Page 1/54 Draft WB/International Development Association REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA Public Disclosure Authorized DISASTER AND CLIMATE RISK MANAGEMENT PROJECT Public Disclosure Authorized ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT AND ENVIRONMENT MANAGEMENT PLAN Public Disclosure Authorized Public Disclosure Authorized March 3, 2010 Page 2/54 Contents EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 4 1 INTRODUCTION 8 2 ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT RULES AND PROCEDURES 10 2.1 WB EA policies 10 2.2 National EA rules and procedures 12 2.2.1 Environmental Laws 12 2.2.2 International Conventions 15 2.2.3 Environmental Assessment by-laws 16 3 ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT 16 3.1 Scope of the EIA 16 3.2 Baseline conditions 16 3.2.1 The Leova project site 16 3.2.2. The Ceadir-Lunga site 18 3.2.3 The Malovata-Veche site 20 3.2.4. The Balti site 21 3.2.5. The Soroca Site 23 3.2.6. The airport site 24 3.3 Potential Environmental Impacts 25 4 ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT PLAN 26 4.1. Mitigation measures to be applied 26 4.2. Monitoring Plan 32 5 INTEGRATION OF EMPs INTO PROJECT DOCUMENTS 34 6 RESPONSIBILITY FOR EMP IMPLEMENTATION AND FINANCING 34 7 PUBLIC DISCLOSURE AND CONSULTATION 34 Annexes Annex 1. List of consulted people 35 Annex 2. Map of project sites 36 Annex 3. Blue prints of the premises 37 Annex 4. Local Council’s and Government Decision in land allocation in Leova 41 Annex 5. Local Council’s Decision on land allocation in Balti 43 Annex 6. Local Council’s and the Government Decision on land allocation in Soroca 45 Annex 7. Local Council’s decision on land allocation in Malovata-Veche 48 Annex 8. Local Council’s decision on land allocation in Ceadir-Lunga 49 Annex 9. Minutes of public hearings 51 Page 3/54 Abbreviations SHS State Hydrometeorological Service ECC Emergency Command Center DES State Department of Emergency Situations EA Environment Assessment EMP Environment Management Plan EIA Environment Impact Assessment PMT Project Management Team MOE Ministry of Environment GEF Global Environment Facility POPs Persistent Organic Pollutants EU European Union NGO Non-governmental organization WB World Bank SEE State Ecological Expertise TOR Terms of Reference MoldATSA Moldavian Air Traffic Services Authority Page 4/54 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1. Project Objective. The objective of the proposed Disaster and Climate Risk Management Project (DCRMP) for Moldova is to strengthen the State Hydrometeorological Service’s ability to forecast severe weather and improve the GoM’s capacity to prepare for and respond to natural disasters. The PDO will be achieved through strengthened capacities to: (i) monitor weather and issue early warnings of weather-related hazards by providing timely and accurate hydrometeorological forecasts and services; (ii) manage and coordinate responses to natural and man-made disasters; and (iii) help individuals, particularly farmers, be aware of, and adapt to natural hazards and climate variability.. 2. Project description. The Moldova DCRMP proposes three main components: (a) strengthen severe weather forecasting; (b) improve disaster preparedness and emergency response; and (c) initiate adaptation to climate risks in agriculture. A small fourth component will be to support project implementation. Component A: Strengthen Severe Weather Forecasting. The component will have 3 subcomponents: A.1 – Develop Early Warning/Nowcasting Capabilities. Economic losses from severe weather, flash floods and floods can be significantly reduced by establishing a “nowcasting” system. This sub-component will strengthen data, communications, and modeling technology to provide timely, accurate, and geographically precise weather hazard warnings. A.2 – Dual Polarization Doppler Radar Technology for Localized Forecasts. A Dual polarization Doppler radar is now the most effective meteorological tool to predict floods, high winds, hail, and other severe weather, and issue warnings. This sub-component will improve meteorological modeling systems by providing a mesoscale model and Integrated Meteorological Workstation, and eventually a hydrologic modeling system for predicting flash–floods. A.3 – Development of Plans for Seasonal/Climate Forecasts. Building a real-time hydrometeorological data system is a first step to improving medium- to long-term forecasting. Improving and automating agrometeorological data collection and distribution will improve drought forecasting. Component B: Improve Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Response. It will include three subcomponents:B.1 – Feasibility Study and Design. The Project will support feasibility and design studies as a basis to establish the ECC. The two studies will include: (a) ECC architectural design within the DES