Dcn: 2010-Geo-033
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ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT MUNICIPAL ROAD REHABILITATION REPORT GEORGIA MUNICIPAL INFRASTRUCTURE AND IDP HOUSING REHABILITATION PROJECT CONTRACT: AID-EDH-I-00-08-00027-00, TASK ORDER: AID-114-TO-11- 00002 IDP DURABLE DCN: 2010-GEO-033 1 January 2012; Revised 24 February 2012 DISCLAIMER The author’s views expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of the United States Agency for International Development or the United States Government This report was prepared for the United States Agency for International Development 25 February 2012 Mr. Bradley Carr Water Irrigation and Infrastructure Advisor Office of Economic Growth US Agency for International Development 11 George Balanchine Street Tbilisi, 0131 Georgia Re: Environmental Assessment for Municipal Road Rehabilitation Dear Mr. Carr: This report is being submitted to you in accordance with the requirements of task order no. AID- 114-TO-11-00002 of contract AID-EDH-I-00-08-00027-00. It provides Tetra Tech’s Environmental Revised Environmental Assessment for Municipal Road Rehabilitation after responding to BEU comments and questions.. We look forward to your review and welcome your comments and suggestions. Very truly yours, Jeffrey W. Fredericks, P.E., PhD Chief of Party Tetra Tech, Inc. USAID/ Caucasus – Municipal Infrastructure and IDP Housing Rehabilitation Project (GMIP) 10th Floor, 154 Aghmashenebeli Ave. Tbilisi, 0102, Georgia Tel: +995322910401, Fax: +995322910401 Email: [email protected] CC: USAID (George Kokochashvili); MDF (Kartlos Gviniashvili); Tetra Tech (Firouz Rooyani, Dean White, Tom Chicca, Ilia Eloshvili) USAID/ Caucasus Municipal Infrastructure and IDP Housing Rehabilitation Project 10th Floor 154 Aghmashenebeli Ave.Tbilisi, 0102, Georgia Tel: +995-322910401, Fax: +995-322910401 Table of Contents 1. Summary ................................................................................................................ 1 1.1 Description of the Project ................................................................................................. 1 1.2 Project Context ................................................................................................................. 2 1.3 Summary of 22 CFR 216 Requirements, IEE Summary, Scoping Process ..................... 2 1.4 Major Conclusions ........................................................................................................... 2 1.5 Areas of Controversy and Issues to be Resolved ............................................................. 4 2. Underlying Purpose and Need to Which Proposed Action is Responding ...... 5 2.1 Project Description ........................................................................................................... 5 2.2 Purpose and Need for the Proposed Action ..................................................................... 5 2.3 Status of Environmental Compliance Documentation ..................................................... 6 2.3.1 Summary of 22 CFR 216 Requirements and the IEE for GMIP Component 1 ........ 6 2.3.2 Environmental Scoping Statement ............................................................................ 6 2.3.3 Stakeholder Engagement and Host Government Consultation ................................. 7 2.3.4 Host Country Environmental Context ...................................................................... 7 3. Alternatives Including the Proposed Action ...................................................... 8 3.1 Description of Project Alternatives .................................................................................. 8 3.1.1 Alternative 1 – Proposed Action ............................................................................... 8 3.1.2 Alternative 2– Restructured Roads Program .......................................................... 10 3.1.3 Alternative 3 – No Action Alternative .................................................................... 11 3.2 Alternatives Eliminated from Analysis and Rationale for Eliminating Alternatives ..... 11 3.3 Comparison of Environmental Impacts of Program Alternatives .................................. 12 3.4 Discussion & Ranking of Alternatives with Respect to Significance of Environmental Impacts of Alternatives ............................................................................................................. 12 4. Affected Environment ......................................................................................... 14 4.1 Population Characteristics .............................................................................................. 14 4.1.1 Population ............................................................................................................... 14 4.1.2 Economy ................................................................................................................. 14 4.1.3 Public Health ........................................................................................................... 15 4.2 Natural and Cultural Heritage ........................................................................................ 15 4.2.1 Historical and Cultural Heritage ............................................................................. 15 4.2.2 Protected Areas ....................................................................................................... 15 4.3 Project Beneficiaries ...................................................................................................... 16 4.4 Geographic Characteristics ............................................................................................ 17 4.5 Environmental Baseline of Project Sites ........................................................................ 17 4.5.1 Affected Environment: Gori Municipality.............................................................. 17 4.5.2 Affected Environment: Mtskheta Municipality ...................................................... 20 4.5.3 Affected Environment: Oni Municipality ............................................................... 23 4.5.4 Affected Environment: Kareli Municipality ........................................................... 26 4.5.5 Affected Environment: Dusheti Municipality ........................................................ 29 4.6 Policy, Legal, Regulatory and Permitting Requirements ............................................... 31 4.6.1 International Standards and Best Practices ............................................................. 33 4.6.2 Relevant and Applicable Permitting Requirements ................................................ 34 5. Environmental Consequences ............................................................................ 36 i 5.1 Environmental Impacts of the Proposed Action and Alternatives ................................. 36 5.1.1 Direct & Indirect Effects and their Significance..................................................... 36 5.1.2 Issues eliminated from further evaluation ............................................................... 42 5.1.3 Possible Conflicts between Proposed Action and Land Use .................................. 43 5.1.4 Possible Conflicts between Proposed Action and Policies and Controls ............... 44 5.2 Energy Requirements of Alternatives ............................................................................ 44 5.3 Irreversible and Irretrievable Commitment of Resources .............................................. 44 5.4 Means to Mitigate Adverse Environmental Impacts ...................................................... 44 6. Environmental Mitigation and Monitoring Plans ........................................... 46 6.1 Environmental Mitigation and Monitoring Plans .......................................................... 46 7. LIST OF PREPARERS ...................................................................................... 58 8. APPENDICES ..................................................................................................... 59 Appendix 8.1 Details of Scoping Meeting ................................................................................ 60 Appendix 8.2 Summary of Impacts Identified for Municipal Road Rehabilitation Activities . 68 Appendix 8.3 Photographs from Site Visits During the EA Phase .......................................... 73 Appendix8.4 Project Maps and Site Visit Engineering Reports (August/September 2011) (Under separate cover) LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES List of Tables Table 2.1: Local Permits Required for Road Rehabilitation Table 3.1: Comparison of Alternatives Table 4.1: Principal Laws and Regulations Relevant to the Proposed Project Table 5.1: Concerns that have been Eliminated from Further Evaluation Table 6.1: Environmental Mitigation and Monitoring Plan for Road Rehabilitation Table 6.2: Environmental Mitigation and Monitoring Plan for Road Operation and Maintenance List of Figures Figure 4.1: Map of Georgia’s Protected Areas Figure 4.2: Satellite Image of Oni Figure 4.3: Map of Dusheti and Dushetiskhevi River Catchment ii ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS ARWR Actual Renewable Water Resources BEO USAID Europe and Eurasia Bureau Environmental Officer CFR Code of Federal Regulations EA Environmental Assessment EIA Environmental Impact Assessment EMMP Environmental Mitigation and Monitoring Plan EPI Economic Prosperity Initiative (USAID Project) ESS Environmental Scoping Statement Geo Geo Ltd GMIP Municipal Infrastructure And IDP Housing Rehabilitation Project (the project) GoG Government