SUMMARY ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT SHAANXI ROADS DEVELOPMENT PROJECT IN THE PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA February 2001 CURRENCY EQUIVALENTS (as of 14 February 2001) Currency Unit – Yuan (Y) Y1.00 = $0.1208 $1.00 = Y8.2786 ABBREVIATIONS ADB – Asian Development Bank BOD – biochemical oxygen demand CO – carbon monoxide COD – chemical oxygen demand EIA – environmental impact assessment GB – Chinese National Standards HC – hydrocarbon IEE – initial environmental examination NOx – nitrogen oxides PRC – People’s Republic of China SPEPB – Shaanxi Provincial Environmental Protection Bureau SPCD – Shaanxi Provincial Communications Department SPHB – Shaanxi Provincial Highway Bureau SEIA – summary environmental impact assessment SPHSDI – Shaanxi Provincial Highway Survey and Design Institute TSP – total suspended particulate matter VOC – volatile organic compounds WEIGHTS AND MEASURES dB – decibel h – hour ha – hectare kg – kilogram km – kilometer km2 – square kilometer m – meter m2 – square meter m3 – cubic meter mg/l – milligram per liter mg/Nm3 – milligram per normal cubic meter t – ton (metric) NOTE In this report, “$” refers to US dollars. CONTENTS Page MAP i I. INTRODUCTION 1 II. DESCRIPTION OF THE PROJECT 1 III. DESCRIPTION OF THE ENVIRONMENT 2 A. Physical Setting 2 B. Biological Environment 3 C. Social and Economic Environment 3 IV. ALTERNATIVES 4 V. ANTICIPATED ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS AND MITIGATION MEASURES 6 A. Physical Setting 6 B. Socioeconomic Impacts 12 VI. ECONOMIC ASSESSMENT 14 VII. INSTITUTIONAL REQUIREMENTS AND ENVIRONMENTAL 16 MONITORING PROGRAM VIII. PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT 18 IX. CONCLUSIONS 18 APPENDIX 20 I. INTRODUCTION 1. The environmental impact assessment (EIA) for the Shaanxi Roads Development Project was undertaken by the Xi’an Highway University and the November 1999 EIA report was approved by the State Environmental Protection Administration on 1 March 2000. The consultant engaged under the technical assistance 1 has reviewed the report and visited locations that could experience environmental impacts. This summary was based on the 1999 report, with some modifications, following Asian Development Bank (ADB) guidelines and format as indicated in the Environmental Assessment Requirements of the Asian Development Bank, March 1998. The EIA and this SEIA are documents of the project proponent and have not been evaluated by ADB. ADB’s evaluation and recommendation to the Board of Directors will include relevant comments and suggestions received from the stakeholders. The main EIA report is available at the project office on request. 2. The environmental assessment was conducted in accordance with relevant laws, regulations, and standards applicable in the People’s Republic of China (PRC), including in particular (i) Technical Guidance on Environmental Impact Assessment, Environmental Protection Standards of the PRC (ii) Standards for Environmental Impact Assessment of Highway Construction Projects, Ministry of Communications of the PRC, January 1996 (iii) Cultural Relics Protection Law of the PRC, 19 November 1982 3. The Project includes a 627-kilometer (km) local road component using the existing alignment and mostly involving improvement of the road surface. An initial environmental examination (IEE) was undertaken also by the Xi’an Highway University and its summary is included in this report. II. DESCRIPTION OF THE PROJECT 4. The expressway component of the Project will be part of the national trunk highway from Erlianhaote (Inner Mongolia) to Hekou (Yunnan Province), linking to the 12 corridors of the national trunk highway system. In the meantime, the expressway with the local roads will be an important component of the highway network of the poor Shaanxi Province, contributing immensely to development of the local economy. 5. The proposed 176 km long four-lane access-controlled expressway between Yumenkou and Yanliang passes six counties (see Map). Within the project area are 9 rivers, 48 villages, and 12 schools. The Project will involve the construction of 9 very large bridges, 27 large bridges, 13 interchanges, 51 crossings, 486 culverts, and 378 overpasses and underpasses. The road will be served by nine toll stations and four service areas, and the expressway management division and its three subordinate administrative stations will be established along the road. With the four-year project construction period scheduled to begin in late 2001, the expressway will start to operate in 2005 with a design speed of 120 km/hour (h). 1 TA 3248-PRC: Preparing the Shanxi and Shaanxi Roads Project, for $640,000, approved on 30 August 1999. 