Final Initial Environmental Examination Project Number: 54433-001 August 2021 Georgia: M Square Affordable Housing Project Prepared by Paragon Ltd. for the Asian Development Bank. The 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 White Square Affordable Housing Project Tbilisi, Georgia February – August 2021 FINAL Client Projects No: “Optima” LLC (“White Square”) By BHP - Paragon Summary and Version history: Date: 13 August 2021 This page is the record of all revisions in Approved by: this document. All previous issues are hereby superseded. ------------------------------------ Name/Company/Position Revision Description By Reviewed Approved Date Page 1 of 204 V - 01 Draft Initial Environmental K. Khabalashvili 8 April Examination /L.Bibichadze 2021 V - 02 Draft Initial Environmental K. Khabalashvili 19 April Examination, comments from /L.Bibichadze 2021 ADB addressed V – 03 Draft Report, second set of K. Khabalashvili 31 July comments from ADB /L.Bibichadze 2021 discussed and reflected FINAL Final agreed version of the K. Khabalashvili 13 Initial Environmental /L.Bibichadze August Examination 2021 Page 2 of 204 Table of Contents 1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ................................................................................................................ 6 2. ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS .............................................................................................. 7 3. POLICY, LEGAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE FRAMEWORK ................................................................. 9 3.1 Asia Development Bank (ADB) ...................................................................................................... 9 3.2 Georgian Laws and Regulations .................................................................................................. 12 3.2.1 Framework legislation .......................................................................................................... 12 3.2.2 Applicable licenses and approvals ....................................................................................... 18 3.2.3 Administrative Structure in Georgia .................................................................................... 24 3.3 National legislation and ADB requirements cross-comparison .................................................. 25 3.4 National legislation and ADB requirements harmonisation ....................................................... 26 4. DESCRIPTION OF THE PROJECT ................................................................................................. 27 4.1 Type of the project ...................................................................................................................... 27 4.2 Need of the project ..................................................................................................................... 29 4.3 Location ....................................................................................................................................... 31 4.4 Project description ...................................................................................................................... 33 4.4.1 “Mirtskhulava” ..................................................................................................................... 33 4.4.2 “Chkondideli” ....................................................................................................................... 35 4.5 Operation activities ..................................................................................................................... 37 5. DESCRIPTION OF THE ENVIRONMENT (BASELINE DATA) ......................................................... 38 5.1 Physical resources ....................................................................................................................... 38 5.1.1 Atmosphere ......................................................................................................................... 38 5.1.2 Ambient Air Quality.............................................................................................................. 41 5.1.3 Noise .................................................................................................................................... 50 5.1.4 Geomorphology and Geology .............................................................................................. 59 5.1.5 Seismicity ............................................................................................................................. 59 5.1.6 Soils and fundamental landscapes ....................................................................................... 60 5.1.7 Surface water and groundwater .......................................................................................... 61 5.2 Biodiversity.................................................................................................................................. 62 5.2.1 Flora ..................................................................................................................................... 62 5.2.2 Fauna .................................................................................................................................... 64 5.3 Natural background radiation ..................................................................................................... 65 5.4 Socio-cultural resources .............................................................................................................. 65 5.4.1 Demography ......................................................................................................................... 66 5.4.2 Medical Outpatient facilities ................................................................................................ 74 5.4.3 Educational institutions ....................................................................................................... 74 Page 3 of 204 5.4.4 Agriculture............................................................................................................................ 76 5.4.5 Motorways ........................................................................................................................... 76 5.5 Waste management and landfill ................................................................................................. 79 5.5.1 Municipal landfill .................................................................................................................. 79 5.5.2 Inert waste disposal ............................................................................................................. 79 5.5.3 Hazardous waste disposal/treatment .................................................................................. 80 5.6 Water supply system................................................................................................................... 80 5.7 Wastewater system .................................................................................................................... 80 5.8 Transport ..................................................................................................................................... 81 5.9 Cultural heritage ......................................................................................................................... 81 5.9.1 German settlement in Didube district of Tbilisi ................................................................... 83 5.10 Tourism ..................................................................................................................................... 86 6. ANTICIPATED ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIAL IMPACTS AND MITIGATION MEASURES .......... 86 6.1.1 Noise and Dust ..................................................................................................................... 87 6.1.2 Noise and Dust Mitigation measures ................................................................................... 89 6.2 Water and wastewater ............................................................................................................... 90 6.2.1 Water ................................................................................................................................... 90 6.2.2 Wastewater disposal ............................................................................................................ 91 6.2.3 Water and Wastewater Mitigation measures ..................................................................... 91 6.3 Soil quality and topsoil management ......................................................................................... 92 6.3.1 Soil and topsoil ..................................................................................................................... 92 6.3.2 Soil and Topsoil Mitigation measures .................................................................................. 92 6.4 Biological environment ..............................................................................................................