Initial Environmental Examination April 2017 Mongolia: Sustaining Access to and Quality of Education during Economic Difficulties Prepared by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Science and Sports for the Asian Development Bank. CURRENCY EQUIVALENTS (as of 10 April 2017) Currency unit – togrog (MNT) MNT1.00 = $0.000412 $1.00 = MNT2,428.29 ABBREVIATIONS ACM – asbestos containing materials ADB – Asian Development Bank ASI – agency for specialized inspection DPR – detailed project report EIA – environmental impact assessment EMoP – environmental monitoring plan EMP – environmental management plan GASI – general agency for specialized inspection GoM – Government of Mongolia GRM – grievance redress mechanism IEE – initial environmental examination MET – Ministry of Environment and Tourism MECSS – Ministry of Education, Culture, Science and Sports MoF – Ministry of Finance UMED – Ulaanbaatar Metropolitan Education Department VOC – volatile organic compound WEIGHTS AND MEASURES 1 cusec – measure of flow rate (28.317 liters per second) 1 ha (hectare) – 10,000 square meter 1 km (kilometer) – 1,000 meter 1 kV – kilovolt (1,000 volts) 1 kW – kilowatt (1,000 watts) 1 kWh – 1 kilowatt-hour = 1000 watts NOTE In this report, "$" refers to US dollars. This initial environmental examination is a document of the borrower. The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent those of ADB's Board of Directors, Management, or staff, and may be preliminary in nature. Your attention is directed to the “terms of use” section on ADB’s website. In preparing any country program or strategy, financing any project, or by making any designation of or reference to a particular territory or geographic area in this document, the Asian Development Bank does not intend to make any judgments as to the legal or other status of any territory or area. Initial Environmental Examination Document Stage: Final Draft for Circulation Project Number: 50091-001 April 2017 Mongolia: Sustaining Access to and Quality of Education During Economic Difficulties Prepared by Ministry of Education, Culture, Science and Sports (MECSS) for Asian Development Bank This initial environmental examination is a document of the recipient. The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent those of ADB's Board of Directors, Management, or staff, anН may bО prОliminary in naturО. Your attОntion is НirОctОН to thО “TОrms of UsО” section of this website. In preparing any country program or strategy, financing any project, or by making any designation of or reference to a particular territory or geographic area in this document, the Asian Development Bank does not intend to make any judgments as to the legal or other status of any territory or area. ii Table of Contents CURRENCY EQUIVALENTS v ABBREVIATIONS v WEIGHTS AND MEASURES v NOTE v GLOSSARY OF TERMS USED vi EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1 1.0 INTRODUCTION 13 1.1 Background 13 1.2 Impacts, Outcome, and Outputs 15 1.3 Scope of Work and Methodology Adopted 16 2.0 POLICY, LEGAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE FRAMEWORK 18 2.1 Mongolian - National, Local, Other Applicable Environmental Laws, Regulations, and Standards as applicable to the project. 18 2.2 Other International Environmental Requirements 27 2.3 Mongolia and Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs) 29 2.4 Asian DОvОlopmОnt Bank’s SafОguarНs PoliciОs 30 3.0 DESCRIPTION OF THE PROJECT 34 3.1 The Project 34 3.2 Justification of the Project 34 3.3 Location 34 3.4 Size and Magnitude of Operation 40 4.0 DESCRIPTION OF ENVIRONMENT (Baseline Data) 46 4.1 Physical Environment of Mongolia 46 4.2 Sub-project locations 52 4.3 Human and Economic Development 57 4.4 Climate Change Risks in Mongolia 58 4.5 Seismology in Mongolia 58 4.6 Ecological Resources 60 4.7 Protected areas in Mongolia 60 4.8 Environmental Parameters: Air, Ground Water, Soil, Noise Quality 64 4.8.1 Current Conditions and Major Problems 64 4.8.2 Monitoring of Air, Noise, Soil and Water along the project location 68 4.9 Socio-Economic Development 77 4.10 Historical, Cultural and Archaeology Sites/Places 85 5.0 ANTICIPATED ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS AND MITIGATION MEASURES 87 5.1 Environment Problems due to Project Location and Design 87 5.2 Environmental Impacts Associated with Pre-Construction Stage 89 5.3 Environmental Impacts Associated with Operational Stage 98 6.0 ANALYSIS OF ALTERNATIVES 100 6.1 MECSS Approach for Planning of a subproject 100 6.2 Alternatives for Subproject Components 100 6.3 Methodology for sub-project site selection: environmental view 100 6.4 Cumulative Impact Analysis of subprojects 113 7.0 ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT PLAN 117 7.1 Critical Environmental Review Criteria 117 7.2 Disaster Management, Health and Safety, Training 117 7.3 Environmental Impact