the contents of the environmental management plan, and hence what information is to be disclosed. According to national legislation, the EA disclosure and public consultation is not mandatory. At the same time, per the SEE law the public might organize at its own initiative a public ecological expertise. Public expertise is being conducting based on NGO’s written request toward local public authority. While organizing such expertise, within seven days, the local public authorities should inform public association about taken decision concerning permission to do so. Public associations conducting ecological expertise are obliged to inform broad local public about beginning of expertise and its results. These associations have the right to obtain planned and project documentation as well as documentation on EIA and get acquainted with normative-technical documentation on conducting of the state ecological expertise. The results of public ecological expertise are delivering to the bodies conducting the state ecological expertise and to the bodies which make decision of implementation of activity – the subject of expertise. The results and conclusion of public ecological expertise have recommendation character and can have the juridical power only after their approval by the responsible state body in field of ecological expertise. The results of public ecological expertise can be published in mass-media, deliver to the local public authority, other stakeholders. If the Tajik public consultation is satisfactory, there would be no further consultation requirement. Documentation for the consultation should be submitted to the PMU as part of the project file. 82. The Resettlement Policy Framework (RPF) for OP 4.12 policy requirement including entitlement and compensation process for different project affected persons. The Resettlement Policy Framework (RPF) finalized in 2016 for this project provides guidelines for development of appropriate mitigation and compensation measures, for land acquisition impacts caused by project activities whose exact locations are not known. 83. RPF will inform all activities involving land acquisition, restriction of access to land, or loss of assets. OP 4.12 on Involuntary Resettlement has been triggered for the project, as the High Voltage Transmission line may go through areas where it may require temporary or permanent land acquisition, rehabilitation or construction of new structures involving temporary or permanent land acquisition, and crops or fruit trees that may have to be cut. 84. Differences in eligibility of non-titled PAPs to compensation, valuation methods, cut-off date, consultations, disclosure of information and GRM. The main provisions affording reconciliation of the differences between Land Code and World Bank Policy include:  Any PAPs, regardless of title or not, will be entitled to compensation (for structures, crops and trees) and rehabilitation measures under the project. This includes land-less people using land and squatters;  PAPs and affected communities will be consulted on options and any impacts of land acquisition and resettlement; 33  If land for land compensation is not technically or sociably feasible, compensation will be in cash at full replacement cost at current market value;  Compensation for any other assets affected (structures, crops and trees, as well as business/income loss) will be in cash or kind at full replacement cost at current market value. Vulnerable and poor PAPs will be entitled to additional measures as relevant, and gender issues will be addressed;  Maintenance works will avoid or minimize, as far as possible, the need for land acquisition and resettlement; and  Compensation for temporary loss of land or assets, or for temporary disruption of income will be provided. 85. It must be especially noted that under the WB OP 4.12, status of those without legal title is clearly defined. In accordance with this policy, those people who do not possess official legal title or judicial rights for the land use, but still use the state land are entitled to receive compensation, considering the investments they made into the state land, their labor and lost assets, but not for land ownership as in the case of a titled owner. Instead, alternative sites are allocated for their use, or other forms of assistance in lieu of land compensation, are provided to those informally using or occupying land to the project cutoff date. 86. In case of disparity of the laws of the Tajikistan with the requirements of the policy of the WB on involuntary resettlement (OP 4.12), the principles and procedures of OP 4.12 should be applied. This priority of WB norms over the national legislation is required for World Bank financed projects. 87. Methods to Determine Cut-Off Dates. Once the design of an activity has been finalized and legal procedures completed, a RAP will be prepared for the activity. As part of the RAP, a census will be undertaken to identify all the PAPs and the related levels of impact. The date when the census begins is the cut-off date for eligibility for resettlement and compensation. Hence, it is important that this date is fully communicated to all potential PAPs in the project affected area with sufficient time for these people to ensure their availability for the census. 88. This communication will be done through Project Management Unit (PMU) for energy sector under the overall supervision and management of the Barki Tojik, and in line with the consultation procedures outlined in this document. The potential PAPs will be informed through both formal notification in writing and by verbal notification delivered in the presence of the community leaders or their representatives. 34 IV. THE PROPOSED SUBPROJECT DESCRIPTION 89. The proposed Converter substation will be built at the Sangtuda site for the transfer of high voltage for the conversion of alternative current (AC) to direct current (DC). Within the framework of the Project, an alternative current line of 220 kV (about 12 km) will be built from Sangtuda HPP-1 to the Converter Station and the existing substations Sugd-500 and Regar -500 will be expanded. The 500 kV high voltage power transmission line will be built from the Converter Station to the border with the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. In addition, an Electrode Station and line will be built on the territory of the Vakhsh District, which will be connected to the Converter Station by an electrode line. 4.1. Description of Converter station 90. At each end of the transmission line converter stations will be built to transform alternative current (AC) used in the national networks into direct current (DC) for transmission at high voltage and vice versa. The area of converter station at Santguda will be 720m x600m. Its coordinates are presented below in Table 4. Table 4: Coordinates of Converter station in Tajikistan Point ID LAT LON A 37°56'55,93244"N 69°05'6,498991"E B 37°56'52,7437"N 69°05'34,41941"E C 37°56'29,7247"N 69°05'29,2216"E D 37°56'32,78584"N 69°05'01,896177"E 4.2. Description of the Converter Station Equipment 91. A layout of the converter station is shown in Figure 2. Proposed components of the converter station and their functions are given in Table 5. 35 Figure 2: Layout of HVDC Converter Station 36 37 Table 5: Main Converter Station Components and their Functions Equipment Functions Circuit breakers Terminate transmission lines from the ac transmission system DC Harmonic and Eliminates the harmonic currents in the dc line high frequency filters Converter This is a specialized transformer that must be designed to withstand ac transformer voltage stresses and dc harmonics. It acts as interface between the dc system and the thyristor valves. It contains oil for insulating and cooling. Converter valves Provides transformation from dc to ac. Valves contain many series connected thyristors to achieve the dc rating of the scheme. Valves are normally contained in a special purpose building called a ‘valve hall’. DC filters Special direct current filters are used to eliminate high frequency interference. Such filters are required if the transmission line will use power- line communication techniques for communication and control, or if the overhead line will run through populated areas. These filters can be passive LC filters or active filters, consisting of an amplifier coupled through transformers and protection capacitors, which gives a signal out of phase to the interference signal on the line, thereby cancelling it. Other equipment Switch gear The three-phase alternating current switch gear of a converter station is similar to that of an AC substation. It will contain circuit breakers for overcurrent protection of the converter transformers, isolating switches, grounding switches, and instrument transformers for control, measurement and protection. The station will also have lightning arresters for protection of the AC equipment from lightning surges on the AC system. Transformers To step-down or step-up voltage and transfer power from one voltage to another. The windings of such large transformers are immersed in transformer oil, which is a highly refined mineral oil that is stable at high temperatures and has excellent electrical insulating properties. Its functions are to insulate, suppress corona and arcing, and to serve as a coolant for transformers Circuit Breakers Automatic switching during normal or abnormal conditions Feeder Bay Steel work housing for circuits Grounding Switch Equipment for de-energizing a circuit for maintenance and repair Bus bars Incoming and outgoing circuits of the same voltage tie into a common node called a busbar, which consists of a number of tubular conductors made of aluminum Wave trapper Equipment for trapping communication signals sent/received via the transmission lines from/to the communication network in the station Loop-in lines Incoming power lines (connected to bus bars) Loop- out lines Outgoing power lines (connected to bus bars) Telecommunication Equipment used for micro-wave communication with the sub-station mast 4.2.1. Other components of the Converter station 92. One or more control buildings are required for the converter stations to house valves, protective relays, control devices, customer offices, battery banks for primary control power, and remote monitoring equipment. The size of the building depends on design of the station. Typically, the control building will 38 be constructed of concrete block, pre-engineered metal sheathed, or composite surfaced materials. Special control buildings may be developed within the substation developments to house other control and protection equipment. 93. The more detailed components and equipment proposed for the Converter station in Tajikistan are presented in Annex 1 (A). 94. Access to construction site. For the converter station, some of the equipment will be stored in-doors and thus a separate building is usually erected for this purpose. This building can then act as a storage and maintenance building once construction is completed. Permanent road access is required. Heavy road access or rail access is also required for the heavy equipment. 24 hour a day security is likely required during the construction process. 95. Proposed 1,300 MW AC-DC converter station will be in Kushoniyon district at the area of 43.20 ha, which is allocated by the local authority. Supporting document for allocation of land plot was provided to Barki Tojik. This site is located at the distance of approximately 120-140 meters from the republican road . The length of this road from the Kushoniyon-Levakand-Dangara road to the Sangtuda-1 HPP is 12 km. Figure 3: Access road to converter station in jamoat Bustonkala, Kushoniyon district 39 4.3. Description of the Electrode Station Equipment 96. A Ground electrode which will be located in Vahksh district. An area of 25 ha was allocated for this station in Mashal jamoat. A DC electrode line and ROW will be required from the converter station to the ground electrode. It will require two conductors and may be steel poles/towers. It will design a standard 66 kV transmission line with the lengh of 30 km. 97. Electrode station will include facilities such as transformers, circuit breakers, feeder bays, bus bars, etc. In details components and equipment for the construction of electrode station in Tajikistan are presented in Annex 1 (B). Figure 4 below shows the scheme of the electrode station. Figure 4. Layout of the electrode station 98. Access to construction site. A plot of land allocated for the electrode station in the Vakhsh district does not affects roads. Access roads are available (see Figure 5 below). 40 Figure 5: Access road to the site of electrode substation 4.4. Construction Activities 99. The process for constructing the converter and electrode stations will follow standard BT practice for electrode station construction. The key activities in the construction process include the following:  The major civil works in the converter and electrode stations area will include construction of foundations and buildings. The raw material required for these constructions are aggregates, sand, cement and steel. The exact quantities of these materials required for construction will only be known at the time of design. However, all these materials will be procured from the market and no quarry site will be developed under this subproject.  Construction will commence with the clearing of vegetation and the levelling and terracing of the ground surface in those areas where heavy electrical transformers and other switchgear will stand. Once levelled and terraced, the concrete works and construction of foundations for the supporting steelwork, transformers and other switchgear will commence. This will also include the 41 construction of storm water drainage pipes, slabs, bund walls, a control room, small buildings and storage areas that are needed.  All open areas between the transformer plinths and other switchgear foundations will be covered with about a 100 mm layer of 25 – 38 mm crushed stone.  The steel work will then be erected. The transformers, circuit breakers, reactors and other high voltage equipment will be delivered to site, erected and then commissioned.  During construction when the civil and electrical works are being carried out (foundations, buildings, DC Valve, transformer, breakers, protection relays, SCADA etc.), there would be approximately 150 to 200 people present on the site at any one time. Depending on the level and nature of construction activity taking place, there will be varying numbers of people (for foreign workers) housed on site within a construction’s camps. The location of the camp will be appointed by local authorities of Kushoniyon and Vakhsh districts when Contractor will be selected for the implementation of proposed project works. This will be constructed within the proposed electrode station facility. Local people will be also hired as workers. They can rent the homes in a nearby town/city.  Waste generated from the construction works will be disposed at the local municipal waste disposal sites. The municipal waste disposal sites are available in Kushoniyon and Vakhsh districts. No new waste disposal sites will be developed for the subproject. 4.5. Operation and maintenance 100. The converter and electrode stations of BT are designed and constructed for operation, supervision and control by the staff at central control centers. The operation staff at control rooms of converter station comprises shift engineers, operators, attendants, etc. and perform duty in three shifts i.e. morning shift, evening shift and night shift. The operation staff supervises and controls the electrode station in accordance with the provisions made in the design and construction of the equipment and transmission lines and in compliance of the instructions of the system operator. 101. The converter stations will likely have a permanent staff of 15 to 20 highly skilled and semi-skilled staff at each location. These staff will require permanent housing likely in a local community. Incentives to attract and maintain the highly skilled staff may be required. Barki Tojik will use mainly TBM (Time Based Maintenance), and then gradually will move to Reliability Centered Maintenance (RCM) or CBM (Condition based maintenance). Root Cause Analysis should be Employed to maintain a high reliability. 102. The converter and electrode stations with electrode line and electrode are to be inspected on a regular basis (usually monthly) and before each pole maintenance outage. Advanced protection schemes may allow this level of inspection to be relaxed. Converter station will have automation station equipped with SCADA. 103. Drinking water supply and sanitation facilities (septic tanks and storm water drains) will be maintained regularly. The material waste will be managed as per standard procedure of BT. All the material waste from the station areas of BT will be brought to a landfill sites in Kushoniyon and Vakhsh districts and will be managed. 4.5.1. Decommissioning 104. OJSHC “Barki Tojik” do not envision decommissioning of its converter or electrode stations at any point. Should this be required in the future, removal and disposal of equipment will be done in accordance legislative requirements at that time. 42 4.6. Analysis of Sangtuda Subproject Alternatives 105. ESIA standards call for the identification and assessment of feasible alternatives to project design and implementation, not least to demonstrate that the cheapest or easiest project option has not been selected (if that had significant negative consequences) and that E&S aspects have been considered and considered during project development. In this regard, there are several ‘project drivers’, which affect potential alternative options and following scenarios:  Alternative locations;  The No Project option; and  Different construction methods, timings and other construction-related modifications. 4.6.1. No Project Alternative 106. No project means no converter station construction in Tajikistan which is not possible because of design requirements of CASA-1000 project and need to be connected with Nushewar Converter station in Pakistan. The No Project alternative would force Tajikistan to find different markets to purchase their additional electricity or lose the value of that capacity. As stated in the project summary, Tajikistan is a poor country and the income potentially created by CASA-1000 is expected to have a significant positive impact on the nation and its people. 107. The Project also have the potential to strengthen regional cooperation. The No Project alternative would dampen the opportunity to foster this cooperation and the ancillary benefits it could create. This would be a net loss for the Central Asian region. 4.6.2. Alternative locations 108. Alternative location of the converter station in Kushoniyon district initially proposed for the project, covered part of the road. 43 Система координат преобразовательной станции, р. Кушониён Converter station, Kushoniyon district, Bustinqaka jamoat Figure 6: First option for location of the converter station in the Kushoniyon district 109. It was recommended to move converter station area to a little bit left side to avoid national highway relocation and additional costs and impacts dealing with the need to construct the new road. The second proposed location of the station is the site shifted for 600 meters down from the previous one and it does not affect road (see Figure 7 below). This option is accepted as most appropriate and coordinated with local authorities. 44 Figure 7. Second option for location of the converter station in the Kushoniyon district 4.6.3. Alternative Construction Methods 110. The developed BoQ for bidding included requirement that construction methods have to comply with IFC standards. That is why no other alternative construction methods were considered. 4.7. Implementation Schedule 111. Proposed period of construction activities is 33-40 months 45 V. ENVIRONMENTAL BASELINE 5.1. Physical Environment 5.1.1 Project Influence Area 112. The land plots proposed as the sites for the high-voltage converter and electrode stations are in the Vakhsh and Kushoniyon districts of the Khatlon region, respectively. The location and the corresponding coordinate system of the above stations are shown on the maps below (Figures 6 and 7). 113. The proposed land plots for the stations belongs to 3 households that represent 3 dehkan6 farms (DFs): for electrode station - “Bozorboy” and “Sohibnazar” (Vakhsh river) and for converter station - “Hochi Muhammadsharif” (Kushoniyon river). The Owners of the Rights to use the land plots who are also the shareholders in these dekhan farms, as well as chairmen and members of these dekhkan farms, live together with their families in the neighboring settlements in the target areas of the project. Preliminary socio-economic and environmental assessments conducted during the preparation of the Resettlement Action Plan (RAP) revealed that the land plots for both stations are construction free, the exception being the highway (Kushonien river), along with the 10 and 35 kV power lines crossing the plot in a sub-meridian direction. 114. By the type of usage, the plots are non-irrigated pasture land. Thus, the construction of the above- mentioned stations will have a minimal negative socio-economic impact on these households. 5.1.2 Physiography and Land Use Electrode station, Jamoat Mash'al, Vakhsh district 115. The area of the projected electrode station occupies 25 hectares (500 x 500 m). Administratively, the site belongs to the Mash'al Jamoat of the Vakhsh district of the Khatlon region and is located 19 km east of the Vakhsh district center and 10 km east of the Shar-Shar village. 116. To initiate the construction of the electrode station the State Committee on Land Use and Geodesy has issued the decision dated March 14, 2017 No. 21444 (Documents for the allocation of land), that an area would be allocated in the Mash'al Jamoat, in the Vakhsh district with an area of 25 hectares, formerly in the use of dehkan farms "Bozorboy" (12.91 hectares) and "Sohibnazar" (12.09 hectares). Lands by the type of usage are grazing lands. Photos of the land plot allocated for the construction of the electrode station are shown below. 6 A dehkan farm is a term for an individual or family farm in Central Asia. In Tajikistan, "dehkan farms" are midsized peasant farms that are legally and physically distinct from household plots. Regulations concerning dehkan farms in Tajikistan are laid out in the Law No. 48 on Dehkan Farms, dating from 2002. Dehkan farms cultivate more than 60% of agricultural land in Tajikistan, averaging about 20 hectares in size (compared to less than 2 hectares in household plots). Dehkan farms concentrate in crop production (cotton, wheat, and vegetables) and their share of livestock is minimal. 46 Электродная станция, джамоат Машъал, р. Вахш Figure 8: Location of the electrode station in the Mashal jamoat, Vakhsh district Figure 9: The land plot allocated for the construction of the electrode station, j. Mashal, Vakhsh district 47 Converter station, Bustonqala Jamoat, Kushoniyon district 117. To initiate the construction of the converter station the State Committee for Land Use and Geodesy, as well as the Committee for Land Use of the Kushoniyon district issued a decision on January 24, 2018 No. 91, 43.20 ha in the Jamoat of Bustonqala Kushoniyon (720x600m) were allocated. 118. This area was used for the following: non-irrigated land of 4.18 ha, pasture areas of 33.32 ha, cattle roads of 4.85 ha. Photos of the plot of land allocated for the converter station are shown in Figures 10-11. Converter station, Kushoniyon district, Bustonkala jamoat Figure 10: Location of the converter station in the Kushoniyon district 5.1.3. Soils 119. Soil profiles in this area are typically loess, loamy sands and loamy soils, occasionally bench gravel of the upper quaternary age, classically formed through wind deposition over arid or semi-arid areas. Soils are brown-gray, light gray, gray and light sierozem. 120. The humus layer of the loess and loamy sands is fairly fertile and agriculture is possible. For these soils to be converted into agricultural use, they require irrigation and the mineral fertilizers. The humus layer is generally insignificant and the soil quality of the sites here is very poor and unproductive, suitable only for grazing. The soils in this area support mostly winter pastures. 48 Figure 11: The land plot allocated for the construction of a converter station, Bustonqala jamoat, Kushoniyon district – no irrigation systems. 49 5.1.4 Climate 121. The climate here is characterized by moderately cold winters and hot summers which are typical in this area. 122. The project area in Khatlon province is in the arid and semi-arid zones with very low precipitations, hot dry summer climate and moderate as well as relatively dry winter periods. This climatically condition determines the conditions for agricultural land use, which is very limited and dependent on irrigation and fertilization. The precipitation from November to March is about 200-400 mm in most of the area (in the plains) and can reach 400 and more in more hilly areas. 123. The precipitation consists mainly of rain and wet snow. Snow cover is rarely more than 10 cm deep and melts very quickly and does not accumulate. The period from June to October is the driest. Snowfall occurs mostly between mid-December and mid-February; rainfall from March to mid-May. Figure 12: Precipitation in area of converter and electrode stations, Khatlon province 124. The South East of Khatlon region has a variable climate with moderate cold winters and hot summers. The summer months are very hot and summer temperatures are high and can vary from +35° C and reach +45° C and more. The average July temperature exceeds +30° C. The winter months are relatively cold and average January temperatures are above 0° C, but temperatures can drop to – 20° C in the winter. 50 125. The annually accumulated duration of sunshine is between 3,000 to 5,000 hours at low elevations and not less than 2,500 hours in the mountains. The features of the climate in Project area are shown in Table 6. Table 6: Main characteristics of the climate in converter and electrode stations area Ambient Temperature (Outdoors) Minimum: -25oC and more Maximum: +45oC and more Daily Average: 35oC and more – July Annual mean: 16-17oC Relative Humidity: January – 80%, July – 40%, very dry Average Rainfall: From 100 to 350 mm and from 400 to 600 mm Number of days with rain/mist: about 100 days Maximum solar radiation: From 2800 to 3000 hours and more Maximum soil temperature: More than 36oC Surface: From 32oC to 36oC and can be more (July) Elevation (masl) Till 600 m Wind speed Till 2.1 m/s 5.1.5. Climate change 126. Climate change has already had concrete consequences in Tajikistan and neighboring areas. The regions’ climate has become noticeably warmer. Average annual temperature has risen by 0.10 to 0.31 ˚C every ten years (higher than global trend 0.06 ˚C). In Tajikistan the greatest increase has been for the winter period (based on analyzed data from the period 1940-2005) (State Agency for Hydrometeorology of Tajikistan, 2009). 127. The variability of precipitation, both among years and seasons, has increased. Intense rainfall events (15-20 mm or more per 24 hours) have become more frequent and irregular. This is particularly true at mountain areas. A decline in precipitation is expected during the summer season. Individual precipitation events are projected to become more intense. 128. Tajikistan ranks first among the countries of Europe and Central Asia on the index of vulnerability to climate change (25 - Tajikistan, compared to 22 - Kyrgyzstan, 21 - Armenia, 19 - Uzbekistan). This figure is exacerbated by the low capacity of Tajikistan to climate adaptation. Climate warming and the increase in mean annual air temperature in the PT begins with the 80s of the last century. Since the 80s of the magnitude of global warming is 1.2 ˚C, recent warming is due to anthropogenic impacts. Since the late 70s vast cut down of the forest has created favorable conditions for the development of semi-arid areas 129. As it can be seen in the map below, both project areas are in areas of the countries which temperatures tends to increase since 1940 and precipitation tends to decrease since 1961. 51 Figure 13: Annual air temperature anomalies in Tajikistan (Source: Second National Communication) Figure 14. Changes in precipitation pattern in Tajikistan. 52 130. By the year 2030 in most areas of Tajikistan it is expected that the increase of the average temperature will be 0.2 – 0.4 oC (compared with the period 1961-1990). This trend coincides with the trends prevailing in the country during the last 15-20 years. The predicted future rainfall will show large shifts in the terms of their change, intensity and geographical distribution. Winter seasons are expected to be wetter and drier which can lead to flooding and more prolonged droughts. 5.1.6 Water resources 131. According to the geographical status of Tajikistan's river network, the country is divided into the following major river basins -- Zeravshan, Surhandarya (Karatag & Sherkent rivers), Kafirnigan, Vakhsh, and Pyanj (Gunt, Bartang, Yazgulem, Vanj.). The Vakhsh River is the only major water course that runs in Khatlon province where converter and electrode stations are located. It belongs to the Amu Darya River Basin. The features of Vaksh is given in Table 6. Table 7: The Vakhsh river basin characteristics: Basin Length (km) Catchment area Average annual water Month of in Tajikistan (th discharge (billion maximum km3) m3/year) discharge Vakhsh ( 524 31.2 19.6 July - August Source: Environmental Performance Review, Tajikistan. UN, 2004 132. Numerous seasonal streams occur during the snowmelt and heavy rains. Mineralization of waters in Vakhsh River and thrown off irrigation waters from irrigated lands is less than 1 gram per liter. Vakhsh – the second largest river after Pyanj, which is subject to the most intense anthropogenic impact due to drainage of a large area (over 190 thousand hectares) of irrigated land. River water is contaminated with chemical fertilizers and pesticides coming from farmlands, industrial water users in Kurgan-Tyube and the Vakhsh nitrogen fertilizer plant (VATZ). Large amounts of salts are discharged to the river from washing of irrigated cotton fields. Industrial sources are concentrated only in the lower reaches of Vakhsh, namely in Yavan (chlorine) and Sarband (nitrogen compounds). According to the Water Pollution Index (WPI) water quality of Vakhsh in all monitoring points generally corresponds to Class I (very clean water) and in the alignment of the river after VATZ discharge – to Class II (clean). The state of plankton in lower reaches of Vakhsh River and chemical tests confirm the high quality of water with some locally spoiled sites. Maximum concentration of pollutants in the river is observed in April-August, when irrigation is intensive. 133. Site-specific context. There are no surface waters within the project areas in Kushoniyon and Vakhsh districts. Converter and electrode stations sites are located at the distance of more than 5 km from the Vakhsh river – see Figure 12 below. 53 Figure 15. Water resources in project districts 5.1.7 Groundwater 134. Important groundwater reserves of Tajikistan are mainly located in the quaternary alluvium of the large river valleys (e.g. Syr Darya, Vakhsh) and intermountain depressions. There is a wide range of springs in the country, especially in the Pamir Mountains. Groundwater is used for drinking water supply, industrial processes and irrigation of lands. 135. The main water consumer is agriculture consuming up to 93 % of the total freshwater intake. Intensive groundwater pollution in Tajikistan is due to infiltration of irrigational wastewater, e.g. along the left bank of Syr Darya River. 136. The groundwater level varies considerably depending on the morphology and season. In floodplains, the water table is close to the surface. 137. Site-specific context. At the area of Converter and Electrode stations the groundwater tables are located at a depth below 20 m (see Figure 16 below). 54 Figure 16. Depth of ground waters and water-bearing deposits in area of converter and electrode stations 5.1.8 Seismicity 138. The area of converter and electrode stations is in the most favorable conditions, in the seismological terms, in the zone with 7 points of seismic intensity where earthquakes with a magnitude of up to 5.5 are possible or in one of the less-seismically active areas of Tajikistan7. 5.1.9. Geology 139. The area of converter and electrode stations close to Sangtuda HPP refers to the South Tajik depression, geographically located in the South-Western part of the Republic of Tajikistan (Mikhailov and Gvozdetsky, 1979). These are small, in absolute elevations, ridges of sub-meridional location with wide flat valleys, absolute heights from 350 to 2000-2300 m above sea level. They are composed mainly of Cenozoic and Mesozoic deposits. The Tajik depression has large reserves of various types of minerals. Loess-like, consolidated and coarse clastic rocks prevail in the piedmont and plain areas, i.e. within the economically important zones. Loess-type rocks, which are especially common, cover the day surface on river terraces in river valleys and form the walls of intermountain depressions. Specific features of such rocks are sharp loss of strength in case of moistening and poor resistance to dynamic impact of surface waters. Suffusion processes are rather common, predominantly in loess-type rocks of Middle Quaternary age. 7 Babayev A.M., Koshlakov G.V., Mirzoyev K.M. Seysmicheskoye rayonirovaniye Tadzhikistana (ob"yasnitel'naya zapiska). Dushanbe: Donish, 1978, 68 pages. 55 Figure 17: Seismic conditions in the area of Converter and Electrode stations in Tajikistan 5.1.10 Air and Noise Quality 140. Ambient air quality in Kushoniyoun and Vakhsh districts of Khatlon Province, where converter and electrode stations are located is generally good and pollution free. No industrial enterprises and plants exist in this area. 5.2. Biological Environment 5.2.1 General Ecosystem 141. Biodiversity is generally low because of water shortage, minimal rainfall and poor soil. The ecosystem type around converter and electrode stations is desert-ephemeral, characterized mostly by dwarf shrubs and very few trees. 142. The area itself is characterized as a desert ecosystem. Mid-low mountain semi-savanna landscapes are widespread in Southern Tajikistan province. The main valuable communities of this type are high-grass and forbs-shrub communities. Vast areas (70%) of the southern Tajikistan semi-savannoids are strongly degraded due to the inadequate agricultural practices. Vegetation consists of bushes, shrubs and grass including bluegrasses (meadow grass), sedges and other ephemeral grasses (Роа bulbosa L., Carex, Astragalus, Vulpia, Trisetum cavanillesii Trin, Leptaleum filifolium (Willd.) DC). Two floral species categorized as rare are found in the project area, Tulipa maximowiczii and Tulipa tubergenian. 56 5.2.2. Flora and forest resources 143. Generic. The vegetation in both project areas is heavily degraded, no bushes and forests are found within or near the converter and electrode sites. Figure 18: Forest resources in area of 2nd segment of CASA-1000 T/L CoI, DRS 144. Foothill semidesert and desert communities occupy high terraces and form a typical landscape of the plains in the lower reaches of large rivers: Pyandj, Vakhsh, Kafirnigan. In southern Tajikistan (Khatlon Province) nearly 30 thousand hectares of these landscapes belong to the near-protected areas of the Tigrovaya Balka Reserve. 145. Site-specific. In geo-botanical relation, the given area refers to the Western-Asian region, and, with a more detailed subdivision, is a part of the South-Western Tajik (lowland) province. It is characterized by the presence of flat spaces and river valleys, divided by southern ridges, which are small in their elevations, up to 2300 m above sea level. Since the precipitation is relatively small, the vegetation of all the belts is represented by deserts and ephemerautus, in some places -by semi-hammered complexes, and only on the top, there are steppes and small juniper forests. 146. Significant impact on the foothill vegetation is observed in the natural ecosystems of the area. Bukharan almond, hawthorn, cherry plum occurs rarely and prickly-leaved plants are dominant on the majority of the territory. 147. Licorice, Stavesacre, cereals, alliaceous plants, Esparcet, various types of parsley family plants, Astragalus, Tansy etc., grain varieties and capers were present within the studies area. Depletion of the 57 vegetative cover of the natural landscapes observed in the areas closer to the villages and the trees and shrubs are tessellated. 148. The zone of converter station location refers more to the belt of ephemeral and bush (schiblyak8) vegetation. This belt is most affected by human impact and therefore its vegetation is anthropogenic in its nature. Basically, this is used for grazing livestock in the winter-spring period. 149. The valley part of the south of the country is well developed and there is developed an agro- industrial complex with typical rural settlements and practically widespread agricultural lands. Here, mainly cotton is cultivated, as well as cereals, melons and vegetable crops, fruit orchards and wastelands are located here and there. 150. The ephemeral vegetation cover here is represented by ribbonworms, ethylopters, barley (Hordenum spontaneum, H. bulbosum). The dominant plants include volleys, awn, annual astragalus, fenugreek and ephemeroids (Anemone bucharica), buttercups (Ranonculus leptorrhynchus, R. tenilobus). Areas with pistachio, almonds, purple can be found in some places. 5.2.3 Fauna 151. Reptiles. Around converter and electrode stations, 16 species of reptiles were found. On the slopes of grassy hills in the area proposed for converter station, the steppe tortoise (Testudo (Agrionemys) horsfieldi) which is included in the country’s and IUCN Red Books, can be met, but only in the period from March to the end of May, which after a short period of feeding, mating and laying eggs, they earth and fall into a long hibernation in June (when the grasses are almost dry and no nutrition available anymore) and animals sleep under the ground till the next February-March of next year. The actual activity period of Central Asian tortoise in the south of Tajikistan according to many years of observations of the scientists from the Institute of Zoology of Tajik Academy of Science, is 3-3,5 months only. 152. The special biodiversity survey of the allocated converter station sites was conducted by specialists of Institute of zoology of the Academy of sciences of Tajikistan in January and March 2019. The purpose of the survey was to estimate the number of steppe tortoise and check once more if these plots can be considered as critical habitats. The field assessment was carried out according to the method of counting the number of animals on the transects, where signs of vital activity of the steppe tortoise are considered. When conducting research, the shallow, temporary, and old burrows of tortoises were not considered as residential. 153. At the construction site of the converter station, the density of tortoise population varied from 18.49 to 34.87 individuals/ha. The average population density of the tortoise in this area was 28.89 ± 10.4 individuals / ha. Thus, the total number of the Central Asian tortoise in the two studied plots with a total area of 68.2 hectares ranged from approximately 1319 to 1970 individuals. This population density of the Central Asian tortoise (up to 19 individuals per hectare) is considered as average. 154. Because the distribution range of the Central Asian tortoise in Tajikistan is widespread, as well as based on the identified average density of its population, the surveyed site cannot be considered as a critical (important) habitat. 8 Schiblyak – is a type of Meaditerranian vegetation, comprising of deciduous, often drought-resistant bushes and shunted wood 3-4 meters long. (comment of the interpreter) 58 155. Also based on the Institute of Zoology specialists’ opinion, the construction of the converter station CASA-1000 in these areas, is acceptable and will not cause irreversible damage to the tortoise population in Tajikistan. 156. However, to preserve the existing number of this reptile which can be met in the surveyed sites, the Academy of science’ experts proposed a series of actions to be undertaken included to the ESMP as the Biodiversity Management Plan (see Annex 5). The official response from the Academy of Science of Tajikistan with the results of conducted survey and recommendations is attached in Annex 2. 157. Among lizards, here there are fringe-toed gecko (Grossobamon eversmanni), grey naked-toed gecko (Gumnobactylus russowi), which live both in mountain conditions and human dwellings. Quite often in this ecosystem (up to 2200 m above sea level), the Turkestan naked-toed gecko (G. fedchenkowi) can be found. One of the three species of agama, in the area, steppe agama can only be found (Agama sanguinolenta), inhabiting various biotopes of the country, from riparian wood-land to the middle mountains. Occasionally there are long-legged skinks and snakes. 158. The described region is sufficiently developed by human beings and therefore overall the species composition of mammals is insignificant here. Red-tailed and tamarisk gerbils are typical for the area. In some places, there is a mole flemming. Нouse mouse and Turkestan rat are common. These biotopes are typical for the fox, porcupine and steppe cat. Of the bats, one can find here common bat, notch-eared bat, (Ognev's) brown bat, Savi's pipistrelle, etc. The wild boar is common among ungulates, in some places a wolf can be found. 159. Economically or socially important wildlife and mammals are nearly absent due to degraded vegetation in ecological habitats. Wildlife consists of small animals and regionally common birds. Common mammals here include: porcupine, jerboas, mice, Microtis afganus, Eilobius talpinus and Meriones erthrourus. Foxes, jackals, eared hedgehogs, tolai hare, steppe cats and gazelle may also be in the COI, but rarely. The Vakhsh River supports freshwater fish such as catfish and trout. 