E685 Vol. 2 World Bank Financed Projec AUhui Expressway Project .' Public Disclosure Authorized Tongling-Tangkou Expressway Project Public Disclosure Authorized Environment Assessment Summary Public Disclosure Authorized Public Disclosure Authorized World Bank Financed Project Office of Anhui Provincial Communications Department Dec. 2002 FILE COPnY Tongling toTangkou Highway EA Executive Summary CONTENTS I Introduction ................................... I 1.1 Project Background ................................... 1 1.2 Basis of the EA ................................... 2 2 Project Description ................................... 3 3 Baseline Environment ................................... 4 4 Analysis of Alternatives ................................. 9 5 Environmental Impacts .................................. 12 5.1 Ecosystem .................................. 12 5.2 Noise .................................. 13 5.3 Impacts on Water Environment ................................... 14 5.4 Air Impact .................................. 14 5.5 Socio-economic Impact .................................. 15 5.6 Soil Erosion .................................. 17 5.7 Visual Impacts .................................. 17 5.8 Resettlement and Relocation .................................. 18 5.9 Safeguards Policies Assurance .................................. 18 6 Mitigation ........................ 19 6.1 Design Phase ....................... 19 6.2 Construction Phase ....................... 21 6.3 Operation Phase ....................... 23 7 Environmental Management Plan ....................... 24 7.1 Objectives .................................. 24 7.2 Management and Supervision Organizations .................................. 24 7.3 Environmental Monitoring .................................. 24 7.4 Institutional Strengthening and Training .................................. 26 7.5 Estimated Cost for Environmental Management .................................. 26 8 Public Consultation and Information Disclosure .................................. 27 9 Conclusions ................................... 29 Tongling toTangkou Highway EA Executive Summary World Bank Financed Tongling to Tangkou Highway Environmental Assessment Executive Summary 1 Introduction This document is the Executive Summary of Environmental Assessment (EA) for the World Bank financed Anhui Highway II project (the Project) which consists of Tongling to Tangkou Highway (the TTH) to be constructed on green field and upgrading of five pieces of rural roads. The document provides a general summary of the findings in the Project Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and Environmental Management Plan (EMP), including legal and policy framework and applicable environmental standards, environmental baseline major potential adverse impacts to the physical, ecological and socio-economic environments in the Project area, analysis of alternatives, mitigation measures designed, public consultation programs, and environmental management plan for the Project. This Executive Summary could serve as a concise environmental report to environmental administrators, Project decision makers, project- affected groups, non-government organizations and the general public, as well as to the executive board of directors of the World Bank. 1.1 Project Background The proposed TTH is located in the Wannan (south Anhui) mountainous and economically disadvantaged region in Anhui Province, P. R. China, connecting via Hefei to Tongling highway the provincial capital with the world renowned tourist attraction, the Huangshan Mountain region. The TTH is a section of the national trunk highway, the Tianjin to Shantou expressway. Designed as a trunk north-south road transportation corridor in the Anhui Provincial highway network, the TTH is expected to improve the regional transportation network, accelerate the economic growth and poverty alleviation in the region and promote the tourism of Anhui Province. The five rural roads are also located in the same region servicing directly the rural communities in the relatively isolated and poverty striking region. A feasibility study for the Project was completed in December 2001 and preliminary engineering design, August 2002. The final detailed engineering design is expected to complete in early 2003. Over the same period, Environmental Assessment (EA) for the Project has been conducted by Shanghai Ship and Shipping Research Institute (SSSRI), for the TTH and Hefei Design and Research Institute (HDRI) of the Ministry of Coal Industry for the rural roads. EA Terms of Reference (TOR) were compared by SSSRI and HDRI, for the different components respectively, in February 2002 which were reviewed, revised and approved on April 30, 2002 by the State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA). The first