E1245 v 3 Public Disclosure Authorized World Bank Financed Yibin Environmental Improvement Project In Yibin City, Sichuan Province Public Disclosure Authorized Environmental Impact Assessment Public Disclosure Authorized Chengdu Hydropower Investigation Design & Research Institute of Public Disclosure Authorized China Hydropower Engineering Consultant Group Corporation October, 2005 1 Preface The Environmental Improvement Project in Yibin City, Sichuan Province is also called Binjiang ring road project for short. It consists of road project, bridge and culvert project, protective project, landscape project and drainage project. The proposed road project is an import part of the urban road network planned by the municipal government, and involves two parts, namely Line A and Line B. Line A is laid along the left banks of the Min River and the Yangtze River, extending from east to west. It starts from the Min River North Bridge and ends at Tianyuan Co., Ltd., with a total length of 6688.51 meters. Line B starts from the Cultural Square of Nan’an and ends at the No. 4 Water Plant, following Nan’an (south bank) of the Jinsha River, with a total length of 3521.21 meters. The main functions of the project are transportation and relaxation. The total investment is RMB 574.06 million, of which USD 28.5 million is financed by the World Bank. According to the urban master plan of Yibin, the city will be composed of multi-districts with diverse function and characteristics. The proposed road of Line A is the only way connecting Jiucheng, Jiuzhou with Baisha. The proposed road of Line B connects West district of Nan’an, East district of Nan’an, Zhaozhou and Tianbai, which are important districts of the city. The proposed road is the significant urban road connecting various districts and has great potential for traffic volume increases. The proposed project will facilitate the swift connection among the districts and promote the smooth and ordered flow of passengers, freights and automobiles. It can activate the adjustment of urban structure through the improved urban road networks, providing necessary and basic guarantee for the expansion of urban development space and the improvement of the urban functions as well. Based on the relevant environmental protection laws, regulations and standards of the People's Republic of China (PRC) , and the stipulations in the Guideline of Environmental Assessment by the World Bank, the proposed project is classified as Category A, and the environmental impact assessment should be carried out. Therefore, Chengdu Hydropower Investigation Design & Research Institute (CHIDI) of China Hydropower Engineering Consultant Group Corporation (CHECC) was commissioned to undertake the EIA of the proposed project by Yibin Investment Group Co., Ltd (YIG). After accepting the commission, an EIA team was established coming from engineers majored on environmental protection, road and bridge design, and water and soil conservation and so on. Based on the analysis on the project design documents, the EIA team carried on investigation along the proposed roads for several times. The basic information of the construction area, the project construction document and monitoring data were collected. 1 According to ‘Technology Guideline of Environmental Impact Assessment’, ‘Environmental Impact Assessment Specifications of Highway Construction Project’ and the World Bank related environmental assessment business policies, the environmental impact pre-assessment report of the project was completed in May, 2005, and submitted to the World Bank delegation for pre-assessment. At the same time, ‘Environmental Impact Assessment Outline’ of the Project was completed. At the request of Sichuan Environmental Protection Bureau (SEPB), Sichuan Environmental Engineering Evaluation Center(SEEEC) hosted the technical appraisal meeting for the outline on May 19, 2005 in Yibin. According to opinions and suggestions of the attending representatives and experts, the final edition of the outline was completed in August 2005. According to the document issued by SEPB and opinions and requests of the World Bank experts, the EA team carried out an on-the-spot investigation once more, and entrusted Yibin Environmental Monitoring Station to monitor the environmental status in the assessment range. On the basis of preceding works, ‘Environmental Impact Assessment Report of Yibin Binjiang River Encircling Road Project’ was prepared in October 2005 to submit to the World Bank for project appraisement, and to SEPB for examination. The compilation of the report have obtained vigorous supports from Yibin Urban Construction Investment Management Co., Ltd, related municipal departments of Yibin government, South-west China Municipal Engineering Design & Research Institute, and Southwest Jiaotong University, as well as devotedly instruction from the World Bank experts. All these helps and instructions are appreciated. 1 CONTENT 1 Overview............................................................................................................................................1 1.1 Origin of the assessment ........................................................................................................1 1.2 Background of the project......................................................................................................1 1.3 Aims and principles of EIA ...................................................................................................5 1.4 Basis of the compilation.........................................................................................................6 1.5 Components of environmental assessment documents ..........................................................9 1.6 Assessment standards, classification, scope and phases ........................................................9 1.7 Objectives of environmental protection...............................................................................14 1.8 Assessment methods and assessment procedure..................................................................15 2 Project Description...........................................................................................................................17 2.1 Basic characteristics of the project.......................................................................................17 2.2 Routes ..................................................................................................................................17 2.3 The Main technical specifications for project......................................................................17 2.4 Project component and its environmental impact ................................................................18 2.5 Main part project..................................................................................................................20 2.6 Construction organization....................................................................................................23 2.7 Project analysis ....................................................................................................................27 3 Project Analysis ...............................................................................................................................32 3.1 Comparison of with or without the project ..........................................................................32 3.2 Road alternatives..................................................................................................................32 3.3 Comparison of the design schemes......................................................................................33 4 Environmental status of the Project Area.........................................................................................37 4.1 Natural environment status ..................................................................................................37 4.2 Ecological environment .......................................................................................................39 4.3 Social economy......................................................................................................................1 4.4 Environmental quality situation.............................................................................................6 4.5 Screening of the safeguard policies of the world bank ........................................................10 4.6 Environmental sensitive spots.............................................................................................. 11 5 Environmental Impact Assessment ..................................................................................................16 5.1 Analysis of impact on water environment ...........................................................................16 5.2 Air impact assessment..........................................................................................................20 5.3 Noise impact assessment......................................................................................................26 5.4 Impact on eco-environment .................................................................................................35 5.5 Community impact assessment............................................................................................41 5.6 Solid waste impact assessment ............................................................................................43 5.7 Risk assessment ...................................................................................................................44