Environmental Assessment Report Initial Environmental Examination Rehabilitation and Reconstruction of Secondary Road Zugdidi-Jvari-Mestia-Lasdili Road KM.100 – KM.110, KM.111-KM.115 and KM.117-KM.120 KP Project Number: 42414 May 2010 Proposed Multitranche Financing Facility Georgia: Sustainable Urban Transport Investment Program This 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. CURRENCY EQUIVALENTS (as of 10 May 2010) Currency Unit – lari (GEL) GEL1.00 = $0.57 $1.00 = GEL1.75 ADB – Asian Development Bank CAS – Center of Archaeological Search of the Ministry of Culture and Sports MoE – Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources IEE – Initial Environmental Examination GIS – Geographical Information Systems EMP – Environmental Management Plan MAC – Maximum Admissible Concentrations RAP – Resettlement Action Plan MoA – Ministry of Agriculture MLHSP – Ministry of Labor, Health and Social Protection GOG – Government of Georgia NGO – nongovernment organization MUFSRA – Management Unit for Food Safety and Risk Analyze of the Ministry of the Agriculture FS – Feasibility Study MDF – Municipal Development Fund EIP – Environmental Impact Permit MoED – Ministry of Economic Development SPS – Safeguard Policy Statement CONTENTS I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1 A. Current Situation 1 B. Brief Outline of the Contents of the Report 4 C. Description of the Project 7 II. POLICY, LEGAL, AND ADMINISTRATIVE FRAMEWORK 20 A. Introduction 20 B. Environmental regulations 20 C. Environmental and Social Requirements of the ADB 32 D. Comparison of the National legislation and ADB requirements 35 E. Harmonization of the ADB and Georgian Legislation Requirements 36 F. International Conventions 37 III. PROJECT DESCRIPTION 39 A. Description of the Project Road Sections 41 B. Existing and Project Structure 48 C. Organization of Works 49 IV. DESCRIPTION OF THE ENVIRONMENT (BASELINE DATA) 54 A. Physical Resources 54 B. Ecological Resources 71 C. Rare or Endangered Species 75 D. Economic Development 76 E. Agricultural Development 78 F. Mineral Development 79 G. Social and Cultural Resources 80 V. ANTICIPATED ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS AND MITIGATION MEASURES 85 A. Mitigation Measure: Design of Landslip Sections 88 B. Allocation of Inert Material 89 C. Blasting Works 89 D. Noise and Air Quality 91 E. Hazardous Construction Wastes 92 F. Soil Pollution 93 G. Water Pollution 94 H. Transport related impacts 95 I. Protection of the Soil and Erosion Prevention 96 J. Impacts on Archaeological Sites. 97 K. Construction Related Impacts at the Asphalt Plant Sites 98 L. Mitigation Measures of Exploitation Phase 98 VI. ANALYSIS OF ALTERNATIVES 99 VII. INFORMATION DISCLOSURE, CONSULTATION, AND PARTICIPATION 99 A. Legislation and regulations of Georgia 99 B. ADB Requirements 101 C. Public Consultation Scheme 102 D. Disclosure of documents 102 E. Public Discussions 102 2 VIII. GRIEVANCE REDRESS MECHANISM 108 A. Environmental Management Plan 109 1 I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1. Upgrading and improvement of local transport and transport-related infrastructure plays a significant role in the development of Georgia infrastructure. To this effect a number of important activities have been implemented and financed from the budget of Georgia and from other sources. Improvement of transport and related infrastructure plays an important role in improvement of Georgia’s urban infrastructure. Recently several significant programs, financed through state budget, loans and grants, have been implemented with this regard. Notwithstanding the efforts undertaken so far several problems need to be solved regarding development of transport infrastructure. 2. Rehabilitation of Zugdidi-Jvari-Mestia-Lasdili motor road was initiated by the Department of Motor Roads of Georgia. The road is of national significance and connects upper Svaneti region with Tbilisi-Senaki-Leselidze main motor road. Currently the road needs significant rehabilitation in order to restore its operational capacity and ensure traffic safety. Certain sections and infrastructure facilities of the road need significant reconstruction. The secondary road Zugdidi-Jvari-Mestia-Lasdili links the villages located in Zeda Svaneti region, Daba Mestia and Mestia with the region Zugdidi as well as with the trunk road Tbilisi- Senaki-Leselidze, which is the main road in the region. It should be noted that the present project will significantly contribute to the socio-economic development of Zeda Svaneti region and facilitate development of tourism infrastructure. 