Initial Environmental Examination Document Stage: Draft Project Number: 35173-015 July 2018 NEP: Urban Water Supply and Sanitation (Sector) Project – Katahariya Stormwater Drainage Subproject Package No. W-22 Prepared by Ministry of Water Supply, Government of Nepal for the Asian Development Bank. CURRENCY EQUIVALENTS (as of 2July 2018) Currency unit - Nepalese rupee (NRe) $1.00 = NRs109.821 NRe1.00 = $0.0091 ABBREVIATIONS ADB – Asian Development Bank DSMC – design, supervision and management consultant DRTAC – design review and technical audit consultant DWSS – Department of Water Supply and Sewerage EARF – environmental assessment and review framework EIA – environmental impact assessment EMP – environmental management plan EPA – Environment Protection Act EPR – Environment Protection Rules ESO – environmental safeguards officer ESS – environmental safeguards specialist ESA – environmental safeguard assistant ESE – environmental safeguard expert GRM – grievance redress mechanism ICG – implementation core group IEE – initial environmental examination MOWS – Ministry of Water Supply NDWQS – National Drinking Water Quality Standard PMO – project management office RPMO – regional project management office ROW – right-of-way REA – rapid environmental assessment SEMP – site-specific environmental management plan STWSSSP – Small Towns’ Water Supply and Sanitation Sector Project SPS – safeguard policy statement SDG – Sustainable Development Goal SSTWSSSP – Second Small Towns’ Water Supply and Sanitation Sector Project UWSSSP – Urban Water Supply and Sanitation Sector Project TOR – terms of reference VDC – Village Development Committee WHO – World Health Organization WSSDO – Water Supply and Sanitation Divisional Office WUA – water users’ association WUSC – water users’ and sanitation committee WEIGHTS AND MEASURES amsl - above mean sea level dBA - decibel audible °C - degree Celsius km - kilometer kph - kilometer per hour lps - liter per second lpcd - liter per capita per day m - meter kph - kilometer per hour m - meter m3 - cubic meter mg/l - milligram per liter mm - millimeter NOTE In this report, "$" refers to United States dollars. This draft 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. CONTENTS Page EXECUTIVE SUMMARY I. INTRODUCTION 1 Background 1 Name and Address of the Institution Preparing the Report 2 Purpose of the initial environmental examination 3 II. DESCRIPTION OF THE SUBPROJECT 4 Need for the Subproject 4 Relevance of the Subproject 4 Description of the Subproject Components 4 Subproject Area Description 9 III. POLICY, LEGAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE FRAMEWORK 9 ADB Safeguard Policy Statement 9 Government Environmental Impact Assessment Law 12 Other Relevant National Laws, Policies and Guidelines. 14 International Environmental Agreements. 17 IV. ANALYSIS OF ALTERNATIVES 18 With- and Without-Subproject Alternatives 18 Alternatives Relative to Planning and Design 18 V. DESCRIPTION OF THE ENVIRONMENT 19 Physical Environment and Resources 19 Ecological Resources 19 Socio-economic and Cultural Environment 23 Education and Health Education 25 Economic Activities 26 Existing Situation of Drainage System 27 Site-Specific Environmental Conditions 29 VI. ANTICIPATED ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS AND MITIGATION MEASURES 31 Beneficial Impacts 31 Assessment of Adverse Environmental Impacts 32 Indirect, Induced and Cumulative Impacts 43 VII. INFORMATION DISCLOSURE, CONSULTATION, AND PARTICIPATION 44 VIII. GRIEVANCE REDRESS MECHANISM 45 IX. ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT PLAN 49 Institutional Arrangement 49 Environmental Management Plan 54 Institutional Capacity Development Program 67 Staffing Requirement and Budget 68 X. MONITORING AND REPORTING ERROR! BOOKMARK NOT DEFINED. XI. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION 73 APPENDIXES 1. Rapid Environmental Assessment Checklist for Katahariya Storm Water Drainage Subproject 2. No Mitigation Measures Scenario Checklist 3. Sample Traffic Management Plan 4. Sample Spoil Management Plan 5. Minutes of Consultation Meeting 6. Sample Grievance Redress Form 7. Template for Semi-Annual Environmental Monitoring Report EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The Urban Water Supply and Sanitation (Sector) Project (UWSSP) will support the Government of Nepal in expanding access to community managed water supply and sanitation (WSS) in 20 project municipalities by drawing on experiences and lessons from three earlier projects funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB). The