Initial Environmental Examination Report Project Number: 37381-013 November 2012 Sri Lanka: DRY ZONE URBAN WATER AND SANITATION PROJECT - for Puttalam Water and Sanitation System Prepared by Project Management Unit for Dry Zone Urban Water and Sanitation Project, Colombo, Sri Lanka. For Water Supply and Drainage Board Ministry of Water Supply and Drainage, Sri Lanka. This report has been submitted to ADB by the Ministry of Water Supply and Drainage and is made publicly available in accordance with ADB’s public communications policy (2005). It does not necessarily reflect the views of ADB. I. INTRODUCTION A. Purpose of the Report The Dry Zone Urban Water and Sanitation Program (DZUWSP) is intended to facilitate sustainable development in disadvantaged districts in Sri Lanka. This will be achieved by investing in priority water supply and sanitation infrastructure in selected urban areas. Assistance will be targeted in those parts of the Northern and North-Western Provinces with the most acute shortages of drinking water and sanitation. Chosen urban areas are the towns of Mannar, Vavuniya, Puttalam and Chilaw. DZUWSP will be implemented over five years beginning in early 2009, and will be supported by ADB through a project loan and grant. The Ministry of Water Supply and Drainage (MWSD) is the Executing Agency (EA) for the program and NWSDB is the Implementing Agency (IA). DZUWSP will improve infrastructure through the development, design and implementation of subprojects in water supply and sanitation in each town. The Project has been classified by ADB as environmental assessment category B, where the component requiring greater attention is the Vavuniya water supply subproject (a 10.5 m high dam and 237 ha storage reservoir). The impacts of providing infrastructure in the four urban areas were assessed by four Initial Environmental Examination (IEE) reports (one for each location). For Vavuniya an Environmental Management Plan for the storage reservoir and a detailed Environmental Monitoring plan (EnvMoP) for the other less sensitive sub-components have been prepared. In the other three towns, where impacts will be less significant, and detailed Environmental Monitoring Plans have been prepared. Studies were conducted according to ADB Environment Policy (2002) and Environmental Assessment Guidelines (2003) and this document is the IEE report for Puttalam. B. Extent of IEE study 4Sri Lankan law and ADB policy require that the environmental impacts of development projects are identified and assessed as part of the planning and design process, and that action is taken to reduce those impacts to acceptable levels. This is done through the environmental assessment process, which has become an integral part of lending operations and project development and implementation worldwide. 1. ADB Policy ADB’s Environment Policy requires the consideration of environmental issues in all aspects of the Bank’s operations, and the requirements for Environmental Assessment are described in Operations Manual (OM) 20: Environmental Considerations in ADB Operations. This states that ADB requires environmental assessment of all project loans, program loans, sector loans, sector development program loans, financial intermediation loans and private sector investment operations. The nature of the assessment required for a project depends on the significance of its environmental impacts, which are related to the type and location of the project, the sensitivity, scale, nature and magnitude of its potential impacts, and the availability of cost-effective 1 mitigation measures. Projects are screened for their expected environmental impacts and are assigned to one of the following categories: Category A: Projects that could have significant environmental impacts. An Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is required. Category B: Projects that could have some adverse environmental impacts, but of less significance than those for category A. An Initial Environmental Examination (IEE) is required to determine whether significant impacts warranting an EIA are likely. If an EIA is not needed, the IEE is regarded as the final environmental assessment report. A Category B project may be classified as B-sensitive if it involves 1 environmentally sensitive activities . Such projects require IEE, but have the same requirements for disclosure and Environmental Management Plans as Category A. Category C: Projects that are unlikely to have adverse environmental impacts. No EIA or IEE is required, although environmental implications are reviewed. The Bank has classed this project as Category B and following normal procedure for project loans, one IEE was conducted for each urban area, covering all proposed subprojects in the town. A subproject comprises the infrastructure improvements in a particular sector (water supply or sewerage/sanitation). 