SUMMARY ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT OF THE SHENYANG-JINZHOU EXPRESSWAY PROJECT IN THE PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA June 1996 CURRENCY EQUIVALENTS (as of 15 June 1996) Currency Unit - Yuan (Y) Y1.00 = $0.120 $1.00 = Y8.322 On 1 January 1994, the PRC’s dual exchange rate system was unified. The exchange rate of the yuan is now determined under a managed floating exchange rate system. ABBREVIATIONS CO - Carbon Monoxide EIA - Environmental Impact Assessment EPB - Environmental Protection Bureau LPCD - Liaoning Provincial Communications Department NEPA - National Environmental Protection Agency NOx - Nitrogen Oxides NTHS - National Trunk Highway System Pb - Lead PRC - People’s Republic of China RCP - Resettlement and Compensation Plan SEIA - Summary Environmental Impact Assessment THC - Total Hydrocarbons TSP - Total Suspended Particles WEIGHTS AND MEASURES oC - Degree Centigrade dB(A) - Decibels (A) km - Kilometer km2 - Square Kilometer ha - Hectare m-Meter m3 - Cubic Meter mg - Milligram NOTES (i) The fiscal year of the Government coincides with the calendar year. (ii) In this Report, “$” refers to US dollars. CONTENTS Page I. INTRODUCTION 1 II. DESCRIPTION OF THE PROJECT 1 III. DESCRIPTION OF THE ENVIRONMENT 2 A. Physical Resources and Natural Environment 2 B. Ecological Resources 4 C. Human and Economic Development 4 IV. ANTICIPATED ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS AND MITIGATION MEASURES 8 A. Socioeconomic Considerations 8 B. Air Quality Impacts 10 C. Noise Impacts 11 D. Soil Impacts 12 E. Water Quality Impacts 13 F. Ecological Impacts 14 G. Historical and Cultural Impacts 14 H. Aesthetic Considerations 15 I. Hazardous Materials Impacts 15 J. Bridge Construction Impacts 16 V. ALTERNATIVES 16 VI. COST-BENEFIT ANALYSIS 17 VII. INSTITUTIONAL REQUIREMENTS AND ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING PROGRAM 18 A. Institutional Capability 18 B. Monitoring and Surveillance Program 18 C. Submission of Progress Reports 22 VIII. PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT 22 IX. CONCLUSIONS 24 I. INTRODUCTION 1. This summary environmental impact assessment (SEIA) has been prepared as an evaluation and condensation of a full environmental impact assessment (EIA) prepared by the Xian Highway Transportation University in November 1994 for the Beijing to Shenyang expressway—192 kilometers (km) of which is the Shenyang- Jinzhou Expressway—according to People’s Republic of China (PRC) guidelines, polices, and regulations. The SEIA is based on (i) the EIA; (ii) the Project feasibility study prepared by the Liaoning Provincial Communications Survey and Design Institute; (iii) discussions with the principal authors of the above documents; (iv) field visits along the proposed alignment; and (v) discussions with officials of the Liaoning Provincial Communications Department (LPCD) and other relevant environmental sector agencies. II. DESCRIPTION OF THE PROJECT 2. Rapid economic development in the PRC since the 1980s has resulted in a significant increase in transport demand. Since 1990, the Government has been pursuing construction of the National Trunk Highway System (NTHS) comprised of 30,000 km of high-standard highways connecting all major provincial capitals and populous cities. The Shenyang-Jinzhou Expressway Project (the Project) was selected for priority construction to support economic development in the central and southwestern part of Liaoning Province. 3. The Shenyang-Jinzhou Expressway is a 192-km, six-lane, limited access toll expressway facility with seven interchanges and improved linking access roads to these interchange locations. The proposed route (Alternative I) is located in Liaoning Province in the northeastern part of the PRC. The route will connect the industrial city of Shenyang with the southwest corridor service area of the Project. 4. The need for this Project has been established as a priority route of the NTHS relating specifically to the completion of the Beijing to Shenyang expressway. The corridor passes through a route in western Liaoning and connects the northeastern parts of the PRC with Hebei Province and Beijing. The Project is designed to move freight and passengers efficiently by road between Hebei Province and Shenyang, connecting Beijing to the PRC’s northeast provinces. This Project is designed to (i) reduce severe interprovincial and local traffic congestion along the existing National Highway Route 102 and Shenyang-Panshan Highway; (ii) improve intermodal linkages from Beijing, Shenyang, and the northeast provinces to major seaports such as Yingkou and Dalian; (iii) relieve pressure on the overburdened railway by allowing high-value door-to-door general cargo to shift to road transport; (iv) implement key road safety provisions; and (v) promote access to less development communities and disadvantaged - 2 - areas. 