Environmental Monitoring Report 1st Semestral Report May 2020 Lao PDR: Fourth Greater Mekong Subregion Corridor Towns Development Project Prepared by the Project Coordination Unit of Department of Housing and Urban Planning for the Ministry of Public Works and Transport, Lao PDR and the Asian Development Bank. This environmental monitoring report 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. Lao People’s Democratic Republic Peace Independence Democracy Unity Prosperity Ministry of Public Works and Transport Department of Housing and Urban Planning Fourth Greater Mekong Sub-Region Corridor Towns Development Project (ADB Grant No. 0606) Semi-Annual Environmental Safeguard Monitoring Report March – December 2019 Prepared by the Project Coordination Unit of Department of Housing and Urban Planning for the Ministry of Public Works and Transports and the Asian Development Bank. NOTE: In this report, "$" refers to US Dollars This environmental safeguard monitoring report 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. TABLE OF CONTENTS I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .......................................................................................................... 1 A. SUMMARY ............................................................................................................................ 1 B. PLANNED ACTIONS FOR SUCCEDING MONITORING PERIOD ................................. 1 II. PROJECT AND GENERAL SAFEGUARDS OVERVIEW ................................................... 2 A. PROJECT BACKGROUND ................................................................................................... 2 B. PROJECT ENVIRONMENTAL CATEGORIZATION ........................................................ 5 C. PROJECT PROGRESS ........................................................................................................... 6 D. ENVIRONMENTAL SAFEGUARD PLAN IMPLEMENTATION ARRANGEMENTS ... 6 E. STATUS OF ENVIRONMENTAL SAFEGUARDS DOCUMENTS ................................. 10 III. ENVIRONMENTAL PERFORMANCE MONITORING .................................................... 10 A. STATUS OF EMPs’ IMPLEMENTATION IN PAKSAN AND THAKHEK ..................... 10 B. BASELINE ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY SURVEY .................................................... 10 IV. PUBLIC CONSULTATION MEETINGS ............................................................................ 11 V. GRIEVANCE REDRESS MECHANISM ............................................................................... 11 VI. CONCLUSIONS ........................................................................................................................ 12 VII. APPENDICES ............................................................................................................................ 13 APPENDIX 1: LIST OF PHOTOS OF PUBLIC CONSULTATION MEETINGS ................... 13 APPENDIX 2: LIST OF PARTICIPANTS OF PUBLIC CONSULTATION MEETINGS ........ 16 LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Subproject Details in Paksan .......................................................................................... 3 Table 2: Subproject Details in Thakhek ....................................................................................... 4 Table 3: Actual accomplishment of Subprojects as of 31 December 2019 .................................. 6 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: Subprojects located in Paksan Town ............................................................................. 4 Figure 2: Subprojects located in Thakhek Town .......................................................................... 5 Figure 3: Project Organization Structure ...................................................................................... 7 Figure 4: PCU Organization Structure ......................................................................................... 8 Figure 5: PIU Paksan Organization Structure .............................................................................. 9 Figure 6: PIU Thakhek Organization Structure ............................................................................ 9 I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY A. SUMMARY 1. The discussion below presents the summary description of the status of implementation of the environmental safeguards and the environmental monitoring activities for the period March 2019 to 31 December 2019. a. Public Consultation Meetings for Municipal Solid Waste Subprojects of Paksan and Thakhek Towns were conducted from 22 to 27 August 2019, attended by total of 166 participants, including 100 females from 3 villages (Na Doan, Na Bouap and Na Sommor). The purpose and contents of these public consultation meetings were to collect all relevant documents and related data for the subprojects; to discuss and agree on the plan and procedures for updating the IEE and EMP for Subprojects and conduct a site visit to all proposed subproject sites and discuss the preparation of the plan for Baseline Environmental Quality Survey and the Environmental Monitoring which was expected conducted in March 2020. b. The Initial Environmental Examination (IEE) reports with Environmental Management Plans (EMP) for Municipal Solid Waste Subprojects of Paksan and Thakhek Towns were prepared and submitted to PCU for review and comments. These IEEs and EMPs are expectedly finalized and updated in early 2020 and submitted to PCU for approval and ADB for NOL. c. Grievance Redress Mechanism has been established. Dissemination of the information and grievance forms were made during the provincial and village consultation meetings. There are three consecutive levels to facilitate grievance mediation and resolution, with the lowest level being the Grievance Committee at village level and the highest level being the People’s Supreme Court at National level. Nevertheless, affected people are entitled to lodge complaints regarding any aspect of the subproject preparation and implementation, without prejudice to their right to file complaints with the court of law at any point in the process. B. PLANNED ACTIONS FOR SUCCEEDING MONITORING PERIOD 2. The following activities is planned for the next monitoring period for the Project: a. Continue to finalize and update the IEE and EMP for Municipal Solid Waste Subprojects of both Paksan and Thakhek to submit to PCU for approval and ADB for NOL. 1 b. Continue to prepare IEE and EMP reports for remaining subprojects based on approved DEDs for both Paksan and Thakhek Towns. c. Continue with the regular daily, monthly, and quarterly environmental safeguards monitoring as per approved IEEs and EMPs of the sub-projects. d. Conduct of the Baseline Environmental Quality (BEQ) survey for groundwater and surface water, and ambient noise and dust monitor at all Subproject sites. e. Conduct the 2nd Public Consultation Meetings for Stormwater Drainage Subprojects in Paksan and Thakhek. f. Regularly update quarterly environmental report and start preparing inputs to the next semi-annual environment monitoring report for the period January to June 2020. II. PROJECT AND GENERAL SAFEGUARDS OVERVIEW A. PROJECT BACKGROUND 3. The Government of Lao People's Democratic Republic (Lao PDR), with assistance from the Asian Development Bank (ADB), is implementing the Fourth Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS) Corridor Towns Development Project under ADB Loan 0606-Lao. The 2 towns in this project, Paksan of Bolikhamxay Province and Thakhek of Khammouane Province, are located along the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) Central Corridor. 4. The will finance the: (i) construction of sewerage networks and eight small-scale wastewater treatment plants (SWTP) to improve sanitation; (ii) construction of two controlled landfills and solid waste collection vehicles for municipal waste to improve waste collection and management; (iii) improvement of drainage and riverbank protection; (iv) rehabilitation of the oldtown center at Thakhek to promote regional tourism; and (v) preparation of city master plans to promote regional economic connectivity. 5. The Ministry of Public Works and Transport (MPWT), along with its Department of Housing and Urban Planning (DHUP), is the executing agency (EA). At the provincial level, the Department of Public Works and Transport (DPWT), assisted by the Project Implementation Units (PIUs) for Paksan and Thakhek subprojects, are the implementing agencies (IAs). 6. The Grant signed on 16 October 2018 and will close on 30 June 2024. The total project cost is about US$54.06 million, financed by an ADB Grant of US$48 million and a government counterpart of about US$6.06 million. The outputs of the project are (i) urban environmental infrastructure improved and (ii) Institutional effectiveness improved. 7. The project consists