160. Within the area of converter station, except steppe tortoise (as confirmed by the Institute of zoology of the Academy of sciences of Tajikistan), there are no other rare, endangered species of wildlife, birds, fish or habitats of these species. 59 Figure 19: Distribution of species in project area 5.2.4 Aviafauna and IBA 161. A preliminary avian risk assessment for the transmission line of 2014 and aviafauna survey and observations of 2017 were developed in the form of a Diagnostic Note and Report using existing data sources on species occurrences; their susceptibility to collisions and electrocutions; locations of important habitats; and GIS data on the general CASA-1000 transmission line corridor location, field visits to the area of converter stations. This assessment identified potentially susceptible species from the literature of bird collisions and electrocutions. GIS mapping was used to generally characterize the risks of collisions and electrocutions to birds interacting with the proposed transmission line. Although coarse in scale, it was possible to provide a screening of some of the avian risk conditions along the Corridor of Impact (COI) using published data and aerial photo-interpretation, identify the type of land features that might present potential risks for electrocutions and/or collisions, and to draw conclusions on the type of risk. 162. Area of Sangtuda HPP. In the described area, of 400 bird species and subspecies, there are slightly more than 170 species of birds. Most of them are migratory-nesting or migratory species. Some of the sedentary species are synanthropic and, therefore, are mainly tied to the anthropogenic landscape or human dwellings. These include: a small tortoisedove (St. senegalensis), a lane, a field sparrow (Passer montanus), a ringed tortoisedove. Some species of settled birds are close to human habitation, but they can live in other ecosystems. 163. This is the magpie (Pica pica), the blackbird (Turdus merulla), the blue dove (Columba livia).In general, the following bird species are characteristic of this region: crested lark (Galerida cristata), brown owl (Otus brucei), eagle owl (Bubo bubo), buzzard (Buteo buteo), kestrel (Falco tinnunculus), barbary 60 falcon (Falco cherrug), golden and green beetles, roller, black chamois, red-headed bunting, Indian (Passer indicus) and Spanish sparrows (Passer hispaniolensis), black-headed shrike, red-ramped (Hirundo daurica) and rustic swallows (Hirundo rustica), crow (Corvus corone), white wagtail (Motacilla alba) and other - all of them are minimally affected by the laying of power transmission lines in this area. 164. A whole group of birds migrates through this region, both in the spring and in the autumn. The most vivid representatives of migrant birds are: large and little cormorant, gray and white egrets, gray crane and demoiselle crane, black kite, saker falcon, many species of ducks (mallard duck, common teal, garganey, Eurasian wigeon, common shoveler, common pochard, red-crested pochard, tufted duck, goosander, sheld duck), coot, little dubchick, Black-headed gull, silver gull, common plover, snipe, gray gull, wood sandpiper, stilt, spotted sandpiper, red shank, common bee-eater and blue-cheeked bee-eater, cuckoo, Eurasian rooks, jackdaws, grey crow, grey and blue-headed wagtails, Alpen swift, black swift, rose-colored starling, and many others. 5.2.5 Protected areas and natural habitats 165. There are no nature reserves or protected forests and no wildlife sanctuaries, or significant wetlands near the proposed project sites. The sites for converter and electrode stations are located at the distance more 25 km from the nearest natural reserve “Tigrovaya Balka” in Khatlon region of Tajikistan. As was described above the area of converter station are natural habitats for red Book species of steppe tortoise. However, it cannot be considered as critical habitat for the as per OP 4.04 because the density of the steppe tortoise here in accordance with conducted survey and assessment is average and the distribution range of the animal in Tajikistan is widespread (see Annex 2). 61 Figure 20: Protected areas location in Khatlon province in regards to Converter and electrode stations sites 62 VI. SOCIO-ECONOMIC BASELINE 6.1. Socio-economic Baseline of the subproject site 166. The proposed converter station is in Kushoniyon district (jamoat Bustonqala) and electrode district – in Vakhsh district (jamoat Mashal) of Khatlon Province of Tajikistan. The locations of these stations are shown below at Figure 21 in the regional and national scale. Figure 21. Location of the converter and electrode stations in national and regional scales 167. The land proposed for converter and electrode stations site is owned by 3 households, as was mentioned already above. 6.1.1 Administrative Setup 168. The local executive authority at the second and third levels of the local government is run by the chairman of the local administration, who acts as a representative of the central government. The chairmen of Khukumats are appointed and dismissed by the President and approved by their respective councils. Khukumats consist of councils, committees and departments, the organizational structure and activities of which are determined by the relevant regulatory acts. At the first level of the local government, the Jamoat chairman represents the executive branch of the local government. According to the self-governance law in cities and villages, the main functions of the chairman of the Jamoat include:  ensuring the implementation of decisions made by Jamoat and daily activities management; 63  ensuring the implementation of the Constitution, legislation, acts signed by the President, Parliament and Government acts, as well as decisions of local governments;  managing funds, maintaining agreements with legal entities and individuals, signing of financial, banking and legal documents on behalf of the local government;  presenting the interests of the citizens to government authorities, in the court and in relations with enterprises, institutions and organizations in cases stipulated by law;  implementing measures to improve the material well-being and living conditions of the citizens. 169. The chairman of the Jamoat makes and signs his own decisions within his competence. The actions of the chairman of the Jamoat can be appealed to the city or district council, or in the court. 6.1.2 Population and Demography 170. National context. The total number of population in Tajikistan for end of 2017 is 8742,800 people, of them 50,2% (4429,5 thousand) are male and 49,78 % (4313,3 thousand) are female. The age-sex structure of the population in Tajikistan is presented at the scheme below. 64 In general, population of Tajikistan is young. Just over 35% of it represents under working age group, and only slightly under 5% represents the group of above working age population. Table 8. Age distribution of Tajikistan population Age structure 0-14 years: 32.33% (male 1,393,804/female 1,343,825) 15-24 years: 18.61% (male 799,736/female 776,417) 25-54 years: 40.12% (male 1,683,228/female 1,714,507) 55-64 years: 5.62% (male 219,043/female 257,066) 65 years and over: 3.32% (male 116,511/female 164,418) (2017 est.) 171. There is a constant growth of young population group in absolute figures. However, the percentage of the group decreased insignificantly over the last 5 years. On the contrary, the ratio of working age and above working age population is increasing. Site-specific context 172. Kushoniyon district. Kushoniyon district is located in the southern part of the Republic of Tajikistan and is part of the Khatlon region. The total area of the district is 556 km2. The district is located in the northern part of the city of Levakand, in the eastern part of the Vakhsh district, to the south of the Jaloliddini Rumi district and in the western part of the city of Bokhtar. The distance from the center to Dushanbe city is 110 km, to the city of Bokhtar - 8 km and to the railway station Bokhtar - 30 km. 173. Kushoniyon district consists of 8 rural and village type jamoats with administrative in the center of the village of Ismoili Somoni. According to official data, as of January 1, 2015, the total population of the Kushoniyon district reached 222,118 thousand people (49.3% of women), the population density in the area is 2,400 people per 1 km. Currently, 66% of the population live in rural areas. The average household size in the area is 8.6 people. The average life expectancy of the population is 70-71 years. Table 9: Demographic data for Kushoniyon district, for 2012-2018 2018 Indicators 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 (9 mnth.) Total Populatiom, ths. people 209 214,8 220,2 224,6 229,7 236,2 236,2 Women, ths. people 103,5 106,33 109 111,9 114,4 117,4 117,4 174. Site of converter station. The Bustonqala Jamoat was founded in 1971. On January 1, 2018, the population of Jamoat counted 24,152 people, 11,571 of which are women. There are about 3342 households in the district. 175. The distance from the center of jamoat Bustonqala to the Kushoniyon district center is 12 km. From the south-east j. Bustonqala is bordered by the Bokhtar district, from the southern part - by the district of Levakand, and from the southwestern part - by A. Jomi, from the northern part - by the Vakhsh district. The main employment sectors of the population are: agriculture and livestock. The main ethnic groups are: Tajiks, Uzbeks and Russians. Information on the number of villages and their population is given in Table 10. 65 Table 10: List of villages in Bustonqala jamoat, Kushoniyon district Distance from the centre of # Villages Population Households Women the Kushoniyon district Shahraki 1 3047 384 1525 12 Bustonqala 2 Lermontov 970 129 486 14 3 Bogparvari 2023 280 1014 14 4 Mekhanizator 3100 273 1050 15 5 Ozodii mehnat 1696 193 849 10 6 Dmitrov 1679 302 901 9 7 SNT 974 127 473 9 8 Guliston 1 921 116 501 10 9 Guliston 2 984 99 472 11 10 Navobod SVD 290 102 151 11 11 Orzu 1950 400 931 13 12 Haeti nav 1401 171 701 14 13 Leshoz 1431 236 717 15 14 Lermontov Dacha 526 50 264 16 15 Niholparvari 1074 182 538 11 16 Navobod 913 121 427 15 17 Ergash 688 111 329 50 18 Umar kazok 227 33 112 53 19 Kuhsor (Avlie) 258 33 130 54 Total: 24152 3342 11571 176. According to the Act of the Committee for Land Management of the Kushoniyon district, and the OJHC "Barki Tojik" dated May 4, 2018, and also referring to the requirements of Article 42 of the Land Code of the Republic of Tajikistan and the Procedure for eliminating damage to land users and losses of agricultural production, the owner of the farm "Hochi Muhammadsharif" receives compensation in the amount of 1 million 161 thousand 543 somoni which will be allocated for the seizure of 43.20 hectares of land. Table 11 below presents an information on affected dekhkan farm in the Bustonqala Jamoat. Kushoniyon. Table 11: Affected farms in Bustonqala jamoat, Kushoniyon district Consent to The land plot Family Total Owner the Dehkan farm allocated for the members area (ha) (Initials) withdrawal construction (ha) (sex/age) of the land «Hoji 389 ha 43.2 ha Sohibov Spouse, Present Muhammadsharif», Mahmadrahim, 43 years Bustonqala Jamoat, 45 y.o Son, 23 y.o Kushonien district, Son, 21 y.o 66 Daughter, 19 y.o Son, 17 y.o Son, 14 y.o Son, 11 y.o 177. Vakhsh district. The Vakhsh district was created on January 6, 1965. Its area is 965.1 km. As of January 1, 2018, the population of the district was 192.661 people. The population density is 195 people per 1 km. The distance from the city center to Dushanbe - the capital of the country is 120 km, to the city of Bokhtar - 18 km, and to the railway station Bokhtar - 30 km. 178. There are 5 rural jamoats, 2 village jamoats, 29 industrial enterprises, 3 construction companies, transport companies, consumer goods, utilities, 5 public associations and 6483 dekhkan farms in the district. The Vakhsh district is bordered in the northern part with the Kushoniyon district, in the eastern part – by the Dangarsky district and the city of Levakant, in the southern part with the regions of J. Balkhi and Pyanj, in the western part with the areas of J. Balkhi and Kushoniyon. Table 12: Demographic data on the Vakhsh district, for 2014-2018 Years Indicators 2018 unit of 2014 2015 2016 2017 2017 (9 measurement mnth.) Total Population ths people 176,8 181,7 183,7 188,5 188,5 192,6 Women ths people 88,1 90,4 89,2 91,1 91,1 93,9 179. Area of electrode station. Jamoat Mashal was formed on June 20, 1977. Its total area is 224 km2. There are 15 villages in Jamoat, as of which the largest settlement is the village of Mehrobod (12,672 people), and the smallest village of Darvozbulok (146 people). On January 1, 2018, the population of the Jamoat counted 21,802 people, 11,138 of which are women. There are about 2,459 households in the Jamoat. The distance between the center of the Mashal Jamoat and the Vakhsh district is 27 km. From the northeast, Mashal is bordered by the Jamoat of the Balkhi district, from the southern part by the Dangara district, and from the southwestern part by the Kushoniyon and Levakant districts. The main employment sectors of the population are: agriculture and livestock. The following ethnic groups live in the Jamoat: Tajiks, Uzbeks, Russians, Tatars, Kyrgyz and Kazakhs. Information on the number of villages and population is given in Table 13. Table 13: List of villages in the Jamoat Mashal, Vakhsh district Number of Including Distance from the center of the # Village name Population households women Vakhsh district 1 Lolazor 164 1,031 539 56 2 Gulibodom 66 609 329 48 3 Sechashma 53 454 234 43 4 Pistazor 74 655 351 45 5 Kaltashur 121 834 430 14 67 6 Darvozbulok 21 146 80 40 7 Mashal 151 1,277 678 34 8 Ittifok 58 406 204 38 9 Beshbulok 52 449 228 36 10 Dusti 65 471 240 40 11 Mehrobod 1,254 12,672 6,381 26 12 Navzamin 168 1,156 583 36 13 Barakat 101 884 450 34 14 Orzu 64 381 193 86 15 Oftobruya 47 377 208 42 Total: 2,459 21,802 11,138 180. According to the Act of the Land Management Committee of Agricultural Management of the Vakhsh district, JSHC "Barki Tojik" dated May 4, 2018, and also referring to the requirements of the Article # 42 of the Land Code of the Republic of Tajikistan and the Procedure for eliminating damage to land users and losses of agricultural production, "Sohibnazar" will receive the compensation in the amount of 701, 884 somoni for the seizure of 25.0 hectares of the land. Table 13 presents a summary of the affected DFs in the Mash'al Jamoat of the Vakhsh district. 181. The Table 14 provides a summary of the affected DFs in the Mash'al Jamoat of the Vakhsh district. Table 14: Affected DFs in Mash'al Jamoat. Vakhsh district Consent to The land plot the Total area Owner Family members Dehkan farm allocated for the withdrawa (ha) (Initials) (sex/age) construction (ha) l of the land «Bozorboi», 460.80 ha 12.91 ha Musozoda Wife, 20 y.o Present Mashal Jamoat, Saidsho, 21 Vakhsh district y.o «Sohibnazar», 635.51 ha 12.09 ha Sh. Rasulov, Mother, 55 y.o Present Mashal Jamoat, 29 y.o Brother, 24 years Vakhsh district old Brother, 19 years old Son, 3 years Daughter, 1 year 68 6.1.3. Agriculture 182. Table 15 below presents the main economy indicators in the project districts: the sown area of crops production in the main categories, livestock and poultry production. Table 15. Economic data of Kushoniyon and Vakhsh districts Name of Area, Economic facilities district ‘000 km² Sown area, all crops, all categories of farms – 23278 ha Vakhsh 1.0 Crop prod’n (tonnes): grain 44248, cotton 22350, potato 17745 Livestock and poultry production (tones) – 7301 Sown area, all crops, all categories of farms – 12985 ha Kushoniyoun 1.5 Crop prod’n (tonnes): grain 31472, cotton 11191, potato 11533 Livestock and poultry production (tones) – 4274 Source: TajStat, 2017 6.1.4. Occupation, Income and Expenditure 183. Agriculture is the main economic activity in the region. The main crops and agricultural products are cotton, cereals, oilseed, potatoes, carrots, onions, cucumbers, cabbage, melons, vines, milk, wool, honey and eggs. Orchards (grown in yards) are also an important part of the economy. These include apples, peaches, apricots, almonds, pears, pomegranates, mulberries and walnuts. Cotton is a profitable cash crop but it is controversial. It involves high levels of irrigation and chemicals while many local farmers receive little profit from its sale (compared to middle men and dealers). 184. The irrigation infrastructure, inherited at the end of the Soviet era, has suffered from a lack of investment in routine maintenance. This has led to a progressive loss of cultivable land and damage to embankments, intakes and canals. So-called 'futures' contracts for cotton production effectively indebt the farming community and limit their disposable income. Therefore, rural household incomes in the project area are generally below the Tajikistan average. 185. The minimum salary in Tajikistan is of 400 somoni (approximately $50) per month defined by a government decree. The minimum salary is valid in all country. This is one of the lowest minimum salaries in Asia, which shows the country’s potential due to its very affordable work force. The average wages in Tajikistan are certainly way above its minimum wages, yet far from impressive. The level of real wages (considering the change in the price index) in November 2017 compared with October 2017 increased by 1.6% and compared to November 2016 increased by 4.1%. The average salary in Tajikistan is at around 820 somoni, or roughly 100 USD per month according to this local news site. Even with its fast-economic growth it will take a long time before salaries in Tajikistan grow. The average monthly nominal wage accrued to employees in November 2017 amounted to 1174.65 somoni, and increased compared to October 2017 by 1.9%, compared to November 2016 - by 11.1%. 186. Employment was 2096470 people, while the share of the employed population in urban areas in the total number of employed increased slightly from 20.0 percent in 2004 to 24.5 percent in 2009 and to 24.6 percent in 2016. At the same time, the share of employed in rural areas in the total number of the employed population of Tajikistan decreased from 80 percent in 2004 to 75.5 percent in 2009 and to 75.4 percent in 2016. 69 187. While the proportion of men among the employed increased from 53.4 per cent in 2004 to 56.8 per cent in 2009 and to 59.5 per cent in 2016, the proportion of women decreased significantly from 46.6 per cent in 2004 to 43.2 percent in 2009 and decreased to a level of 40.5 percent in 2016. 188. Regarding the age structure of employment, there has been a consistent decline in the proportion of young people (persons aged 15-29) in the total number of employed. At the same time, the share of employment of the adult population, i.е. of persons aged 30-75 years, constantly increased and increased from 56.3 percent in 2004 to 62.6 percent in 2009 and to 68.9 percent in 2016. 189. Employment was mainly concentrated in agriculture (45.8 percent), followed by wholesale and retail trade; repair of cars and motorcycles (10.6 percent), construction (8.6 percent) and education (8.1 percent). 190. The most important source of cash income of households in 2017 is still labor incomes - 51.4 percent, payment of pensions and benefits - 7.3 percent and proceeds from sales of agricultural products - 6.3 percent. 191. Kushoniyoun district. For 9 months of 2018, in Kushoniyon district, the average number of employees of all types of activities reached 32,100 people, which increased by more than 100 people over the same period last year. For example, in the health sector, the number of medical workers is 1,390, including 142 high school doctors, 739 nurses, 281 junior medical staff and 228 technical staff. Below is a table (Table 16) with the number of people employed over the past three years. Table 16: Number of employed population in Kushoniyon district Indicator 2015 2016 2017 2018 (9 mth.) Average number of workers in the economy (ths. people) 31600 32100 31800 31700 Number of registered unemployed 1086 1121 1335 Job creation 2700 2835 2844 2317 Labor migration of a city / district 7600 7274 6614 21687 - (city name) Population in labor migration by Jamoats District 2015 2016 2017 2018 (9 mth.) I.Somoni 372 524 485 683 Bokhtariyon 1468 1328 232 3934 Bustonqala (target jamoat) 766 665 624 1356 Mekhnatobod 1189 1758 1748 3810 Zargar 1704 1928 1351 5550 Navbakhor 622 883 872 2039 S.Istiklol 1131 302 1251 3249 Orien 348 386 51 1066 192. Vakhsh district. The table below (Table 16) shows the number of employed and unemployed people over the past years, from 2014 to 2018. 70 Table 17: Number of employed people in the Vakhsh region Years Unit of Indicator 2018 (9 measurement 2014 2015 2016 2017 mth.) Average number of ths people 42760 46322 47196 47208 47089 workers in the economy Number of registered ths people 1734 1243 580 1276 983 unemployed Job creation people 2400 2650 1600 1791 1288 Labor migration in the places 8700 7786 7750 7744 8067 area Number of population in labor migration, Vakhsh district Total amount 6293 7476 8067 Of which women 2093 735 735 Of which in Russian 5400 6583 7174 Federation Of which in Belarus 44 Of which in Kazakhstan 500 Of which in Kyrgyzstan 240 Of which in other 109 countries 6.1.5 Access to Infrastructure facilities 193. In the target areas of the subproject - Kushoniyon and Vakhsh - there are several social and engineering infrastructure facilities. Including housing and utilities facilities, healthcare facilities, retailers, catering establishments, sports and recreational facilities, passenger transport, financial institutions, power supply systems, water supply systems, drainage systems, communication systems, and outdoor lighting systems Kushoniyoun district. Table 18: Power lines, Kushoniyon district Power Line Type Number of units Length (m / km) 0.4 кv 43 1317,33 km 6.10 кv 97 km 10 кv 44 km Transformer stations (1) Transformer substations 374 - (2) Complete transformer substation (CTP) 61 - (3) Complete transformer substation of urban type 9400 - (GKTP) 71 194. Health facilities: the total number of health workers in Kushoniyon is 1390, including 142 doctors with higher education, 739 nurses, 281 junior medical staff, and 228 technical staff. The district hospital also has a dental and family center, a skin disease clinic, a family planning, immunization, tuberculosis, healthy lifestyle, HIV, children's diseases centers, 46 health centers, and 23 rural health centers. Table 19: Indicators for the health sector in Kushoniyon district Years Indicator 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 Number of hospitals Number of beds 445 435 435 435 445 445 Number of doctors of all specialties 107 97 117 130 138 138 including categories in general 58 81 higher 24 48 the first 13 19 the second 16 14 Number of nursing staff 572 665 Number of medical centers 24 24 24 24 28 23 Number of medical institutions 41 41 41 41 42 46 195. Sports and recreation facilities: Table 20: Data on the number of young people, sports and tourism centers., Kushoniyon district Years Indicator 2018 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 (9 mnth) Total number of young people 81482 81482 81482 81482 81482 (under 30) Including girls 39706 39706 39706 39706 39706 Young people working in education Including, foreign 27 27 27 Presidential Scholarship Recipients 7 9 Sport fields 46 46 Sport halls 6 6 Swimming pools 2 2 Sports fields 1 1 Youth crime rate 59 41 196. Scope of trade and payment services: At the end of 2018, the volume of retail trade turnover for all types of goods was 6 million 139 thousand 400 somoni. 72 Table 21: Retail Enterprises, Kushoniyon district Years Unit of Indicator 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 measurement (9 mnth) Retail products in all million 69,417 68.143 113.854 147.681 172.070 15913,2 sectors somoni Rate of paid services million and population in all somoni 116.902 109.162 105.251 106.640 112.561 90114,7 sectors 197. Objects of housing and communal services: Housing and communal services “Hojagii Manzilyu Communal” (KMK) Kushoniyon serves 820 households within the city and 2 jamoats: Bustonqala and Oriyon. For 11 months of 2018, 7030 m3 of garbage was collected in the area. KMK has 5 garbage collection equipment at its disposal, of which 4 are in working condition. 198. Communication systems: For the first quarter of 2018, the profit of Tochiktelecom OJSC according to the tariff plans decreased by 134 somoni, and paid services decreased by 117 somoni compared to the same period last year. This decline in company revenue is due to an increase in the number of mobile subscribers, and as a result, the reluctance of the population to use stationary telephones. As of March 2018, the number of stationary telephone subscribers was 1,860, of which 531 numbers were connected to households and 203 to institutions and organizations. During the current year, 4 telephone points were installed, and 2 people were connected to the Internet. Vakhsh district 199. Power supply facilities: according to the data of JSC Barki Tojik, OJSC Shabakakhoi Barki Chanubi, Vakhsh Distribution Zone, at the end of 2018, there was the following number of power lines (TLs): Table 22: Power lines, Vakhsh district Power Line Type Quantity (pieces) Length (meter / km)) 0.4 кv 713,4 км 6 кw 94,2 км 10 кw 327,48 км Transformer stations 292 Including: 238 - (1) Complete transformer substation (KTP) (2) Complete transformer substation of urban type 41 - (GKTP) Reinforced concrete pillars 9139 units - Wooden supports 13775 units - General support by district 22914 - 200. Health facilities: The total number of medical facilities in 2018 in the district was 73, and the total number of beds was 415. The total number of medical workers in the district is 699 people, of which 120 are doctors and 786 medical workers, and for each of 6 people there is 1 doctor and about 40 nurses. 73 Table 23: Indicators for the health sector, Vakhsh district Years Indicator 2017 2018 2014 2015 2016 2017 (9 mnth.) (9 mnth) Number of hospitals (nos) 7 7 7 7 7 7 Number of beds (nos.) 465 465 465 415 415 415 Number of doctors of all specialties 121 119 118 115 115 120 (persons) Including categories in general (persons) 47 76 69 73 73 77 Higher education (persons) 28 53 52 50 50 50 First (persons) 13 19 14 16 16 18 The second (persons) 6 4 3 7 7 9 Number of nursing staff 601 620 693 776 776 786 Number of medical centers 13 13 13 13 13 13 Number of medical institutions 48 48 48 50 50 50 201. Sports and recreation facilities: Table 24: Data on the number of young people, sports and tourism in the Vakhsh district Indicator Years 2017 2018 2014 2015 2016 2017 (9 mnth.) (9 mnth.) Total number of young people 53312 55500 58160 60200 60200 60200 (under 30) Including girls 24320 25223 26760 29714 29754 29963 Young people working in 38651 39112 40150 41000 41080 41087 education Including, abroad 63 68 73 86 86 87 Presidential Scholarship 5 5 6 6 6 6 Recipients Sport fields 68 70 75 89 89 89 Sport halls 22 24 75 27 26 30 Swimming pools 2 2 2 2 2 2 Sports fields 3 3 3 3 3 3 Youth crime rate 23 33 45 83 60 36 202. Trade and payment services: In November 2018, the volume of retail trade, car repairs, household appliances and raw materials amounted to 52 million 570 thousand somoni, which is 2 million somoni more compared to the same period in 2017. The volume of trade is 20.3% of the total volume of trade. For the first 9 months of 2018, the number of paid services to the population of the district in all services sectors amounted to 70 million Somoni 85 thousand somoni, which is about 5 million. 383 thousand somoni higher. 74 Table 25: Retailers,Vakhsh district Years Indicator 2017 2018 2014 2015 2016 2017 (9 mnth.) (9 mnth.) Retail products in all sectors 52204,4 60689,7 70783,8 81986,5 61119,0 63287,8 (ths. Somoni) Rate of paid services and population in all sectors 76905,2 78856,2 79735,0 84624,0 65702,5 71085,7 (somoni) 203. Objects of housing and communal services: Housing and communal services “Hojagii Manzilyu Communal” (KMK) Vakhsh serve 910 households, 35 budget organizations, and 85 commercial organizations. The main types of services provided to the public include municipal waste collection and landscaping. 204. Communication systems: A fixed telephone line operates in the area, and mobile operators are also operating. 205. Water supply and drainage systems: State Unitary Enterprise KMK DDP Water supply and Sewerage of Vakhsh district has 3 reservoirs with a capacity of 6,000 m3. The production of water by the enterprise per day is 1.983 m3. The volume of use of drinking water is 1,363.6 m3 / day. The length of the drain pipes is 12 km, the length of the distribution network is 42 km. 206. A total of 4,493 people in the region have access to the drinking water supply system, that is, 30% of the total population. In the center of the district, only about half of households is connected to the drinking water supply system. 17 out of 21 state and 14 out of 61 private institutions and enterprises are connected to the water supply system. The existing sewage system is practically not functioning. Table 26: Sales of drinking water Number of subscribers Drinking water usage, volume Number of organizations on 01.01. 2018 (m3) / month Budget organizations 17 6200 Commercial organizations 14 2766 Households 1010 33305 Total: 1041 42771 207. Public catering: for the year 2018 Vakhsh district had 6 catering points and 36 grocery stores in the following Jamoats: Table 27: Catering and retail outlets in Vakhsh district Village, Vaksh district Catering facilities Grocery stores Town Vakhsh 1 9 Town Kirov 1 2 Jamoat Rudaki - 6 Jamoat is the 20th Anniversary of Independence 1 4 75 Jamoat Vahdat 1 3 Jamoat Tokushobod 2 9 Jamoat Mashal 3 3 Total: 6 36 6.1.6. Gender and Social Divisions (Status of Women and their role in local development) 208. In order to ensure the wide participation of women in public life and government, improve the social status of women and improve the national gene pool, enhance the role of women in strengthening moral principles, peace and unity, guided by Articles 64, 69 and 79 of the Constitution (Fundamental Law) of the Republic of Tajikistan of Peace and National Unity - Leader of the Nation of the President of the Republic of Tajikistan, Emomali Rakhmon, dated December 3, 1999, for No. 5, the state program “On measures to improve the status of women in ETS ". Thanks to this program, for 2018 the number of women in the public service is over 23%. 209. In 2011, the Government of the Republic of Tajikistan approved the National Strategy for enhancing the role of women in the Republic of Tajikistan for 2011–2020. (NARC 2020) The main purpose of the Strategy is to create the prerequisites and necessary conditions for the fullest realization of the natural abilities of women in all spheres of social life to ensure the sustainable development of society. 210. Several development studies, including the UN Women’s Analytical Report and the UNDP’s “Women's Representation in Local Government in Tajikistan” dated by July 2017, recognize the special role of women in the socio-economic development of the country. Women are actively involved in the development and resilience of their families and communities against crisis, political and economic changes, the effects of climate change and natural disasters. Raising the literacy of rural women on the possibility of economic development, local methods of hazard prevention, etc., are recognized as essential assets that can contribute towards the survival of their families in complex social and political contexts. 211. Nowadays, many men are leaving for labor migration. Thus, remote rural areas are faced with a change in the social context, where women play a more important role in creation and maintenance of their livelihoods, taking care of the family and doing most of the labor-intensive work, including agriculture. Site-specific context 212. Kushoniyoun district. In 2015, in the Kushoniyon region, 40 deputies were elected, of which 5 deputies are women. In order to implement the NSARF-2020, an Information and Consultation Center under the Legal Department of the Center for Information on Women and Family Members under the Government of the Republic of Tajikistan was established in Kushoniyon district to provide legal advice to citizens. In addition, a Department was created under the Ministry of Labor and Employment for short-term courses in Russian, English, sewing, textiles and other crafts. 213. The Department of Women’s and Family Affairs of Kushoniyon is engaged in improving the literacy and political education of women in the area. 296 women were registered in senior positions In Kushoniyon district, including 1 judge of the district court, 1 deputy chairman of the jamoat, 1 chairman of the jamoat, 7 heads of departments and divisions, 1 secretary of the jamoat, 2 deputy chairmen of the jamoats, 2 heads of organizations and institutions, 162 teachers, 34 in the field of culture, 77 medical workers, 2 heads of political parties, and also 5 people - leaders of public associations. 214. Vakhsh district. Out of the 40 deputies elected during local elections in the Vakhsh district, 15 are women. In Rudaki jamoat there are 2 vacancies for deputies who are planning to be occupied by women. 76 In order to implement the NARC 2020, an Information and Consultation Center under the Chairman of the Vakhsh region was established in the Vakhsh region to provide legal support to citizens, including women. Certain legal advice is provided to citizens free of charge. In order to increase the literacy and political education of women, as well as to raise general awareness, meetings of working groups of the district executive body of state power, seminars and round tables, including on the topic of conflict resolution and prevention of domestic violence, are held. 215. In 2018, the number of women working in senior positions is 80 people. At the same time, a significant proportion of women in various sectors of the district’s economy is 136 people in the education sector, 112 medical workers, 135 women managers in business and trade, 2 financial and tax experts, and 1,830 women in the agriculture sector - DFH managers. 6.2. Number of social institutions in the target districts Vakhsh district 216. Education: The education sector In the Vakhsh district is one of the priorities. 41 million somoni were spent for the development of the sector in 2018. 900 thousand somoni were mobilized to the local budget, compared with 2017 - 2 million 133 thousand somoni. The total number of educational institutions in 2010 is 55, and in 2018 - 64. For this period, the number of students decreased, and in 2018 it was 41574 people, which is for 7581 more than in 2010. 217. As of 2018, there are 64 educational institutions in the Vakhsh district, including 50 secondary schools, 12 main general education institutions, 1 boarding school, 1 state lyceum, 8 pre-school institutions, 1 additional educational center. In addition, there is an Information Technology Center and a Talent Development Center in the region. In 8 preschool institutions, 713 children are enrolled, and in the child development center, 772 children are enrolled in 34 groups. In general, preschool institutions and child development centers cover 1,485 pupils, which is 22 more than for the same period last year. 218. Cultural centers: The district has five cultural centers, 11 clubs, 1 central library, 1 children's library, 16 rural libraries, 1 cultural leisure and 1 children's school culture. There are 18 libraries in the district in which 89 thousand 704 copies are stored. Out of these, 21 thousand 33 books were published in the state language, 60 thousand and 767 copies of books in Russian and 7 thousand and 904 copies were published in other languages. Kushoniyon district 219. Education: In Kushonion district, the total number of secondary schools in 1996 was 60, and this number is 638 in 2018, which is 3 times more. During this period, with the increase in population, the number of pupils increased and in 2018 amounted to 50,434 people compared with 1996, 16834. As of 2018, Kushoniyon district has 60 educational institutions, including 51 secondary schools, 4 main educational institutions, 2 primary schools, 1 boarding school for children and orphans, 1 presidential school for gifted students, 1 state gymnasium . In general, there are 50,434 students in the district’s educational institutions, of which 23,956 are girls. 220. Cultural centers: To improve the cultural life of the population and enhance the national culture, there are 40 cultural institutions in the region, including 8 cultural sites, 29 libraries, 1 children's music school, 1 cultural and entertainment garden, and 1 national philharmonic society. The organization of cultural and cultural events in the area makes their contribution valuable. Below is a table of the number of cultural institutions in the Kushoniyon district. 77 6.3. Length of roads in target districts 221. Vakhsh district. The length of international roads in the Vakhsh region is 236.8 km, national roads - 67.4 km, and local destinations - 169.4 km. The restoration of the road was completed at 3.5 km and continues at 127 km of the road. Funds for maintenance and repair are allocated for the repair of roads in the region from the republican, local budget and funds of private entrepreneurs. In 2018, the volume of cargo transportation in the region amounted to 1 million 153 thousand tons, the volume of passengers reached 244.5 thousand people. 222. Кushoniyon district. The total length in the Kushonion area is 231.9 km, including the length of international roads -34.8 km, national roads - 18.7 km, and local destination - 178.4 km. The length of roads and streets outside the state balance is 200.0 km. The restoration of the road was completed at 3.4 km and continues at 130.6 km of the road. For the repair of roads in the region, 179.3 thousand somoni were allocated from the republican budget and 15 thousand somoni from the local budget for maintenance of 3.0 km of the road and 1.0 km of the paved road. 6.4. Small enterprises 223. Vakhsh district. In September 2018, several small and medium-sized enterprises in Vakhsh district is 56 enterprises, including agricultural sector, trade, services, financial services. The volume of industrial products produced for 9 months of 2018 amounted to 92 million 545 thousand somoni, which is comparable with the same period in 2017 (81 million 413 thousand somoni) and is 11 million 132 thousand somoni more. The growth rate of production amounted to 13.6%. The volume of production of agricultural products for the first 9 months of 2018 was 511 million 179 thousand somoni, which is 100.2 thousand somoni more compared to the same period last year. 224. Kushoniyon district. According to the district tax inspectorate, in the first quarter of 2018, 3,371 active small and medium-sized business entities were registered in Kushonion district, including in the sector of agriculture, industry, construction, transport and communications, trade, services, and financial services. In the current year, tax revenues from individuals to the district budget instead of 8147658 somoni amounted to 10536802 somoni, which is 129.3%. In accordance with the simplified system of taxation of small business entities, entrepreneurs from the beginning of the year paid out a total of 3957,446 somoni, including 893619 income tax and social tax from a patent. 225. Currently, 5 public investment projects are being implemented in the region, with a total value of $ 2.6 million. 6.5. Number of disabled people, who receive social benefits 226. In accordance with the regulatory legal acts of the Republic of Tajikistan, currently all packages of the social rights of persons with disabilities are provided: the right to social security, various benefits, compensation and other state guarantees. People with disabilities enjoy the following benefits: full or partial exemption from payment for utilities, telephone, public transport. Some categories of persons with disabilities are exempt from paying taxes on road transport and land. All persons with disabilities are provided with free appropriate medical care in public medical institutions and free medical care based on medical prescriptions. Young people with disabilities, in addition to the above benefits, are provided with benefits for admission to secondary and higher educational institutions. For children with disabilities, education and medical care are free. 78 Vakhsh district Тable 28: Number of disabled people, who receive social benefits in Vakhsh district Disability group Amount of (I, II, III) Num № Categories of disabled people social ber I II III benefit 1. Disabled people from WWII 2 2 1,721.40 2. Disabled hostilities in other countries 1 3 5 9 4,828.20 3. Disabled liquidators of the Chernobyl NPP 0 0 0 0 - 4. Disabled military service 1 7 5 13 7,587.51 Disabled war injuries received while protecting 5. 1 10 3 14 8,115.93 the constitutional order 6. Disabled occupational injuries 7 10 17 4,217.85 7. General Disabilities 158 814 209 1181 352,633.44 8. Disabled occupational disease 0 9. Disabled children (labor) 3 41 60 104 29,115.26 Total number of disabled from labor 164 890 297 1351 415,598.76 10. Disabled children (social injuries) 168 483 237 888 142,067.20 11. Disabled from childhood to 18 years 684 142,818.00 12. General Disabilities (Social Injury) 47 199 81 327 25,412.00 Total social disabled 215 682 318 1899 320,297.20 Total: 379 1572 615 3250 735,895.96 Kushoniyon district Тable 29: Number of disabled people, who receive social benefits in Kushoniyon district Categories of disabled people Disability group Amount of (I, II, III) Num № social ber I II III benefit 1. Disabled people from WWII 1 4 5 4323 2. Disabled hostilities in other countries 13 10 23 12862.52 3. Disabled liquidators of the Chernobyl NPP 0 0 0 0 - 4. Disabled military service 23 9 32 18137.29 Disabled war injuries received while protecting 5. 