2 6. The local road component of the Project consists of 67 km of Class II2 roads connecting the county road system to the expressway, 380 km of Class III roads, and 180 km of Class IV roads, totaling 627 km at an estimated construction cost of Y473 million. The local roads are currently mostly unpaved and in poor condition, covering the counties of Baishui, Chengcheng, Dali, Fuping, Hancheng, Heyang, Huanglong, and Pucheng, where the poverty townships and villages are located. The roads will be widened and upgraded to Class II, III, or IV roads with asphalt surface, using the existing road alignment, and linked to the expressway. As the local roads will be upgraded mostly on the existing alignment, land acquisition and resettlement requirements will be limited. While EIA was not carried out for the local road component in line with the relevant national regulation, an IEE was conducted, identifying some environmental concerns, including noise impacts, soil erosion, and air quality impacts. III. DESCRIPTION OF THE ENVIRONMENT A. Physical Setting 1. Geology, Topography and Soils 7. The project area is in the eastern part of the Guanzhong Plain, in the transition zone between the Guanzhong Basin and the loess plateau in the north of Shaanxi. The terrain features mainly plain and tableland, with the elevation decreasing from the northwest (1,000- 1,300 meters [m]) toward the southeast (350-600 m). Earthquake intensity in the project area is categorized as Class VII–VIII3 and structures require protection measures. 8. The main soil types are natural brown soil and mellow soil, with some salinized soil and marshland soil in low areas. The lead content in soil and crops along the proposed alignment were measured at five monitoring sites. No lead pollution was found in the tests. The lead content in the soil measured 17.30-24.45 milligram (mg) per kilogram (kg), far below the limit of 300 mg/kg as per the soil environmental quality standard GB15618-1995. This was consistent with the average background lead concentration in soil of 20.9 mg/kg measured for Shaanxi Province in general. The lead content measured in wheat was 0.270-0.279 mg/kg and that in apples and vegetables was 0.053-0.187 mg/kg, which are also within the limit of 0.4 mg/kg and 0.2 mg/kg, respectively, per the food health standard GB14935-1994. 2. Climate 9. The project area has a semiarid, semi-wet continental monsoon climate, with four clearly defined seasons. The annual mean temperature is 13 degrees Celsius (°C), with an extreme high of 42.8 °C, and an extreme low of minus 20.1 °C. The average annual precipitation is approximately 555 millimeters (mm). Most of the rainfall concentrates from June through September, accounting for 40-50 percent of the yearly total, with frequent thunderstorms. The storms contribute heavily to the soil erosion problem of the area. The wind speed is relatively high, averaging annually 2.0-2.5 m/second, with northeast as the prevailing wind direction. 2 Class I highway has four or more lanes and estimated daily traffic volume of at least 15,000 vehicles, Class II highway has daily volume of 3,000 to 7,500 vehicles and Class III highway from 1,000 to 4,000 vehicles per day. 3 Class VII earthquake intensity are damaging earthquakes corresponding roughly to 5 to 5.75 relative magnitude or Ricther scale, and Class VIII is destructive earthquake corresponding roughly to relative magnitude of 5.75 to 6.5. 3 3. Soil Erosion 10. The proposed Project lies within loess tableland areas, which are inherently prone to soil erosion and sedimentation. Loess gully areas, in particular, are vulnerable to erosion, with an average annual soil loss in the range of 2,011-4,690 tons per square kilometer (t/km2) (categorized as Class II to Class III, light erosion to moderate erosion, as per the standards for environmental impact assessment of highway construction projects. The proposed project corridor suffers from various degree of soil erosion. The Hancheng area suffers the most (5,038 t/km2 with heavy erosion) and the Yanliang area the least (150 t/km2 with slight erosion). 4. Water Quality 11. The water quality of six major rivers crossed by the proposed alignment was checked against the environmental quality standards for surface waters (GB3808-88 for drinking, fishery, and swimming) based on the contents of suspended solids, chemical oxygen demand (COD), oil and grease, lead, and pH value. The results showed that only Zhishui River and Luohe River complied with the standards. All the other rivers have been contaminated by local industry to varying degrees. 5. Air Quality 12. Air quality along the proposed alignment was checked against the applicable ambient air quality standards (GB3095-1996 for residential and commercial areas). The results indicated that air quality was good in terms of carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen oxides (NOx), and lead content, with all these parameters well below the limits. However, the average daily concentration of total suspended particulate matter (TSP) ranged from 0.010 to 0.698 mg/normal cubic meter (Nm3), with most of the values exceeding the maximum allowable limit of 0.30 mg/Nm3.4 This was attributed to the loess tableland area where the Project is located and the relatively poor vegetation of the area. 6. Noise 13. The Project is in a quiet agricultural setting, with noise levels in daytime and at night within the limits of the applicable noise standards for urban areas GB3096-93 (70 decibels [dB] day and 55 dB night for areas on both sides of communication trunk lines).