2. National Law The requirement for Environmental Assessment in Sri Lanka is established by the National Environment Act (1981), and the procedures are defined in the EIA Regulations (1993). The regulations specify activities for which environmental assessment is mandatory, and those that could occur within certain DZUWSP subprojects are as follows: 3 2 Groundwater extraction of over 500,000 m /day ; 3 2 A Water Treatment Plant with a capacity of over 500,000 m /day ; 3 Laying more than 1 km of pipes ; Projects that involve relocation of more than 100 people; and Projects that fall within sensitive area(s). Sensitive areas are defined in the EIA Regulations as: Any erodable area declared under the Soil Conservation Act (1951, 1953); Any Flood Area declared under the Flood Protection Ordinance (1924, 1955) and any Flood Protection Area declared under the Sri Lanka Land Reclamation and Development Corporation Act (1968, 1982); Any reservation beyond the Full Supply Level of a reservoir; 1 A project may be deemed environmentally sensitive by ADB if it is near environmentally 2 sensitive areas, or involves: deforestation or loss of biodiversity; involuntary resettlement issues; processing, handling and disposal of toxic and hazardous substances; or other environmentally sensitive activities that also may be of concern to a wide group of external stakeholders. 2 The Central Environment Authority is currently considering a proposal to lower these limits to 3 500 m /day. 3 This applies to wastewater projects but not water supply. Any archaeological reserve, ancient or protected monument as defined or declared under the Antiquities Ordinance (1965); Any area declared under the Botanic Gardens Ordinance (1928, 1973); Areas within, or less than 100 m from the boundaries of, any area declared under the National Heritage and Wilderness Act (1988): the Forest Ordinance; Areas within, or less than 100 m from the boundaries of, any area declared as a Sanctuary under the Fauna and Flora Protection Ordinance (1937); Areas within, or less than 100 m from the high flood level contour of, a public lake as defined by the Crown Lands Ordinance (1947, 1949, 1956) including those declared under Section 71 of the Ordinance; Areas 60 m or less from the bank of a public stream as defined in the Crown Lands Ordinance, with a width of more than 25 m at any point. The requirement for EIA and the level of study required are determined by the Provincial 4 Environment Authority (PEA) after submission by the proponent of a Project Information Document (PID), plus supporting information if relevant. There are two possible outcomes: Categorical Exclusion: the activity is not on the list of prescribed projects in the EIA regulations, is not in or near a sensitive area, has not been the subject of public protest, and it is clear from the PID and supporting information that the project will have no significant environmental impacts. Environmental Clearance is granted (with or without conditions) and the project may proceed; 4 All other projects require Environmental Assessment and the CEA or PEA establishes a Scoping Committee to decide on the level of study (IEE or EIA) and prepare Terms of Reference (ToR). Alternatively, if the project lies wholly within the jurisdiction of a single Government agency (eg UDA) CEA/PEA may refer the project to this authority (as the Project Approving Agency) to administer the EIA process. A Technical Review Committee reviews the completed IEE or EIA report and recommends whether Environmental Clearance should be granted. The final decision is made by CEA. The urban areas selected under this program have populations of between 40,000 and 120,000, so the infrastructure subprojects are relatively small, and groundwater abstraction and water treatment will not be of the scale quoted in the EIA regulations as requiring environmental 3 assessment. Components will not be located in protected or sensitive areas and no people will be relocated. However two of the water supply subprojects (Chilaw and Vavuniya) involve the construction of structures across a river or stream to impound water, which is considered as a prescribed activity under the National Environmental Act/Provincial Environmental Act (NEA/PEA), and will thus require an EIA/IEE. Furthermore, if during detailed designs the location of proposed tube wells for the Mannar water supply scheme is within or 100 m away from the Giants Tank Sanctuary, this too would be considered as a prescribed activity and would require an EIA/IEE.The regulations may also apply to the other urban water supply 4 In the North-Western Province (which includes Chilaw and Puttalam)