AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT BANK GROUP PROJECT : REHABILITATION OF THE GOUNGHIN - FADA N’GOURMA - PIEGA – NIGER BORDER ROAD COUNTRY : BURKINA FASO SUMMARY ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT (ESIA) Project Team M. NDIAYE-DIOP, Transport Engineer, OITC.1 A. KARANGA, Transport Economist, OITC.1 B. YOUGBARE, Infrastructure Specialist, OITC.1/BFFO A. KERE OUEDRAOGO, BFFO W. DHOUIBI, Procurement Officer, BFFO M.A. DIALLO, Senior Financial Management Officer, MLFO/ORPF Project M. KINANE, Principal Environmentalist, ONEC.3 Preparation Team H. P. SANON, Socio-Economist, ONEC.3 Sector Director Amadou OUMAROU Regional Director Abdelatif BERNOUSSI Division Manager Jean Kizito KABANGUKA 2 SUMMARY ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT (ESIA) Project Name: GOUNGHIN - FADA N’GOURMA - PIEGA – NIGER Code SAP: P- BF- BORDER ROAD REHABILITATION PROJECT DB0-018 Country: BURKINA FASO Department: OITC Division: OITC-1 1. INTRODUCTION The project to rehabilitate and pave the Gounghin – Fada N’Gourma – Piéga – Niger border section of National Road 4 on CU2a Corridor of the WAEMU road network is part of WAEMU Commission’s Action Plan for Road Infrastructure and Transport (PACITR). The CU2a is also on the Dakar-Niamey Corridor, a priority of PIDA which seeks to modernize the regional transport infrastructure network in Africa. This 218 km road section is in an advanced state of degradation. In accordance with the Bank’s Integrated Safeguard System (ISS) and national requirements, this project is classified in Category 1. Accordingly, this summary has been prepared based on AfDB environmental and social assessment guidelines and procedures for Category 1 projects. It starts with a presentation of the project description and rationale, followed by the legal and institutional framework in Burkina Faso. A brief description of the main environmental conditions of the project area is given for each road section, focusing on its physical, biological and human components. Variants and alternatives are compared in terms of technical, economic, environmental and social feasibility. Then follows a presentation of the most significant positive and negative impacts on the biophysical and human (socio-economic) environments. The next part concerns the rehabilitation and mitigation measures proposed to boost project benefits and/or prevent, reduce, mitigate or offset any negative impact, as well as the monitoring programme. The public consultations held, as well as additional initiatives implemented under the project, are also presented. The document concludes with a summary of climate change-related risks and the proposed adaptation and mitigation measures. 2. POLITICAL, LEGAL, ADMINISTRATIVE AND INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK 2.1 Legal Framework of Burkina Faso Burkina Faso’s legal and regulatory framework on environmental and social issues comprises the following main instruments: The Environment Code (Law No. 005/97/ADP of 30 January 1997) which stipulates in Section 17 that activities likely to have a significant environmental impact shall be subject to the prior opinion of the Minister in charge of the Environment. The opinion is issued on the basis of an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) or an Environmental Impact Notice (EIN). Decree No. 2001-342/PRES/PM/MEE of 17 July 2001 defining the scope, content and procedure of the EIA and EIN. In accordance with this decree, the project is classified in Category A (equivalent to AfDB’s Category 1) and is therefore subject to the prior 3 conduct of an ESIA. This provision helps to meet the Bank’s Operational Safeguard (OS-1) requirements; Law No. 014/96/ADP of 23 May 1996 on agrarian and land reorganization (RAF) governs expropriation and compensation issues. As regards expropriation, Section 295 stipulates that any holder of real property rights can be obliged to transfer them “whenever public utility or the general interest so requires, after fair and prior compensation”. Such expropriation in the public interest must follow the stages indicated in Section 301, namely: “the declaration of intent to undertake a project in the public interest; public utility investigation; declaration of public utility; plot investigation; declaration of transferability and negotiation of transferability.” Section 315 specifies that “expropriation shall only apply to goods and real property rights”. As regards compensation, Section 310 provides that “failing an amicable agreement, expropriation shall be pronounced and compensations determined by the expropriation judge of the place where the property is located”. However, unlike OS-2, this law does not explicitly demand the preparation of a resettlement or compensation plan beforehand. In addition to this provision, the