1 33 30 64 33276.35 the constitutional order 6. Disabled occupational injuries 2 12 6 20 8573.51 7. General Disabilities 194 921 396 1511 509445.05 8. Disabled occupational disease 0 9. Disabled children (labor) 70 181 137 388 123878.82 Total number of disabled from labor 268 1190 599 2057 718609.98 79 10. Disabled children (social injuries) 145 457 262 864 138591.4 11. Disabled from childhood to 18 years 888 183418 12. General Disabilities (Social Injury) 46 189 64 299 34710 Total social disabled 191 646 326 2051 356719.4 13. Total: 459 1836 925 4108 1075329.38 80 VII. POTENTIAL ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS AND MITIGATION 227. This section of ESIA deals with assessment of the potential impacts (positive and negative) associated with implementation of the Project along with the necessary mitigation measures. Potential environmental and social issues in construction and operation of the proposed subproject have been estimated based the field visits, baseline environmental and social conditions, stakeholder consultations and proposed development activities. Environmental issues associated with the project location are minimal since the project area is in an already modified habitat. Most of the environmental issues will arise from the construction activities. 7.1 Impact Assessment Methodology 228. The significance of potential impacts was assessed using the criteria and methodology given below. Impact Magnitude 229. The potential implications of the project have been categorized as major, moderate, minor or minimal based on consideration of the parameters such as i) duration of the effect; ii) spatial extent of the impact; iii) reversibility; iv) likelihood; and v) legal standards and established professional criteria. 230. The magnitude of potential impacts of the Project has been identified according to the categories outlined in Table 30. Table 30: Parameters for Determining Magnitude Parameter Major Moderate Minor Minimal Duration of Long term Medium Term Limited to Temporary with no potential impact (beyond the project Lifespan of the project construction detectable potential period) (within the project period impact period) Spatial extent of the Widespread far Beyond next project Within project Specific location within potential impact beyond project components, site boundary project component or boundaries boundaries or local site boundaries with no area detectable potential impact Reversibility of Potential impact is Benchmarkneeds a Baseline returns Baseline remains potential impacts effectively year or so with some naturally or constant permanent, requiring responsesto come back with limited considerable to baseline response within intervention to return a few months to baseline Legal standards and Breaches national Complies with limits Meets minimum Not applicable established standards and or given in national national professional criteria international standards but violates standard limits guidelines/obligation international lender or international s guidelines in one or guidelines more parameters Likelihood of Occurs under typical Happens under worst Occurs under Unlikely to happen potential impacts operating or case (negative abnormal, occurring construction consequences) or best exceptional or conditions case (positive impact) emergency (Certain) 81 Parameter Major Moderate Minor Minimal working conditions conditions (Likely) (occasional) Sensitivity of Receptor 231. The sensitivity of a receptor has been determined based on a review of the population (including proximity/numbers/vulnerability) and the presence of features on the site or the surrounding area. Each detailed assessment has defined sensitivity about the topic. Criteria for determining receptor sensitivity of the Project’s potential impacts are outlined in Table 31. Table 31: Criteria for Determining Sensitivity Sensitivity Determination Definition Very High Vulnerable receptor with little or no ability to absorb proposed changes or minimal opportunities for mitigation. High Vulnerable receptor with little or no ability to absorb proposed changes or limited opportunities for mitigation. Medium Vulnerable receptor with some ability to absorb proposed changes or moderate opportunities for mitigation Low Vulnerable receptor with good ability to absorb proposed changes or/and excellent opportunities for mitigation Assigning Significance 232. Following the assessment of magnitude, the quality and sensitivity of the receiving environment or potential receptor has been determined and the significance of each potential impact established using the impact significance matrix shown in Table 32. Table 32: Significance of Impact Criteria Sensitivity of Receptors Magnitude of Impact Very High High Medium Low Major Critical Major Moderate Minimal Moderate Major Moderate Moderate Minimal Minor Moderate Moderate Minor Minimal Minimal Minor Minimal Minimal Minimal Summary of Assessed Impacts 233. The project’s potential impacts and their significance have been assessed using the methodology described in the above section. A summary of these impacts and their significance along with the mitigation measures are presented in Table 32. 82 Table 33: Potential impacts, their significance and mitigation measures Significance Residual Potential impacts Sensitivity Magnitude before Mitigation and Enhancement Measure Significance Mitigation Environmental Considerations during Project Design Audible noise will be generated by most of High Major Major Contractor will design (i) equipment that generate Minimal converter and electrode equipment during operation low sound levels, (ii) equipment layout to minimize the acoustic noise and (iii) acoustic barriers (walls or enclosures) wherever necessary to maintain noise levels that comply with national standards at offices, and residential colony and at periphery of the station. Exposure to Electro Magnetic Fields (EMF) and High Moderate Major WHO endorsed standards on EMF and noise levels Minimal radio interferences from the converter and electrode will be complied through design considerations. station equipment (EMFs will affect the health and These include adequate spacing between the radio interferences will affect the equipment and fencing/boundary wall or right of telecommunications). way. International standards on radio interferences will also be complied with. Safe drinking and sanitation facilities to the offices, High Major Major Contractor will design (i) water supply facilities Minimal firefighting and cooling, and storm water design including facilities for firefighting and cooling, (ii) drainage facilities in the converter and electrode sanitation facilities with septic tanks, and (iii) storm stations. Improper design of these facilities pose water management facilities with sedimentation risk to workers’ health and safety. ponds and connecting them to local streams. Oil spills and leaks from the transformers, reactors High Major Major Contractor will design oil containment and Minimal and capacitors (these spills have potential to recuperation systems around all transformers, contaminate soil and water resources) reactors and capacitors Social Impacts from Project Site Land Acquisition and Resettlement of 3 land Minimal Minima. Community development activities in the nearby owners for the converter and electrode stations Minimal villages by BT as part of CASA 1000 CSP Project Nil more to boost the local social development 83 Significance Residual Potential impacts Sensitivity Magnitude before Mitigation and Enhancement Measure Significance Mitigation Impact on income and livelihood sources of Not Applicable converter and electrode stations affected Negligible Negligible Negilgible Nil households . Environmental Impacts during Construction Stage Risk of soil and water pollution from construction Medium Moderate Moderate Implementation of soil and pollution control Minimal activities measures as specified in ESMP and ESPs. Dust and noise from construction activities Medium Moderate Moderate Maintenance of construction equipment and Minimal vehicles; and implementation of ESMP and ECPs Waste generation and disposal (materials and solid Medium Moderate Moderate Proper collection and disposal of waste in the local Minimal waste) municipal waste disposal facilities Procurement of quarry material Medium Minimal Minimal Procurement from existing government approved Minimal quarry sites Impacts on biodiversity, including Red Book High Major Major Contractor must follow the special Biodiversity Minimal Species as steppe tortoise Management Plan for Central Asian tortoise prepared and presented below in Annex 5 Social Impacts during construction stage Community health and safety from construction Medium Moderate Moderate Traffic, noise and dust control measures in Minimal traffic and activities accordance with ESMP/SSEMP and ECPs. Workers health and safety (risk associated with Medium Moderate Moderate Occupational health and safety measures; and Minimal working at height and electrical equipment; and adequate facilities in the construction camps in inadequate facilities in construction camps) accordance with ESMP/SSEMP/ECPs. Employment opportunities for local communities Medium Moderate Moderate Preference to the local communities; in the (positive) construction works Security concerns for the foreign workers Very High Moderate Major Health and Safety, Construction camp Management Minimal and other SSEMPs will be developed. Training programme for workers of Contractors should be implemented. Environmental impacts during operation and maintenance stage Generation of wastes from the offices Medium Moderate Moderate Material management through a central local of BT Minimal in Dushanbe. Solid waste disposal in the local available municipal waste disposal sites. Impact on soil and groundwater quality High Major Major Regular maintenance of oil containment facilities Minimal and monitoring; and storm water drainage facilities. 84 Significance Residual Potential impacts Sensitivity Magnitude before Mitigation and Enhancement Measure Significance Mitigation Presence of SF6 in new breakers and release of Medium Moderate Moderate Regular checking of function of leak detectors; Minimal greenhouse gas SF6 follow the relevant internationally used guidelines Social Impacts during operation and maintenance stage Workers health and safety High Major Major Implementation of Standard operating procedures Minimal (SOPs) of BT Community health and safety High Minor Moderate Maintenance of water supply, sanitation and Minimal drainage facilities in the residential part of the stations. Safety barriers and signage to avoid electrocution. 85 7.2 Environmental Considerations During Project Design 7.2.1 Noise Generated from Equipment 234. Much of the equipment in the converter and electrode stations generates acoustic noise during their operation and typical noise levels generated by the equipment are given in Table 34. The impact of these noise levels on the nearby village are minimal since the nearest residences are located about 1 km away from the converter and electrode stations sites. However, the impact of noise levels on the employees working in the offices close to these facilities will be major. Acoustic noise will also be generated by the transmission lines, particularly during wet weather (during rains). Generally, in dry weather the corona sources that generates audible noises are few, but in wet conditions water drops on conductor produces large number of corona discharges and thereby creating bursts of noise. Table 34: Noise levels from the converter and electrode stations equipment Equipment Noise level, dB (A) AC harmonic filter capacitors 80 Converter transformer 105 Valve cooling (air blast coolers) 100 Transformer cooling 105 AC harmonic filter reactor 100 DC smoothing reactor 110 Source: Feasibility Study of CASA 1000 Table 35: Audible Noise levels from the converter station equipment Equipment Noise level, dB (A) Valve hall 90 Mechanical Equipment indoor areas (measured at 75 2m distance) Equipment in outdoor areas (measured at 15m 75 distance) Diesel Generator (Operating Area) 75 Compressor areas (measured at 2m distance) 90 At the station boundary 70 Source: Bidding Document of Converter Station Mitigation 235. The national standards on noise levels are given in Table 36. The standards on the residential areas zone should be complied at the offices, control rooms, relay rooms, employee colonies and at the periphery of the station through appropriate design features. Contractor will design (i) equipment that generate low sound levels, (ii) equipment layout to minimize the acoustic noise and (iii) acoustic barriers (walls or enclosures) wherever necessary to maintain noise levels that comply with national standards at offices, and residential colony and at periphery of the station. The contractor shall perform noise measurements during commissioning that the standards are complied with. Table 36: Standards for Noise No. Category of Area / Zone Daytime, dBA (max) Night-time, dBA (max) (7:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m.) (23:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m.) 1 Residential Area (A) 55 45 2 Commercial Area (B) 75 75 3 Industrial Area (C) 80 80 86 7.2.2 Exposure to EMF and Radio Interference 236. Transmission lines and electrode stations equipment generate electrical and magnetic fields (EMF) which are health hazards although it was not scientifically proven. The exposure limits for EMF fields developed by the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) - a non- governmental organization formally recognized by WHO9, are given in Table 5.6. Table 37: Standards for EMF Exposure10 Item Electric Field Magnetic Field Static Magnetic (kV/m) (µT) Field (µT)11 Public Exposure 5 200 2х106 Occupational Exposure 10 1000 400х103 237. Limit values according to the European Directive 2004/40/EC. Limit on exposure of workers of 10 kV/m and 500 μT. Now, it is internationally agreed that for the public and for permanent exposure, the electric field must not exceed 5 kV/m and the magnetic flux density must not exceed 100 μT. This means, outside the fence of substations 5 kV/m and 100 μT respectively is the limit. The same is valid for settlements. Maintenance staff and operators will fill in a logbook with information on the exposure times when working in the switchyard areas to enable the monitoring of this H&S aspect. 238. The radio interference level from the electromagnetic or electrostatic radiation generated by the station and the transmission lines will affect the telecommunications. The radio interference levels shall not exceed12 100 microvolt/m at the offices and residential areas under fair weather conditions. Mitigation 239. Exposure to EMF and noise levels will be assessed during the design stage, and the residential parts will be located at a sufficient distance away from the converter and electrode station facilities to ensure compliance with the internationally recognized standards. Hence no additional mitigation measures are proposed. The electric and magnetic fields will be regularly monitored during O&M phase to ensure compliance with the ICNIRP standards and if required additional mitigation measures will be proposed during O&M phase. The radio interference levels will also be complied through appropriate design features. 7.2.3 Safe Drinking Water, Sanitation and Drainage Facilities 240. Municipal water supply, sewerage and storm water drainage facilities do not exist in the project area. Hence all these facilities should be newly developed for the subproject. Improper design of these facilities pose risk to workers’ health and safety. Mitigation 241. Safe drinking facilities will be established to the offices . These facilities will be established by the contractor in the initial stages of construction to supply for their offices and camps. The contractor will also design adequate sanitation facilities with the septic tanks for offices, residential parts and for construction camps. The contractor will also design stormwater drainage facilities in and around the electrode and converter stations for collection and disposal of rainwater. The storm water drainage facilities will include 9 EMF Fields, WHO Webpage http://www.who.int/peh-emf/standards/en/ 10 Overall, the limited number of animal and human laboratory studies that have investigated the effects of exposure to static electric fields, have not provided evidence of adverse health effects. “(Source: https://www.icnirp.org/en/frequencies/static-electric-fields-0-hz/index.html) 11 https://www.icnirp.org/en/frequencies/static-magnetic-fields-0-hz/index.html 12 IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) Standard 430-1986 87 a sedimentation pond for collection of water and then discharge of sediment free water to the natural stream located on the western side of the converter and electrode stations site. 7.2.4 Risk of Oil Spills and Leaks from Transformers, Reactors and capacitors 242. Fuels, oils and lubricants will be used in transformers, reactors and capacitors included in both AC and DC filters. There will be risk of leakages from these equipment and spillages during storage and handling. These leaks and spills will contaminate soil and water resources in the subproject area. Mitigation 243. Contractor will design oil containment and recuperation systems around all transformers and oil- filled reactors. The storage facilities for oils will designed in the bunded areas and will be covered on the top to avoid direct expose to sunlight and rain. 7.3 Social Impacts Project Siting 7.3.1 Land Acquisition and Resettlement from the Converter and Electrode Stations Site 244. The development of converter and electrode stations site will require acquisition of 68.2 ha of non- arable land. The total households affected by this acquisition are 3 (owners of the lands). The land acquisition will have insignificant or minor impact on the land owners and their livelihoods. Mitigation 245. A Resettlement Action Plan (RAP) has been prepared for this subproject as a separate document. Three options can be applied as per preference of land owners and in accordance with national legislation: 1) provision of alternative land plot; 2) cash compensation at replacement cost and market rates for land as per RAP; 3) donation of lands by owners if they want to do it. During conducted consultations cash compensations were asked by 3 affected households and will be part of A-RAP . 246. Cash compensation will be paid for all losses at the replacement cost and market value. The separate CASA-1000 CPS Project will support community development activities, such as strengthening local health facilities, primary schools, vocational training centers, water supply and sanitation schemes, etc. which will be carried out in the nearby villages of the converter and electrode stations and along the proposed HVDC transmission line through CASA-1000. 7.4 Social impacts due to Project Siting 247. Social disturbance. The construction of works may cause disturbance to the local population with interactions of non-local workers with residential communities. The movement of construction machinery and other equipment in the project area during the works implementation will cause noise and dust if the work will be in dry weather. 248. Increased traffic. The road may lead to increased traffic due to increased traffic from the construction vehicles and equipment. There will also be safety barriers and warning signs erected for safety. 249. Workers health and safety. Risks associated with working at height and electrical equipment, as well as possible inadequate facilities in construction camps. 250. Employment opportunities for local communities. It is expected that people from neighboring villages will be employed during construction phase. Employment will be in the form of skilled labour, as well as unskilled labour, and will attract people coming. 88 251. Income Generation among Suppliers. During construction phase, the proposed project plan is to source construction materials inter alia from national suppliers, such as sand, cement and steel. 252. Safe drinking and sanitation, firefighting and cooling, and storm water design drainage facilities. Improper design of these facilities poses risk to health and safety of workers in the converter and electrode construction site. 7.5. Environmental Impacts from Construction 7.5.1 Risk of Soil and Water Pollution from Construction Works 253. The soil and groundwater resources will be at risk of pollution from the construction activities. Earth works for site preparation and foundation during rainy periods may carry the sediment load to the nearby streams. Waste water discharges from the construction activities and construction camps will impact the water quality in the streams. Other potential sources of soil and water pollution are improper storage and handling of materials, including hazardous materials, discharges from the construction sites and material storages, lack of proper drainage facilities, spillage of fuels, erosion from material stock piles, etc. 254. About 1300000 m3 of soil spoils are expected due to preparation of area for the Converter and electrode stations. Soil management plan should be developed by Contractor in coordination with the environmental authorities. Mitigation 255. Storm water drainage from the construction areas will be collected to the sedimentation ponds for settling of sediments and the sediment free water will be discharged to the natural stream located on the western boundary. Environmental Code of Practices (ECPs) with best construction practices to mitigate all potential impacts from construction activities are given in Annex 4 and will be included in the contractor’s bid documents. The mitigation measures to address impacts on soil and water pollution are given in ECP 2 (Fuels and Hazardous Substances Management), ECP 3 (Water Resources Management), ECP 4 (Drainage Management), ECP 5 (Soil Quality Management), ECP 6 (Erosion and Sediment Control), and ECP 7 (Top Soil Management). The Contractor will strictly adhere to the mitigation measures. According to these ECPs, the contractor will also be required to take appropriate measures to avoid and contain any spillage and pollution of the soil and water resources. 7.5.2 Dust and Noise from Construction Activities 256. During construction, dust and noise emissions, from the construction activities will cause temporary nuisances to the residents of the nearby villages. The nearest residences are located about 1 km from the boundary of the converter and electrode stations site and hence these impacts are expected to be minimal. The expected noise levels from the construction activities are estimated and presented in Table 38. In general, the noise levels are within the standards at 500 m (the nearest receptors) from the construction activities. Table 38: Estimated Noise Levels During Construction Activity Description of Predicted noise at Stage of work Key activities LAeq,10m works 500 m, dB dB Site preparation Earth works Earthmoving 90 45 Excavation works 90 35 89 Activity Description of Predicted noise at Stage of work Key activities LAeq,10m works 500 m, dB dB Transport and 70 30 handling of soil/ materials Site compounds Storage of soil/ 88 45 and set-up materials Preparation of 86 45 materials (cutting, grinding) Construction of Ground preparation Earthworks 90 50 foundations and Building/equipment Transport and 70 30 buildings foundation handling of soil / construction materials Internal roads Concrete batching 95 42 Mitigation 257. Contractor will be required to implement the mitigation measures provided in ECPs to address air and noise quality impacts (see ECPs 10 and 11 in Annex 4 on air and noise quality management). Machinery and vehicles causing excess pollution would be banned from the construction sites. Construction equipment and vehicles will be well maintained. Dust generation from construction sites would be restricted as much as possible, and water sprinkling would be carried out through the construction period. Construction activities near the settlements will be limited to day time only (8 am to 6 pm). High noise producing equipment will be provided with mufflers or acoustic enclosures. 7.5.3 Waste generation and disposal 258. Construction works will generate certain amount of excess materials from construction sites (excess soil, packing materials, less concrete, discarded material) and wastes from workers’ camp and construction yards, including garbage, recyclable waste, food waste, and other debris. Considering the higher side, the average solid waste generated from the 200 construction workers would be 122 kg/day. Cut and fill activities are expected at the converter station site. Spoils (excess earth material) are expected to be generate from the construction activities. Improper management of wastes, especially fuels and lubricants, may harm the environment and health of construction workers. Mitigation 259. Management of wastes, including solid and hazardous wastes, are given in ECPs (See ECP1 on Waste Management and ECP 2 on Fuels and Hazardous Substances Management in Annex 4 for detailed mitigation measures). Before commencing the construction activities, the contractor will be required to prepare Waste Management Plan in accordance with the ESMP/ECPs and submit it to the PMUES for their review and approval. Since its proximity to Kushoniyon and Vakhsh districts centers, the waste disposal facilities available in these districts will be used for disposal of various wastes. Site specific disposal facilities potentially will be developed for the subproject in Tajikistan. 260. Siting of any fuel and hazardous material storage sites, including refueling facilities, batching plants and construction yards will be located within the proposed converter and electrode stations site. 90 7.5.4 Procurement of Quarry Material 261. Quarry material will be required for construction of foundation, concrete structures and covering open areas between transformer plinths in the electrode station, and for internal road works. Materials will be purchased only from existing licensed quarry in Vakhsh district upon taking permission from local authorities Mitigation 262. No quarry sites will be developed for this project. The contractor will procure material from the market and approved quarry sites. Material for this subproject will be sourced from the existing quarry sites and no new quarry areas will be developed. 7.5.5. Air pollution 263. Due to the limited time of the construction period, and limited numbers of needed truck movements, the impacts on ambient air quality by machinery and vehicle exhausts will be low. Emissions from machines and transportation will be rapidly dispersed in the air. Major dust generation may take place caused by ground works at construction sites and vehicles (heavy machines and dump trucks, discharging lots of exhaust.). Mitigation measures: trucks transporting sand, gravel and rocks shall be covered with tarpaulins. Stockpiles should be placed at the relevant construction sites and should be covered to avoid dust generation. Water spraying should be done. 264. SF6 the gas which will be used in the new breakers is a highly effective and persistent greenhouse gas SF6 handling in the SF6 circuit breakers will be performed following rules: Further training in its handling will however be provided during construction. The manufacturer should guarantee the maximum annual losses of SF6 at the level of 0.5%. The new breakers should be equipped with SF6 detectors and personnel will be trained in safety procedures. Following documents should be used for the handling of SF6:  Recommendations of the International Council on large Electric Systems (CIGRE: SF6 Task Force: Handling and given Recycling of SF6 Mixtures).  DIN EN* 60376 ‘Specification of technical grade sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) for use in electrical equipment’.  DIN EN 60480 ‘Guidelines for the checking and treatment of sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) taken from electrical equipment and specification for its re-use’.  IEC 62271: High-voltage switchgear and control gear - Part 303: Use and handling of Sulphur hexafluoride (SF6). 7.5.6. Fire 265. Relevant fire protection means should be provided during construction in construction camps and at construction sites. 266. To reduce the risk of the equipment and facilities setting into fire, the following measures will be followed: timely maintenance of the equipment, immediate reporting of oil leakages, automatic anti-fire system including the water storage, pump and pipes is kept in good condition and maintained; fire- extinguishers undergo maintenance one a year and are kept in sufficient numbers at the buildings; anti-fire training is delivered at the beginning of the assignment to staff and seminars are delivered periodically; aircon units are available at the telecommunications and protections rooms and are run when needed; personal protective equipment is kept available and used. 7.6. Social Impacts of Construction 267. Community health and safety impacts during the construction of converter and electrode stations facilities are common to those of most large industrial facilities. These impacts include, among 91 others, dust, noise, and vibration from construction vehicles, and communicable diseases associated with the influx of temporary construction labor (total work force will be around 150 to 200; in which 25 to 50 will be outside workers and these workers will be placed in a camp to be established within the converter and electrode stations site). Influx of outside workers can potentially cause conflict between the project personnel and the local community. This could be because of differences in culture, religion, social norms, acceptable social behavior, and even dress code. Mitigation 268. Mitigation measures to address traffic related impacts and influx of outside workers are given in ESMP/ECPs. Contractor will prepare a Traffic management plan and it will be implemented with aim at ensuring access to residential areas and construction areas and preventing unsafe situations. Contractor will develop adequate facilities for the construction workers, including entertainment facilities so that there will be minimum interaction between them and local communities. The construction areas will be secured with appropriate barriers and signs to prevent the local communities to enter in the construction areas. Education/ public outreach activities will also be carried out to prevent public contact with potentially dangerous equipment. There will be appropriate medical services and a facility with the capacity to treat emergency cases and trauma patients. To address social conflicts between local communities and labour workforce, the contractor will prepare and implement a Construction Camp Management Plan; and all site personnel will be provided relevant orientation and training on behavior. Awareness raising materials such as posters and signage will be used as appropriate. 7.6.1 Community Health and Safety 269. Potential impacts on health, safety and security of the Project area of influence’ population during construction and operation phases of the Project as well as measures to prevent, mitigate or minimize potential adverse impacts are summarized in this section. Table 39: Community health, safety and security risks related to the Project Aspect/Project Risk Potential Impact Component Contractor Increased level of communicable Increased risk of communication workforce diseases between non-local workforce and transmitting between Presence of non- local communities. contractor’s workforce and local local workforce in communities, and within the group of the Project area contractor’s employees itself. Increased stress levels and associated mental effects experienced by local communities due to the arrival of substantive number of personnel from outside the districts of operation or the country. Possible conflicts and tensions due to cultural variations (e.g., gender relations or attitude to alcohol use) and differing mentalities between the local communities and non-resident workforce that may be unfamiliar with the local conventions and customary modes of behaviour. Transportation Risk of increased air emissions Impact on local communities physical Use of heavy associated with heavy vehicles and mental health by increased levels of vehicles in the Increased risk of road accidents on respiratory diseases Project area of the whole territory of the Project Increased frequency of injuries among influence influence local population related to car accidents 92 Aspect/Project Risk Potential Impact Component Intensified traffic Risk of increased noise nuisance Heightened potential for mental Intensive use of and dust generation disorders and higher level of stress local road network Risk of increased load of local road among local communities network and community infrastructure Safety risk due to irresponsible operation of vehicles – especially with regards to speed, talking on phone, and texting Security personnel Risk of conflicts between local Potential violation of local residents’ employment of communities and security guards right to access their land due to specially trained Risk of use of disproportionate inappropriate force executed by security security forces to force by security personnel to local personnel protect equipment inhabitants in case of tensions Psychological discomfort and damage to and prevent local population trespassing Waste disposal Increased risk of soil and Increased level of digestive system facilities groundwater contamination diseases and decreased nutrition quality Generation and Decreased water quality disposal of solid and liquid waste including bulky materials, sewage sludge and sanitary wastewater Storage facilities Increased risk of soil and Increased level of digestive system Storing of fuel and groundwater contamination diseases and decreased nutrition quality lubricants Decreased water quality Sanitary wastewater storage 270. Spread of STD/STI/HIV/AIDS. Mitigation measure: briefing on how to avoid the spread of these illnesses, code of behavior will be delivered to the construction workers by the contractor at the beginning of the construction works. 271. Construction workers may be exposed to minor nuisances from waste to serious health concerns. If mitigation measures and measures to ensure safety during construction are followed, significant impacts will not occur. 272. Measures to ensure safety during construction shall include:  Safety training for all workers;  Supply of safety equipment such as hard hats, safety boots, climbing harnesses etc.;  Safety inspectors/auditors to monitor compliance;  Regular testing and checking of construction equipment;  The Contractor will be required to implement measures to ensure the full safety of the public throughout the construction period;  Open excavations to be covered or fenced overnight; 93  Contractor to retain security personnel to ensure that the public is kept at a safe distance during all construction activities;  Specific safety measures, to be implemented during stringing of conductors over roads;  Safe transportation of staff, materials and equipment;  Deployment of sufficient night watchmen to ensure both the safety of the public and the security of line equipment and materials; and  During stringing operations all conductors to be left at a safe height overnight. 7.6.2 Workers health and safety 273. Some of the Occupational Health and Safety risks which are likely to arise during the construction phase of the Project, and are typical to many construction sites, include: exposure to physical hazards from use of heavy equipment including cranes; working at height and electrical equipment; trip and fall hazards; exposure to dust, noise and vibrations; falling objects; exposure to hazardous materials; and exposure to electrical hazards from the use of tools and machinery. 274. Increased use of trucks and other construction vehicles on the local roads, particularly for transmission line (major roads will be used converter and electrode stations site), will expose the elderly people, women and children to dangerous situations, which may lead to traffic accidents; and will affect the local traffic. Hazards most directly related to electrode station and other related facilities occur as a result of electrocution from direct contact with high-voltage electricity or from contact with tools, vehicles, ladders, or other devices that are in contact with high-voltage electricity. Mitigation 275. Occupational health and safety procedures will be enforced at site. Contractor will be required to prepare, obtain approval of, and implement an occupational health and safety (OHS) plan, which is to prepare in compliance with ECP 17 on Workers Health and Safety (Annex 1) and World Bank Group’s Environment, Health, and Safety (EHS) Guidelines. Appropriate personal protection equipment (PPE), such as safety shoes, helmets, ear mufflers, safety glasses, etc. will be given to the construction workers by the Contractor and necessary training will be provided in occupational health and safety. Only trained workers will be used to deal with the live power lines or deactivating and properly grounding live power distribution lines before work is performed on, or near to the lines. Adequate safe drinking water and sanitation facilities will be provided in the construction camps and work sites. 7.6.3 Employment opportunities for local communities 276. About 150 to 200 skilled and non-skilled workers will be required during construction on continuous basis for about 3 years. The project offers good opportunities for residents to apply for employment as unskilled and skilled construction workers. Contractor will be recommended to employ local workers and technicians to the extent possible. All these new opportunities for work for residents could boost employment and improve the social and economic position of the population on short time. This will be a major and significant positive impact of the project. 7.6.4 Foreign labor use and management, Labor Influx 277. The Project will require establishing labor camps during the construction phase. This will entail influx of external labor force to the project impact area. There is a probability of conflicts to occur between different groups or individuals among the contractors’ workforce. Division of workforce between the foreigners and the locals may cause the conflicts same as potential cultural differences, which may lead to misunderstanding. 94 278. There are potential mitigation measures that may be taken to prevent or minimize impacts associated with labor influx and possible conflicts among the workforce. Some of the mitigation measures for example, could be training sessions on local culture for foreign labor force/specialists. 279. This may help not only dealing with host communities, but also building effective communication within the workers community. Besides, careful candidates’ selection process should be established following several criteria: professional experience, education, psychological and physical health, eligibility to work in Tajikistan and criminal record. 280. All workers will be subject to follow Workforce behavior regulations. 7.6.5 Gender concerns and safety of women in construction site 281. All workers will be subject to follow Workforce behavior regulations. Relevant separate sanitary facilities will be arranged during construction and operation phases of the project. 7.7 Impacts from O&M 282. The subproject would sale the energy excess during summer months of May to September (from CASA-1000 Project). This will bring additional economic benefits for the country and would lead to economic growth and increased employment in the region. Mitigation 283. The converter and electrode stations facilities will be maintained in accordance with the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) of BT to ensure the desired benefits are long lasting. 7.7.1. Generation of Waste 284. Various types of wastes will be generated during regular operations of the electrode stations. These include materials related to the electric equipment which are broken or not useful, scrap material and used oils. Solid wastes will also be generated from the officers and employee residential areas. Mitigation 285. The material waste generated from the converter and electrode stations of BT will be managed by a central warehouse of BT at Dushanbe, where it will be reused or recycled. Solid waste will be regularly collected from the offices and residential areas and will be disposed in the municipal waste disposal sites available at Kushoniyon and Vakhsh districts. 7.7.2 Impact on soil and groundwater quality 286. Fuels, oils and lubricants will be used in transformers and reactors. There will be potential leakages from the transformers and spillages will also occur during storage and handling. Improper management storm water drainage and septic tank facilities may also affect the soil and groundwater quality. Mitigation 287. Storm water drains and septic tanks will be regularly maintained to avoid any contamination of soil and water resources. Transformers and storage facilities for fuels will be regularly monitored for leakages. If any leakages noticed, these will be contained with relevant absorbing material (stored in special designated storage place) and immediate cleanup will be taken up. The contaminated soils will be disposed as a hazardous material. Experienced workers will only be involved in handling of the fuels. Absorbent and containment material will be used around the oil storage facilities. 95 7.8 Social Impacts from O&M 7.8.1 Workers health and safety 288. Workers may be exposed to occupational hazards from contact with live power lines during, maintenance, and operation activities. They are also exposed to occupational hazards (electrocution, EMF, hazardous materials such as oils) when working at elevation during maintenance, and operation activities. Mitigation 289. BT has Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) on Workers Health and Safety and these will be implemented during the operation. Regular training will be provided to the staff on the SOPs and risk registers (reporting and recording of accidents and near misses) will be maintained. 