Initial Environmental Examination June 2018 NEP: SASEC Highway Improvement Project Kanchanpur - Kamala Road Prepared by the Department of Roads, Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport, Government of Nepal for the Asian Development Bank CURRENCY EQUIVALENTS (as of 23 May 2018) Currency Unit Nepalese Rupee (NRs) $1.00 = Rs 107.438 Rs 1.00 $0.00914 ABBREVIATIONS AADT - Average Annual Daily Traffic AC - Asphalt Concrete ADB - Asian Development Bank ADT - Average Daily Traffic AP -- Affected People BOD - Biological Oxygen Demand CBOs - Community Based Organization CBS - Central Bureau of Statistics CFUG - Community Forest User Group CITES - Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora CO - carbon monoxide COI - Corridor of Impact DBH - Diameter at Breast Height DBST - Double Bituminous Surface Treatment DCC - District Coordination Committee DG - Diesel Generating DoHM - Department of Hydrology and Meteorology DIU - District Implementation Unit DNPWC - Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation DOA - Department of Archaeology DOF -- Department of Forest DoR Department of Roads DSC - Design and Supervision Consultant EA - Executing Agency EIA - Environmental Impact Assessment EMG - Environmental Management Guidelines EMP - Environmental Management Plan EPR - Environment Protection Rules ES - Environmental Specialist EWH - East West Highway FIDIC - Federation Internationale des Ingenieurs Conseils FS - Feasibility Study GESU - Geo-Environment and Social Unit GHG - Green House Gas IA - Implementing Agency IEE - Initial Environmental Examination IUCN - International Union for Conservation of Nature LPG - Liquefied Petroleum Gas MoFE - Ministry of Forest and Environment MoSTE - Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment MoPIT - Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport NAAQS - Nepal Ambient Air Quality Standard NEP - Nepal NGO - Non-Governmental Organization NOx - Nitrogen Oxide ODS - Ozone Depleting Substances PD - Project Directorate PPE - Personal Protective Equipment PIP - Priority Investment Plan PIU - Project Implementation Unit REA - Rapid Environmental Assessment RoW - Right of Way RSSDU - Road Sector Skills Development Unit SASEC - South Asia Subregional Economic Cooperation SC - Supervision Consultant SDC - Social Development Consultant SEA - Strategic Environmental Assessment SSEMP - Site Specific Environmental Management Plan SRN - Strategic Road Network TA - Technical Assistance TMO - Transport Management Office TPPF - Transport Project Preparation Facility – ADB VDC - Village Development Committee ZOI - Zone of Influence WEIGHTS AND MEASURES dBA - decibels A KWH - Kilowatt-Hour K VA - Kilo-Volt- Ampere MLD - Millions of Litres Per Day ppb - Parts Per Billion pph - Persons Per Hectare ppm - Parts Per Million Notes: The Nepalese calendar year (B.S) runs from mid-April to mid-April. Unless otherwise stated, year ranges written in the form 2015/16 denote a single calendar year. The fiscal year (FY) of the Government ends on 15 July. FY before a calendar year denotes the year in which the fiscal year ends (For example, FY 2018 begins on 16 July 2017 and ends on 15 July 2018). Acts and Regulations are cited under the name of the ministry from which they originate. The official version of Acts and Regulations is published in the Nepal Gazette (in Nepali). Some Acts and Regulations are published by other Government agencies in English (Unofficial translations). 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. 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. CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ............................................................................................................. I I. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................. 1 II. POLICY, LEGAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE FRAMEWORK .............................................. 3 III. DESCRIPTION OF THE PROJECT .............................................................................. 12 IV. DESCRIPTION OF THE ENVIRONMENT ..................................................................... 30 V. ANTICIPATED ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS AND MITIGATION MEASURES ............ 44 VI. PUBLIC CONSULTATION AND INFORMATION DISCLOSURE ................................... 93 VII. ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT PLAN ................................................................... 98 VIII. GRIEVANCE REDRESS MECHANISM ....................................................................... 122 IX. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION ................................................................. 124 BIBLIOGRAPHY ..................................................................................................................... 125 List of Tables Table 1: Permissions and Clearance Required .........................................................................10 Table 2: Salient Features of the Road Project ...........................................................................12 Table 3: Salient Features of the Approach Road and Bridges Project .......................................12 Table 4: Project Bridges Details ................................................................................................14 Table 5: Details of Road Section and List of Road Widening.....................................................22 Table 6: Probable Sources of Construction Material .................................................................25 Table 7: Land Requirement for the Project ................................................................................25 Table 8: Proposed Bridges to be Constructed ...........................................................................26 Table 9: List of Districts, Municipalities and rural municipalities in the Project Area ...................30 Table 10: Major Settlements along the Road Corridor ...............................................................30 Table 11: Maximum daily rainfall recorded at Kanchanpur to Kamala Section of EWH .............31 Table 12: Mean monthly temperature of Kanchanpur - Kamala Section of EWH .......................32 Table 13: Land Use and Land Cover in Project Districts, Ha .....................................................33 Table 14: Land use pattern along the road alignment................................................................34 Table 15: Air and Noise Sampling Locations .............................................................................39 Table 16: 24-hour Baseline Air Quality Monitoring Results, µg/m3 ............................................39 Table 17: Noise Level Baseline Monitoring Results ...................................................................39 Table 18: Population Distribution by Project affected districts ...................................................40 Table 19: Population Distribution by Project affected Municipality/Rural Municipality ................41 Table 20: Literacy Status of sample households .......................................................................42 Table 21: Physical Environmental Issues and Impacts ..............................................................46 Table 22: Biological Environmental Issues and Impacts ............................................................53 Table 23: Detail of Affected Roadside Trees .............................................................................54 Table 24: Social, Socio-economic and Cultural Environmental Issues and Impacts ..................54 Table 25: Types of Assets by loss and structure type................................................................55 Table 26: Homogenous Sections Considered in the Study with Projected Traffic ......................60 Table 27: Emission Factors for Criteria Pollutants .....................................................................61 Table 28: Predicted Ground Level Concentrations of NOx and CO at Identified Receptors .......63 Table 29: Predicted Ground Level Concentrations of PM2.5 and SO2 at Identified Receptors ....63 Table 30: Homogenous Sections Considered in the Study with Projected Traffic ......................67 Table 31: Predicted Noise Levels along the Project Road (without mitigation) ..........................71 Table 32: National Ambient Sound Quality Standard, 2012 .......................................................72 Table 33: Noise Level Guidelines, International Finance Corporation, The World Bank Group .72 Table 34: Sensitive Receptors Along the 87-km Kanchanpur – Kamala Road ..........................72 Table 35: Summary of Beneficial and Adverse Impacts ............................................................78 Table 36: Fuel efficiency in km/l ................................................................................................81 Table 37: Emission Standards of Fleet (%) ...............................................................................81 Table 38: Traffic Growth Rates Adopted for Kanchanpur – Kamala Road, % ............................81 Table 39: Input Parameters for TEEMP ....................................................................................81