headquarters that ensures seismic resilience of structural and non-structural features, and efficient space planning; and (b) information management system design to link DES headquarters with DES local offices and sectoral institutions such as SHS, Ministries of Environment and Agriculture, Institute of Geology and Geophysics, and others. B.2 – Establish Emergency Command Center. When feasibility and design studies are complete, the Project will support ECC establishment by financing the following: (i) facility renovation and refurbishment works; (ii) ECC furniture and equipment; (iii) information technology (IT) hardware; (iv) emergency information management software; and (v) communication equipment. B.3 – Capacity Building and Evaluation. DES employees will staff the ECC on an as-needed basis, along with staff from other agencies, particularly during emergencies. The Project will support capacity building for DES and other agencies by providing training in emergency management information system, particularly operating the IT decision-support system, for an estimated 100 staff from 15 agencies and all regional and local DES units. Page 5/54 Component C: Initiate Adaptation to Climate Risks in Agriculture. This component will support the following subcomponents and activities: C.1 – Development of Just-in-Time (JIT) Communication Platform. This sub-component will support development of a mobile JIT communication platform as a tool to rapidly disseminate critical local weather information to a large number of farmers and many rural communities. The component would support the design and testing of the communication platform, including free dissemination of the service to a farmer focus group. C.2 – Adverse Weather Adaptation Advisory Services. The Project would support investments for farmers, farmer groups and rural communities to pilot and test activities to improve agricultural sector resilience to adverse weather. The sub-component will build on the national extension services experience in implementing demonstration plots for adaptation to drought. The risk spectrum will be expanded to include frost, hail, flash- floods, and other hazards. Outside of technical assistance (TA) and capacity building activities, the Project will also support several small-scale construction activities for a tower for installing a weather radar Chisinau International Airport, weather and hydrologic stations in Leova, Ceadir-Lunga, Balti, Soroca, and Malovata-Veche locations. 3. Project location. The TA and Capacity building activities will be implemented country wide while the proposed new constructions will be done at Chisinau airport, and in Leova, Ceadir-Lunga, Balti, Soroca, Malovata-Veche locations. The proposed sites are located outside of the residential areas or on the outskirts of towns and villages. There are no any significant natural habitats and or physical cultural resources in the vicinity of the sites. Furthermore, construction of the premises will be done on available lands which are owned either by the state or by the local public administration from these areas and are not legally and or illegally used by local population and, thus, will not imply any involuntary resettlement issues. The locations were selected in order to ensure proper observations and to provide representative data. 4. Project environment category. In accordance with the World Bank’s safeguard policies and procedures, including OP/BP/GP 4.01 Environmental Assessment, this project has been classified as a Category B project for environmental assessment purposes. Based on that, the project EA includes an Environmental Assessment of the project sites and of the proposed construction activities, as well as a simple EMP which specifies mitigation measures, monitoring activities, and its implementing arrangements. The Environment Assessment and EMP address the needs of the applicable laws and regulations of the Government of Moldova, and the World Bank’s safeguard policies and disclosure requirements. 5. Purpose of the Environmental Assessment. The purpose of the Environmental Assessment (EA) is to identify potential environmental impacts of the project (both positive and negative), and to specify appropriate preventive actions and mitigation measures (including appropriate monitoring) to prevent, eliminate or minimize any anticipated adverse impacts. An Environmental Assessment (EA) was carried out by the borrower, based on what was prepared a simple Environmental Management Plan (EMP). The EA report was prepared based on the following: (i) analysis of the existing national legal documents, regulations and guidelines; (ii) WB safeguard policies, as well as guiding materials; (iii) national EA and Construction legal framework; (iv) existing EIAs for similar projects; (v) environmental evaluation of the proposed project sites; and, (vi) results of consultations