7.8.2 Community health and safety near converter and electrode stations 290. The community health and safety impacts associated with the converter and electrode stations are limited since the access to this station will be restricted to public. Inadequate drinking water, sanitation and drainage facilities will have an impact on the families of the employees living in the residential colonies. Generally, EMF and noise emissions from the electrode station facilities may affect the community health. Mitigation 291. Safe drinking water, sanitation and drainage facilities will be provided. These facilities will be adequately maintained in accordance with the standard operating practices of BT. Exposure levels to EMF and noise will be considered during the design of the converter and electrode station to avoid overexposure to EMF and noise. The EMF and noise levels will be regularly monitored near the offices and residential areas. All employees of BT have access to free medical facilities and their health conditions will be regularly monitored. Safety barriers and signage will be provided to avoid the risk electrocution. 7.9 Cultural facilities 292. Potentially, the Project will not cause impact on the objects of cultural heritage due to their distance from the converter and electrode sites. The relevant distance (not less than 1 km) before any cultural sites or objects, including mosques, should be kept during the detail designing of Converter station and electrode station. 293. In case of chance finds ensure that they are fenced and protected from Project-related activities and other sources of possible harm and inform contact person of State Historical-Cultural Expertise. Constant contacts and consultations with local and state authorities (such as Ministry of Culture and its regional branches, competent authorities for protection and use of cultural and historical heritage objects), local and state-wide history and archaeology institutes (such as those of the Academy of Science) should be held in order to prevent possible disruption of cultural links, destruction of salient archaeological objects and sites of high historical importance to local communities and authorities. 294. Maps of tangible cultural heritage provided by the Institute of history, archaeology and ethnography of the Academy of Science of the Republic of Tajikistan should be employed by the planners of seismic activities to avoid occasional encounters of the sites which hold high level of cultural significance to local communities and to the country’s population in general. Other mitigation measures are proposed in chapters below. 7.10. Cumulative impacts 295. Cumulative impacts are the aggregate result of incremental direct and indirect effects of a project or plan on the social and environment, effects of past and present actions, and effects of other 96 reasonably foreseeable future actions on resources of concern. Construction of the AC/DC converter station, electrode station and the ancillary facilities is not expected to result in any significant cumulative impacts. 296. Construction of converter and electrode stations is a part of CASA-1000 project. Cumulative impacts of CASA transmission lines will include impact on agricultural lands, loss of property value in the right of way, life safety issues and collision and electrocution of migratory birds. However, these potential effects and risks may be outweighed by the benefits of the power transmission lines to the urban and industrial centers of country. 297. Agricultural lands will be affected by the construction of transmission line towers. Livelihood of the farmers will be affected if there is a reduced access to the lands occupied by the towers. Community Health and Safety Hazards associated with transmission lines are: potential danger for electrocution, from direct contact with high voltage electricity or from contact with tools, vehicles, ladders that are in contact met high voltage transmission. 97 VIII. ENVIRONMENT AND SOCIAL MANAGEMENT PLAN 298. The ESMP describes actions to be taken in enough detail to provide a basis for subsequent auditing of compliance with commitments made in the ESIA process including who is responsible, how and when it will be implemented, what will be done and what results will be achieved, why it is being done, and how to know whether it is effective in addressing the underlying concerns. 299. The basic objective of the ESMP is to manage adverse impacts of proposed project interventions in a way that minimizes the adverse impact on the environment and people at the subproject sties. The specific objectives of the ESMP are to:  Outline the mitigation measures required for avoiding or minimizing the potential impacts identified in the ESIA.  Facilitate the implementation of the mitigation measures discussed earlier in the document.  Maximize potential project benefits and control negative impacts;  Draw responsibilities for BT, contractors, consultants, and other members of the project team for the environmental and social management of the Project;  Define a monitoring mechanism and identify monitoring parameters to: o Ensure the complete implementation of all mitigation measures, o Ensure the effectiveness of the mitigation measures; o Assess environmental training requirements for different stakeholders at various levels. 8.1. Inclusion of Relevant Components of ESMP into Detailed Design 300. The contractor, who prepare detailed engineering designs will be responsible to mainstream the environmental and social issues, identified in the ESIA, ESMP, in to the project design. These include design of facilities considering EMF and noise levels, and community safety; storm water drainage, septic tank and oil storage facilities to avoid soil and water pollution; land scaping among others. 8.2. Inclusion of Relevant Components of ESMP in Contract Documents 301. The ESMP of the subproject along with the ECPs will be included in the contractors bid documents. BT will ensure the contractor carries out his responsibility of implementing the mitigation measures, monitoring plan as well as other environmental and safety measures.   8.3. Environmental and Social Management 8.3.1 Environmental and Social Mitigation in Design 302. PMU will ensure that the detailed engineering designs proposed facilities will consider ESMP requirements identified in Annex 3 (design and pre-construction stage) in to the project designs. These include design of drainage, sewerage, landscaping, EMF and noise controls, safety barriers and signage, and traffic safety and signals, among others. PMU will include these requirements in the terms of references of the design engineering services. ESIC of PMU will be responsible for review and approval of these designs. 8.3.2. Environmental Codes of Practice for Construction 303. The environmental codes of practice (ECPs) are generic, non-site-specific guidelines for the construction phase. The ECPs consist of environmental and social management guidelines and practices to be followed by the contractors for sustainable management of all environmental issues. These ECPs are prepared based on the best industry practices and World Bank EHS guidelines. The contractor will be required to follow and use them to prepare site-specific management plans (discussed later in the Section). The ECPs are listed below and attached in Annex 4: 98 • ECP 1: Waste Management • ECP 2: Fuels and Hazardous Substances Management • ECP 3: Water Resources Management • ECP 4: Drainage Management • ECP 5: Soil Quality Management • ECP 6: Erosion and Sediment Control • ECP 7: Top Soil Management • ECP 8: Topography and Landscaping • ECP 9: Borrow Areas Management • ECP 10: Air Quality Management • ECP 11: Noise and Vibration Management • ECP 12: Protection of Flora • ECP 13: Protection of Fauna • ECP 14: Road Transport and Road Traffic Management • ECP 15: Construction Camp Management • ECP 16: Cultural and Religious Issues • ECP 17: Workers Health and Safety 8.3.3. Mitigations and Compliance Monitoring Plans 304. The mitigation and compliance monitoring plans are the key element of ESMP prepared based on the impact assessment described in Chapter 7. The Plan describe the potentially negative impacts of each subproject activity, lists mitigation and control measures to address the negative impacts, and assigns responsibilities for implementation and monitoring of these measures. The Plan is given in Table 39. 8.3.4. Construction Stage Site Specific Management Plans 305. Contractor will be required to prepare specific management plans, before contractor mobilization and commencement of construction works, for approval of PMU and CSC.  Pollution Prevention Plan will be prepared and implemented by the contractors based on the ECPs and WBG EHS Guidelines (2007).  Waste Disposal and Effluent Management Plan will be prepared and implemented by the Contractor based on the ESMP, ECP, and WBG EHS Guidelines (2007).  Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation Plan: Separate water supply and sanitation provisions will be needed for the temporary facilities including offices, labor camps and workshops in order not to cause shortages and/or contamination of existing drinking water sources.  Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Plan will be prepared and implemented by each contractor based on the WBG EHS Guidelines (2007), ECPs, and other relevant standards.  Quarry Area Management Plan will be prepared and implemented by each contractor based on the WBG EHS Guidelines (2007), ECPs, and other relevant standards. 99  Traffic Management Plan will be prepared by each contractor after discussion with BT and authorities responsible for roads and traffic. The Plan will be submitted to the CSC for their review and approval before contractor mobilization. The Plan will identify the routes to be used by the contractors, procedures for the safety of the local community particularly pedestrians, and monitoring mechanism to avoid traffic congestion.  Construction Camp Management Plan will be prepared by each contractor. The Plan will include the camp layout, details of various facilities including supplies, storage, and disposal.  Fuel and Hazardous Substances Management Plan will be prepared by each contractor in accordance with the standard operating procedures, WBG EHS Guidelines (2007) and other relevant guidelines, and where applicable, material safety data sheets (MSDS). The Plan will include the procedures for handling the oils and chemical spills.  Emergency Preparedness Plan will be prepared by each contractor after assessing potential risks and hazards that could be encountered during construction.  Communication Plan to deal with the interaction of the community, complaints management, workers recruitment, notice of works and workers conduct with locals. 8.4. Monitoring Program 306. As one of the key elements of the ESMP, a two-tier monitoring program has been proposed comprising compliance monitoring and effects monitoring. The main purpose of this monitoring program is to ensure that the various tasks detailed in the ESMP particularly the mitigation measures are implemented in an effective manner, and to evaluate program impacts on the key environment and social parameters. Both these types of ESMP monitoring are discussed below. 100 Table 39: Mitigation and Compliance Monitoring Plan Environmental Issues/Impacts/impact sources Responsibility and sustainability Mitigation Measures Execution Monitoring issue 1. Design and Pre-Construction Phase 1.1 Audible noise Audible noise will be generated by most of • Design of equipment and its layout will ensure noise Contractor PMU converter equipment during operation levels will comply with the national standards at offices and colony 1.2 EMF and radio EMFs will affect the health and radio • WHO endorsed standards on EMF and international Contractor PMU interference interferences will affect the standards on radio interference will be complied through telecommunications design considerations 1.3 Water supply, Lack of safe drinking and sanitation • Adequate safe drinking water, sanitation and storm Contractor PMU sanitation and facilities affect the health of BT staff water design, and fuel storage facilities will be designed drainage facilities working in the converter and electrode in the proposed converter and electrode stations stations • Sanitation facilities will be designed with septic tanks Improper treatment and disposal of and storm water drainage facilities will be designed with drainage and sewerage will affect soil and sedimentation ponds. water resources 1.4 Oil spills and Oils used in transformers and reactors, if • design oil containment and recuperation systems around Contractor PMU leaks leaked will contaminate soil and water all transformers, oil-filled reactors and capacitors 1.4 Land Acquisition of 68 ha of land from the • Cash compensation at replacement cost as per RAP BT PMU Acquisition and converter and electrode stations sites; • Livelihood restoration assistance External Resettlement Monitor 2. Construction Phase 2.1 Soil and Water Pollution from construction activities and • Implement ECPs 3, 4, 5 and 6 Contractor CSC, PMU Pollution storage facilities. • Sedimentation pods will be provided for collection of Waste water from construction camps, storm water drainage. For effluents to be discharged offices and warehouses. from workshops, camps, and offices, treatment Spillage of fuels, oils, and waste effluents arrangements such as retention ponds and septic tanks from workshops will be incorporated in the facility designs. Erosion from construction works 101 Environmental Issues/Impacts/impact sources Responsibility and sustainability Mitigation Measures Execution Monitoring issue 2.3 Air Quality • Emissions from construction related • Implement measures in ECP 10 Air Quality Management. Contractor CSC, PMU traffic and machinery. Dust generation will be restricted as much as possible and • Dust from works, other machinery, water sprinkling carried out as appropriate, especially concrete mixing, and traffic from trucks where earthmoving, and excavation are carried out. and vehicles. • Emissions from construction equipment and traffic will comply with NEQS. • Machinery and vehicles will be well maintained, and vehicles causing excess pollution will be banned from construction sites 2.4 Noise • High noise levels from vehicles, • Limit the noisy construction activities to daylight hours Contractor CSC, PMU machinery, concrete mixing, and other at residential areas construction activities may cause • Maintain the equipment and vehicles as per manufacturer nuisance to local community guidelines • Comply with NEQS and World Bank EHS guidelines 2.5 Waste • Waste will be generated from the • Implement the mitigation measures provided in ECPs for Contractor CSC, PMU construction activities including waste management, including hazardous waste construction sites and construction • Collection and disposal of waste in nearby municipal camps waste disposal facilities at project districts • Recyclable and hazardous waste will be disposed in coordination with environmental departments of the region 2.6 Procurement of • Dust and noise from material transport • No quarry sites will be developed by the project. Contractor CSC, PMU Quarry Material • Quarry and borrow material will be procured from the local market • Use only existing government approved quarry sites 2.7 Community • Community health and safety hazards at • Traffic management plan by the contractor in Contractor CSC, PMU Health and Safety the construction sites (dust, noise, traffic accordance with ECPs accidents, etc.) • Public will be barred from construction sites through access control 102 Environmental Issues/Impacts/impact sources Responsibility and sustainability Mitigation Measures Execution Monitoring issue • Establishing adequate facilities at the construction camp (mosque and entertainment) to minimize interaction between construction workers and local community 2.8 Workers Health • Exposure to physical hazards from use of • Implement ECP 17: Workers Health and Safety, ECP Contractor CSC, PMU and Safety heavy equipment, cranes; and electrical 16: Construction Camp Management hazards from the use of tools and • Appropriate PPE to the workers and training in use of machinery these PPEs • Trip and fall hazards • Trained workers will be involved when working with live wires, operating equipment and handling hazardous materials 3. Operation and Maintenance Phase 3.1 Generation of • Disposal of broken equipment, scrap • The material waste will be collected by the central BT and Station BT Waste material and used oils; and solid waste disposed in coordination with environmental department Operator from the offices of the region. • Disposal of solid waste in the nearby municipal disposal sites 3.2 Soil and • Leakage and spillage fuels, lubricants • Regular monitoring of transformers and oil storage areas Station BT groundwater and oils for leakages; and if noticed immediate containment of Operator pollution these facilities. • Oil storage facilities above bunded areas and covered on tope (to avoid rain and sunlight) with secondary containment areas; 3.3 Community • Drinking water supply and sanitation • Regular maintenance of water supply, sanitation and Station BT health and safety facilities for employees drainage facilities in the offices. Operator 3.4 Occupational • Occupational hazards associated with • Implement BT Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for Station BT health and safety handling of electrical equipment and Workers Health and Safety. Operator machinery. 103 8.4.1. Effects Monitoring 307. Effects monitoring is a very important aspect of environmental management to safeguard the protection of environment. The effects monitoring plan proposed for the subproject is presented in Table . The monitoring will comprise surveillance to check whether the contractor is meeting the provisions of the contract during construction and operation of the project including the responsible agencies for implementation and supervision. Compliance indicators or threshold limits for the monitoring are also given in Table 40. Monitoring required during design and pre-construction stage is also included in this table for easy reference. Table 40: Effects Monitoring Plan Monitoring Location Means of Compliance Frequency Responsible Agency Parameter/ Monitoring indicator/ Activity threshold limits Implement Super- ation vision During Construction Hydrocarbon Construction Visual No leakages from Monthly Contractor CSC and chemical camps and Inspection of the containers in storage and yards storage facilities the storage. handling Handling follows procedures to avoid spillages. Traffic Safety Access Roads Mobile Smooth flowing Monthly Contractor CSC monitoring for of traffic; and traffic placement of management traffic signs and flag-person Dust Construction Visual No dust Daily Contractor CSC sites inspection to generation from ensure good the construction standard activities equipment is in use and dust suppression measures (e.g., spraying of waters) are in place. Material Visual No dust Monthly Contractor CSC storage sites inspection to generation from ensure dust the material suppression storage sites work plan is being implemented Noise Construction Noise Compliance with Weekly Contractor CSC sites measurement NEQS standards. using potable Baseline data will noise meter; be established by contractor during pre-construction 104 Monitoring Location Means of Compliance Frequency Responsible Agency Parameter/ Monitoring indicator/ Activity threshold limits Implement Super- ation vision Waste Construction Waste Facilities are clean Monthly Contractor CSC Management camps and management as and waste construction per the approved collection and sites plan disposal facilities are in place Drinking water Camps, Testing of water NEQS drinking Annually Contractor CSC quality offices quality of water standards worker’s camp water supply for drinking water standards Cultural and At all work Visual Indication of Daily Contractor CSC, archeological sties observation for chance finds BT Sites chance finds Restoration of All Work Visual The facilities are After Contractor CSC, Work Sites Sites Inspection clean with no completion BT waste at the works of all works sites Safety of At work sites Usage of All workers Monthly Contractor CSC, workers Personal should be BT Monitoring Protective provided with, and and reporting equipment and use necessary accidents implementation PPEs of contractor OHS plan Grievances In the project Number of Minutes of Monthly PMU CSC, area grievances grievance redress BT registered and meetings addressed Labour related Within the Number of Minutes of Monthly PMU CSC, issues (hiring camp and grievances grievance redress BT of child labour; worksites registered and meetings conflicts with addressed community) During Operation and Maintenance Inspection as Stations Site Visual Comply with Monthly EHS officer BT per Standard Inspection of SOPs Operating environmental Procedures related issues Landscaping Stations Site Visual Aesthetical value Monthly EHS officer BT inspection Groundwater Upstream and Sampling and Close to the Annually (in EHS officer BT Quality downstream analysis of baseline data May, before of grid station groundwater monsoon) site samples 105 Monitoring Location Means of Compliance Frequency Responsible Agency Parameter/ Monitoring indicator/ Activity threshold limits Implement Super- ation vision Oil leakages Power Visual No oil leakages Weekly EHS officer BT around the Transformers inspection transformers Fire fighting Stations Site Visual Design intact and Weekly EHS officer BT system inspection operative Cleanliness Stations Site Visual Facilities are clean Weekly EHS officer BT Inspection with no garbage Workers and Stations Site Visual Use of necessary Monthly EHS officer BT community inspection on PPEs by workers health and health and safety safety issues Drinking water Stations Site Visual Availability of Monthly EHS BT and sanitation inspection and safe drinking Officer facilities interviews water and sanitation facilities EMF and Stations Site Equipment Comply with the Monthly EHS BT Noise levels standards Officer 8.5. Performance Indicators 308. For evaluating the performance of the environmental management and monitoring plan, performance indicators are identified for efficient and timely implementation of measures/actions proposed in ESMP. The indicators are defined both for implementation phase and for operation phase. CSC will be responsible for compiling the information on these indicators and report to BT. 309. To measure the overall environmental performance of the project, a list of performance indicators is given below:  Number of inspections carried out by CSC per month. (Target 4 per month)  Number of non-compliances observed by CSC or ESIC. (Target 100% of non-compliances recorded)  Availability of environmental specialists in CSC. Target 100% availability.  Availability of EHS specialists with contractors. (Target 100% availability)  Timely reporting of documents (as defined in ESMP and monitoring plan). (100% compliance with reporting period)  Number of trainings imparted to stakeholders/other capacity building initiatives  Timely disbursement of compensation/ timely resettlement of project affected households  Timely implementation of resettlement schedule.  Number of grievances received.  Number of community related issues  Number of labour related issues and complaints  Number of grievances resolved.  Number of construction’s related accidents. 106 8.6. Non-Compliances by the Contractors 310. Non-compliances by the contractors in implementation of the measures in the ESMP is now a major concern for all construction related projects in Pakistan. The major non-compliances noticed in BT projects are related to safety at the construction work place, non-usage of PPEs by the construction workers, lack of dust control measures, improper waste management, etc. If any non-compliances are noticed in the contractor’s work practices, the BT will generally follow the following steps to deal with the contractors: • Verbal instructions on the site for minor non-compliances • Issue of noncompliance notice to the contractor for major non-compliances and ask the contractor rectifies his mistake with the appropriate timeline • Suspension of the construction works if there are severe non-compliances and there is serious risk to the safety of the workers and damage to the environment. 311. Promotion of awareness on the environmental health and safety aspects to the contractor’s workforce, through the formal and informal training programs and toolbox talks is expected to improve the contractor’s and his worker’s behavior 8.7 Biodiversity Management plan 312. This Plan is aimed at relocation of the Central Asian tortoise found on the construction site of the CASA-1000 converter station in the Kushoniyon district of the Khatlon region. The detailed Biodiversity Management plan (BMP) with the cost estimation is presented in Annex 5. The plan (a) provides the baseline and results of the field surveys of the species in the project area; (b) describes the A. horsfieldii species and its habitat in Khatlon oblast of Tajikistan; (c) identifies potential impacts of the project activities on the species; (d) outlines actions and measures necessary for addressing adverse impacts with the focus on tortoise resettlement on new sites; (e) provides implementing arrangements of the BMP, along the roles and responsibilities of all involved parties13. 13 As proposed by the Plan all relocation activities have been done timely in the first part on May, 2019. 107 IX. INSTITUTIONAL ARRANGEMENTS 9.1. Implementing Agency 313. The Project Proponent – Barki Tojik which will be the designated project implementation agency responsible for the overall project implementation. The State Joint-Stock Holding Company “Barki Tojik” (BT) will be the Project owner/Executing Agency (EA). It manages issues of exploitation of electric stations and energy networks in the country, generation, transmission, distribution and realization (disposal) of electricity and heat energy. The capability “Barki Tojik” to prepare engineering designs and tender documents with environmental components is well developed. The overall responsibility for implementation of project activities will be with BT while certain implementation functions (including procurement) will be delegated to the PMU through the PIA. 9.2. Project Management Unit 314. To implement the Project, the Government of the Republic of Tajikistan set up the ‘Project Management Unit for Energy Sector’ (PMU). Within this PMU the Social Sector and Environmental Monitoring Department has been established. This department is responsible for foreign financed projects. 315. The organigram of the project' management in PMUES, is shown below – see Scheme 1. 108 Regional Power transmission project Проект по передаче электроэнергии грант АБР 0213-TAJ Project manager Проект по внедрению системы учета оптовых поставок электроэнергии и улучшению системы электропередачи грант АБР 0417-TAJ Deputy Director Project manager Проект Реконструкции Нурекской 500 кВ Подстанции грант АБР 0417-TAJ Региональный Проект Передачи Project manager электроэнергии Центральной и Южной Азии CASA 1000 Проект по восстановлению гидроэлектростанции «Сарбанд 240 МВт» Project manager Проект по Реконструкция подстанции Равшан 220/35/0 кВ Scheme 1: Organigram of the energy sector projects management of PMUES грант ИБР 0054-TAJrector of Centre Deputy Director Project manager Проект по Реконструкции и строительства линий электропередачи Director of PMUES 500 кВ в РРП Проект «Строительство второй очереди Душанбинской ТЭЦ-2 мощностью 2х150 Project manager 109 МВ HR Social and department department monitoring Department Custom affairs Correspondent environmental Accounting department department Supply Transfer department department department Department Procurement Constrcution 9.3. Organizational Layers of ESMP 316. The organizational layers of the ESMP include following:  “Barki Tojik”/PMUES –for overall environmental and social responsibility at the national level;  Project Environmental Officer for day-to-day implementation of environmental responsibility on behalf of the Barki Tojik;  PIC Contractor  Independent Environmental and Social Monitoring Consultant (IEMC) (see duties of IESM consultant in Chapter 9.6 below) 317. Barki Tojik”/PMUES will engage the services of a Project Environmental Officer (PEO), who will be the person responsible for overall coordination of ESMP implementation. The PEO must have professional knowledge and capacity on environmental management systems (EMS), construction impacts relating to transmission lines, and be knowledgeable of relevant national legislative requirements. The PEO reports directly to the Director of PMU and will be involved in regular liaison with the wider Project team, which includes World Bank specialist assistance. 318. The PEO, and any delegated personnel, have the authority to monitor and stop construction works if in his/her opinion there is/may be a serious threat or impact to the environment or local communities caused directly or indirectly by the construction operations. His/her authority shall also extend to emergency situations where consultation with the Construction Supervision Engineers of the Project Implementation Consultant (PIC) is not immediately possible. In all such work stoppage situations, the PEO is to inform the PIC of the reasons for the stoppage within 24 hours of occurrence of the non- compliant event. 319. Upon failure by the Contractor or their employees, or subcontractors, to show adequate consideration to the environmental and social aspects of the ESIA/ ESMP, the PEO may recommend to the PIC to have the Construction Contractor's representative or any employees removed from the work site, fined or suspend all work until the non-compliant matter is effectively remedied. No extension of time will be granted in the case of such suspensions and all costs will be borne by the Construction Contractor. The PEO should visit construction sites as required, but at least 2 times a month. 320. The duties of the PEO shall include the following:  Ensure that the ESMP is implemented in compliance with relevant legislation;  Assist the PMUES/Barki Tojik in ensuring that the necessary environmental and social authorizations and permits have been obtained;  Maintain open and direct lines of communication between Barki Tojik, the PIC and the Contractors regarding environmental and social matters;  Review and approve the Contractor’s construction method statements;  Organize regular site inspections of all construction areas regarding compliance with the ESMP;  Monitor and verify adherence to the ESMP and that environmental and social impacts are kept to a minimum;  Coordinate oversight and response to ESMP non-compliances with the PIC and ES; 110  Take appropriate action if the specifications are not followed;  Ensure, in case of any potential design changes as well as scope of project activities, additional works, preparation of additional assessment reports in form of due- diligence reports or updating of original IEE; and  Assist the Contractor in finding environmentally and socially responsible solutions to problems. 9.4. Construction Supervision Consultant 321. The Project Supervision Consultant (CSC) will ensure implementation of ESMP by the contractors. The PSC will have the following environmental staff to supervise and monitor the contractors for effective ESMP implementation:  Environmental, Health and Safety Specialist  Social Specialist 322. CSC contracted by PMUES are an important part of the Project team and are responsible for inspection, supervision, audits and oversight of all construction related works and other activities undertaken by the Contractor(s), and ultimately responsible for ensuring compliance with the environmental specification and contractual requirements. The role of environmental personnel in the PIC team is to provide support and guidance to the construction personnel, whilst conducting monitoring to assess the compliance to agreed performance, as specified in the ESMP following each ESIA. 323. The CSC shall include qualified staff with knowledge on environmental and social protection and construction project management to perform the required duties and to supervise the Contractor’s performance. The CSC team shall include an Environment Supervisor (ES) who shall have extensive experience in construction management and oversight, environmental management, supervision and monitoring of construction projects and be familiar with environmental and social legislatives requirements. The terms of Reference for the CSC shall be clearly stipulated in the contract signed between CSC and Barki Tojik. CSC will also include a dedicated Safety Supervisor, responsible for all safety aspects during construction, including traffic management, construction workers and potential interface of the public to construction operations. In practice in major construction projects there is some cross-over of roles and responsibilities between Safety and Environmental personnel, mainly in aspects such as hazardous materials, site housekeeping and the like, which trigger duel monitoring and reporting. Some contractors utilize the services of a joint Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) role, whilst others split the roles separately as Environmental and Safety. Considering the potential environmental issues, such as avifauna, water and soils resources it is recommended that a separate Environmental Supervisor or Officer is engaged, to deliver specialknowledge on environmental issues, in addition to a Safety Supervisor dealing with safety issues. 324. The responsibilities of the CSC and the ES include, but are not limited to:  Integrate project engineering design and the ESMP regarding environmental/social protection and impact mitigation. Construction shall not commence until this review has been completed and the PIC is satisfied with environmental and social management measures compliant with the ESMP;  Help the PEO as necessary in the implementation of the environmental monitoring and supervising program; 111  Regularly monitor the performance of the Contractor’s support staff, verifying monitoring methodologies and results. In case the PIC considers that any main Contractor’s and/or sub- Contractor’s environment staff fail to discharge duties or fails to comply with the contractual requirements, work with the PIC to instruct the sub-Contractor(s) to replace the staff or make other changes;  Instruct the Construction Contractors to take corrective action within the PIC determined response timeframe;  Supervise the Construction Contractor’s activities and ensure that the requirements of the ESMP and contract specifications are fully complied with;  Instruct the Contractor(s) to take actions to reduce impacts and follow the required ESMP procedures in case of identified non-compliance and/or discrepancies;  In the case of Chance Find identification, the PIC will order the sub-Contractor(s) to provide site protection and report to relevant authorities and the PEO;  Ensure that all social management procedures are fully implemented by the Contractors including oversight of compensation and resettlement and effective implementation of grievance procedures30; and  Adhere to the social management procedures 9.5 Contractors 325. Construction Contractor will be required to appoint at least one competent individual as the Contractor’s Site Environmental Officer (SEO), who will provide support to the ES. Relevant provision will be included to the bidding and contract documents. Environmental staff of Contractor/sub- Contractors will be site based and responsible for hands-on aspects such as toolbox talks, training, monitoring and site inspections. The SEO must be appropriately experienced in environmental management and must possess the skills necessary to ensure environmental management and performance measures to all company personnel. The qualifications and competence of the proposed SEO shall be approved by the PIC ES. The SEO will be responsible for overseeing the Contractor’s internal compliance with the ESMP requirements and ensuring that the environmental specifications are adhered to. The SEO will be a full- time ESMP employee of the Construction Contractor for the duration of the contract. 326. As well as, it should be noted that on the its base, before the commencement of construction works, Contractor is requested to prepare and submit Site-specific environmental management plan (SSEMP) and submit for PIC/PMU’s approval. The site access is not available, until the SSEMP is approved by PMU. 327. The Contractor shall comply with applicable national, provincial and local environmental laws and regulations. 328. The Contractor shall: a) Establish an operational system for managing environmental impacts, b) Carry out all monitoring and mitigation measures set forth in the Initial Environmental Examination and Environmental Management Plan; and, c) Contractor shall submit Semi-annual reports on the carrying out of such measures to the Employer/CSC/PMU. 112 329. More particularly, the Contractor shall comply with a) The measures and requirements set forth in the Environmental and Social Management Plan; b) Any corrective and preventative action set out in Safeguards monitoring reports that the monitoring specialist PIC/PMU will prepare from time to time to monitor and the Environmental and Social Management Plan implementation. 330. Employer/CSC/PMU will regularly inspect works undertaken by the Contractor to check the implementation of environmental management and monitoring requirements. Contractor is required to prepare a corrective action plan which is to be implemented by a date agreed with the Employer. In case of failure to prepare a plan of corrective actions or failure to comply with it within the required time, penalties should be applied. (it is needed to specify penalties in amount or specify in some way). 9.6 Independent Environmental Monitoring Consultant (IEMC) 331. To implement and be able to demonstrate transparent compliance to environmental (and social) agreed performance, the Barki Tojik will engage the services of an Independent Environmental and Social Monitoring Consultant, who will monitor and assess the overall environmental and social performance. The IESMC could be an individual or a Consultant with access to several skilled staff members. 332. The IESMC shall be a professionally accredited organization or individual directly appointed by Barki Tojik. The IESMC shall have extensive knowledge and experience in environmental and social monitoring and auditing to provide independent, objective and professional advice on the environmental and social performance of the project. The IESMC will prepare monitoring reports on ESMP implementation and submit these reports to the Barki Tojik for approval. However, the results of such monitoring and any actions recommended are to be made available in a transparent manner to the relevant Project stakeholders such as World Bank, to allow an independent remit to be delivered. 333. To minimize potential conflict of interests, the IEMC shall not be part of Barki Tojik or the Construction Supervision Team. 334. The IESMC will perform the following duties:  The IESMC shall familiarize himself with the project works through review of the reports, including the project ESIA, ESMP, RPF and any prepared RAPs;  Review and audit in an independent, objective and professional manner all aspects of the ESMP;  Validate and confirm the accuracy of monitoring results, monitoring equipment, monitoring locations, monitoring procedures and locations of sensitive receivers;  Carry out random sample checks and audits of monitoring data and sampling procedures, etc.;  Conduct random site inspections;  Audit the ESIA recommendations, commitments and requirements against the status of implementation of environmental and social protection measures;  Review the effectiveness of environmental and social mitigation measures and project environmental and social performance; 113  Verify the investigation results of any non-compliance of the environmental and social quality performance and the effectiveness of corrective measures; and  Submit audit results to the PEO, and ES according to ESMP procedures. 