Bank’s OS-2 will be applied. The Forestry Code: Law No. 006/97/ADP/ of 31 January 1997 provides, under Section 50, that the implementation of any major works that require large-scale clearing shall be subject to prior authorization based on an Environmental Impact Assessment. Burkina Faso ratified the biodiversity conventions. All these provisions help to meet the Bank’s OS-3 requirements. Decree No. 2001-185/PRE/PM/MEE of 7 May 2001 defining the standards norms for discharging pollutants into the air, water and soil and Decree No. 98 322/PRES/PM/MEE/MIHU/MATS/MEF/MEM/MCC/MCIA of 28 July 1998 laying down conditions for opening dangerous, insanitary and nuisance-causing establishments (DINE). In 1998, Burkina Faso adopted the national water policy, with the overall objective of contributing to sustainable development by providing adequate solutions to water-related problems. Burkina Faso also ratified conventions related to POPs, PIPs and other pollutants. These provisions are consistent with OS-4 requirements. Law No. 028-2008/AN of 13 May 2008 instituting the Burkina Faso Labour Code and Law No. 23/94/ADP of 9 May 1994 instituting the Public Health Code define, in their fundamental principles, “the rights and duties inherent in social protection and promotion of the health of the population and workers”, as well as “the promotion of environmental sanitation”. The same applies to the national public hygiene policy (PNHP). These provisions help to meet OS-5 requirements. Burkina Faso has also adopted provisions governing environmental and social safeguards and climate change; they include: the National Adaptation Plan adopted in 2015 based on the results of the analysis of climate change vulnerability conducted in identified priority sectors (agriculture, livestock, water, forestry and natural ecosystems, energy, infrastructure, housing, health, etc.) and climate change scenarios by 2025-2050; 4 the COP-21 commitments taken by Burkina Faso (see section on Climate Change); the National Gender Policy adopted in July 2009. 2.2 International Conventions The main conventions ratified by Burkina Faso and applicable to the project are: (i) the Convention on Biodiversity and World Heritage (Nairobi, December 1993) which supplements the Convention on Biological Diversity (Rio 1992); (ii) the Convention to Combat Desertification in countries seriously affected by drought and/or desertification (Paris, June 1994); (iii) the Ramsar Convention (1971) on the protection of wetlands; (iv) the African Convention on the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (Algiers, 1968) ; (v) the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (1992) ; (vi) the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES-1975), amended at Gaborone (South Africa, 1983); (vii) Bamako Convention on the management of dangerous waste in Africa (Bamako, 30 January 1991); and (viii) commitments made by Burkina Faso during COP-21 (Paris, 12 December 2015). 2.3 Institutional Framework in Burkina Faso At the institutional level, the project will involve several categories of actors, such as: the Ministry of the Environment, Green Economy and Climate Change, through the National Environmental Assessment Office (BUNEE) and the Department of Green Economy and Climate Change; the Ministry of Infrastructure, through the General Directorate of Standardization, Engineering Studies and Control (DGNETC) and the General Directorate of Road Infrastructure (DGIR), as well as the Ministry of Territorial Administration, Decentralization and Internal Security, through the local authorities concerned. 2.4 For the African Development Bank (AfDB) The Integrated Safeguards System (ISS) through five operational safeguards (OS): Operational Safeguard 1: Environmental and Social Assessment; Operational Safeguard 2: Involuntary Resettlement, Land Expropriation, Population Displacement and Compensation; Operational Safeguard 3: Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services; Operational Safeguard 4: Pollution Prevention and Control, Greenhouse Gases, Hazardous Materials and Efficient Resource Use; Operational Safeguard 5: Working Conditions, Health and Safety. Other relevant policies and guidelines remain applicable once triggered under the ISS. The main ones include: 5 the Bank’s Gender Policy (2001); the Framework for Enhanced Engagement with Civil Society Organizations (2012); the Disclosure and Access to Information Policy (2012); the Handbook on Stakeholder Consultation and Participation in Bank Operations (2001) the Bank Policy on Population and Implementation Strategy (2002) ; Environmental and Social Assessment Procedures for African Development Bank’s Operations (2014). 3. PROJECT RATIONALE AND DESCRIPTION 3.1 Rationale Although this road section is in an advanced state of degradation, the