project will finance climate-resilient and inclusive WSS infrastructure in project municipalities and strengthen institutional and community capacity, sustainable service delivery, and project development. The project will be implemented over a five-year period (indicative implementation period is 2018 to 2023) and will be supported through ADB financing using a sector lending approach. The project will have the following impact: quality of life for urban populations, including the poor and marginalized, improved through the provision of sustainable WSS services. The project will have the following outcome: inclusive and sustainable access to WSS services in project municipalities achieved. The project will have two outputs: (i) water supply and sanitation infrastructure in project municipalities improved; and (ii) institutional and community capacities strengthened. The Ministry of Water Supply (MOWS) is the executing agency and Department of Water Supply and Sewerage (DWSS) the implementing agency. The project management office (PMO) will be responsible for the overall management, implementation and monitoring of the project. There will be regional PMOs (RPMOs) to manage day-to-day project implementation at the subproject/municipality level. After construction including a one-year operations and maintenance (O&M) period by the contractor, subprojects will be operated by the WUSC or municipality. Subproject Municipality. Katahariya municipality is one of the project towns proposed under UWSSP. A stormwater drainage subproject is being proposed that will cover selected priority areas of the town. The terrain of the subproject area is relatively flat and is still to gain momentum to grow into a dense settlement. Being flat terrain, well planned drainage system is needed to avoid flooding in the future, especially during monsoon season. Core areas of the town, such as the highway and main streets, have some existing drainage systems, but these are just a small portion of the proposed subproject area. Existing conditions of these drainage systems show that they are not properly maintained, and the configurations also show that their design and construction were not properly planned. So, in anticipation of population growth and urbanization in the coming years, there is an urgent need to have a proper and planned drainage system in the town. Subproject Scope. The subproject is demand-driven by municipality and WUA, and selected based on transparent criteria, including population growth, poverty index, existing WSS infrastructure, formed WUA, community willingness for cost sharing and long-term O&M contract. The drainage system will be composed of 14.40 kilometer (km) of drain lines and associated components such as manholes, culverts, rain water inlets, slab covers, and outfalls. Environmental assessment has been conducted for the Katahariya storm water drainage system subproject, which was selected based on (i) preliminary design drawn from the Katahariya town masterplan, and (ii) most likely environmentally sensitive components. The environmental assessment used ADB’s rapid environmental assessment (REA) checklist (Appendix 1) and a “no mitigation measures scenario” checklist developed for UWSSP (Appendix 2). The environmental assessment of the drainage system subproject shows it is not likely to have significant adverse environmental impacts that are irreversible, diverse, or unprecedented. Potential impacts are unlikely to affect areas far beyond the sites or facilities subject to physical works. These impacts ii are site-specific, few if any of them are irreversible, and in most cases mitigation measures can be designed with uncomplicated measures commonly used at construction sites and known to civil works contractors. Therefore, the Katahariya storm water drainage subproject is classified as Category B for environment per ADB Safeguard Policy Statement (SPS), 2009. This draft initial environmental examination (IEE) report has been prepared based on preliminary design, and following requirements of ADB SPS and Government of Nepal Environment Protection Rules where the subproject is listed under Schedule 1 requiring an IEE. However, this draft IEE will be updated based on the final detailed design of all components of the subproject. The updated IEE will be submitted to ADB for final review and disclosure. Description of the Environment. The subproject components are in Katahariya Municipality. The subproject components will be constructed along right-of-way (ROW) of public roads. There are no protected areas, forests, wetlands, mangroves,