335. The roles and responsibilities of PMU and its consultants are presented in Table 41. Table 41: Roles and Responsibilities for ESMP Implementation Organizations Responsibilities PMU/NTDC • Overall responsibility of the ESIA implementation • Ensure that all project activities are well-managed and coordinated. • Applying for environmental clearance of the subproject from EPA • Procurement of works and goods. • Payment of compensation to the project affected people • Recruitment and supervision of Design Engineers and contractors • Recruitment and supervision of Construction Supervision Consultants (CSC) • Recruitment of external monitor • Ensure compliance with World Bank safeguards Social and • Review of engineering designs to ensure environmental issues identified Environmental in the ESMP have been considered in the facilities designs monitoring • Update of the ESMP part of the ESIA document based on the detailed department designs. within PMU/BT • Responsible for assisting in reviewing bid documents for inclusion of ESMP measures, supervising construction activities, producing periodic monitoring reports, • Ensuring inclusion of ESMP and ECPs in bidding documents • Providing training on ESMP principles and requirements to CSC, contractors, BT field staff, and others as needed to ensure effective implementation of ESMP • Supervising CSC for the implementation of ESMP • Closely coordinate with other concerned agencies, local governments and communities to support implementation of ESMP • Preparation of progress reports on implementation of ESMP. EHS Officer at • Responsible for implementing standard operating practices related to proposed environmental and social issues during operation stage of converter and Converter and grid station Electrode • Implementation of mitigation and monitoring measures during operation Stations stage of the grid station (water supply and sanitation, land-scaping, traffic safety, solid waste collection and disposal, OHS issues, etc.) Design Engineer • Design of storm water drains, sewage, and fuel storage facilities to avoid (Contractor) contamination of soil and water resources • Design of grid station facilities to avoid over exposure of EMF and noise • Design of safety barriers and signage to avoid electrocution • CSC • Supervise civil works, ensuring compliance with all design parameters including quality requirements • Supervising contractors for ESMP implementation • Prepare monthly reports and submit to PMU 114 Organizations Responsibilities • CSC will have dedicated environmental and social staff Contractor • Responsible for implementation of mitigation and monitoring measures proposed in the ESMP • Each contractor will recruit an Environmental, Health, and Safety (EHS) Manager and a social expert, who will be responsible for implementing the contractors’ environmental, health and safety responsibilities, implement the social mitigations at site, and liaising with government agencies. S/he will have adequate number of staff to support him/her for these tasks. M&E Consultant • External Monitoring and evaluation of EMP and RAP   9.7 Project Initiation and Staffing 336. It is anticipated that the CSC staff such as the ES, will be mobilized at least one month before the start of construction activities. The one month start up time will be utilized by the ES to review and familiarize itself with the project, the project design, the technical specifications, contract documents, the ESIA, ESMP and other project relevant documents and reports. Following the review, the ES will prepare a brief report on the potential issues and challenges arising from the implementation of the ESMP and the condition of contracts and make recommendations to the CSC about how best to improve the implementation of the ESMP, if necessary. The PEO is expected to be mobilized at the beginning of the contract, to prepare the necessary guidelines, documentation, training, etc. 337. The Construction Contractor shall ensure that the SEO is put in place prior to mobilization and provided with all resources and personnel necessary to complete their job as specified above. The IEMC is expected to be engaged prior to commencement of construction, to develop the monitoring and reporting arrangements. 9.8 Grievance Redress Mechanism 338. To date, PMU ES puts considerable efforts to prevent and/or address grievances within the implemented projects. While the existing GRMs under various projects are devised to comply with the national legislation as well as the international standards, they typically address both environmental and social issues (the latter mostly arise from LAR process). Complaints and grievances can be addressed through the following steps and actions as per the existing GRM mechanisms established by the PMU ES: First Step: A joint Project Grievance Redress Committee for concerned Hukumats is established. It includes two members of the affected community (including AP’s and non-APs), one representative of each concerned Jamoat and one representative of each Hukumat Land Management Committees, to be chaired by one of the Hukumat representatives (to be agreed upon internally by the relevant Hukumats). Grievances must be heard and resolved within 14 days of submission of the complaint. Second Step: If the Project Level Grievance Redress Committee is not able to resolve the grievance within a 14-day period, the complaints should be presented via the BT Rayon representative to BT PMU at a central level. The elected representatives of the AF will have the opportunity to mediate by providing their written comments and proposals to the PMU. The Director of the PMU will make a final decision after the assessment of the case and a careful 115 preparation of the decision by the PMU resettlement representative. Grievances must be heard and resolved within 7 days of submission of the complaint. Third Step: If no solution is reached within 14 days at BT PMU level, the APs can further submit their case to the appropriate court of law. The Grievance Logs along with the Grievance Redress Forms are maintained on site with all the complaints registered in the logs and tear-off stubs left with the APs to allow for adequate and transparent grievance redress process. While applying the Grievance Redress Mechanism, APs can seek support from the BT PMU resettlement representative who might be assisted by the national and international consultants. The leaflets containing information on the Project as well as contact addresses/phone numbers are shared and available at the level of each concerned Jamoat and communities. It is recommended to apply the available and successfully implemented GRM under the proposed CASA-1000 Project with the district level GRCs at every relevant districts covered by the T/L route and a centrally coordinated GRC at the BT/PMU ES level. The PSC will help the BT/PMU ES to smooth run, monitor and report on the GRM. The GRM log will include information on what actions have been undertaken, what is outstanding, and who was responsible for each action. Status of GRM, highlighting open cases, will be included in project reports. 116 Complaint received from Citizen Complaints resolution will be attempted at village level by the commission which consist of: 1. Two representatives from affected village 2. One representative from every jamoat 3. One representative from State Committee for Land Management and Geodesy of the Republic of Tajikistan Processing time : 14 days YES NO Complaint settled If still unsettled, a grievance can then be lodged through local representatives of “Barqi Tojik” to the PMUES who has 7 days to decide on the case YES NO Complaint settled Should the grievance redress system fail to satisfy the AP, they can further submit their case to the appropriate court of law Report and statistics END 117 9.9. Assessment of BT Capacity and proposed capacity building 339. A key component of ESMP success depends of effective performance, which may require capacity building of Barki Tojik staff and the construction contractors and possibly national consultants. 340. Considering that the existing capacity of Barki Tojik to manage ESMP issues is average and their management systems and stakeholder engagement requires further improvement; an institutional strengthening and training program will be developed by the PIC in collaboration with the PMU. The program will focus on guiding the proponent (specifically Barki Tojik), contractors on the implementation of the ESMP, in relation to the WB’s and Tajikistan’s environmental, health and safety laws, regulations and policies. Training will be delivered by the PMU and the PIC environmental specialist. 341. The PMU and the CSC will ensure that the training and capabilities of the contractors’ site staff are adequate to carry out the designated tasks prior to the commencement of construction. This will be achieved by having the staff in question prepare the site specific ESMP as part of the training program. A budget has been allocated in the ESMP cost estimate for trainings. 342. Capacity building for effective implementation of the environmental and social safeguard requirements is a key element of the EMP. Capacity building for environmental and social safeguard management will need to be carried out at all tiers of the project, including BT, PMU, CSC, and contractors. At the construction site, CSC will take the lead in implementing the capacity building plan, though the contractors will also be responsible to conduct trainings for their own staff and workers. The various aspects that are covered under the capacity building will include general environmental and social awareness, key environmental and social sensitivities of the area, key environmental and social impacts of the project, EMP requirements, OHS aspects, and waste disposal. Table 42 provides a summary of various aspects of the environmental and social trainings to be conducted at the construction site. PMU may revise the plan during the project implementation as required. 343. During the O&M phase of the project, these trainings will continue to be conducted by BT staff for all relevant O&M personnel. Table 42: Environmental and Social Trainings Contents Participants Responsibility Schedule Monitoring the implementation of Environmental Through Prior to the start of Environment Management & Social and social training construction Action Plan. monitoring staff institutions activities and to be Management Information System of PMU and BT repeated (if needed) (keeping track of what needs to be during project done when). implementation Grievances Redress Mechanism, and how to deal with the community grievances. General environmental and PMU; CSC Prior to the start of socioeconomic awareness; CSC; selected the field activities. Environmental and social sensitivity contractors’ (To be repeated of the project influence area; crew every six months) Mitigation measures; 118 Contents Participants Responsibility Schedule Community issues and workers’ code of conduct; Grievance Mechanism; EMP Awareness of transmissible diseases Social and cultural values. ESMP; Construction Contractors Prior to the start of Waste disposal; crew the construction OHS activities. (To be repeated as needed.) Road safety; Drivers; Contractors Before and during Defensive driving/ the field operations. Waste disposal; (To be repeated as Cultural values and social sensitivity. needed.) Camp operation; Camp staff Contractors Before and during Waste disposal; the field operations. OHS (To be repeated as Natural resource conservation; needed.) Housekeeping. Restoration requirements; Restoration Contractors Before the start of Waste disposal. teams the restoration activities. 9.10. Reporting 344. The PMU with assistance from CSC and contractors will produce the following environmental reporting documentation: Environmental Monitoring Reports: The quarterly and semi-annual environmental monitoring reports will include environmental mitigation measures undertaken, environmental monitoring activities undertaken, details of monitoring data collected, analysis of monitoring results particularly the non- compliances, recommended mitigation and corrective measures, environmental training conducted, and environmental regulatory violations observed. Project Completion Environmental Monitoring Report: At the end of the construction contract, the PMU will submit a Project Completion Environmental Monitoring Report which will summarize the overall environmental impacts from the project. 345. Contractor will be responsible for submitting to Barki Tojik and CSC a monthly environmental/ social report on the status and effectiveness of overall environmental and social mitigation and management compliance. Reports shall be produced through the course of implementation of monitoring programs, collecting incident/grievances for ms, consulting with local authorities and community representatives and auditing performance of existing programs/mitigation measures within the ESIA and ESMP 346. Details on reporting are provided in table below. 119 Table 43: Reporting Types Responsibility Type of Report Purpose of Reporting Frequency of Submit to: Submission Construction Accidents/Incident Filing/notification Within 24 hours of PEO Supervision Report accidents or unplanned the incident Engineer (EPC) events. Non-compliance Detail the cause, nature Within one week of PEO Report and effect of any the event environmental and/or socio- economic non- compliant event and remedial action PEO, copy to Chance Discovery prescribed. Within 24 of Ministry of Culture Report archaeological site, Documentation and old human remains or PEO Monthly Compliance registry of newly artefact Report discovered artefacts Report of compliance Report to the and non-compliance Construction Supervision measures on a Team monthly basis Environmental and Daily Compliance Checklist of Daily Contractor Social Supervisors Checklist environmental and social (ES) compliance of Monthly Compliance construction Monthly Contractor Report Monthly report of compliance within 10 days of receipt of report from ES Contractor Project ESMP updates, For approval prior to As required, prior to Barki Tojik Environmental including any changes implementation implementation (PMUES) Officer (PEO) in management or monitoring procedures Key changes in Ensure compliance with As required, prior to Barki Tojik project activities that environmental regulatory implementation (PMUES) may trigger approvals received from Environmental and/or IEMC Social Approvals Dependent on Barki Tojik Monthly summary of environmental (PMUES) Environmental and non- compliances and parameter: weekly, social monitoring remedial actions monthly, quarterly or reports annually Barki Tojik Monthly (PMUES), Monthly compliance report 120 Sub-Contractors Registers Develop reporting On-going Contractor registers on access roads, waste management, non- compliances and other matters that require on- Daily Compliance going reporting Daily Internal Report Walk-around and site inspection to ensure Monthly Contractor, copy Monthly Compliance compliance with to PEO of Report management sub-plans PMUES on a daily basis Monthly summary of non- compliances, remedial actions and observations on management plans Social Safeguard Land Acquisition and Ensure On-going PEO, NTC Team of Barki Tojik Resettlement resettled/displaced Framework households’ transition Resettlement Action successfully into Plan resettled sites. Ensure adequate compensation for project related damages or losses Barki Tojik Quarterly Summary of 4 times a year WB and IGC Environmental and environmental and social Social Performance reports to World Bank Report and to the IGC in each Project country, or to another appropriate reporting agency 9.11. Budget 347. The cost of all compensation and rehabilitations works will be an integrated part of the overall sub-project cost, which will be borne by the sub-project. These costs will be covered by Barki Tajik and contractors. Detailed cost estimates for implementation of mitigation measures given in EMP are is given in Table 44. Table 44: Summary of Estimated Costs for ESMP Implementation of the Project Item Total Cost (US$) PMU Environment and Social Specialist To be determined by BT (proposed sum is 60000) CSC International and National Environment and Social Specialists To be determined by BT (proposed sum is 100000) Monitoring of environmental quality (air and noise) 15000 121 Contractors cost for preparation and implementation of site-specific 100 000 environmental management plans, including implementation of mitigation measures given in the EMP. Hiring of Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) Officer throughout construction period of the subproject Implementation of the Biodiversity conservation plan 19400 Training Program (On-site trainings, Offsite trainings, Local capacity 100000 building, Equipment and logistics) Chance Finds Procedures and Cultural Property Salvage. 50,000 Allocation available for 3rd party mobilisation on call-out basis to attend site and address chance finds, conservation etc. Birds protection measures - 20000 or part of contract with Contractor Restoration, land scaping, and other enhancement activities 100000 Environmental Monitoring Equipment (noise, EMF) 40000 Contractor’s Environmental personnel Included to the contract of Contractor Note: Cost estimates are indicative only. 122 X. PUBLIC CONSULTATIONS AND DISCLOSURE 10.1. Consultation Meetings 10. The Project Management Unit (PMU) on 12 June 2017, conducted consultations public consultations with the affected communities in both Kushoniyoun and Vakhsh districts, where electrode and converter stations are located. Public consultations were conducted with purpose to share the results of ESIA with the local communities for their feedback and comments. The draft ESIA in English and Russian languages was posted on the websites of the “Barki Tojik” (http://www.barkitojik.tj/en/activity/projects/335/197375/index.php) on 29th May 2019 for consideration and comments by stakeholders, and for access to the general public, prior to these public consultations. The executive summary of the ESIA was translated to Russian and were disclosed in BT website, disseminated to jamoats of the project districts and made available to the local communities. 11. Public consultations minutes with the questions asked by stakeholders and answers of PMUES along the attendance sheets of the participants of public consultations, conducted in Kushoniyon and Vakhsh districts, are provided in Annex 7. Affected people, landowners, and village authorities attended the public consultation sessions. Specific emphasis was given to women participants to ensure that gender concerns are addressed in the project. Main questions were on After public consultations, the draft document was revised taking into account received comments. The final version of the ESIA document will be posted on the website of the PMU of the MEWR and disclosed on the World Bank website. 123 ANNEXES 124 ANNEX 1 A. MAIN COMPONENTS AND EQUIPMENT SUPPLY & INSTALLATION OF BI-POLE HVDC CONVERTER STATION IN TAJIKISTAN, ASSOCIATED WITH CASA 1000 A HVDC TERMINAL EQUIPMENT A.1 Thyristor Valves (Quadruple) A.2 Converter Transformers (1-ph, 3-wdg) A.2.1 Converter Transformers including all accessories (Main) without Oil A.2.2 Converter Transformer Oil A.2.3 On-line Gas Monitoring System A2.4 Bushing Sealing Material A.3 Control, Protection and SCADA for HVDC System A.4 Smoothing Reactor, Pole (HV) Bus (including insulators) A.5 DC Filter Equipment A.6 DC Current Measuring Devices A.7 DC Voltage Divider A.8 Other DC Switchyard Equipment A.8.1 Pole Bus Disconnector A.8.2 Neutral Bus Disconnector A.8.3 Grounding Switches (Valve Hall Earthing Switches) A.8.4 Neutral Bus Switch A.8.5 DC Arresters A.8.5.1 DC Bus Arresters A.8.5.3 DC Neutral Arrester A.8.6 Wall Bushings A.8.7 Commutation Switches A.8.7.1 Metallic Return Transfer Breaker (MRTB) A.8.7.2 Ground Return Transfer Switch (GRTS) A.8.7.3 Neutral Bus Grounding Switch (NBGS) A.8.8 Erection Hardware for Valve Hall and DC Yard Equipment A.9 Communication Equipment A.10 Key Interlocking System B AC SWITCHYARD EQUIPMENT B.1 AC Switchyard Equipment for HVDC B.2 AC Systems/Sub-Station Equipment B.2.1 Transformer - In Cobra Scope B.2.2 LT Transformer B.2.3 500 kV Equipment B.2.3.1 550 kV AC Circuit Breakers (3 phase unit)- In Cobra Scope B.2.3.2 550 kV Current Transformers (1ph unit)- In Cobra Scope B.2.3.3 550 kV Capacitive Voltage Transformer (CVT's (1ph unit) - In Cobra Scope B.2.3.4 550 kV Isolators B.2.3.5 AC Arresters B.2.3.6 PLCC for AC System 125 B.2.3.6.1 Line Traps-- In Cobra Scope B.2.3.6.2 PLCC Equipment (for one end) - In Cobra Scope B.2.3.7 Energy Meter- In Cobra Scope B.2.3.8 Emergency Control Device (ECD) B.2.3.9 Erection Hardware Bus Post Insulators & Insulator Strings, Disc Insulators, Hardware, Spacers, Conductor(s), Bus-bar Material, Cable Trays, Bay MB, Consumable for Energy Meter, Clamps, Connectors including B.2.3.9.1 Equipment Connectors, Junction Box, Earthwire, Earthing Material, Risers, Auxiliary Earthmat (excluding main earthmat), Buried/RCC Cable Trenches/Pipes for Equipment & Lighting, all accessories etc for the following- In Cobra Scope B.2.3.10 500kV D-Type Layout- B.2.3.10 Line Bay B.2.3.10.1 Transformer Bay B.2.3.10.2 Spare Bay of half dia. B.2.3.10.3 Bus (One and half breaker scheme) B.2.3.10.4 Bus-Section Bay B.2.3.10.5 Converter Transformer and AC Filter Bank Bays B.2.4 220 kV Equipment - In Cobra Scope B.2.4.1 245 kV Circuit Breaker (3 phase) with Support Sructure B.2.4.2 245 kV Current Transformer B.2.4.3 245 kV Capacitive Voltage Transformer (1-Phase) B.2.4.4 245 kV Isolator (3-phase) Double Break B.2.4.5 Digital PLCC (220 kV) B.2.4.6 Erection Hardware (220 kV) B.2.4.7 220 kV DMT Scheme Layout (Sangtuda) B.2.4.8 66 /35/33 kV EQUIPMENT (Including for HVDC & Electrode Line Charging) B.2.4.8.1 66 kV Circuit Breaker B.2.4.8.2 33 kV Single Pole Breaker (As per Amnd-93) B.2.4.9 66/33 kV Isolator (For LT Transformer as applicable) B.2.4.10 Surge Arresters (Gapless) B.2.5 Control & Relay Panels- In Cobra Scope B.2.5.1 500 kV (Simplex type panels) B.2.5.1.1 Circuit Breaker Relay Panel B.2.5.2 220 kV (Simplex type panels) B.2.5.2.1 Circuit Breaker Relay Panel B.2.5.3 Other/Common Equipments pertaining to C&R System B.3 Other Equipment B.3.1 Erection Hardware for HVDC AC Yard Equipment- In Cobra Scope 126 B.3.2 Substation Automation System for S/S Bays interfacing with HVDC B.3.3 500 kV AC Yard Equipment Interfacing at HVDC Equipment/System B.3.3.1 Erection Hardware for AC Yard Equipment OTHER EQUIPMENT (NOT COVERED ABOVE) REQUIRED FOR OPERATING HVDC C TERMINAL FOR BIPOLE OPERATION AS PER Employer's Requirement C.1 Diesel Generator Set- In Cobra Scope Station Grounding/Lightning Material (for AC Yard, DC Yard, Valve Halls, GIS Halls, C.2 Service Building and all other buildings) - In Cobra Scope C.3 Business Centre (Sangtuda) C.4 LT Switchgear - In Cobra Scope C.5 Battery & Battery Chargers - In Cobra Scope C.6 MV Switchgear & 35/33 kV System - In Cobra Scope C.7 Illumination System - In Cobra Scope C.8 Fire Detection and Fighting System C.9 Power and Control Cables- In Cobra Scope C.10 Air Conditioning and Ventilation System - In Cobra Scope C.11 Public Address System- In Cobra Scope C.12 Water Treatment Plant/Supply System- In Cobra Scope C.13 Oil Handling System- In Cobra Scope Oil Filteration Equipment, Dry Air Generator, Mobile Tank 20 kl, Oil Storage (Stationary) Tank (capacity of 60% of largest transformer of relevant station), Oil Test Laboratory consisting of 1. ppm/ moisture content measurement kit for oil. 2. Transformer oil dielectric strength measuring instrument 3. Acidity measuring instrument 4. Interfacial tension measuring instrument 5. Sludge content measuring instrument 6. Flash point measuring instrument with accessories Transformer Oil Processing Plant, Circuit Breaker SF6 Gas Filling and Evacuation Plant C.14 Valve Cooling System C.15 Building Management System- In Cobra Scope C.16 Surveillance System- In Cobra Scope C.17 Station Maintenance and Handling Equipment C.18 Fault Locator C.19.1 Testing & Maintenance equipment C.20 Computer Program/Software D SITE WORKS-In COBRA Scope D.1 Site Works D.1.1 Roads & Rail D.1.2 Fencing and Gates D.1.3 Storm Water Drainage D.1.4 Sewerage D.1.5 Antiweed Treatment 127 D.1.6 Site Surfacing with Gravel D.1.7 Site Surfacing with PCC D.2 Foundation including of excavation, PCC, RCC, backfilling & disposal of surplus earth.) D.3 Trenches including excavation, PCC, RCC backfilling & disposal of earth) D.3.1 Cable Trenches, Ducts & Hume Pipe D.3.2 Cable Racks/Trays, Indoor D.3.3 Cable Racks, Outdoors D.3.4 Cable Conduits, Outdoors (Including PVC/GI) D.3.5 Burried Cable Trench for Auxiliary Power D.4 Buildings Foundation D.4.1 Control and Service Building D.4.2 Valve Hall D.4.3 Valve Hall Ventilation & Cooling D.4.4 Auxiliary Buildings (MV/LV Switchgear, Pump House, DG Room) D.4.5 ARB/FRB Building D.4.6 Stores and Office D.4.7 Diesel Holding Tank (12.5 KL) D.5 Material D.5.1 Stone Filling (40 mm size) for Converter Transformer D.5.2 Hume Pipe of grade (NP-2, 3, 4) excluding concrete and reinforcement D.5.3 Water Pump D.5.4 Structural Steel D.5.4.4 Steel Structures for Gantry, Lightning Mast, AC & DC Equipment Support D.6 Miscellaneous (Oil Collection System and Pit, Rain Water Harvesting, Fire Water Reservoir) D.7 Civil Works AIS Substation (As per technical specification) D.7.1 Civil Works All civil works as per drawing and specification including excavation, PCC, RCC and D.7.1.1 reinforcement, superstructure and external finishing of following buildings D.7.1.2 Foundation including of Excavation, PCC, RCC, backfilling & disposal of surplus earth) D.7.1.3 Trenches (AIS Area) D.7.1.3.1 Cable Trenches & Ducts D.7.1.4 Road works including all civil works D.8 Material D.9 Steel Structure AIS Substation 128 ANNEX 1 B. MAIN COMPONENTS AND EQUIPMENT SUPPLY & INSTALLATION FOR ELECTRODE STATION IN TAJIKISTAN ASSOCIATED WITH CASA 1000 ELECTRODE STATION MANDATORY SPARES Spares for HVDC Equipment Converter Transformer related Spares Converter Transformer complete with Bushings, Coolers, OLTC, Conservator Tanks, Oil, Protective and Monitoring Devices etc., as applicable. Spares Thyristor Valves & Cooling Spares Bushings (Wall Bushing, Converter Transformer Bushing) Smoothing Reactors DC Current Transformers (Complete DC Current Transformer along with all accessories including electronics) DC Voltage Dividers DC Switches DC Yard Disconnectors Valve Hall Grounding Switch HVAC Circuit Breakers (500 & 220 kV) HVAC Isolators with Operating Mechanism (500 & 220 kV) HVDC Connectors AC & DC Surge Arresters for HVDC Converter (some have installed spares) AC Current Transformers (AC Filter Sub-Bank 500 kV CTs, Main AC Current Transformers (500 & 220 kV), Filter Bank and all Arrester CT's, DC Filter CT's, Optical CT's) Capacitive Voltage Transformer (Main AC Capacitive Voltage Transformers (500 & 220 kV) , Capacitive Voltage Transformer (Valve Timing CVT) Cards , Relays and Contactors for C&P Panels, Communication Panel & Transformer Panel, SDH Equipment Modules for Control, Protection, Communication, Annunciation, Alarm, Scada & Monitoring including Power Supply Module Video Projection Systems Power Supply Module LED Light Source Module Capacitor Units AC and DC Filter Reactors PLC/RI Filter Reactors Electrode Line Protection Reactors AC and DC Filter Resistors Converter Transformer Oil - 40 kL Spare SF6 Gas ( 20% of total gas) Spares for Fire Fighting Equipment, Air Conditioning and Ventilation, Water Treatment, for L T Transformer Building Management System Illumination System Station UPS Cable System, Relay & Protection Panels,Auto Transformer PLCC Equipments (AC) PLCC Equipments (HVDC) Erection Hardware Items, Insulators Automation System (MACH) etc. Spares for AC Switchyard Equipment for Substation Lifting equipment with slings of various sizes and load capacities SF6 Leak Detector Optical Fiber Cable Fault Locator Set (OTDR-Optical Time Domain Reflector) Precision Multi-meter Off Line Fault Locator (each for HV and electrode line) Leakage Current Meter for Arrester-In COBRA Scope Tools and Plant for Transformer Set of Trolleys (for Converter Transformers) -In COBRA Scope Portable Multigas Analyser (for Transformer) Tools for CB and Leak Detector 129 ANNEX 2. CONCLUSION OF THE ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF TAJIKISTAN 130 131 132 133 ANNEX 3: ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIAL MANAGEMENT PLAN (ESMP) Project activities Impacts Proposed Mitigation measures Implementation /aspect/component Responsibility DESIGN / PRE-CONSTRUCTION PHASE Construction activities in Safety hazards to workers Development and implementation of a site specific EHS Plan Contractor general Land Acquisition and Temporary and permanent removal of the Ensure that RAP is completed and implemented before Contractor starts Barki Tojik/PMU/ Compensation land from the land owners and its uses work. Contractor ‐ Resettlement ‐ Cash compensation at replacement cost and market rates for land ‐ Impact on assets, including economic as per RAP. livelihood Land Acquisition and ‐ Disturbance for local people Monitor and address complaints as per Grievance Redress mechanism Barki Tojik/PMU execution of works Dissatisfaction for compensations which is established and functional. (surveying, soil Impact on income and livelihood Additional cash compensation and livelihood assistance as per RAP investigations) sources of converter and electrode stations affected households (2 households with complete loss of land) Converter and electrode Audible noise will be generated by Contractor will design (i) equipment that generate low sound levels, (ii) Contractor equipment during most of converter and electrode equipment layout to minimize the acoustic noise and (iii) acoustic operation equipment during operation barriers (walls or enclosures) wherever necessary to maintain noise levels that comply with national standards at offices, and residential colony and at periphery of the station. Exposure to Electro Exposure to Electro Magnetic Fields WHO endorsed standards on EMF and noise levels will be complied ‐ Contractor Magnetic Fields (EMF) (EMF) and radio interferences from the through design considerations. These include adequate spacing between converter and electrode station the equipment and fencing/boundary wall or right of way. International equipment (EMFs will affect the health standards on radio interferences will also be complied with. and radio interferences will affect the telecommunications). Safe drinking and Improper design of these facilities pose Contractor will design (i) water supply facilities including facilities for ‐ Contractor sanitation facilities to the risk to workers’ health and safety. firefighting and cooling, (ii) sanitation facilities with septic tanks, and offices, firefighting and (iii) storm water management facilities with sedimentation ponds and cooling, and storm water connecting them to local streams. design drainage facilities in the converter and electrode stations. 134 Transformers, reactors Oil spills and leaks from the Contractor will design oil containment and recuperation systems around Contractor and capacitors transformers, reactors and capacitors all transformers, reactors and capacitors (these spills have potential to contaminate soil and water resources) CONSTRUCTION PHASE Execution of works ‐ Disturbance for local people ‐ Grievance Redress mechanism established and functional ‐ PMU ‐ Contractor Site works ‐ All environmental and social impacts ‐ Contractor’s Environmental and Social Management and Monitoring ‐ Contractor Plan is prepared and followed. ‐ PMU to approve and monitor Site clearance and ‐ Loss of topsoil ‐ Conserve and stock top soil separately for use in site landscaping. ‐ Contractor levelling works ‐ Increase in suspended solids and ‐ Compact and cover excavated material stock pile especially during the ‐ Environmental turbidity in receiving drainage rainy season. specialist of PMU to systems ‐ Add a silting basin at the end of the main drain prior to discharge. monitor safeguards ‐ Increase in air pollution from ‐ Wet or cover the excavated soil pile and dusty construction materials implementation suspended particulates from soil such as sand, lime etc. during the dry season to reduce dust. carried and left on the road by trucks ‐ Wet the work area and other areas with exposed surfaces to reduce dust. used in construction ‐ Wash truck wheels before leaving the site, construction trucks should be ‐ Soil erosion, landslides, mudflow properly covered while on transit. ‐ Commonly applied good engineering and construction practices ‐ Special slope protection measures must be adopted on erosion prone slopes Construction equipment ‐ Grease and oil from leaks and ‐ Periodic check up and maintenance of equipment especially oil ‐ Contractor spillage affecting surface and ground seals, proper training and supervision of persons operating the ‐ Environmental water quality and soil contamination equipment to report leaks, adsorbent mats, removal of contaminated specialist of ‐ Noise from heavy equipment soil. PMU to monitor ‐ Fence the work area. All equipment should be provided with safeguards mufflers and noise reduction equipment. implementation ‐ Noisy equipment and activity should be done only at daytime and if it is not possible prior notice should be given to the neighboring areas. ‐ Admissible noise level into the living area, both inside and outside the buildings (IFC General EHS Guidelines 2007). Construction activities - ‐ Pollution from construction activities ‐ Implement ECPs 3, 4, 5 and 6 ‐ Contractor Soil and Water Pollution and storage facilities. ‐ Sedimentation pods will be provided for collection of storm water ‐ Environmental ‐ Waste water from construction camps, drainage. For effluents to be discharged from workshops, camps, specialist of PMU offices and warehouses. and offices, treatment arrangements such as retention ponds and to monitor ‐ Spillage of fuels, oils, and waste septic tanks will be incorporated in the facility designs. safeguards effluents from workshops implementation 135 ‐ Erosion from construction works Construction Waste generation and disposal ‐ Implement the mitigation measures provided in ECPs for waste ‐ Contractor (materials and solid waste) management, including hazardous waste ‐ Environmental ‐ A waste management hierarchy that consider prevention, reduction, specialist of PMU reuse, recovery, recycling, removal and finally disposal of wastes to monitor should be considered. Final disposal must be undertaken in an safeguards environmentally sound manner. implementation ‐ Recyclable and hazardous waste will be disposed in coordination with environmental departments of the region ‐ Solid waste generated at the campsites will be properly treated and safely disposed of only in the demarcated waste disposal sites. Construction Waste Management; motor oil and ‐ Used motor oil and other hazardous liquid waste should be stored on ‐ Contractor other hazardous liquids sealed areas with proper containments. ‐ Waste oil and other hazardous liquid must be transported and disposed ‐ Environmental by licensed companies according to National regulations. specialist of PMU ‐ Contractor will be required to instruct and train their workforce in the to monitor storage and handling of materials and chemicals including concrete safeguards that may cause soil contamination implementation Site works and construction ‐ Health and safety; ‐ Proof of age will be required prior to employment. ‐ Contractor ‐ Employment of minors and women ‐ Limit outside workers by giving locals priority in employment. ‐ Environmental for unsuitable task External workers hired must have proper medical examination prior specialist of PMU ‐ Spread of contagious and to employment. New workers will be properly briefed on the basics to monitor communicable diseases by outside of how common communicable and contagious diseases are spread, safeguards workers symptoms and effects. The Contractor will retain a physician who implementation could be contacted or would give the personnel regular check up. Safety issues • Exposure to physical hazards from use• Appropriate PPE to the workers and training in use of these PPEs ‐ Contractor of heavy equipment, cranes; and ‐ Trained workers will be involved when working with live wires, electrical hazards from the use of tools operating equipment and handling hazardous materials and machinery • Trip and fall hazards Occupational Health, accidents, hazards ‐ Implement ECP 17: Workers Health and Safety, ECP 16: Construction ‐ Contractor and other work area related concerns Camp Management • Workers should be properly briefed on proper work conduct, chain of ‐ Environmental command and responsibilities, and action to take during an emergency. specialist of PMU • Appropriate PPE to the workers and training in use of these PPEs to monitor ‐ Trained workers will be involved when working with live wires, safeguards operating equipment and handling hazardous materials implementation ‐ HSE training is compulsory for all workers. 136 ‐ Key personnel will be trained on first aid. Periodic drills will be carried out. ‐ Teams and personnel with good safety record will be properly acknowledged. ‐ Agreement with local hospitals ‐ PPE, first aid kit, and alarm system should be provided and used in the construction activity. ‐ Hearing protection devices shall be used when 80 dB(A) is exceeded. Site works ‐ Fire ‐ Proper fire-fighting equipment available. ‐ Contractor ‐ Grounding of equipment, provision of interlock, and automatic ‐ Environmental power cut off. specialist of PMU ‐ Equipment are properly labeled, and procedures defined in case of to monitor fire such as isolation of other equipment. safeguards ‐ External support such as the local fire department and civil defense implementation offices. ‐ Drills and exercises to test personnel preparedness for fire and other emergency. Construction activities – Emissions from construction related • Implement measures in ECP 10 Air Quality Management. Dust ‐ Contractor air quality traffic and machinery. Increase of air generation will be restricted as much as possible and water sprinkling pollutants such as PM2.5, sulfur carried out as appropriate, especially where earthmoving, and dioxide, nitrogen oxides from heavy excavation are carried out. trucks • Emissions from construction equipment and traffic will comply with NEQS. Dust from works, other machinery, ‐ Machinery and vehicles will be well maintained, and vehicles causing concrete mixing, and traffic from trucks excess pollution will be banned from construction sites and vehicles. Site works and construction ‐ Grease, oil and fuel from leaks and ‐ Use new vehicles and machinery, proper maintenance, use ‐ Contractor spillage affecting surface and ground catalysators, turn off engines when possible, National emission water quality and soil contamination standards should be followed. ‐ Environmental ‐ Periodic check-up and maintenance of equipment especially oil seals, specialist of PMU to ‐ Increase of traffic congestion around proper training and supervision of persons operating the equipment monitor safeguards the construction area especially when to report leaks, adsorbent mats, removal of contaminated soil. implementation heavy transformers and equipment ‐ Refilling and maintenance works must take place in dedicated areas. are delivered ‐ Coordinate with the local authorities and assign special personnel to direct the traffic. ‐ Develop and follow Traffic Management Plan ‐ Noise from heavy equipment ‐ All equipment should be provided with mufflers and noise reduction ‐ Contractor equipment. ‐ Environmental specialist of PMU to 137 ‐ Noisy equipment and activity should be done only at daytime and if monitor safeguards it is not possible prior notice should be given to the neighboring implementation areas. ‐ Admissible noise level into the living area, both inside and outside the buildings according to (IFC General EHS Guidelines 2007). Accidents and hazards caused by high ‐ Fencing of the construction site area ‐ Contractor voltage equipment ‐ Prohibition of outsiders to enter construction area ‐ Environmental ‐ Ascertain that all accessories have no live load prior to handling specialist of PMU to them. monitor safeguards implementation Site works Health and safety; Natural hazards ‐ Workers should be properly briefed on chain of command and ‐ Contractor (earthquakes) responsibilities, and action to take during an emergency. ‐ Environmental ‐ Comply with Emergency Preparedness and Response Plan. specialist of PMU to monitor safeguards implementation Site works and ‐ Health and safety; Spreading of ‐ Proper toilet and washing facilities shall be provided for the workers ‐ Contractor construction diseases, including sexually transmitted (separately for men and women). ‐ Environmental diseases ‐ Instructing/training on prevention of HIV/AIDs issues specialist of PMU to Contamination of the environment ‐ Sanitary waste water (worker’s camps, mobile sanitary units) should monitor safeguards be stored in sealed septic tanks. implementation Procurement of quarry Dust and noise from material transport • No quarry sites will be developed by the project. ‐ Contractor material • Quarry and borrow material will be procured from the local market; • Use only existing government approved quarry sites Construction - erosion ‐ Erosion ‐ Off road driving should be avoided. ‐ Contractor ‐ ‐ Environmental specialist of PMU to monitor safeguards implementation Construction activities – air Air pollutant discharge from the ‐ Use of new vehicles and machinery, proper maintenance, use of ‐ Contractor quality equipment used during stations catalysators, turn off engines when possible, avoid needless truck ‐ Environmental construction. driving, low speed driving. More stringent national or IFC emission specialist of PMU standards should be followed. to monitor safeguards implementation Construction activities – Surface and groundwater pollution and ‐ Comply with Contractor’s Environmental Management and ‐ Contractor water and soil pollution soil contamination due to spills and Monitoring Plan improper waste handling ‐ Careful handling and storage of fuels and chemicals (sealed areas ‐ Environmental with proper containments), proper maintenance of vehicles and specialist of PMU machinery. to monitor 138 ‐ Refueling and maintenance works must take place in dedicated areas. safeguards ‐ Proper waste management practices: waste separation, recycling, implementation reuse and disposal. Use of dry toilets. ‐ Adsorbent mats for spills, removal of contaminated soil. ‐ Spent materials such as welding rods, empty paint containers, and solvent containers must be properly collected, packed and stored in a secure place if there are no disposal facilities for toxic and hazardous wastes. Construction of Change in the surface features ‐ Construction of new access roads along contour lines ‐ Contractor foundations (levelling, excavation of natural raw ‐ Reuse of excavated soil from station buildings foundations, choice of ‐ Environmental materials) the producer of natural raw materials using sustainability criteria. specialist of PMU to monitor safeguards implementation Construction camps Illegal poaching  Provide adequate knowledge to the workers regarding protection of ‐ Contractor flora and fauna, and relevant government regulations and punishments ‐ Environmental for illegal poaching. specialist of PMU to ‐ No dogs will be allowed within working area in the vicinity of monitor safeguards converter and electrode stations implementation Siting and Location of Campsites for construction workers are  Locate the construction camps within the proposed electrode station ‐ construction camp the important locations that have site significant impacts such as health and  Consider the location of construction camps away from communities safety hazards on local resources and to avoid social conflict in using the natural resources such as water or infrastructure of nearby communities. to avoid the possible adverse impacts of the construction camps on the surrounding communities.  