5. Based on surveys during the feasibility study, the existing National Highway Route 102, with a length of 242 km, had an average annual daily mixed traffic volume of 8,821 vehicles per day in 1993. The Shenyang-Panshan Highway, with a total length of 169 km, had an average annual daily traffic volume of 4,804 vehicles per day in 1993. Congestion with mixed traffic on both these existing roads with mixed traffic reflects undesirable levels of service and safety hazards. Speeds on these highways ranged from a low of 30 km per hour on certain sections to a high of 60 km per hour. 6. The Project will reduce the travel distance between Shenyang and Jinzhou by about 50 km. Access control will be provided to prevent slow-moving, nonmotorized traffic from entering the expressway, thus improving transport efficiency and safety. The Project will result in savings in transport costs, vehicle operating costs, value of passenger and freight time, and other congestion reduction costs, which are vital economic benefits to road users. 7. The Project will have seven toll stations along the route, with most stations located on the access ramps serving connecting roads. Current plans call for large- span bridges totaling about 8,850 meters (m) over rivers; medium-span bridges totaling about 2,390 m; small-span bridges totaling about 1,610 m; and 225 culverts. About 300 underpass and overpass structures will provide connecting access to adjacent rural lands and communities to serve pedestrians, tractors, and other small transport modes. 8. The Project has been approved in principle by the PRC Government, and the EIA was approved on 9 August 1995. The construction period is anticipated to be from 1997 through 2000, and the expressway is projected to handle 15,500 vehicles per day (in medium truck units) in 2000, and 48,000 vehicles per day in 2020. III. DESCRIPTION OF THE ENVIRONMENT A. Physical Resources and Natural Environment 9. The Project passes through several regions of diverse landforms and geology. The topographic features of the Project corridor consist primarily of flat areas or plains and slightly rolling hills. There are distinctive geological sections: the Goubangzi and Dahushan geological section, the Panjin section, and the Taian/Liaozhong and Shenyang section. The Panjan and the Tian/Liaozhong and Shenyang sections consist of alluvial plains of various types in low-lying areas. The Goubangzi and Dahushan section has alluvial-diluvial fan characteristics. The seismic classification for this region reflects a range on the Richter scale of 4-6. 10. Sections of the proposed Project alignment consist of fertile, black, farmland soils. There are few natural soil areas left with the exception of the nature preservation areas near Panjin City and other nearby low-lying coastal areas. Taian County experiences significant soil erosion problems. Slightly over 9,300 hectares (ha) of farmland is lost annually through wind and soil erosion. 11. Liaoning Province experiences wide seasonal variations in temperature and rainfall, with cold winters, warm summers, and windy springs. The mean monthly - 3 - temperature is from -17 to -5 degrees centigrade (oC) in January, and from 21 to 25oC in July. The Project corridor belongs to the frigid temperate zone, with the soil frozen seasonally. The winter lasts as long as five months, with a very short spring and fall, while July and August account for the heaviest concentrations of rainfall. 12. Monitoring was conducted to evaluate baseline ambient air quality conditions in the corridor. The air pollutants monitored included total suspended particles (TSP); nitrogen oxides (NOx); lead (Pb); carbon monoxide (CO); and total hydrocarbons (THC). Air quality conditions at the monitored locations were relatively clean, with a few exceptions. CO and TSP did not exceed normal standards at most locations. However, CO levels at two locations exceeded level 21 daily average standards by 20 percent and 40 percent, respectively. Daily average concentration 3) levels of NOx ranged from 0.010 to 0.046 milligrams per cubic meter (mg/m and for all monitoring stations did not exceed normal standards. The average daily concentration level of TSP was 0.11-0.47 mg/m3; at several monitoring locations, standards were exceeded by 20-40 percent. The daily average concentration of lead varied from 0.0001 to 0.0013 mg/m3 which is below national standards. Locations where standards were exceeded were likely due to pollution from industrial sources and heavily congested vehicular traffic. 13. Monitoring was conducted for baseline ambient noise conditions in the Project corridor, including several school locations, which were monitored against a standard of 60 decibels (A) —(dB[A])2— for daytime and 50 dB(A) for nighttime. Results of the