Summary Environmental Impact Assessment
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SUMMARY ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT CHANGCHUN-HARBIN EXPRESSWAY PROJECT IN THE THE PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA July 1998 CURRENCY EQUIVALENTS (as of 20 April 1998) Currency Unit — Yuan (Y) Y1.00 = $0.1208 $1.00 = Y8.3 ABBREVIATIONS CO — Carbon Monoxide COD — Chemical Oxygen Demand EA — Executing Agency EIA — Environmental Impact Assessment EOC — Edge of Carriageway GDP — Gross Domestic Product HPCD — Heilongjiang Provincial Communications Department HHEC — Heilongjiang Hashuang Expressway Corporation HRI — Heilongjiang Scientific Research Institute for Environmental Protection JPCD — Jilin Provincial Communications Department JPEC — Jilin Provincial Expressway Corporation LARP — Land Acquisition and Resettlement Plan MOC — Ministry of Communications NH — National Highway NNU — Northeast Normal University, Changchun NOX — Nitrogen Oxides PRC — People’s Republic of China SEIA — Summary Environmental Impact Assessment SEPA — State Environmental Protection Administration SOEs — State-Owned Enterprises TSP — Total Suspended Particulate WEIGHTS AND MEASURES oC — degree Celsius dB(A) — decibel A (audible decibel) mte — medium truck equivalent mu — land area unit (1 mu = 666m2 ; 15.01 mu = 1 hectare) sec — second NOTES In this Report, the symbol ”$” refers to the US dollar. CONTENTS Page MAPS ii I. INTRODUCTION 1 II. DESCRIPTION OF THE PROJECT 1 III. DESCRIPTION OF THE ENVIRONMENT 2 A. Physical Environment 2 B. Ecological Environment 5 C. Socioeconomic Environment 6 IV. SOCIOECONOMIC IMPACTS 8 A. Resettlement 8 B. Air Quality 10 C. Noise 11 D. Topography, Geology and Soils 12 E. Groundwater 14 F. Surface Water 14 G. Flora and Fauna 16 H. Risk Analysis 17 V. ALTERNATIVES 17 VI. BENEFIT-COST ANALYSIS 18 VII. INSTITUTIONAL ARRANGEMENTS AND ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING 18 VIII. PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT 19 IX. CONCLUSIONS 19 APPENDIXES 21 I. INTRODUCTION 1. This summary environmental impact assessment (SEIA) has been prepared for the proposed Changchun-Harbin Expressway Project in the People’s Republic of China (PRC). EIA reports were prepared separately for the Heilongjiang and Jilin Province components by the Heilongjiang Scientific Research Institute for Environmental Protection (HRI) and the Northeast Normal University (NNU) in Changchun, and were approved by the State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA) on 4 June 1998 and 11 June 1998, respectively. This SEIA contains the findings and recommendations of both EIAs and is also based on (i) discussions with the principal authors of the EIA reports, (ii) field visits along both sections of the proposed expressway, and (iii) discussions with environment sector agencies1 in Changchun and Harbin. 2. The EIA reports were prepared using methodologies consistent with relevant guidelines set out by SEPA and the Ministry of Communications (MOC). This is a widely accepted practice in environmental assessment for projects partially funded by international financial institutions such as the Bank. II. DESCRIPTION OF THE PROJECT 3. At present, the main roadway linking the southern provinces of the PRC with Jilin and Heilongjiang is the National Highway (NH) 102. Given the broad mix of traffic, varying vehicle speeds, and many intersections, congestion is high, and delays occur frequently, significantly reducing the efficiency of interprovincial road transportation. The proposed Project, divided into two administrative components, consists of a 263-kilometer (km), four-lane, divided, restricted access toll road, with 14 interchanges and 3 large bridges. The portion through Heilongjiang will be 102 km including a ring road section around Harbin, and the Jilin portion will be 161 km including two ring road sections at Changchun. In general, the road will be a raised alignment from 3.2 to 3.5 meters (m) above grade, with a 28 m wide roadbed at the subgrade level, a 50 m wide cleared construction area, and a 400 m wide impact zone.2 The estimated average daily traffic volume3 in 2002, the year the section in Heilongjiang Province is scheduled to be opened, will reach 7,300 medium truck equivalents (mtes) per day; for the section in Jilin Province the estimated daily volumes in 2003, the inaugural year, will be 9,500 mtes per day. 4. The current implementation schedule calls for the section in Heilongjiang Province to be built between 1999 and 2002 and the section in Jilin Province to be constructed between 1999 and 2002. The Project cost is estimated at about $929 million equivalent (Heilongjiang: $398 million equivalent, Jilin: $531 million equivalent). It is estimated that 12,500 to 15,000 person-years of labor will be required annually for the construction of Heilongjiang and Jilin road sections, respectively. This means that more than 25,000 people could be working on the Project at any one time. Given this schedule, forecast years for air quality and noise predictions were established as 2002, 2010, and 2020 for both provinces. 