Submit to the CSC for approval a detailed layout plan for the development of the construction camp showing the relative locations of all temporary buildings and facilities that are to be constructed together with the location of site roads, fuel storage areas (for use in power supply generators), solid waste management and dumping locations, and drainage facilities, prior to the development of the construction camps.  The site will not be lit except in exceptional circumstances. Where lighting is required it will be directional and the lighting strategy will be designed with the input of an ecologist. Only non-UV lighting sources will be employed. The use of lighting sources with low intensity, with vapors of sodium (from whose wavelength the UV radiation is missing) to avoid the attraction of insects and implicitly of species of chiropters which come to follow them. Also, strong lightning sources shall be avoided. 139 ‐ Local authorities responsible for health, religious and security shall be duly informed on the set up of camp facilities Cultural and Accidental discovery of cultural and ‐ Provide personnel involved in earth moving and excavation a protocol ‐ Contractor archaeologically archaeologically significant objects to follow if items of possible cultural significance are discovered. ‐ Environmental significant objects Coordinate with local archeological authorities. The area where the specialist of PMU to item is discovered is cordoned and construction activities suspended monitor safeguards until the archaeological experts have given their opinion or procedure implementation on how to proceed. ‐ Chances of finding important object in a particular tower site is low because of the very small area required for the foundations and most of the towers will be situated in mountain area. Dust Creation Local residents ‐ Access roads and work area will be watered when necessary ‐ Contractor Construction workers ‐ Construction equipment and vehicles will be restricted to ‐ Environmental designated roads specialist of PMU to monitor safeguards implementation Biodiversity Threats to flora and fauna ‐ Contractor must follow the special Biodiversity Management Plan for ‐ Contractor Central Asian tortoise prepared and presented below in Annex 5. ‐ Environmental ‐ Existing access tracks to the tower sites will be used whenever specialist of PMU to possible and new paths will be constructed only when no existing path monitor safeguards is available; implementation and ‐ Construction activities will be limited to the hours from dawn to dusk; coordinate with ‐ Lights used in the construction camps will be kept to the minimum local environmental and diffuse lighting is to be preferred; authorities ‐ Vehicles will be operated so as to minimize risk to wildlife; ‐ Special measures will be adopted to minimize impacts on wild birds, such as avoiding construction activities in breeding areas during the breeding season; ‐ The Contractor’s staff will not be permitted to shoot snare or trap animals Increased Road Traffic Increased Dust ‐ Access roads and work area will be watered when necessary in dry ‐ Contractor Increased noise and vibration period ‐ Environmental Deterioration of roads ‐ Construction equipment and vehicles will be restricted to designated specialist of PMU to roads monitor safeguards ‐ Road maintenance is to occur as necessary implementation Increased Work Force Potential job creation for local residents ‐ Income and employment conditions must be agreed to by the ‐ Contractor Contractor and local workers ‐ Preference to the local communities; in the construction works 140 Community health and Community health and safety hazards at • Traffic management plan by the contractor in accordance with ECPs ‐ Contractor safety from construction the construction sites (dust, noise, • Public will be barred from construction sites through access control traffic and activities traffic accidents, etc.) • Establishing adequate facilities at the construction camp (entertainment) to minimize interaction between construction workers and local community Presence of foreign Security concerns for the foreign workers Health and Safety, Construction camp Management and other SSEMPs workers will be developed. Training program for workers of Contractors should be implemented Women’s privacy ‐ The Contractor must establish policies in consultation with local ‐ Contractor Gender Issues Sexual Harassment elders/authorities Equal Pay for Equal Work Non-discrimination in hiring Demand for Infrastructure Potential social conflicts over: potable -To ensure construction workers are provided adequate services and ‐ Contractor and Utilities water, medical services, wastewater locals receive benefits from these treatment, fuel and construction materials - To ensure activities do not impact local resources ‐ To ensure fuel demands for construction activities do not compromise existing utilities OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE PHASE Generation of Waste Disposal of broken equipment, scrap • The material waste will be collected by the central BT and ‐ Station Operator disposed in coordination with environmental department of the region. material and used oils; and solid waste from the offices Disposal of solid waste in the nearby municipal disposal sites Soil and groundwater • Leakage and spillage fuels, lubricants Regular monitoring of transformers and oil storage areas for ‐ Station Operator pollution and oils leakages; and if noticed immediate containment of these facilities. • Oil storage facilities above bunded areas and covered on tope (to avoid rain and sunlight) with secondary containment areas; Community health and Drinking water supply and sanitation • Regular maintenance of water supply, sanitation and drainage ‐ Station Operator safety facilities for employees facilities in the offices. Occupational health and • Occupational hazards associated with • Implement BT Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for ‐ Station Operator safety handling of electrical equipment and Workers Health and Safety. machinery. Presence of SF6 in new • Climate Change (Emissions to air from ‐ Appropriate training for permanent staff regarding handling of SF6. ‐ Barqi Tojik generator breakers circuit breakers, Eligas) ‐ User’s manual should be placed at relevant sites. and station ‐ Careful handling of SF6, always follow specific guidelines. management • Circuit breakers shall be fitted with automatic leak alarm system (gas monitoring system). 141 Occupational health and • Occupational hazards associated with ‐ Security fences around sites ‐ Barqi Tojik safety handling of electrical equipment and ‐ Establishment of warning signs and station machinery. Electric shock causing ‐ Careful design of maintenance works management death or injury ‐ Training ‐ Routine maintenance to check the condition of the structures and equipment, Use of PPE ‐ Care in handling and isolating equipment to be inspected Waste management • Improper waste management practices • Proper waste management practices: waste separation, recycling, ‐ Barqi Tojik causing littering and surface water, reuse, proper storage and disposal. Special procedures for and station groundwater and soil contamination hazardous waste. management • Oil spills (oil is changed every 15 ‐ Oil is drained to a pan to prevent spillage. ‐ Barqi Tojik years) causing soil and surface water ‐ Used oil is placed in drums for disposal in appropriate facility. and station and groundwater pollution Consider reuse. management 142 ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING PLAN14 ENVIRONMENTAL PERFORMANCE INDICATOR and FREQUENCY TIMING TO LOCATION RESPONSIBILITY CONCERN ACTIVITIES TO CHECK MONITOR PRE-CONSTRUCTION All environmental Preparation a Project Specific HSE Policy Once Before taking any N/A PMU impacts and health (Contractor) possession at sites and safety issues All environmental Constitution of Contractor’s Project HSE Once Before taking any N/A PMU impacts and health organization, nomination of Contractor’s possession at sites and safety issues HSE Manager All environmental Preparation of Contractor’s Project specific Once At least 10 days N/A CSC impacts and health HSE Plan (Contractor’s Environmental before taking any and safety issues Management and Monitoring Plan) possession at sites All environmental Preparation of Contractor’s Site specific Once Before taking any All project sites CSC impacts and health HSE Plan possession at sites and safety issues Emergencies Preparation of Contractor’s Emergency Once Before taking any N/A PMU Preparedness and Response Plan possession at sites All environmental HSE briefing and training for Contractor’s Once (later on Before field work N/A PMU/CSC impacts and health staff completed regularly) execution and safety issues Soil erosion and Land clearing, vegetation removal, spills; Regularly During surveying All project sites CSC contamination Team report and log book, field inspection and soil investigation Air quality Condition of vehicles and machinery; field Regularly During surveying Random CSC inspection and soil investigation Noise and vibrations Condition of vehicles and machinery; field Regularly During surveying Random CSC inspection and soil investigation 14 This plan should be combined with the Effects monitoring plan in Table 40 143 Waste management Proper Waste Management Practices Regularly During surveying All project sites CSC and soil investigation Land acquisition Land acquisition and resettlement plan Ongoing Before taking any All project sites PMU/CSC implemented, compensations paid possession at sites/Throughout the Project Grievance Redress Grievance Redress Mechanism established Once Before Project N/A PMU/CSC Mechanism implementation CONSTRUCTION All environmental Contractor’s internal HSE inspections Weekly Throughout the All project sites PMU/CSC impacts and health performed by HSE Manager and site Project Phase and safety issues supervisory personnel All environmental Contractor’s internal HSE audits performed Monthly Throughout the All project sites PMU/CSC impacts and health by HSE Manager and site supervisory Project Phase and safety issues personnel All environmental In general, ensure through field inspections 1.Regularly Throughout the All project sites 1.CSC impacts and health that mitigation activities are implemented 2.Monthly Project Phase 2.PMU and safety issues and executed. Main mitigation activities are presented in Environmental Management Plan and Contractor’s Environmental Management and Monitoring Plan. All environmental In general, ensure through audits that Twice a year Throughout the All project sites Barki impacts and health mitigation activities are implemented and construction Phase Tojik/PMU/external and safety issues executed. international Main mitigation activities are presented in environmental Environmental Management Plan and expert Contractor’s Environmental Management and Monitoring Plan. All environmental Mitigation Measures reviewed to cover any Monthly Throughout the All project sites CSC impacts and health unidentified impacts Project and safety issues 144 All environmental HSE briefing and training for Contractor’s Regularly Throughout the All project sites PMU/CSC impacts and health staff completed; field inspections, Project and safety issues Contractor’s HSE audit and inspection reports Soil erosion and Proper Waste Management practices, land Regularly Throughout the All project sites CSC contamination clearing, vegetation removal, spills; field Project inspections, Contractor’s HSE audit and inspection reports, HSE Incident Reports Air quality Condition of vehicles and machinery; field Regularly Throughout the All project sites CSC inspections Project Noise and vibrations Condition of vehicles and machinery; field Regularly Throughout the All project sites CSC inspections Project Waste management Proper Waste Management practices; field Regularly Throughout the All project sites CSC inspections, Contractor’s HSE audit and Project inspection reports, HSE Incident Reports Safety hazards Contractor’s Emergency Preparedness and Ongoing Throughout the All project sites PMU/CSC Response Plan implemented, and training Project given to all workers; field inspections, Contractor’s HSE audit and inspection reports Grievance Redress Grievance Redress Mechanism functional; Ongoing Throughout the N/A PMU/CSC Mechanism amount of grievances and processing time of Project grievances, paid compensations implementation 145 ANNEX 4. ENVIRONMENTAL CODE OF PRACTICES ECP 1: Waste Management Project Activity/ Environmental Impacts Mitigation Measures/ Management Guidelines Impact Source General Waste Soil and water pollution from the The Contractor shall improper management of wastes and • Develop waste management plan for various specific waste streams (e.g., excess materials from the reusable waste, flammable waste, construction debris, food waste etc.) prior to construction sites. commencing of construction and submit to CSC for approval. • Organize disposal of all wastes generated during construction in an environmentally acceptable manner. This will include consideration of the nature and location of disposal site, so as to cause less environmental impact. • Minimize the production of waste materials by 3R (Reduce, Recycle and Reuse) approach. • Segregate and reuse or recycle all the wastes, wherever practical. • Prohibit burning of solid waste • Collect and transport non-hazardous wastes to all the approved disposal sites. Vehicles transporting solid waste shall be covered with tarps or nets to prevent spilling waste along the route • Train and instruct all personnel in waste management practices and procedures as a component of the environmental induction process. • Provide refuse containers at each worksite. • Request suppliers to minimize packaging where practicable. • Place a high emphasis on good housekeeping practices. • Maintain all construction sites in a cleaner, tidy and safe condition and provide and maintain appropriate facilities as temporary storage of all wastes before transportation and final disposal. Hazardous Waste Health hazards and environmental The Contractor shall impacts due to improper waste • Collect chemical wastes in 200 liters drums (or similar sealed container), management practices appropriately labeled for safe transport to an approved chemical waste depot. • Store, transport and handle all chemicals avoiding potential environmental pollution. • Store all hazardous wastes appropriately in bunded areas away from water courses. • Make available Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) for hazardous materials on-site during construction. 146 • Collect hydrocarbon wastes, including lube oils, for safe transport off-site for reuse, recycling, treatment or disposal at approved locations. • Construct concrete or other impermeable flooring to prevent seepage in case of spills ECP 2: Fuels and Hazardous Goods Management Project Activity/ Environmental Impacts Mitigation Measures/ Management Guidelines Impact Source Fuels and Materials used in construction The Contractor shall hazardous goods. have a potential to be a source of • Prepare spill control procedures and submit the plan for CSC approval. contamination. Improper storage • Train the relevant construction personnel in handling of fuels and spill control and handling of fuels, lubricants, procedures. chemicals and hazardous • Store dangerous goods in bunded areas on a top of a sealed plastic sheet away from goods/materials on-site, and watercourses; and, also under a rainwater shed (to prevent contact with rainwater). potential spills from these goods • Refueling shall occur only within bunded areas. may harm the environment or • Make available MSDS for chemicals and dangerous goods on-site. health of construction workers. • Transport waste of dangerous goods, which cannot be recycled, to a designated disposal site approved by EPA or sold to EPA registered vendors. • Provide absorbent and containment material (e.g., absorbent matting) where hazardous material is used and, stored and personnel trained in the correct use. • Provide protective clothing, safety boots, helmets, masks, gloves, goggles, to the construction personnel, appropriate to materials in use. • Make sure all containers, drums, and tanks that are used for storage are in good condition and are labeled with expiry date. Any container, drum, or tank that is dented, cracked, or rusted might eventually leak. Check for leakage regularly to identify potential problems before they occur. • Put containers and drums in temporary storages in clearly marked areas, where they will not be run over by vehicles or heavy machinery. The area shall preferably slope or drain to a safe collection area in the event of a spill. • Put containers and drums in permanent storage areas on an impermeable floor that slopes to a safe collection area in the event of a spill or leak. • Take all precautionary measures when handling and storing fuels and lubricants, avoiding environmental pollution. • Avoid the use of material with greater potential for contamination by substituting them with more environmentally friendly materials. 147 • Return the gas cylinders to the supplier. However, if they are not empty prior to their return, they must be labeled with the name of the material they contained or contain, information on the supplier, cylinder serial number, pressure, their last hydrostatic test date, and any additional identification marking that may be considered necessary. ECP 3: Water Resources Management Project Activity/ Environmental Impacts Mitigation Measures/ Management Guidelines Impact Source Hazardous Water pollution from the storage, The Contractor shall Material and handling and disposal of hazardous • Follow the management guidelines proposed in ECPs 1 and 2. Waste materials and general construction • Minimize the generation of sediment, oil and grease, excess nutrients, organic matter, waste, and accidental spillage litter, debris and any form of waste (particularly petroleum and chemical wastes). These substances must not enter waterways, storm water systems or underground water tables Discharge Waste waters from construction sites The Contractor shall from and work camps. The construction • Minimise the amount of exposed soil at any one time (only clear vegetation construction works will modify groundcover and immediately before construction is about to begin) sites topography changing the surface • Install temporary drainage works (channels and bunds) in areas required for sediment water drainage patterns of the area and erosion control and around storage areas for construction materials including infiltration and storage of • Install temporary sediment basins, where appropriate, to capture sediment-laden run- storm water. off from site • Divert runoff from undisturbed areas around the construction site • Stockpile materials away from drainage lines • Prevent all solid entering waterways by collecting solid waste, oils, chemicals, bitumen spray waste and wastewaters from brick, concrete and asphalt cutting and transport to an approved waste disposal site or recycling depot • Collect, transport and discharge the septic tank waste from the construction camps in the nearby municipal waste water treatment plants • Ensure that tires of construction vehicles are cleaned in the washing bay (constructed at the entrance of the construction site) to remove the mud from the wheels. This shall be done in every exit of each construction vehicle to ensure the local roads are kept clean. Soil Erosion Soil erosion and dust from the The Contractor shall and siltation material stockpiles will increase the • Ensure that sealed roads used by construction vehicles are swept regularly to remove sediment. 148 sediment and contaminant loading of • Water the material stockpiles, access roads and bare soils on an as required basis to surface water bodies. minimize dust. Increase the watering frequency during periods of high risk (e.g. high winds) ECP 4: Drainage Management Project Activity/ Environmental Impacts Mitigation Measures/ Management Guidelines Impact Source Excavation and Lack of proper drainage for The Contractor shall earth works, and rainwater/liquid waste or • Prepare a program for prevent/avoid standing waters, which CSC will verify in construction yards wastewater owing to the advance and confirm during implementation construction activities harms • Provide alternative drainage for rainwater if the construction works/earth-fillings cut environment in terms of water the established drainage line and soil contamination, and • Establish local drainage line with appropriate silt collector and silt screen for mosquito growth. rainwater or wastewater connecting to the existing established drainage lines already there • Rehabilitate road drainage structures immediately if damaged by contractors’ road transports. • Build new drainage lines as appropriate and required for wastewater from construction yards connecting to the available nearby recipient water bodies. Ensure wastewater quality conforms to the relevant standards provided by NEQS, before it being discharged into the recipient water bodies. • Ensure the internal roads/hard surfaces in the construction yards/construction camps that generate has storm water drainage to accommodate high runoff during downpour and that there is no stagnant water in the area at the end of the downpour. • Construct wide drains instead of deep drains to avoid sand deposition in the drains that require frequent cleaning. • Provide appropriate silt collector and silt screen at the inlet and manholes and periodically clean the drainage system to avoid drainage congestion • Protect natural slopes of drainage channels to ensure adequate storm water drains. • Regularly inspect and maintain all drainage channels to assess and alleviate any drainage congestion problem. • Reduce infiltration of contaminated drainage through storm water management design Ponding of water Health hazards due to mosquito • Do not allow ponding of water especially near the waste storage areas and breeding construction camps • Discard all the storage containers that are capable of storing of water, after use or store them in inverted position 149 ECP 5: Soil Quality Management Project Activity/ Environmental Impacts Mitigation Measures/ Management Guidelines Impact Source Storage of Spillage of hazardous and toxic The Contractor shall hazardous and chemicals will contaminate the soils • Strictly manage the wastes management plans proposed in ECP1 and storage of toxic materials in ECP2 chemicals • Construct appropriate spill contaminant facilities for all fuel storage areas • Establish and maintain hazardous materials register detailing the location and quantities of hazardous substances including the storage, use of disposals • Train personnel and implement safe work practices for minimizing the risk of spillage • Identify the cause of contamination, if it is reported, and contain the area of contamination. The impact may be contained by isolating the source or implementing controls around the affected site • Remediate the contaminated land using the most appropriate available method to achieve required commercial/industrial guideline validation results Construction Erosion from construction material The Contractor shall material stock stockpiles may contaminate the soils • Protect the toe of all stockpiles, where erosion is likely to occur, with silt fences, straw piles bales or bunds ECP 6: Erosion and Sediment Control Project Activity/ Environmental Impacts Mitigation Measures/ Management Guidelines Impact Source Construction The impact of soil erosion are (i) The Contractor shall activities and Increased run off and sedimentation • Locate stockpiles away from drainage lines material causing a greater flood hazard to the • Protect the toe of all stockpiles, where erosion is likely to occur, with silt fences, straw stockpiles downstream, (ii) destruction of bales or bunds aquatic environment in nearby lakes, • Remove debris from drainage paths and sediment control structures streams, and reservoirs caused by • Cover the loose sediments and water them if required erosion and/or deposition of • Divert natural runoff around construction areas prior to any site disturbance sediment damaging the spawning • Install protective measures on site prior to construction, for example, sediment traps 150 grounds of fish, and (iii) destruction • Observe the performance of drainage structures and erosion controls during rain and of vegetation by burying or gullying. modify as required. ECP 7: Top Soil Management Project Activity/ Environmental Impacts Mitigation Measures/ Management Guidelines Impact Source Land clearing and Earthworks will impact the The Contractor shall earth works fertile top soils that are enriched • Strip the top soil to a depth of 15 cm and store in stock piles of height not exceeding 2m. with nutrients required for plant • Remove unwanted materials from top soil like grass, roots of trees and similar others. growth or agricultural • The stockpiles will be done in slopes of 2:1 to reduce surface runoff and enhance development. percolation through the mass of stored soil. • Locate topsoil stockpiles in areas outside drainage lines and protect from erosion. • Construct diversion channels and silt fences around the topsoil stockpiles to prevent erosion and loss of topsoil. • Spread the topsoil to maintain the physico-chemical and biological activity of the soil. The stored top soil will be utilized for covering all disturbed area and along the proposed plantation sites • Prior to the re-spreading of topsoil, the ground surface will be ripped to assist the bunding of the soil layers, water penetration and revegetation Transport Vehicular movement outside • Limit equipment and vehicular movements to within the approved construction zone right of way of existing roads or • Construct temporary access tracks to cross concentrated water flow lines at right angles temporary access roads will • Plan construction access to make use, if possible, of the final road alignment affect the soil fertility of the • Use vehicle-cleaning devices, for example, ramps or wash down areas agricultural lands ECP 8: Topography and Landscaping Project Activity/ Environmental Impacts Mitigation Measures/ Management Guidelines Impact Source Land clearing and Construction activities especially The Contractor shall earth works earthworks will change • Ensure the topography of the final surface of all raised lands (construction yards, topography and disturb the approach roads, access roads, etc.) are conducive to enhance natural draining of natural rainwater/flood water rainwater/flood water; drainage as well as will change • Keep the final or finished surface of all the raised lands free from any kind of depression the local landscape. that insists water logging 151 • Undertake mitigation measures for erosion control/prevention by grass-turfing and tree plantation, where there is a possibility of rain-cut that will change the shape of topography. • Cover immediately the uncovered open surface that has no use of construction activities with grass-cover and tree plantation to prevent soil erosion and bring improved landscaping ECP 10: Air Quality Management Project Activity/ Environmental Impacts Mitigation Measures/ Management Guidelines Impact Source Construction Air quality can be adversely The Contractor shall vehicular traffic affected by vehicle exhaust • Fit vehicles with appropriate exhaust systems and emission control devices. Maintain emissions and combustion of these devices in good working condition. fuels. • Operate the vehicles in a fuel-efficient manner • Cover haul vehicles carrying dusty materials moving outside the construction site • Impose speed limits on all vehicle movement at the worksite to reduce dust emissions • Control the movement of construction traffic • Water construction materials prior to loading and transport • Service all vehicles regularly to minimize emissions • Limit the idling time of vehicles not more than 2 minutes Construction Air quality can be adversely The Contractor shall machinery affected by emissions from • Fit machinery with appropriate exhaust systems and emission control devices. machinery and combustion of Maintain these devices in good working condition in accordance with the specifications fuels. defined by their manufacturers to maximize combustion efficiency and minimize the contaminant emissions. Proof or maintenance register shall be required by the equipment suppliers and contractors/subcontractors • Focus special attention on containing the emissions from generators • Machinery causing excess pollution (e.g. visible smoke) will be banned from construction sites Service all equipment regularly to minimize emissions • Provide filtering systems, duct collectors or humidification or other techniques (as applicable) to the concrete batching and mixing plant to control the particle emissions in all its stages, including unloading, collection, aggregate handling, cement dumping, circulation of trucks and machinery inside the installations Construction Dust generation from construction • Water the material stockpiles, access roads and bare soils on an as required basis to activities sites, material stockpiles and minimize the potential for environmental nuisance due to dust. Increase the watering access roads is a nuisance in the 152 environment and can be a health frequency during periods of high risk (e.g. high winds). Stored materials such as gravel and hazard. sand shall be covered and confined to avoid their being wind-drifted • Minimize the extent and period of exposure of the bare surfaces • Reschedule earthwork activities or vegetation clearing activities, where practical, if necessary to avoid during periods of high wind and if visible dust is blowing off-site • Store the cement in silos and minimize the emissions from silos by equipping them with filters. • Establish adequate locations for storage, mixing and loading of construction materials, in a way that dust dispersion is prevented because of such operations • Crushing of rocky and aggregate materials shall be wet-crushed, or performed with particle emission control systems ECP 11: Noise and Vibration Management Project Activity/ Environmental Impacts Mitigation Measures/ Management Guidelines Impact Source Construction Noise quality will be deteriorated The Contractor shall vehicular traffic due to vehicular traffic • Maintain all vehicles in order to keep it in good working order in accordance with manufactures maintenance procedures • Make sure all drivers will comply with the traffic codes concerning maximum speed limit, driving hours, etc. • Organize the loading and unloading of trucks, and handling operations for the purpose of minimizing construction noise on the work site Construction Noise and vibration may have an The Contractor shall machinery impact on people, property, fauna, • Appropriately site all noise generating activities to avoid noise pollution to local livestock and the natural residents environment. • Use the quietest available plant and equipment • Modify equipment to reduce noise (for example, noise control kits, lining of truck trays or pipelines) • Maintain all equipment in order to keep it in good working order in accordance with manufactures maintenance procedures. Equipment suppliers and contractors shall present proof of maintenance register of their equipment. • Install acoustic enclosures around generators to reduce noise levels. • Fit high efficiency mufflers to appropriate construction equipment • Avoid the unnecessary use of alarms, horns and sirens 153 Construction Noise and vibration may have an The Contractor shall activity impact on people, property, fauna, • Notify adjacent landholders prior any typical noise events outside of daylight hours (6 livestock and the natural pm to 7 am) if the construction works are being carried out near residential areas environment. • Educate the operators of construction equipment on potential noise problems and the techniques to minimize noise emissions • Employ best available work practices on-site to minimize occupational noise levels • Install temporary noise control barriers where appropriate • Notify affected people if major noisy activities will be undertaken, e.g. pile driving • Plan activities on site and deliveries to and from site to minimize impact • Monitor and analyze noise and vibration results and adjust construction practices as required. • Avoid undertaking the noisiest activities, where possible, when working at night (6 pm to 7 am) near the residential areas ECP 12: Protection of Flora Project Activity/ Environmental Impacts Mitigation Measures/ Management Guidelines Impact Source Vegetation clearance Local flora are important to The Contractor shall provide shelters for the birds, • Reduce disturbance to surrounding vegetation offer fruits and/or timber/fire • Use appropriate type and minimum size of machine to avoid disturbance to adjacent wood, protect soil erosion and vegetation. overall keep the environment • Get approval from supervision consultant for clearance of vegetation. very friendly to human-living. • Make selective and careful pruning of trees where possible to reduce need of tree As such damage to flora has removal. wide range of adverse • Control noxious weeds by disposing of at designated dump site or burn on site. environmental impacts. • Clear only the vegetation that needs to be cleared in accordance with the plans. These measures are applicable to both the construction areas as well as to any associated activities such as sites for stockpiles, disposal of fill and construction of diversion roads, etc. • Before excavation, mark the trees that must remain on the site and cannot be removed. • Do not burn off cleared vegetation – where feasible, chip or mulch and reuse it for the rehabilitation of affected areas, temporary access tracks or landscaping. Mulch provides a seed source, can limit embankment erosion, retains soil moisture and nutrients, and encourages re-growth and protection from weeds. • Return topsoil and mulched vegetation (in areas of native vegetation) to approximately the same area of the roadside it came from. 154 • Avoid work within the drip-line of trees to prevent damage to the tree roots and compacting the soil. • Minimize the length of time the ground is expozed or excavation left open by clearing and re-vegetate the area at the earliest practically possible. • Ensure excavation works occur progressively and re-vegetation done at the earliest • Provide adequate knowledge to the workers regarding nature protection and the need of avoid felling trees during construction • Supply appropriate fuel in the work caps to prevent fuel wood collection ECP 13: Protection of Fauna Project Activity/ Environmental Impacts Mitigation Measures/ Management Guidelines Impact Source Vegetation clearance Clearance of vegetation may The Contractor shall impact shelter, feeding and/or • Restrict the tree removal to the minimum required. breeding of animals • Retain tree hollows on site, or relocate hollows, where appropriate • Leave dead trees where possible as habitat for fauna • Identify the trees that require specific attention (e.g the hollow bearing trees) and fell them in a manner which reduces the potential for fauna mortality. Felled trees will be inspected after felling for fauna and if identified and readily accessible will be removed and relocated or rendered assistance if injured. After felling, hollow bearing trees will remain unmoved overnight to allow animals to move of their own volition. Construction camps Illegal poaching • Provide adequate knowledge to the workers regarding protection of flora and fauna, and relevant government regulations and punishments for illegal poaching. ECP 14: Road Transport and Road Traffic Management Project Activity/ Environmental Impacts Mitigation Measures/ Management Guidelines Impact Source Construction Increased traffic use of road by The Contractor shall vehicular traffic construction vehicles will affect • Prepare and submit a traffic management plan to the CSC for their approval before the movement of normal road commencement of construction. traffics and the safety of the • Include in the traffic management plan to ensure uninterrupted traffic movement road-users. during construction: detailed drawings of traffic arrangements showing all detours, temporary road, temporary bridges temporary diversions, necessary barricades, warning signs / lights, and road signs. 