draft Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report was prepared in August 2002 which was pre-appraised by World Bank in September, 2002. After revision accordingly to the Bank's pre-appraisal comments, the final draft of EIA, together with Environmental Management Plan (EMP) and EA Summary (this I Tongling toTangkou Highway E4 Executive Summary document) will be complete in December 2002 and submitted to SEPA for its final review and approval, and to the Bank for its appraisal in early 2003. The Project is classified as a Category A project since it involves major expressway construction on new alignment, and grade highway construction or upgrading on the exiting roads. The construction and upgrading of expressway and rural roads would result in increased noise, motor vehicle air emission, occupation of fertile and barren land, disturbance to the ecosystem, visual and induced impacts to major scenic sites, community severance, soil erosion and resettlement. 1.2 Basis of the EA Regulatory, policy and administrative requirements for environmental assessment of development projects in China were followed during the preparation and evaluation of EA, as were the Bank's safeguard policies. Major laws and regulations applied to the EA are as follows: * Laws of Environmental Protection of the People's Republic of China; * Law of Water and Soil Conservation, * Law of Air Pollution Control of the PRC; * Law of Water Pollution Control of the PRC; * Law of Environmental Noise Pollution Control of the PRC; * Law of Forest Protection of the PRC; * Law of Wildlife Protection of the PRC; * Circulation on Strengthening EIA for Construction Projects Receiving International Financing; * Technical Specifications for Environmental Impact Assessment; * Scenic Sites Management Guides; * Construction Projects Environmental Management Guides of Anhui Province; and * Huangshan Mountain Scenic Site Management Guildes. Of the ten World Bank safeguard policies, Environmental Assessment (OP/BP/GP4.01), Involuntary Resettlement (OD4.30), Cultural Property (OP4.1 1), Forestry (OP/GP4.36), Natural Habitats (OP/BP4.04), Pest Management (OP4.09), and Indigenous People (OD4.20) are applied in the EA first as a screening and, where triggered, included in the full assessment. Since there are no project components that would involve international waterways, dams or construction in disputed areas as defined under the World Bank's OP7.60, safeguard policies related to these subjects are not applied in the EA. Relevant international environmental agreements in which China is a signing party have also been included where applicable as a basis for the EA. 2 Tongling toTangkou Highway EA Executive Summary 2 Project Description The TTH is located in the south of Anhui province in southeast China. The highway starts from Dujiachong village of Tongling county, extends south bound through Qingyang county and ends at Tangkou town of the Huangshan District, Huangshan city (Map 1). The TTH Project has three major components: the main highway, connecting roads linking key urban centers in the Project areas with the highway and rural roads connecting villages with townships and counties. The connecting and rural roads are located within the above mentioned three counties/districts which are the directly impacted/serviced areas by the TTH. The TTH will be constructed completely on a new alignment, whereas the connecting roads will mostly on new alignment. The rural roads are in the same (Wannan) region as the TTH, going through Jingde county, Huangshan district, Jingxian county, Ningguo city, Shitai county, Qimen county and Qingyang county (Map 2). The upgrading will involve primarily exiting roads upgrading, including hardening/pavement and widening of the existing roads for better usage for higher expected traffic volumes in the region and access in all weather conditions. Key specifications of the components are summarized in Table 2-1 and Table 2-2 respectively. Table 2-1 Major Features of the TTH Items TTH Connecting Roads Rural Roads Road classification Expressway Grade II Grade II and III No. of piece 1 2 5 Total length (km) 116.146 5.15 246 Motor vehicle lane 4 2 2 Access control Yes No No Bridges/elevated viaducts 99 3 Interchange (No.) 6 _ Tunnel (No.) 9 Design speed (km/hr.) 100 (plain)/80 (mountain) 40 20-40 Service/parking areas 3 Alignment New (green field) New (green field) Existing roads Capital cost (RMB, million) 4499 Included in the HHT 500 3 lrovinc6P~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~'nd U~t -A " / j Y_ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~GZ55a ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~G312 t**bi3 *A\~~:~n4 $1 N > 8 G2051 S104_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ I 1 < K . G2~~ ~~ ~~~~~~~~~20W-1tol GZ&O45.G206.318 +1W*-JAlll 1 ~~~~~~~ ~ ~~ ~ ~~*$ I I 5 inin