1 Agencies in Heilongjiang and Jilin were the provincial environmental protection bureaus and the provincial communications departments. 2 Cleared construction area refers to the area 25 m on either side of the alignment centerline; the impact zone refers to the area 200 m on either side of the alignment centerline, where effects of the project are assessed. Water effects extend for 500 m downstream. 3 The average annual daily traffic volume was calculated for medium truck equivalents (mtes), i.e., small trucks, rather than cars, given that the former is the major vehicle type using the road. 2 5. The Heilongjiang Hashuang Express Corporation (HHEC), which was established on 23 March 1998 as a limited liability company wholly owned by Heilongjiang Province through the Heilongjiang Provincial Communications Department (HPCD), will be the Executing Agency (EA) responsible for both the construction and operation of the Heilongjiang section of the Project expressway: the Hashuang Expressway. 6. The Jilin Provincial Expressway Corporation (JPEC), a limited liability company wholly owned by Jilin Provincial Communications Department (JPCD), will be the EA responsible for both the construction and operation of the Chang Lin Expressway: the Jilin section of the Project expressway. JPEC is headed by a general manager who is also one of the vice-directors of JPCD. The construction of the expressway will be organized by JPEC’s construction management office, while operation will be undertaken by JPEC’s Expressway Administration Office, which also reports to JPCD. JPEC is already responsible for operation and management of three existing expressways in the province, including the Bank-assisted Changchun-Siping Expressway. Each expressway is operated as a separate profit center within the Expressway Administration Office of JPEC. III. DESCRIPTION OF THE ENVIRONMENT A. Physical Environment 1. Meteorology 7. Heilongjiang and Jilin provinces have similar climates, with Heilongjiang being slightly (1-2 degrees Celsius [oC]) cooler all year round, particularly during the fall and spring. Reflecting the conditions of a northern temperate continental climatic zone, the Project area has up to six months of freezing or below freezing temperatures and snowfall ranging from 16-25 centimeters (cm). Other than during the short monsoon summers (June-August), when rainfall is as high as 190 millimeters per month, the area is dry and windy (4-9 m/second) with predominant weather coming from the south-southwest and southwest. The ground is frozen from November through March, to an average depth of 1.8 m. Given these meteorological conditions, planning for intensive high-volume storm runoff will be crucial to avoid erosion and related problems. 2. Topography, Geology, and Soil 8. The Project area in both provinces passes through the Eastern Songnen (Songliao) Plain, a gently rolling area covered in thick fertile loamy soils, with elevations above sea level from 150 to 200 m. The proposed expressway corridor has a gently rolling topography, with slopes of no more than 5 percent, aside from the river valleys, where erosive forces have carved out steep valley walls (e.g., the south shore of the Lalin River). Large alluvial deposits are scattered throughout the area, reflecting an earlier wetter climate and the fact that the watersheds of three large rivers are found within this area. Soils are 5-33 cm thick, and in the more fertile agricultural areas they are 40-60 cm deep; they are the continuation of the fine Loessal Plain material. The high humic content in soils makes them susceptible to water and wind-induced erosion. In both provinces, soil loss has been estimated to be about 8 tons/hectare (t/ha), considered acceptable in the region. 9. The area's many low hill formations, nearly all under cultivation, are the primary source of the road fill material. Under the thick topsoil layer, they contain mud; fine and coarse sand extends from 1-20 m below the surface. The rivers that the proposed expressway will 3 cross have left large alluvial deposits, highly susceptible to erosive forces, such as rain and wind, acting on any exposed and unprotected slopes. 3. Surfacewater 10. Surface waters in the expressway corridor are all within the Songhua River watershed. It is one of the northeast PRC's largest rivers and drains toward northeast through Russia, into the northern Sea of Japan. The Ashi, Yunlian, Lalin, 2nd Songhua, and Yinma are all tributaries of the Songhua. The selected alignment will cross five rivers, all with year-round flows. Ambient water quality data for these rivers are shown in Table 1. Table 1: Average Water Quality Conditions During the 1997 Summera Province River Name pH Oil Lead COD [milligram/liter (mg/L) (mg/L) (mg/L)] H Ashi (Class IV) 7.47 0.03 0.002 19.50 H Yunlian (Class IV) 8.00 0.03 0.002 19.25 H Lalin (Class III) 7.20 0.03 0.10 14.50 J 2nd Songhua (Class III) 7.35 0.66 0.13b 21.85 J Yinma (Class III) 7.85 0.14 not measured 7.90 CIass III/IV Standardc 6.5 - 8.5 0.05/1.0 0.05/0.1 15.0/20.0 COD = chemical oxygen demand, H = Heilongjiang, J = Jilin, L = liter, mg = milligram a Collected at stations 500 meters downstream of the river crossings of the proposed expressway.