3. The Municipal Services Development Project funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB). Presented project is one of various projects backed by international donor organizations to be implemented by the Municipal Development fund (MDF). 4. MDF aims at strengthening institutional and financial capacity of municipalities through investing financial resources in local infrastructure and services, and on improving on sustainable basis the primary economic and social services, A. Current Situation 5. The project section is divided into 6 lots in accordance with the Terms of Reference. In this document presented 3 following sections of the secondary road Zugdidi-Jvari-Mestia-Lasdili (Figure 1): 1. Section 1: Km.100 – Km 110; 2. Section 2: Km.110 – Km 115; 3. Section 2: Km.117 – Km 120. 2 Figure 1 Presented 3 sections of the secondary road Zugdidi-Jvari-Mestia-Lasdili 6. The existing and project road starts on the bench of the left slope of the right tributary of the river Enguri and goes along the right slopes of the river Enguri until the end of the gorge. 7. Road pavement structure is two-layer asphalt-concrete pavement (thickness 6+4 cm) and crushed aggregates (fraction 0-40 mm,) thickness 16 cm. 8. Technical norms applied in the design are as follows: (i) Category of road - IV; (ii) Width of road bed - 7.0 - 8.0 m; (iii) Width of carriageway - 6.0 m; (iv) Width of shoulder - 0.5-1.0 m; (v) Pavement type - cement-concrete. 9. The existing and project road starts on the bench of the left slope of the right tributary of the river Enguri and goes along the right slopes of the river Enguri until the end of the gorge. The slopes are formed by clay-slates1, with rare insertions of sandstone2. Clay-slates are easily weathered and contribute and are exposed on slopes. 1 Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism 2 Sandstone (sometimes known as arenite) is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains 3 10. In The The structures of pavement of I section of cerageway accepted are as follows: sections where asphalt-concrete pavement is partially maintained (Figure 2) - milling of surface, construction of leveling layer of sand and gravel. There are no soil settlement and soil deformation areas. Related with asphalt-concrete pavement there is better situation on II and III sections of the project area where the thickness of the asphalt in some areas is 12-14 cm (Figure 3). Figure 2. Asphalt-concrete and sand and gravel pavements at the I section of the project raud. Km 106 4 Figure 3. Asphalt-concrete and sand and gravel pavements at the II section of the project raud. Km 113 B. Brief Outline of the Contents of the Report 11. The IEE was prepared in accordance with Georgia’s environmental legislation, ADB’s safeguard policy (2009) and MDF’s procedures and environmental guidelines. The objectives of the IEE are the following: (i) Define potential positive and negative environmental impact in for various reviewed alternatives; (ii) Provide technical information and recommendations to facilitate selection of the best alternative; (iii) Prepare an Environmental Management Plan (EMP) including action for mitigation of likely damage, monitoring plan and description of institutional measures; (iv) Ensure mechanisms for public participation and information dissemination on the basis of relevant legislation and existing procedures. 1. Policy, legal and administrative framework 12. The basic legal document is “The Constitution of Georgia”, which was adopted in 1995. While the Constitution of Georgia does not directly address environmental matters, it does lay 5 down the legal framework that guarantees environmental protection and public access to information with regard to environmental conditions. a. Environmental permitting and public consultation 13. At present, the environmental permitting procedure in Georgia is set out in three laws. The project proponent, in implementing projects, will comply with: (i) The Law on Licenses and Permits (2005); (ii) The Law on Environmental Impact Permits (EIP), and (iii) The Law on Ecological Examination (EE) 2008. 14. The Laws on Environmental Impact Permit and on Ecological Examination have been published on 14.12.2007 and entered in force on 01.01.2008. These new laws integrate all the amendments introduced in legislation of Georgia during recent years. 15. The 6th clause of the law of Georgia on the Environmental Impact Permit provides detailed requirements and procedures for conducting public consultations and established timeframes for information disclosure and discussion, namely: 16. According to article 6, a developer is obliged to carry out public discussion of the EIA before its submission to the administrative body responsible for issuing a permit. b.