155 • Provide signs at strategic locations of the roads complying with the schedules of signs contained in the Pakistan Traffic Regulations. • Install and maintain a display board at each important road intersection on the roads to be used during construction, which shall clearly show the following information in local language: o Location: chainage and village name o Duration of construction period o Period of proposed detour / alternative route o Suggested detour route map o Name and contact address/telephone number of the concerned personnel o Name and contact address / telephone number of the Contractor o Inconvenience is sincerely regretted. Accidents and spillage of fuels • Restrict truck deliveries, where practicable, to day time working hours (7 am to 6 pm). and chemicals • Operate road traffics/transport vehicles, if possible, to non-peak periods to minimize traffic disruptions. • Enforce on-site speed limit ECP 15: Construction Camp Management Project Activity/ Environmental Impacts Mitigation Measures/ Management Guidelines Impact Source Siting and Location Campsites for construction The Contractor shall of construction workers are the important • Locate the construction camps within the proposed electrode station site camps locations that have significant • Consider the location of construction camps away from communities in order to avoid impacts such as health and social conflict in using the natural resources such as water or to avoid the possible adverse safety hazards on local resources impacts of the construction camps on the surrounding communities. and infrastructure of nearby • Submit to the CSC for approval a detailed layout plan for the development of the communities. construction camp showing the relative locations of all temporary buildings and facilities that are to be constructed together with the location of site roads, fuel storage areas (for use in power supply generators), solid waste management and dumping locations, and drainage facilities, prior to the development of the construction camps. • Local authorities responsible for health, religious and security shall be duly informed on the set up of camp facilities to maintain effective surveillance over public health, social and security matters Construction Camp Lack of proper infrastructure Contractor shall provide the following facilities in the campsites Facilities facilities, such as housing, water • Housing facilities for all the non-local workers hired by the contractor supply and sanitation facilities 156 will increase pressure on the • Safe and reliable water supply. local services and generate • Hygienic sanitary facilities and sewerage system. The toilets and domestic waste water substandard living standards and will be collected through a common sewerage. Provide separate latrines and bathing places health hazards. for males and females with total isolation by wall or by location. The minimum number of toilet facilities required is one toilet for every ten persons. • Treatment facilities for sewerage of toilet and domestic wastes • Storm water drainage facilities. Both sides of roads are to be provided with shallow v drains to drain off storm water to a silt retention pond which shall be sized to provide a minimum of 20 minutes retention of storm water flow from the whole site. Channel all discharge from the silt retention pond to natural drainage via a grassed swale at least 20 meters in length with suitable longitudinal gradient. • Paved internal roads. Ensure with grass/vegetation coverage to be made of the use of top soil that there is no dust generation from the loose/exposed sandy surface. Pave the internal roads of at least haring-bond bricks to suppress dusts and to work against possible muddy surface during monsoon. • Provide child crèches for women working construction site. The crèche shall have facilities for dormitory, kitchen, indoor and outdoor play area. Schools shall be attached to these crèches so that children are not deprived of education whose mothers are construction workers • Provide in-house community/common entertainment facilities. dependence of local entertainment outlets by the construction camps to be discouraged/prohibited to the extent possible. Disposal of waste Management of wastes is crucial The Contractor shall to minimize impacts on the • Ensure proper collection and disposal of solid wastes within the construction camps environment • Insist waste separation by source; organic wastes in one pot and inorganic wastes in another pot at household level. • Store inorganic wastes in a safe place within the household and clear organic wastes on daily basis to waste collector. Establish waste collection, transportation and disposal systems with the manpower and equipment/vehicles needed. • Dispose organic wastes in a designated safe place on daily basis. At the end of the day cover the organic wastes with a thin layer of sand so that flies, mosquitoes, dogs, cats, rats, are not attracted. One may dig a large hole to put organic wastes in it; take care to protect groundwater from contamination by leachate formed due to decomposition of wastes. Cover the bed of the pit with impervious layer of materials (clayey or thin concrete) to protect groundwater from contamination. • Locate the garbage pit/waste disposal site min 500 m away from the residence so that peoples are not disturbed with the odor likely to be produced from anaerobic decomposition 157 of wastes at the waste dumping places. Encompass the waste dumping place by fencing and tree plantation to prevent children to enter and play with. • Do not establish site specific landfill sites. All solid waste will be collected and removed from the work camps and disposed in approval waste disposal sites. Fuel supplies for Illegal sourcing of fuel wood by The Contractor shall cooking purposes construction workers will • Provide fuel to the construction camps for their domestic purpose, in order to impact the natural flora and discourage them to use fuel wood or other biomass. fauna • Made available alternative fuels like natural gas or kerosene on ration to the workforce to prevent them using biomass for cooking. • Conduct awareness campaigns to educate workers on preserving the protecting the biodiversity and wildlife of the project area, and relevant government regulations and punishments on wildlife protection. Health and Hygiene There will be a potential for The Contractor shall diseases to be transmitted • Provide adequate health care facilities within construction sites. including malaria, exacerbated • Provide first aid facility round the clock. Maintain stock of medicines in the facility by inadequate health and safety and appoint fulltime designated first aider or nurse. practices. There will be an • Provide ambulance facility for the laborers during emergency to be transported to increased risk of work crews nearest hospitals. spreading sexually transmitted • Initial health screening of the laborers coming from outside areas infections and HIV/AIDS. • Train all construction workers in basic sanitation and health care issues and safety matters, and on the specific hazards of their work • Provide HIV awareness programming, including STI (sexually transmitted infections) and HIV information, education and communication for all workers on regular basis • Complement educational interventions with easy access to condoms at campsites as well as voluntary counseling and testing • Provide adequate drainage facilities throughout the camps to ensure that disease vectors such as stagnant water bodies and puddles do not form. Regular mosquito repellant sprays during monsoon. • Carryout short training sessions on best hygiene practices to be mandatorily participated by all workers. Place display boards at strategic locations within the camps containing messages on best hygienic practices Safety In adequate safety facilities to The Contractor shall the construction camps may • Provide appropriate security personnel (police / home guard or private security guards) create security problems and fire and enclosures to prevent unauthorized entry in to the camp area. hazards • Maintain register to keep a track on a head count of persons present in the camp at any given time. 158 • Encourage use of flameproof material for the construction of labor housing / site office. Also, ensure that these houses/rooms are of sound construction and capable of withstanding wind storms/cyclones. • Provide appropriate type of firefighting equipment suitable for the construction camps • Display emergency contact numbers clearly and prominently at strategic places in camps. • Communicate the roles and responsibilities of laborers in case of emergency in the monthly meetings with contractors. Site Restoration Restoration of the construction The Contractor shall camps to original condition • Dismantle and remove from the site all facilities established within the construction requires demolition of camp including the perimeter fence and lockable gates at the completion of the construction construction camps. work. • Dismantle camps in phases and as the work gets decreased and not wait for the entire work to be completed • Give prior notice to the laborers before demolishing their camps/units • Reuse the demolition debris to a maximum extent. Dispose remaining debris at the designated waste disposal site. • Handover the construction camps with all built facilities as it is if agreement between both parties (contactor and land-owner) has been made so. • Restore the site to its condition prior to commencement of the works or to an agreed condition with the landowner. • Not make false promises to the laborers for future employment in O&M of the project. ECP 16: Socio-cultural and Religious Issues Project Activity/ Environmental Impacts Mitigation Measures/ Management Guidelines Impact Source Construction Disturbance from construction The Contractor shall activities near activities (dust, noise, traffic, • Establish a system for receiving complaints from the community and address them (the residential areas conflicts with contractor’s work community can also make complaints to the GRM established under the project) force etc.) • Shall ensure all the construction workers follows the following code of conduct: • All workers are strictly forbidden to establish any kind of relationship with local women bring any un-related women to the project site. • All workers should avoid sexual harassment and child abuse. • All workers must not leave the camps or work sites unless a written authorization is issued by the respective supervisor 159 • The contractors will advise and prohibit the local population and its authorities or representatives not to enter the project operation areas (camp sites, colonies, etc.) in order to minimize the potential risk of incidents related to the operations. Construction Disturbance from construction The Contractor shall activities near works to the cultural and • Communicate to the public through community consultation and newspaper religious and cultural religious sites, and contractors announcements regarding the scope and schedule of construction, as well as certain sites lack of knowledge on cultural construction activities causing disruptions or access restriction. issues cause social disturbances. • Do not block access to cultural and religious sites, wherever possible • Restrict all construction activities within the foot prints of the construction sites. • Stop construction works that produce noise (particularly during prayer time) shall there be any mosque/religious/educational institutions close to the construction sites and users make objections. • Take special care and use appropriate equipment when working next to a cultural/religious institution. • Stop work immediately and notify the site manager if, during construction, an archaeological or burial site is discovered. It is an offence to recommence work in the vicinity of the site until approval to continue is given by the CSC/PMU. • Provide separate prayer facilities to the construction workers. • Show appropriate behavior with all construction workers especially women and elderly people • Allow the workers to participate in praying during construction time • Resolve cultural issues in consultation with local leaders and supervision consultants • Establish a mechanism that allows local people to raise grievances arising from the construction process. • Inform the local authorities responsible for health, religious and security duly informed before commencement of civil works so as to maintain effective surveillance over public health, social and security matters 160 ECP 17: Worker Health and Safety Project Activity/ Environmental Impacts Mitigation Measures/ Management Guidelines Impact Source Best practices Construction works may pose The Contractor shall health and safety risks to the • Implement suitable safety standards for all workers and site visitors which shall not be construction workers and site less than those laid down on the international standards (e.g. International Labor Office visitors leading to severe guideline on ‘Safety and Health in Construction; World Bank Group’s ‘Environmental injuries and deaths. The Health and Safety Guidelines’) and contractor’s own national standards or statutory population in the proximity of regulations, in addition to complying with the national standards of the Government of the construction site and the Pakistan ( construction workers will be • Provide the workers with a safe and healthy work environment, taking into account exposed to a number of (i) inherent risks in its particular construction activity and specific classes of hazards in the biophysical health risk factors, work areas, (e.g. noise, dust, chemicals, • Provide personal protection equipment (PPE) for workers, such as safety boots, construction material, solid helmets, masks, gloves, protective clothing, goggles, full-face eye shields, and ear waste, waste water, vector protection. Maintain the PPE properly by cleaning dirty ones and replacing them with the transmitted diseases etc), (ii) damaged ones. risk factors resulting from • Safety procedures include provision of information, training and protective clothing to human behavior (e.g. STD, HIV workers involved in hazardous operations and proper performance of their job etc) and (iii) road accidents from • Appoint an environment, health and safety manager to look after the health and safety construction traffic. of the workers • Inform the local authorities responsible for health, religious and security duly informed before commencement of civil works and establishment of construction camps so as to maintain effective surveillance over public health, social and security matters Child and pregnant labor The Contractor shall • not hire children of less than 16 years of age and pregnant women or women who delivered a child within 8 preceding weeks, in accordance with the national Labor Laws Accidents Lack of first aid facilities and • Provide health care facilities and first aid facilities are readily available. Appropriately health care facilities in the equipped first-aid stations shall be easily accessible throughout the place of work immediate vicinity will • Document and report occupational accidents, diseases, and incidents. aggravate the health conditions • Prevent accidents, injury, and disease arising from, associated with, or occurring of the victims during work by minimizing, so far as reasonably practicable, the causes of hazards. In a manner consistent with good international industry practice. • Identify potential hazards to workers, particularly those that may be life-threatening and provide necessary preventive and protective measures. • Provide awareness to the construction drivers to strictly follow the driving rules 161 Provide adequate lighting in the construction area and along the roads Construction Camps Lack of proper infrastructure The Contractor shall provide the following facilities in the campsites to improve health and facilities, such as housing, water hygienic conditions as mentioned in ECP 15 Construction Camp Management supply and sanitation facilities • Adequate ventilation facilities will increase pressure on the • Safe and reliable water supply. local services and generate • Hygienic sanitary facilities and sewerage system. The toilets and domestic waste water substandard living standards and will be collected through a common sewerage. health hazards. • Treatment facilities for sewerage of toilet and domestic wastes • Storm water drainage facilities. • Recreational and social facilities • Safe storage facilities for petroleum and other chemicals in accordance with ECP 2 • Solid waste collection and disposal system in accordance with ECP1. • Arrangement for trainings • Paved internal roads. • Security fence at least 2 m height. • Sick bay and first aid facilities Water and sanitation Lack of Water sanitation The contractor shall provide portable toilets at the construction sites, if about 25 people are facilities at the facilities at construction sites working the whole day for a month. Location of portable facilities shall be at least 6 m away construction sites cause inconvenience to the from storm drain system and surface waters. These portable toilets shall be cleaned once a day construction workers and affect and all the sewerage shall be pumped from the collection tank once a day and shall be brought their personal hygiene. to the common septic tank for further treatment. Contractor shall provide bottled drinking water facilities to the construction workers at all the construction sites. Other ECPs Potential risks on health and The Contractor shall follow the following ECPs to reduce health risks to the construction hygiene of construction workers workers and nearby community and public ECP 2: Fuels and Hazardous Goods Management ECP 4: Drainage Management ECP 10: Air Quality Management ECP 11: Noise and Vibration Management ECP 14: Road Transport and Road Traffic Management Trainings Lack of awareness and basic The Contractor shall knowledge in health care among • Train all construction workers in basic sanitation and health care issues (e.g., how to the construction workforce, avoid malaria and transmission of sexually transmitted infections (STI) HIV/AIDS. 162 make them susceptible to • Train all construction workers in general health and safety matters, and on the specific potential diseases. hazards of their work. Training shall consist of basic hazard awareness, site specific hazards, safe work practices, and emergency procedures for fire, evacuation, and natural disaster, as appropriate. • Commence the malaria, HIV/AIDS and STI education campaign before the start of the construction phase and complement it with by a strong condom marketing, increased access to condoms in the area as well as to voluntary counseling and testing. • Implement malaria, HIV/AIDS and STI education campaign targeting all workers hired, international and national, female and male, skilled, semi- and unskilled occupations, at the time of recruitment and thereafter pursued throughout the construction phase on ongoing and regular basis. This shall be complemented by easy access to condoms at the workplace as well as to voluntary counseling and testing. 163 ANNEX 5. BIODIVERSITY MANAGEMENT PLAN (BMP) FOR CONSERVATION OF THE STEPPE TORTOISE IN THE AREA OF CONVERTER AND ELECTRODE STATION (KUSHONIYON AND VAKHSH DISTRICTS, KHATLON REGION) Republic of Tajikistan CASA 1000 project BIODIVERSITY MANAGEMENT PLAN (BMP) CONSERVATION OF THE CENTRAL ASIAN TORTOISE “AGRIONEMYS HORSFIELDII” IN THE AREA OF CONVERTER STATION (KUSHONIYON DISTRICT, KHATLON REGION) Prepared by NGO “Fund Kuhiston” Dushanbe 164 April 28, 2019 165 Table of Content I. INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................ 168 II. PROJECT OVERVIEW AND PROPOSED CONSTRUCTION ACTIVITIES ....... 168 III. BIOLOGICAL BACKGROUND AND SURVEYS OF CENTRAL ASIA TORTOISE ......................................................................................................................................... 169 3.1. Biological description of the A. horsfieldii species ..................................................169 3.2 Distribution of the A. horsfieldii in Tajikistan and of its habitat in Khatlon oblast ..171 3.3 Project site field surveys findings ..............................................................................173 IV. POTENTIAL IMPACTS OF CONSTRUCTION OF THE CONVERTER STATION ON THE CA TORTOISE ................................................................................................ 175 V. MITIGATION MEASURES ...................................................................................... 176 VI. RELOCATION OF SPECIES ................................................................................... 176 VII. IMPLEMENTING ARRANGEMENTS ................................................................. 179 7.1. Overview. .................................................................................................................179 7.2. Barki Tojik Roles & Responsibilities .......................................................................179 4.3. Contractor Roles & Responsibilities ........................................................................180 VIII. MONITORING AND SUPERVISION .................................................................. 182 166 ABBREVIATIONS BMP ─ Biodiversity Management Plan BT ─ Barqi Tojik CEP ─ Committee for environmental protection CH ─ Critical Habitat EA ─ Executive Agency ESAP Environmental and Social Impact Assessment ESIA ─ Environmental and Social Impact Assessment ESMP ─ Environment and Social Management Plan MP ─ Management Plan PMU ES ─ Project Management Unit of the Energy Sector RT ─ Republic of Tajikistan WB ─ World Bank UNITS km ─ kilometers kV ─ Kilovolts MW ─ MegaWatt 167 I. INTRODUCTION Potential project impacts. Conducted ESIA show that the proposed construction activities for Converter station may generate a wide range of environmental impacts on various environmental components, including on Central Asia tortoise (Testudo (Agrionemys) horsfieldi), located on the project site and which is specified in the country’s and IUCN Red Books species. These impacts may include: (a) direct mortality of the animals due to construction activities: (b) vegetation loss and conversion of natural habitats, supporting this species; (c) impacts to possibilities of newly born animals to go up to the surface due to construction of facilities and their foundations; and, (d) disruption of tortoise natural ways of movements. Purpose of the Biodiversity Management Plan. To address these impacts the Borrower prepared a Biodiversity Management Plan (BMP) which: (a) provides the baseline and results of the field surveys of the species in the project area; (b) describes the A. horsfieldii species and its habitat in Khatlon oblast; (c) identifies potential impacts of the project activities on the species; (d) outlines actions and measures necessary for addressing adverse impacts with the focus on tortoise resettlement on new sites; (e) provides implementing arrangements of the BMP, along the roles and responsibilities of all involved parties. BMP preparation. The BMP was prepared based on national and WB safeguards requirements on Biodiversity Conservation by NGO Kuhiston (Mrs. M. Babadjanova, PhD in Biology, and Mr. F. Boborajabov, Mr. D. Dadubaev) in consultation with Mr. E. Usmanov, PhD in Biology, who is the Lead Specialist in the country for A. horsfieldii species, and who’s scientific thesis in particularly on biology, habitat and protection of the CA Tortoise Species. While preparing the BMP the team consulted the specialists from the Institute of Zoology of Academy of Science (Mr. K. Saidov, PhD in Bilogy) on the proposed relocation and monitoring activities. II. PROJECT OVERVIEW AND PROPOSED CONSTRUCTION ACTIVITIES CASA 1000 project objective. The proposed CASA-1000 project will facilitate the first electricity trade of 1,300 megawatts (MW) of existing summertime hydropower surplus between the two regions, involving the Kyrgyz Republic and Tajikistan in Central Asia and Afghanistan and Pakistan in South Asia. Project preparation was guided by the 4-country minister-level Inter-Governmental Council (IGC) and through consultations with the 10-member Central Asian Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC) program. A Secretariat of the CASA-1000 project was put in place in 2011. The project is expected to consist of the construction and operation of transmission infrastructure in the four countries. The Project has purpose and would contribute to alleviating power supply shortages in Pakistan and Afghanistan and would enhance revenues and economic prospects in the Kyrgyz Republic and Tajikistan. Project components in Tajikistan. Out of the 500-kV line from Datka to Sugd-500 with length of 477 km, about 25 km lies in Tajikistan. Between Sugd-500 and Sangtuda the electricity will be transmitted through the Tajik electrode, which will, therefore, be strengthened with a 500kV single circuit line from Regar to Sangtuda (115 km). Converter station will be built to transform alternative current (AC) used in the national networks into direct current (DC) for transmission a high voltage and vice versa at Sangtuda. The 500-kV high voltage direct current power transmission line will be built from the Converter Station to the border with the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. In addition, an Electrode Station will be built on the territory of the Vakhsh District, which will be connected to the Converter Station by an electrode line with length of 30 km. Within the framework of the Project, an alternating current line of 220 kV (about 12 km) will be built from Sangtuda HPP-1 to the Converter Station and the existing substations Sugd-500 and Regar -500 will be expanded. Project activities at the Converter and electrode stations. The facilities to be built at the converter and electrode stations will include the following: (i) converter station facilities such as circuit breakers, DC and AC filters, converter transformers, controlled valves, reactors, etc., (ii) electrode station facilities such 168 as transformers, circuit breakers, feeder bays, bus bars, etc., (iii) control and administrative buildings; (iii) infrastructure facilities such as fencing/boundary wall, internal roads and drains; (iv) water supply and sanitation facilities; and (v) electrode station facilities such as DC grounding electrode. Project location. The Converter station will be implemented in Khatlon province of Tajikistan, in Kushoniyon (Bustonqala jamoat) district, located in the valley of the Vakhsh River, in the arid and semi- arid zones. The area is characterized as non-irrigated barren pasture lands with rather flat topography and low hills. III. BIOLOGICAL BACKGROUND AND SURVEYS OF CENTRAL ASIA TORTOISE 3.1. Biological description of the A. horsfieldii species Description of the A. horsfieldii species exterior. The armor of the Central Asian tortoise is low, rounded, yellowish-brown in color, with vague dark spots. The carapax is divided into 13 horn flaps, plastron - at 16, 25 flaps are located on the sides of the carapace. On each of the 13 carapax pans there are grooves, usually their number corresponds to the number of years lived by the tortoise (like circles on the cut of the tree). The length of the tortoise is on average 15-20 cm. Females are usually noticeably larger than males. On the front paws of the Central Asian tortoise there are 4 fingers each, and on the hips of the hind legs there are horn tubercles. Figure 2: Tortoise in Tajikistan Years of live. Central Asian tortoises grow their whole lives (10-30 years in captivity, longer conditions under good conditions), and they reach sexual maturity after 10 years. Tortoise hibernation. The hibernation of the tortoise in the south Tajikistan starts in June (when the grasses are almost dry and no nutrition available anymore) and animals sleep under the ground till the next February-March of next year. The actual activity period of Central Asian tortoise in the south of Tajikistan according to many years of observations of the scientists from the Institute of Zoology of Tajik Academy of Science, is 3-3,5 months only. Radius of tortoise movement. Based on scientists of Institute of Zoology investigations and in the normal conditions (when there is enough food), the radius of tortoise movement from their living place is usually 169 about 200 meters, maximum 400 m. Nutrition of A. Horsfieldii. Providing tortoise populations with food is essential for its reliable existence. 28 plant species were recorded in the food of A. Horsfieldii in Tajikistan, the majority of which are represented by annual ephemers or ephemeroids (Table 1). Table 1. Plant species in nutrition of Central Asian tortoise A. horsfieldii N Family Species 1 Araceae Emininium alberti 2 Torilis leptophylla 3 Asphodelaceae Eremurus suworovii 4 Asteraceae Carduus arabicus 5 Centaurea iberica 6 Cousinia polycephala 7 Crepis sibirica 8 Koelpinia macrantha 9 Taraxacum monochlomydeum 10 Boraginaceae Heterocaryum szovisiaunum 11 Brassicaceae Cryptospora falcata 12 Euclidium syriacum 13 Leptaleum filifolium 14 Strigosella trichocarpa 15 Chenopodiaceae Spinacea turkestanica 16 Fabaceae Astragalus campylorrhynchus 17 Astragalusfilicaulis 18 Trigonella arcuata 19 Lamiaceae Phlomis bucharica 20 Papaveraceae Papaver pavoninum 21 Poaceae Anisantha tectorum 22 Bromus scoparius 23 Hordeum bulbosum 24 Hordeum leporinum 25 Lolium perrene 26 Ranunculaceae Cosolida camptocarpa 27 Rubiaceae Galium aparine 28 Timilaeceae Diarthron vesiculosum Nutritional characteristics. The nutritional characteristics of the tortoise in different landscapes depend on the species composition of the plant communities and the abundance in them of the preferred plants. In the south of Tajikistan, including the Kushoniyon district, the nutrition of tortoise was dominated by Trigonella arcuata, Strigosella trichocarpa, Papaver pavoninum, Astragalus filicaulis, Heterocaryum rigidum, Koelpinia macrantha, as well as Cousinia polycephala, Cryptospora falcat (omissa), Galium aparine and Cousinia polycephala. Thus, most forage plants are species belonging to four families: Fabaceae, Brassicaceae, Asteraceae and Poaceae. Tortoise as nutrition for other species. According to the data and observations of the Institute of Zoology 170 of Tajikistan and of other scientists, based on 97 literary sources, and personal reports of colleagues, which summarized the materials on the death of Agrionemys horsfieldii from vertebrate animals and estimated its importance in their nutrition for the entire time. The tortoise is included in the diet of 3 species of reptiles, 19 species of birds and 13 species of mammals. For 4 species (gray lizard, golden eagle, vulture, honey badger), the tortoise is the preferred and main feeding object in the spring period. For 10 species, the tortoise represents an additional or secondary food, and for other consumers it is random. The Vulture (Neophron percenopterus) is a rare, small bird. It lives in the foothills and in the middle belt of mountains. Vulture nests at an altitude of 1800-2000 m above sea level. seas. Listed in the Red Book of Tajikistan. Most dangerous species for tortoise. The most dangerous and biggest pressure on the tortoise population in Central Asia is provided by the gray monitor lizard, fox, and golden eagle. The occurrence of a tortoise in the stomachs of the gray monitor lizard is 46%. The honey badger and desert raven can have a strong local effect on the number of tortoises. Most consuming-species do not affect the population of the tortoise due to limited distribution, habitat mismatch, low population and low food attractiveness. Characteristics of Tortoise holes. The tortoise holes are short very short (from 0.2 m till 1.5 meters maximum), are very steep and usually are not used by other animals due to their primitiveness. Breeding and clutching of eggs. Breeding requires a pair of tortoises of approximately the same age and weight. Females are distinguished from males in tail shape - if a bug has a longer and wider tail at the base - this means that the male, males of the Central Asian tortoise often have a dent on the plastron closer to the tail. In males, the cesspool is located further along the tail than in females. In females, the plastron is flat, the tail is short due to the placement of an oviduct in their cloaca, without thickening. The cloaca is located near the end of the carapaх, that is, practically at the base of the tail. Often males are smaller than females. Female tortoise reaches sexual maturity from 10-12 years old, males - from 5-6 years tortoises. Eggs Breeding. According to data and observations of the Institute of Zoology of Tajikistan the tortoise in south Tajikistan (Khatlon oblast) mate usually happens from March to April, depending on climatic conditions. The duration of eggs breeding is 1,5 months, then the female tortoise clutch from 2 to 6 eggs starting from middle of May and till June. Incubation of eggs lasts 65-80 days at a temperature of 20- 30°C (see fig. 2). Figure 3: Female tortoise which is laying the eggs 3.2 Distribution of the A. horsfieldii in Tajikistan and of its habitat in Khatlon oblast The surveys of tortoise in 2007 and 2013. The first detailed and full field survey of the number of surveys on habitats and population of A. Horsfieldii for the South Tajikistan, including Khatlon region 171 Kushoniyon district was conducted in mid-April 2007 and April - early June 201315. The counts of the Central Asian tortoise were selected based on ideas about the optimal conditions for its habitat. The potentially habitat landscapes for tortoise include clay and loess piedmont plains and foothills with a smooth and slightly wavy relief, alluvial sandy plains. The soil and plant cover of such natural complexes is represented mainly by light or typical sierozems with ephemeral vegetation. In some cases, reference points in the selection of survey sites served as tortoise meeting points by other researchers. The surveys were carried out by the route method with the registration of perpendicular detection distances from each individual to the route line. The tortoises were accounted during the period of their maximum activity, when the animals actively moved through the territory, fed and mated. At the first signs of a decline in their mass activity - leaving in the shade or hole, accounting was stopped. Before the start of accounting and after soil surface temperature was measured by infrared thermometer PE-1 Infrared Temp Gun. Figure 3: Survey of tortoises in the proposed site of the Converter substation Tortoise density in Southern Tajikistan. The results of 2007-2013 surveys ascertained that the tortoise is a widespread species on the ephemeral piedmont plains and foothills (in 19 localities). The species was not found on the sandy plain Kurdzhalakum in the lower reaches of rivers the Amudarya and the Kafirnigan and upper Surkhob river at the confluence of the Muksu and Kyzylsu rivers, this is due to candy and rocky soil conditions. The density of A. horsfieldii population highly varied between localities and the whole landscape. On the loess wave’s plains and foothills with ephemeral and pistachio-ephemeral vegetation population density of the tortoise reached the highest value, - on the ephemeral foothills the mean density of the tortoise was 10.0 ind./ha, and on the foothills of the pistachio-ephemeral vegetation – 20.7 ind./ha. The highest average population density of the tortoise in the points of census was noted in the southwestern foothills of Karatau mountain – 40.5 ind./ ha, - as in those areas the predominant soil conditions is loess and more abundant vegetation. Sex ratio. Among the population of A. horsfieldii the sex ratio imbalance was noted. In most samples (56%) females prevailed, but they usually did not exceed the percentage of males more than twice. In some populations (33%) the males’ predominance was noted. Equal sex ratio in samples was rare. The 15 See: https://cyberleninka.ru/article/v/sredneaziatskaya-cherepaha-agrionemys-horsfieldii-gray-1844-v-pitanii- pozvonochnyh-zhivotnyh-sredney-azii-itogi-izucheniya-problemy; D.A.Bondarenko, U.H.Ergashev, T.A.Nazhmudinov Materials distribution to landscape and environment of Central Asian tortoise Agrionemys horsfieldii (Gray, 1844) in southern Tajikistan – Izvestiya of the Academy of sciences of Tajikistan, N4 (192), 2015; and D.A.Bondarenko, U.H.Ergashev, T.A.Nazhmudinov. Contemporary state of the Central Asia Tortoise Agrionemys Horsfieldii populations in Sothern Tajikistan. Bulletin of Moscow Society of Naturalists 119(4) 2014 172 percentage of immature individuals (under 10 years) in all populations did not exceed 20%, and in most population was below 7%. Human activities have also increased their succeeding fragmentation and isolation. Tortoise living areas in the country. Overall the tortoise habitat in Tajikistan is divided into two parts by the high mountain system of the Southern Tien Shan (Turkestan, Zeravshan and Gissar ridges). North part of the range is located north of these ranges in Sughd region, from where it extends into the territory Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. The Southern part the area, where the field observations were made, occupies the territory of the Tajik Depression south of the central parts of Gissar-Alai and west of the Pamirs. In the Tajik hollow, low ridges and hills are alternated with intermountain and foothill depressions, and the relief is composed of thick loess deposits. Predominant habitats. Tortoise inhabits predominantly loess mountain plains and foothills with ephemeral communities and perennials (Phlomis bucharica, Psoralea drupacea, Artemisia sp., Lagonychium farctum, etc.), as well as pistachio-ephemeral light forests. The flat fertile plains in the intermountain and river valleys, once inhabited by a tortoise, to the present time is almost completely mastered. Preserved small areas (reserve Tigrovaya Balka, tugai p. Pyanj), where the tortoise can be found, but its number is small (Ergashev et al, 2012). Type of habitat landscapes. Based on the geomorphological, soil and vegetation characteristics of the habitat are typed in eight landscapes: I - fixed hilly sands with shrub-ephemeral communities; II - gently sloping piedmont stony-loamy plain with ephemeral communities; III - foothill loess wavy plain with ephemeral communities; IV - loess foothills with ephemeral communities; V - loess foothills with pistachio-ephemeral communities; VI - intermontane stony-loess valley with ephemeral communities; VII – Loess-loam low mountains with forb-grass communities; VIII - rocky-loamy terrace r. Surkhob with shrub-forb communities. The area of Converter and electrode stations belongs to the landscape type IV: loess foothills with ephemeral communities. The average observed density of tortoise population here (in foothills of Vakhsh range) was 3,5 individuals per hectare. 3.3 Project site field survey findings Geographical baseline of the project site. The total area of Converter station is 43 ha (720x600m), located in the Jamoat of Bustonqala Kushoniyon district. The size is developed based on the converter station design as required by the contractor, - during the bidding process, bidders requested such size for the converter station (same area also is required for the converter station in Pakistan) and such large size will be required given the converter station technology. This area was used for the following: non- irrigated land of 4.18 ha, pasture areas of 33.32 ha, cattle roads of 4.85 ha. Soil profiles in this area are typically loess, loamy sands and loamy soils, occasionally bench gravel of the upper quaternary age, classically formed through wind deposition over arid or semi-arid areas. Soils are brown-gray, light gray, gray and light sierozem. The humus layer of the loess and loamy sands is fairly fertile and agriculture is possible. The project area is in the arid and semi-arid zones with very low precipitations, hot dry summer climate and moderate as well as relatively dry winter periods. The precipitation from November to March is about 200-400 mm in most of the area (in the plains) and can reach 400 and more in more hilly areas. The precipitation consists mainly of rain and wet snow. Snow cover is rarely more than 10 cm deep and melts very quickly and does not accumulate. The period from June to October is the driest. Snowfall occurs mostly between mid-December and mid-February; rainfall from March to mid-May. Photos of the plot of land allocated for the converter station are shown in Figure 3 below. 173 Figure 4: Location of the Converter station Figure 5. Views from the proposed converter station site and its surroundings Vegetation at the project site. Since the precipitation is relatively small, the vegetation of all the belts is represented by deserts and ephemerautus, in some places -by semi-hammered complexes, and only on the top, there are steppes and small juniper forests. The ephemeral vegetation cover here is represented by 174 ribbonworms, ethylopters, barley (Hordenum spontaneum, H. bulbosum). The dominant plants include volleys, awn, annual astragalus, fenugreek and ephemeroids (Anemone bucharica), buttercups (Ranonculus leptorrhynchus, R. tenilobus). Licorice, Stavesacre, cereals, alliaceous plants, Esparcet, various types of parsley family plants, Astragalus, Tansy etc., grain varieties and capers were present within the studies area. Depletion of the vegetative cover of the natural landscapes observed in the areas closer to the villages and the trees and shrubs are tessellated. Biodiversity surveys of the project site. The special biodiversity survey of the allocated converter station was conducted by specialists of Institute of Zoology of the Academy of sciences of Tajikistan in January and March 2019. The purpose of the survey was to estimate the number of steppe tortoise and check if these plots can be considered as critical habitats as well as to propose mitigation measures to avoid or reduce the impact of proposed construction on this species, along with the monitoring activities. The field assessment was carried out according to the method of counting the number of animals on the transects (where signs of vital activity of the steppe tortoise are recorded) as well as counting what was considered to be active burrows. When conducting research, the shallow, temporary, and old burrows of tortoises were not considered as residential. The density of tortoise on the project site. The surveys show on the construction site of the converter station and around, the density of tortoise population varied from 18.49 to 34.87 individuals/ha. The average population density of the tortoise in this area was 28.89 ± 10.4 individuals / ha. Estimated number of tortoises. The estimated approximate number of Central Asian tortoise on converter station area with a total area of 43 hectares ranged from approximately 1036 to 1500 individuals. These areas and their habitat cannot be considered as critical as the number of this species does not exceed the 10% from the total number of populations in Vakhsh range area where distribution of the animal was estimated: the area of Vakhsh range suitable for the tortoise is about 8000 ha and considering that observed average density of the tortoise here was 3,5 individuals per ha, the total number of the tortoises is approximately 280000. As per estimations done in March 2019, the number of tortoises may have the average density 15-24 per hectare. This means that population of tortoise at the area of converter station is only 3,7 - 5,4 % from the area of Vakhsh range and much lower in the scale of the whole country. IV. POTENTIAL IMPACTS OF CONSTRUCTION OF THE CONVERTER STATION ON THE CA TORTOISE Overall impacts on Tortoises of anthropogenic activities. Economic development and large irrigation schemes in the of large rivers valleys and at valleys between intermountain plain completely ousted A. horsfieldii or it has become rare. During the last two decades due to the rapid growth of the rural population fertile loess foothills are intensively mastered and the area of tortoises’ habitat as well as their population size have decreased significantly. Small autonomous tortoise populations such as in the Surkhob river valley proved less resistant to changes of the environment. The decrease in the number of tortoises is also influenced by illegal catching. Mortality of the animals. Anthropogenic activity is one of the main factors which caused further fragmentation of tortoise habitat and isolation. Due to the rapid growth of the rural population, fertile loess foothills (habitat area) are intensively developed, and abundance of this species have noticeably decreased over the past two decades. Illegal collection of the animal also influenced the decline in the numbers of the Central Asian tortoise. Project activities with impacts on Tortoise. Conducted analysis show that the civil works that will be done for construction of the station will greatly affect the CA Tortoise. Most serious impacts and risks for the species will be as the result of the following activities:  Construction of foundations and buildings. 175  Clearing of vegetation and the levelling and terracing of the ground surface in those areas where heavy electrical transformers and other switchgear will stand.  Construction of storm water drainage pipes, slabs, bund walls, a control room, small buildings and storage areas.  Coverage of all open areas between the transformer plinths and other switchgear foundations with about a 100 mm layer of 25 – 38 mm crushed stone.  Delivering and erection of transformers, circuit breakers, reactors and other high voltage equipment to the site;  Construction camp for workers - approximately 150 to 200 people present on the Converter’s site at any one time. The location of the camp will be appointed by local authorities of Kushoniyon and Vakhsh districts when Contractor will be selected for the implementation of proposed project works.  