Matrix 119 7.4 Monitoring 123 7.5 Environmental Management Plan (EMP) 123 7.6 Environmental Monitoring Plan (EMoP) 123 7.7 Environmental Management Plan Budget Costs 125 iii 7.8 Institutional Arrangements 126 7.9 Implementation Plan 129 8.0 INFORMATION DISCLOSURE, CONSULTATION, AND PARTICIPATION 132 8.1 Consultation Process 132 8.2 Consultation Details 132 8.3 Information Disclosure 139 9.0 GRIEVANCE REDRESS MECHANISM 141 9.1 Grievance Channels (Framework) 141 9.2 Time Frame 141 9.3 The Grievance Redress Mechanism 141 10.0 CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION 144 ANNEXURES 146 Annexure – 1: Inventorization of Schools/Kindergarten 146 Annexure – 2: Environment Management Plan (EMP) 190 Annexure – 3: Environment Monitoring Plan (Environmental Parameters) 199 Annexure – 4: Standards for Environment Monitoring for Air, Water, Noise and Soil Sampling 204 Annexure - 5: Sample Environment Monitoring Report 210 Annexure - 6 : Details of Public Consultation (Environment) 212 iv CURRENCY EQUIVALENTS (as of 10 April 2017) Currency unit – togrog (MNT) MNT1.00 = $0.000412 $1.00 = MNT2,428.29 ABBREVIATIONS ACM : Asbestos Containing Materials ADB : Asian Development Bank ASI : Agency for Specialized Inspection DPR : Detailed Project Report EA : Executing Agency EIA : Environmental Impact Assessment EMoP : Environmental Monitoring Plan EMP : Environmental Management Plan GASI : General Agency for Specialized Inspection GoM : Government of Mongolia GRM : Grievance Redress Mechanism IA : Implementing Agency IEE : Initial Environmental Examination MET : Ministry of Environment and Tourism MECSS : Ministry of Education, Culture, Science and Sports MoF : Ministry of Finance UMED : Ulaanbaatar Metropolitan Education Department VOC : Volatile Organic Compound WEIGHTS AND MEASURES 1 Cusec : Measure of flow rate (28.317 liters per second) 1 ha. (hectare) : 10,000 sq m 1 km (kilometer) : 1,000 m 1 kV : kilovolt (1,000 volts) 1 kW : kilowatt (1,000 watts) 1 kWh : 1 kilowatt-hour = 1000 watts NOTE In this report, "$" refers to US dollars. v GLOSSARY OF TERMS USED General Terms Aimag : Province Soum : Smallest administrative unit of Aimag Bagh : Smallest administrative unit of Soum District : Smallest administrative unit of UB city Khoroo : Smallest administrative unit of District Ger area : Area in the cities which residents use traditional dwellings likО as hОrНОrs tОnt (somОtimОs callОН as “yurt”) Khashaa Plot : Fencing around Ger owned by households Construction Blue Print : Technical and detailed drawing for construction of building For the Purposes of this IEE Sub-project : Individual Schools/kindergartens selected and included in the project for expansion and new construction vi EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1. The growth of Mongolia's economy has rapidly decelerated due to declining foreign direct investment and falling commodity prices. This slowed growth has caused serious economic difficulties, including large revenue shortfalls and cuts in government investment, which are expected to continue beyond 2018 and further require the government to reduce inefficiency in public spending. The tightening education budget, compounded by the growth of school age population and high costs of operating kindergartens and schools because of the low population density and harsh winters in Mongolia, will aggravate difficulties with sustaining access to and quality of education, especially for disadvantaged children and schools. 2. ADB is preparing a project to help the Government of Mongolia sustain access to and quality of pre-primary, primary, junior and senior secondary education during the economic difficulties. The project will have five outputs: (i) enrolment capacity of schools and kindergartens enhanced, (ii) curriculum, assessment and evaluation updated and implemented in line with education standards, (iii) availability and affordability of quality educational resources improved, (iv) school and kindergarten leaders and teachers' knowledge and skills upgraded, and (v) systems for increasing efficiency in public spending on education developed. The Ministry of Finance (MOF), the Ministry of Education, Culture, Science and Sports (MECSS), Ulaanbaatar Metropolitan Education Department (UMED) and ADB1 agreed that the executing agency of the project will be MECSS, and that the implementing agencies will be MECSS and UMED. The project will be implemented from September 2017 to June 2020. Components and Summary Environmental Issues 3. The IEE report comprises of baseline data on the existing condition of the physical and biological environment, the anticipated environmental impacts, proposed mitigation measures, monitoring frameworks, grievance procedure and public consultations. The consultant team undertook field surveys to sub-project sites to assess the physical and biological environment – factors such as site