Non-hazardous and hazardous waste generation from the construction works. Annex 1 presents proposed construction activities and potential impacts and risks to the habitats/animals along with the proposed mitigation measures. Summary of impacts and risks. Overall all impacts on CA tortoise can be summarized as follows: (a) direct mortality of the animals due to construction activities: (b) vegetation loss and conversion of natural habitats, supporting this species; (c) impacts to possibilities of newly born animals to go up to the surface due to construction of facilities and their foundations; and, (d) disruption of tortoise natural ways of movements. Level of mortality risks. If relocation of CA Tortoise from the site of converter station is not done before the construction activities t, the mortality rate of the tortoise will be more than 80% due to the clearing of vegetation, levelling and gravelling of the area, construction of foundation etc. V. MITIGATION MEASURES Overview. As presented above, the converter’s construction activities might cause a series of different impacts and risks on tortoises with high probability of their mortality. Some of these can be mitigated on site by applying a series of avoidance measures, in most cases they cannot be mitigated, and the most efficient mitigation measure is their relocation in a new location which is suitable for their living. On site mitigation measures. These should be conducted during the construction and operational phases and include a whole range of well know best construction activities to be implemented by Contractor and Barqi Tajik and relate to various aspects of environmental protection and are presented in the Annex 1. Relocation of Tortoises. One of most efficient way to minimize direct impacts of construction activities on the tortoises is their resettlement. For this purpose, it is proposed before any civil works start, the project areas will be searched by the Biodiversity Specialists and any individuals found will be carefully transported outside risk areas in habitats matching their ecological requirements. The relocation will be permanent. This requires a series of special conditions and activities which are specified below in section 6. VI. RELOCATION OF SPECIES Proposed relocation area. Relocation of species will be done to the distance 500 -1000 m near converter station’ construction sites to reduce the risk of entering the construction zone. Overall the area where animals can be potentially resettled safely, and which fully correspond to their nutrition or biological needs is relatively large and located at the distance up to 5-10 km around the converter station. The area in this radius, including 500-1000 meters where tortoise is proposed to be relocated, is identical to area of converter station (confirmed by the site visits and survey of converter and electrode stations as well as 176 area where tortoises to be resettled, done in March 2019 by scientists of Institute of Zoology). The Figure 4 below shows the location of the converter station and surrounding heights and general topography of the area surrounding the site is similar up to 20 km. Figure 6: Topographic map of the location of converter station Type of relocation habitat. The relocation area presents the suitable habitat landscapes for tortoise: it is composed by clay and loess and represents piedmont plains and foothills with a smooth and slightly wavy relief, alluvial sandy plains. The soil and plant cover of such natural complexes is represented mainly by light or typical sierozems with ephemeral vegetation as Phlomis bucharica, Psoralea drupacea, Artemisia sp., Lagonychium farctum, etc. The humus layer of the loess and loamy sands are one of the key factors for the habitat of tortoise, confirmed that the area where animals will be relocated is suitable for the living of the tortoise. Figure 7 below shows the radius where the tortoise can be relocated. One can see that it is almost the identical habitat with same vegetation and type of landscape as observed at the area of converter station. 177 Figure 7. Area of potential relocation of tortoises Tortoise adaptation to the new location. Based on the previous studies and implemented by the specialists of the Institute of Zoology of the Academy of sciences of Tajikistan experiences as well experience in returning to the habitat the tortoise seized from poachers, it is possible to conclude that after resettlement tortoise will adapt well to the new place and will not return to the old habitat due to the following reasons:  The resettlement area had enough ephemeral vegetation included into the diet of tortoise;  New area has the same type of soft soil (loess soil);  The animals will be relocated to a large new area in small batches to areas already inhabited by tortoise, without creating competition for food for the already presented tortoises, - due to the small population, there is no problem of overpopulation of tortoise during relocation;  The ratio of females to males in each batch of resettled tortoises was equal and thus there will be no fight for female between male tortoises. Mortality risks. The risk of mortality of the tortoise during and as a result of the relocation is extremely low, as the tortoise is resistant to stress and is not tied to the place. Under the condition of resettlement to areas favorable for their life, the percentage of survival will be about 100%. Timing for Tortoise relocation. While implementing tortoise relocation it is necessary to take into consideration the fact that the Central Asian tortoise has spring activity, - therefore it is strongly recommended to relocate the occurring individuals at the construction sites of stations to new areas, in the spring season after matting (March-April) and before eggs clutching (Mid-May-June). Conducting such activities in other seasons would negatively impacts eggs clutching and detrimental effect on the livelihoods of the steppe tortoise. Mortality in the case of resettlement in other seasons will be much higher. Method of relocation. To ensure efficient relocation of the tortoises and reducing their mortality in this process the following requirements are necessary to follow:  Relocation must be carried out with the participation of zoological specialists, - this is needed as before the relocation the tortoises must be divided and selected by pairs and this can be done only 178 by these specialists. Furthermore, the zoological specialists know the adequate habitat for their living and can identify best areas for relocation.  Before gathering of tortoises, the specialists will measure the temperature of the soil surface by electronic thermometer (the devise should be set on the land surface). The temperature should be 23-300C to start the gathering of the animals, - as only at these tmperatures the tortoises are getting out of their wholes at the earth surface.  The animals should be gathered manually, by hands, with use of gloves. The animal (tortoise front carapax) will be carefully marked by paint (non-toxic) to distinct the relocated tortoise from those who are living already in the relocation area and put to the wooden boxes. This is necessary to be done for the further monitoring purposes. Releasing of the animals will be done in places which is already inhabited by other tortoises.  Then in the radius of 500-1000 m from the Converter station site the animals should be taken out of boxes and carefully put to the appropriate places (see above).  After releasing of all animals, the wooden boxes and empty cans from the paints will be taken away from the sites to designated place for reuse and disposal, no waste should be left in the area. Equipment and Staff. For conducting relocation activities, it is necessary to have in place the following equipment:  Wooden boxes - 20 pieces  Electronic thermometer 2 pieces  Shovels - 4 pcs.  Bags - 20 pcs.  Gloves -10 pcs  Paint for marking of animals for further monitoring  Rent of vehicle for transportation of the wooden boxes with animals To ensure timely and fast relocations the number of personnel of the needed Zoological Specialist is needed to have not less than 4 persons. VII. IMPLEMENTING ARRANGEMENTS 7.1. Overview BMP implementation involves a range of stakeholders, including the Company (Barki Tojik), the Contractors (and subcontractors), local authorities, regulatory agencies and the public. Such a system therefore requires robust processes regarding information dissemination, training, designation of responsibility, management actions, monitoring, control, and corrective actions, when needed. Generic roles and responsibilities for the Company and Contractors are detailed below. 7.2. Barki Tojik Roles & Responsibilities This Biodiversity MP will be applied in conjunction with all other relevant project management plans. BT is responsible for key management activities including: • Development of bidding conditions regarding biodiversity management; • Professional training of its representative on site; • Supervision of animals’ collection and relocation; • Supervision of implementation of mitigation measures provided in BMP; • Management cooperation in case of environmental accident; • Management of pollution from its own operations; • Specifically, within the organization the following roles and responsibilities will apply: 179 The main responsibilities with regard to BMP implementation aree as follows: BT/PMUES Director: Approves Biodiversity Management Plan and allocates resources for implementation PMUES Manager: Ensures Project compliance with the Plan requirements Environmental monitoring Unit of PMUES: Provide necessary support for main contractors to ensure compliance with the following: • Requirements of the Biodiversity Management Plan • Performs audits and regular inspections of the main contractors for monitoring performance compared to the requirements of this Management Plan • Report all hazards, incidents and non-conformities • Prepares an annual environmental report that includes details on biodiversity issues • Centralizes the reports issued by the Contracting parties of the biodiversity services • Assures communication between Barqi Tajik Contracting parties of the biodiversity services and the constructor • Makes periodical field inspections Biodiversity Specialists hired by PMUES: • Have overall responsibility for implementation of this Plan; • Develops, revises and monitors Plan implementation; • Provide necessary support for main contractors to ensure compliance with the requirements of the BMP; • Performs audits and regular inspections of the main contractors for monitoring performance compared to the requirements of this BMP; • Report all hazards, incidents and non-conformities; • Conduct monitoring of the species in the field to ensure that they do not need any other measures to survive. 4.3. Contractor Roles & Responsibilities Contractor environmental requirements are defined in the relevant articles of their contracts and associated mandatory annexes. Each contractor must also implement all relevant requirements of the BMP. Contactors are also responsible for ensuring that any subcontracted work also meets these requirements. Contractors will therefore be required to present to the Beneficiary, represented in the project by PMUES in accordance with the requirements, their proposed approaches to: ♦ Prevention and management of ecological impacts on site; ♦ Any other conditions outlined in this BMP or its appendices. In addition, Contractor will present the Beneficiary with details of: ♦ their proposed team responsible for implementing requirements management and monitoring for biodiversity protection ♦ Records any ecological impacts. The main activities and responsibilities, as well as timeline with cost for relocation activities are presented in the Table 2 below. 180 Table 2. Biodiversity Conservation Management plan for relocation of steppe tortoise around Converter station N Activities Responsible Time Supervision and to whom Number of Professiona Costs report working l fee days 1 Gathering of tortoises from Institute of 20-30 April 2019 PMUES, environmental 20 100$ 8000$ the area of station in project zoology (4 department of Kushoniyon area and their marking scientists) district 2 Relocation of the tortoise in Institute of 20-30 April 2019 PMUES, environmental 20 8000$ a radius of 500 to 1000 m zoology (4 department of Kushoniyon near station construction scientists) district sites by transporting them in wooden boxes 3 Fencing of construction site Contractor April-May 2019 PMUES 3000$ 4 Relocation monitoring of Institute of May 2019, April- PMUES, environmental 12 100$ 1200$ the Central Asian tortoise zoology (2 May 2020 department of Kushoniyon on the project sites and in scientists) district the relocation areas Total 19000$ 181 VIII. MONITORING AND SUPERVISION Overview. After the construction of the converter station, it is recommended to conduct annual monitoring of the Central Asian tortoise number (for 2years) around construction site and relocation territories with the involvement of researchers from the Institute of Zoology of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Tajikistan. The purpose of the monitoring is to verify the relevant implementation of applied action for saving of tortoise and check the status and survival rate of resettled animals in new location. Post-relocation monitoring will include both tortoises that are marked (relocated) and unmarked (original residents of the relocation area), and a baseline survey of existing residents in the relocation areas will be done as soon as possible. This will allow determining not only whether the relocated animals survive, but also whether or not introducing them has an adverse impact on the existing local population. It is suggested that the BMP acknowledge that the monitoring is really just for scientific knowledge purposes. Biodiversity Specialists hired by PMUES will monitor implementation of the relocation activities and mitigation measures described in the Table 3, perform regular inspections of sites with released animals and prepare report to PMUES on applied measures and status of the habitat. They will also report on all hazards, incidents and non-conformities observed. The monitoring of the species in the field will determine the level of animal survival and what kinds of measures might be considered if the monitoring indicates that the survival rate is less than expected. PMUES will submit monitoring report on implementation of BMP to WB after relocation of species in 2019 – in June 2019. The next report of status of tortoise habitat will be submitted along with the subsequent regular quarterly and semi-annual reports. Monitoring and supervision responsibilities, as well as schedule is presented in the Table 3. 182 Table 3. Monitoring and supervision of the Central Asian tortoise in period from 2019 to 2020 N Activities Responsib Time Supervision and to Number of Professiona Costs le for whom report working l fee monitorin days g 2019 1 Monitoring of relocation Institute of 15-30 April PMUES, 15 days Included to Included to activities zoology (2 2019 environmental the cost of the cost of scientists) department of relocation relocation Kushoniyon district 2 Survey and observation of Institute of 1-30 May PMUES, 2 100$ 200$ steppe tortoise individuals and zoology (2 2019 environmental biotops in the 1 km radius area scientists) department of from the location of Converter Kushoniyon district station 2020 2 Survey and observation of Institute of 20 March-30 PMUES, 2 100$ 200$ steppe tortoise individuals and zoology (2 April 2020 environmental biotops in the 1 km radius area scientists) department of from the location of Converter Kushoniyon district station 183 Annex 1. Potential project impacts on CA Tortoise and mitigation measures to be undertaken by Contractors Project Activity/ Environmental Impacts on Proposed mitigation measures Impact Source tortoise/habitat General Waste  Soil and water pollution from the • Develop waste management plan for various specific waste streams (e.g., improper management of wastes reusable waste, flammable waste, construction debris, food waste etc.) prior to and excess materials from the commencing of construction and submit to CSC for approval. construction sites. • Organize disposal of all wastes generated during construction in an environmentally acceptable manner. This will include consideration of the nature and location of disposal site, to cause less environmental impact. • Minimize the production of waste materials by 3R (Reduce, Recycle and Reuse) approach. • Segregate and reuse or recycle all the wastes, wherever practical. • Prohibit burning of solid waste • Collect and transport non-hazardous wastes to all the approved disposal sites. Vehicles transporting solid waste shall be covered with tarps or nets to prevent spilling waste along the route • Train and instruct all personnel in waste management practices and procedures as a component of the environmental induction process. • Provide refuse containers at each worksite. • Request suppliers to minimize packaging where practicable. • Place a high emphasis on good housekeeping practices. Maintain all construction sites in a cleaner, tidy and safe condition and provide and maintain appropriate facilities as temporary storage of all wastes before transportation and final disposal. • Ensure proper collection and disposal of solid wastes within the construction camps • Insist waste separation by source; organic wastes in one pot and inorganic wastes in another pot at household level. • Store inorganic wastes in a safe place within the household and clear organic wastes on daily basis to waste collector. Establish waste collection, transportation and disposal systems with the manpower and equipment/vehicles needed. 184 • Dispose organic wastes in a designated safe place on daily basis. At the end of the day cover the organic wastes with a thin layer of sand so that flies, mosquitoes, dogs, cats, rats, are not attracted. One may dig a large hole to put organic wastes in it; take care to protect groundwater from contamination by leachate formed due to decomposition of wastes. Cover the bed of the pit with impervious layer of materials (clayey or thin concrete) to protect groundwater from contamination. Do not establish site specific landfill sites. All solid waste will be collected and removed from the work camps and disposed in approval waste disposal sites. Fuels, Hazardous  Environmental impacts – potential  Prepare spill control procedures and submit the plan for CSC approval. Waste pollution of soil due to improper  Train the relevant construction personnel in handling of fuels and spill . waste management practices control procedures.  Water pollution from the storage,  Store dangerous goods in bunded areas on a top of a sealed plastic sheet away handling and disposal of hazardous from watercourses; and also under a rainwater shed (to prevent contact with materials and general construction rainwater). waste, and accidental spillage  Refueling shall occur only within bunded areas.  Materials used in construction have  Make available MSDS for chemicals and dangerous goods on-site. a potential to be a source of  Transport waste of dangerous goods, which cannot be recycled, to a contamination. Improper storage designated disposal site approved by EPA or sold to EPA registered vendors. and handling of fuels, lubricants,  Provide absorbent and containment material (e.g., absorbent matting) where chemicals and hazardous hazardous material is used and stored and personnel trained in the correct use. goods/materials on-site, and  Provide protective clothing, safety boots, helmets, masks, gloves, goggles, to potential spills from these goods the construction personnel, appropriate to materials in use. may harm the environment /habitat  Make sure all containers, drums, and tanks that are used for storage are in for animals. good condition and are labeled with expiry date. Any container, drum, or tank that is dented, cracked, or rusted might eventually leak. Check for leakage regularly to identify potential problems before they occur.  Put containers and drums in temporary storages in clearly marked areas, where they will not be run over by vehicles or heavy machinery. The area shall preferably slope or drain to a safe collection area in the event of a spill.  Put containers and drums in permanent storage areas on an impermeable floor that slopes to a safe collection area in the event of a spill or leak.  Take all precautionary measures when handling and storing fuels and lubricants, avoiding environmental pollution. 185  Avoid the use of material with greater potential for contamination by substituting them with more environmentally friendly materials.  Minimize the generation of sediment, oil and grease, excess nutrients, organic matter, litter, debris and any form of waste (particularly petroleum and chemical wastes). These substances must not enter waterways, storm water systems or underground water tables  Return the gas cylinders to the supplier. However, if they are not empty prior to their return, they must be labeled with the name of the material they contained or contain, information on the supplier, cylinder serial number, pressure, their last hydrostatic test date, and any additional identification marking that may be considered necessary. • Collect chemical wastes in 200 liters drums (or similar sealed container), appropriately labeled for safe transport to an approved chemical waste depot. • Store, transport and handle all chemicals avoiding potential environmental pollution. • Store all hazardous wastes appropriately in bunded areas away from water courses. • Make available Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) for hazardous materials on-site during construction. • Collect hydrocarbon wastes, including lube oils, for safe transport off-site for reuse, recycling, treatment or disposal at approved locations. Construct concrete or other impermeable flooring to prevent seepage in case of spills Discharge from  Waste waters from construction  Minimize the amount of exposed soil at any one time (only clear vegetation construction sites sites and work camps. The immediately before construction is about to begin) construction works will modify  Install temporary drainage works (channels and bunds) in areas required for groundcover and topography sediment and erosion control and around storage areas for construction materials changing the surface water drainage  Install temporary sediment basins, where appropriate, to capture sediment-laden patterns of the area including run-off from site infiltration and storage of storm  Divert runoff from undisturbed areas around the construction site water.  Stockpile materials away from drainage lines 186  Prevent all solid entering waterways by collecting solid waste, oils, chemicals, bitumen spray waste and wastewaters from brick, concrete and asphalt cutting and transport to an approved waste disposal site or recycling depot  Collect, transport and discharge the septic tank waste from the construction camps in the nearby municipal waste water treatment plants  Ensure that tires of construction vehicles are cleaned in the washing bay (constructed at the entrance of the construction site) to remove the mud from the wheels. This shall be done in every exit of each construction vehicle to ensure the local roads are kept clean. Soil Erosion and  Soil erosion and dust from the  Ensure that sealed roads used by construction vehicles are swept regularly to siltation material stockpiles will increase the remove sediment. sediment and contaminant loading  Water the material stockpiles, access roads and bare soils on an as required basis of surface water bodies. to minimize dust. Increase the watering frequency during periods of high risk (e.g. high winds) Excavation and  Lack of proper drainage for  Protect the toe of all stockpiles, where erosion is likely to occur, with silt fences, earth works and rainwater/liquid waste or straw bales or bunds construction yards wastewater owing to the  Locate stockpiles away from drainage lines construction activities harms  Protect the toe of all stockpiles, where erosion is likely to occur, with silt fences, environment in terms of water and straw bales or bunds soil contamination  Remove debris from drainage paths and sediment control structures  Cover the loose sediments and water them if required  Divert natural runoff around construction areas prior to any site disturbance  Install protective measures on site prior to construction, for example, sediment traps  Observe the performance of drainage structures and erosion controls during rain and modify as required.  Provide alternative drainage for rainwater if the construction works/earth-fillings cut the established drainage line  Establish local drainage line with appropriate silt collector and silt screen for rainwater or wastewater connecting to the existing established drainage lines already there  Rehabilitate road drainage structures immediately if damaged by contractors’ road transports. 187  Build new drainage lines as appropriate and required for wastewater from construction yards connecting to the available nearby recipient water bodies.  Ensure the internal roads/hard surfaces in the construction yards/construction camps that generate has storm water drainage to accommodate high runoff during downpour and that there is no stagnant water in the area at the end of the downpour.  Construct wide drains instead of deep drains to avoid sand deposition in the drains that require frequent cleaning.  Provide appropriate silt collector and silt screen at the inlet and manholes and periodically clean the drainage system to avoid drainage congestion  Protect natural slopes of drainage channels to ensure adequate storm water drains.  Regularly inspect and maintain all drainage channels to assess and alleviate any drainage congestion problem.  Reduce infiltration of contaminated drainage through storm water management design Construction  Erosion from construction material  Strip the top soil to a depth of 15 cm and store in stock piles of height not activities stockpiles may contaminate the exceeding 2m. Construction soils. The impacts of soil erosion are  Remove unwanted materials from top soil like grass, roots of trees and similar material stock (i) Increased run off and others. piles sedimentation causing a greater  The stockpiles will be done in slopes of 2:1 to reduce surface runoff and enhance Land clearing and flood hazard to the downstream, (ii) percolation through the mass of stored soil. earth works destruction of vegetation by burying  Locate topsoil stockpiles in areas outside drainage lines and protect from erosion. or gullying.  Construct diversion channels and silt fences around the topsoil stockpiles to  Earthworks will impact the fertile prevent erosion and loss of topsoil. top soils that are enriched with  Spread the topsoil to maintain the physico-chemical and biological activity of the nutrients required for plant growth soil. The stored top soil will be utilized for covering all disturbed area and along  Construction activities especially the proposed plantation sites earthworks will change topography Prior to the re-spreading of topsoil, the ground surface will be ripped to assist the and will change the local landscape. bunding of the soil layers, water penetration and revegetation  Ensure the topography of the final surface of all raised lands (construction yards, approach roads, access roads, etc.) are conducive to enhance natural draining of rainwater/flood water;  Keep the final or finished surface of all the raised lands free from any kind of depression that insists water logging 188  Undertake mitigation measures for erosion control/prevention by grass-turfing and tree plantation, where there is a possibility of rain-cut that will change the shape of topography.  Cover immediately the uncovered open surface that has no use of construction activities with grass-cover and tree plantation to prevent soil erosion and bring improved landscaping Transport  Vehicular movement outside right  Limit equipment and vehicular movements to within the approved construction of way of existing roads or zone temporary access roads will affect  Construct temporary access tracks to cross concentrated water flow lines at right the soil fertility required for plant angles growth  Plan construction access to make use, if possible, of the final road alignment  Use vehicle-cleaning devices, for example, ramps or wash down areas Vegetation  Clearance of vegetation may impact  Reduce disturbance to surrounding vegetation clearance shelter, feeding and/or breeding of  Use appropriate type and minimum size of machine to avoid disturbance to animals. Local flora is important to adjacent vegetation. provide nutrition for the animals,  Get approval from supervision consultant for clearance of vegetation. protect soil erosion and overall keep  Make selective and careful pruning of trees where possible to reduce need of tree the environment very friendly to removal. human-living. As such damage to  Control noxious weeds by disposing of at designated dump site or burn on site. flora has wide range of adverse  Clear only the vegetation that needs to be cleared in accordance with the plans. environmental impacts. These measures are applicable to both the construction areas as well as to any associated activities such as sites for stockpiles, disposal of fill and construction of diversion roads, etc.  Before excavation, mark the trees that must remain on the site and cannot be removed.  Do not burn off cleared vegetation – where feasible, chip or mulch and reuse it for the rehabilitation of affected areas, temporary access tracks or landscaping. Mulch provides a seed source, can limit embankment erosion, retains soil moisture and nutrients, and encourages re-growth and protection from weeds.  Return topsoil and mulched vegetation (in areas of native vegetation) to approximately the same area of the roadside it came from.  Avoid work within the drip-line of trees to prevent damage to the tree roots and compacting the soil. 189  Minimize the length of time the ground is expozed or excavation left open by clearing and re-vegetate the area at the earliest practically possible.  Ensure excavation works occur progressively and re-vegetation done at the earliest  Provide adequate knowledge to the workers regarding nature protection and the need of avoid felling trees during construction  Supply appropriate fuel in the work caps to prevent fuel wood collection Construction  Illegal poaching  Provide adequate knowledge to the workers regarding protection of flora and camps fauna, and relevant government regulations and punishments for illegal poaching. No dogs will be allowed within working area in the vicinity of converter and electrode stations Siting and  Campsites for construction workers  Locate the construction camps within the proposed electrode station site Location of are the important locations that have  Consider the location of construction camps away from communities in order to construction camp significant impacts such as health avoid social conflict in using the natural resources such as water or to avoid the and safety hazards on local possible adverse impacts of the construction camps on the surrounding resources and infrastructure of communities. nearby communities.  Submit to the CSC for approval a detailed layout plan for the development of the construction camp showing the relative locations of all temporary buildings and facilities that are to be constructed together with the location of site roads, fuel storage areas (for use in power supply generators), solid waste management and dumping locations, and drainage facilities, prior to the development of the construction camps.  The site will not be lit except in exceptional circumstances. Where lighting is required it will be directional and the lighting strategy will be designed with the input of an ecologist. Only non-UV lighting sources will be employed. The use of lighting sources with low intensity, with vapors of sodium (from whose wavelength the UV radiation is missing) in order to avoid the attraction of insects and implicitly of species of chiropters which come to follow them. Also, strong lightning sources shall be avoided.  Local authorities responsible for health, religious and security shall be duly informed on the set up of camp facilities 190 ANNEX 6: CHANCE FIND PROCEDURES OF PHYSICAL AND CULTURAL RESOURCES (Ref: The World Bank Operational Manual, 1999 OP4.11) Works could impact sites of social, sacred, religious, or heritage value. “Chance find” procedures would apply when those sites are identified during the design phase or during the actual construction period and the related activity will not be eligible for financing under the project. (1) Cultural property includes monuments, structures, works of art, or sites of significant points of view, and are defined as sites and structures having archaeological, historical, architectural, or religious significance, and natural sites with cultural values. This includes cemeteries, graveyards and graves. (2) The list of negative subproject attributes which would make a subproject ineligible for support includes any activity that would adversely impact cultural property. (3) In the event of finding of properties of cultural value during construction, the following procedures for identification, protection from theft, and treatment of discovered artifacts should be followed and included in standard bidding document: (a) Stop the construction activities around the chance find; (b) Delineate the discovered site or area; (c) Secure the site to prevent any damage or loss of removable objects. (d) Notify the supervisory Engineer who in turn will notify the responsible local authorities; (e) Responsible local authorities and the relevant Ministry would oversee protecting and preserving the site before deciding on subsequent appropriate procedures. (f) Decisions on how to handle the finding shall be taken by the responsible authorities and the relevant Ministry. This could include changes in the layout (such as when finding an irremovable remain of cultural or archeological importance), conservation, restoration and salvage. (g) Implementation of the authority decision concerning the management of the finding shall be communicated in writing by the relevant Ministry. (h) Construction work could resume only after permission is given from the responsible local authorities and the relevant Ministry concerning safeguard of the heritage. (4) These procedures must be referred to as standard provisions in construction contracts. During project supervision, the Site Engineer shall monitor the above regulations relating to the treatment of any chance find encountered. (5) Relevant findings will be recorded in World Bank Supervision Reports and Implementation Completion Reports will assess the overall effectiveness of the project’s cultural property mitigation, management, and activities, as appropriate. 191 ANNEX 7. PUBLIC CONSULTATIONS ON DRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT DOCUMENT - IN KHATLON PROVINCE 1) Kushoniyon district Location Number of people Number of men Number of women 12 June 2019 Kushoniyon district, Conference 28 22 6 Hall of the Khukumat building Purpose: To describe the objectives and activities for the proposed Project, including environmental and social management issues and solicit feedback Khatlon Province Public Consultations (June 2019) Date: 12 June 2019 Location: Kushoniyon district, Jamoat Bustonkala, conference-hall of secondary school N38 Panel Members:  Safarzoda Sh., Deputy Chairman of Kushoniyon district  Zafar Rahmatzoda, Deputy Director, PMUES/ Barki Tojik;  Abdukahor Vatanov, Senior specialist, PMUES/Barki Tojik  Sirodjiddin Karimov, Head of Environmental and Social Monitoring department  Aziz Kholov, environmental specialist, PMUES List of participants (presented below): 28 participants Comments, notes, conclusions At the meeting, presentations were made on the draft environmental and social impacts assessment document, environmental and social management plan, biodiversity issues, GRM for the proposed AC/DC Converter and Electrode Station Project (part of CASA-1000 Project) Information was given on the requirements of WB safeguards policies, national environmental legislation, potential impacts of the project, safety issues, proposed mitigation measures in ESMP, aspects of monitoring (summary on project and ESMP in Russian were distributed to participants, Power point presentations done in Tajik). # Question / Comment Answer 1 When are construction plans scheduled? The project commencement is expected this year 2 Who will be involved in construction work on Construction company “Cobra” was selected as result the site? Will local people be hired? of tender process. Yes, local people will be also hired, there are relevant provisions in ESMP 3 Will women be hired? Yes, there are relevant provisions in ESMP 4 What is the impacts of construction on In accordance with national legislation and also livestock and future impacts? international standards, converter and electrode stations should have protection zone. No livestock are allowed to enter this zone. The station will be fenced and no entrance allowed except of personnel 192 Participants noted that the components of the proposed project will not have negative environmental, social and health impacts. All participants concluded that the implementation of the ESIA/ESMP provisions and appropriate mitigation measures for the consequences of the project activities will have a largely positive impact on their safety, livelihood and the business climate of the country. Consultations in Kushoniyon district – 12 June 2019 List of public consultations participants in Kushoniyon district, Bustonkala jamoat, 12 June 2019 N Name of participants Jamoat/village, professional occupation 1 Safarzoda Sh. Deputy Chairman of Kushoniyon district 2 Sohibov M. Chairman of dehkan farm “Hoji Muhannadsharif”, resident 3 Tagoev M. Deputy Head of energy department of the district 4 Gayurov Sh. Resident of Avlie village 5 Ahmadshoev Kh. Chairman of Bustonkala jamoat 6 Kurbonov A. Director of school, Ergash village 7 Kurbonov U. Chairman of mahalla Ergash 8 Shirinbekov Sh. Specialist of energy department 9 Holov J. Specialist of Bustonkala jamoat 10 Kasirov N. Local Energy department specialist, 11 Habibov M. Zootechnicians, Umar-Kazok village 12 Nabiev S. Student, resident of Umar-Kazok village 13 Abdulloev I. Shepherd, Ergash village 14 Kuchonov R. Farmer, Sengtuf village 15 Toshov Usmon Farmer, Ergash village 193 16 Jailobov A. Student, Ergash village 17 Sharifov M. Student, Umar-kazok village 18 Rahmatzoda Z. Deputy Director, PMUES 19 Vatanov A. Senior specialist, PMUES 20 Karimov S. Head of Environmental and social monitoring department, PMUES 21 Holov A. Environmental specialist, PMUES 22 Kuchakova G. Housewife, Ergash village 23 Salihova Kh. Teacher, Ergash village 24 Murodov Yu. farmer 25 Hamdamova H. Housewife 26 Safarova L. Housewife, Ergash village 27 Halimova S. Cleaning worker 28 Dustova G. Student, Ergash village 194 195 2) Vakhsh district Location Number of people Number of men Number of women 12 June 2019 Vakhsh district, club of Mashal 29 20 9 jamoat Purpose: To describe the objectives and activities for the proposed Project, including environmental and social management issues and solicit feedback Khatlon Province Public Consultations (June 2019) Date: 12 June 2019 Location: Vakhsh district, conference-hall of Mashal jamoat club Panel Members:  Abdukahor Vatanov, Senior specialist, PMUES/Barki Tojik  Sirodjiddin Karimov, Head of Environmental and Social Monitoring department  Aziz Kholov, environmental specialist, PMUES List of participants (presented below): 29 participants Comments, notes, conclusions At the meeting, presentations were made on the draft environmental and social impacts assessment document, environmental and social management plan, biodiversity issues, GRM for the proposed AC/DC Converter and Electrode Station Project (part of CASA-1000 Project) Information was given on the requirements of WB safeguards policies, national environmental legislation, potential impacts of the project, safety issues, proposed mitigation measures in ESMP, aspects of monitoring (summary on project and ESMP in Russian were distributed to participants, Power point presentations done in Tajik). # Question / Comment Answer 1 After completion of construction works at the There are number of potential impacts dealing with facilities, will the operation of the facility affect occupational hazards for station personnel, the environment in the future? generation of waste, in cases of improper waste 196 management causing littering and pollution surface water, groundwater and soil contamination, oil spills etc. The proposed ESMP contains relevant mitigation measures which will help to prevent/mitigate potential environmental impacts during operation and maintenance phase 2 Will local people be hired? Yes, there is relevant provisions in ESMF project 3 Where removed fertile soil from 43 hectares of It will be disposed in coordination with local land under the converter station in the future authorities and environmental department in will it be disposed? designated sites 4 How will the land acquisition for the converter It will be done in cash form or plot land station be compensated? 5 Will residents of nearby villages be involved in Yes, they can apply after relevant announcement construction work? Is the construction of infrastructure planned for It will be done under other CASA CSP project the nearest villages around the location of the converter station? 6 When the project will start? Project commencement is expected this year Participants noted that the components of the proposed project will not have negative environmental, social and health impacts. All participants concluded that the implementation of the ESIA/ESMP provisions and appropriate mitigation measures for the consequences of the project activities will have a largely positive impact on their safety, livelihood and the business climate of the country. 197 Consultations in Vakhsh district – 12 June 2019 List of public consultations participants in Vakhsh district, 12 June 2019 N Name of participants Jamoat/village, professional occupation 1 Azimov H. Secretary of jamoat Mashal, Mehrobod village 2 Azizov D. Military service of jamoat, Mehrobod village 3 Mahmadaliev Kh. Jamoat specialist, Mehrobod village 4 Rahmonov S. Specialist on statistics of jamoat, Mehrobod village 5 Azizov R. Chaiman of dehkan farm “Barakat”, Mehrobod village 6 Barotov Z. Farmer, Kirob jamoat 7 Rajabov B. Land management specialist, Kaktashur village 8 Shermatov B. Chairman of mahalla, Mehrobod village 9 Vohidov H. Chairman of mahalla, Mehrobod village 10 Buriev S. Chairman of dehkan farm, Mehrobod village 11 Shoimov B. Chairman of mahalla, Mehrobod village 12 Ashurov E. Chairman of dehkan farm, Mehrobod village 13 Rasulov N. Chairman of mahalla, Mehrobod village 14 Nazarov T. Chairman of mahalla, Mehrobod village 15 Rasulov Sh. Chairman of farm, Kirov jamoat 16 Kurbonov R. Chairman of mahalla, Mehrobod village 17 Mahmadzoda M. Chairman of farm “Bozorboy”, Mehrobod village 18 Karimov S. Head of Environmental and social monitoring department, PMUES 19 Holov A. Environmental specialist, PMUES 20 Shirinbekov Sh. Specialist, PMUES 21 Jafarova Z. Tax specialist, jamoat Mashal 22 Tagoeva S. Medical doctor, health center in Mashal jamoat 23 Rahimova G. nurse 24 Odinaeva S. housewife 25 Huseinova G. farmer 26 Odinaev B. Chairman of farm “Barakat” 27 Yusupova O. Specialist of jamoat 28 Maniboeva S. housewife 29 Holmuminova Z. pensioner 198 199 200