D F I M D P Januory 19, 2003 Environmental Assessment Final Report E901 Volume 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS Public Disclosure Authorized I EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ..................... .1 2 THE PROJECT.2 2.1 PROJECT OBJECTIVES ................................................................. 2 2.2 PROJECT COMPONENTS ................................................................. 2 3 POLICY, LEGAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE FRAMEWORK FOR ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENTS .3 3.1 LEGAL FRAMEWORK OF THE PHILIPPINE GOVERNMENT ...................... ....................... 3 3.2 GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATIVE FRAMEWORK .......................................................... 3 3.3 INTEGRATED PEST MANAGEMENT ................................................................. 5 3.4 ENVIRONMENTAL SAFEGUARD POLICIES OF THE WORLD BANK ............... .................. 5 Public Disclosure Authorized 4 YEAR 1 RURAL INFRASTRUCTURE SUB-PROJECTS COMPRISING THE INVESTMENT SUPPORT FOR LOCAL MARKET DEVELOPMENT COMPONENT .6 5 BASELINE ENVIRONMENTAL CHARACTERIZATION/PROFILING OF THE SUB-PROJECT SITES .7 5.1 BENGUET PROVINCE ................................................................. 7 5.2 BUKIDNON ................................................................ 12 5.3 CEBU ................................................................ 16 6 ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT .19 6.1 "WITHOUT PROJECT" SCENARIO .................................... Public Disclosure Authorized ............................ 19 6.2 "WITH PROJECT" SCENARIO ................................................................ 21 7 ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT PLAN .22 7.1 PRE-IMPLEMENTATION ................................................ 22 7.2 CONSTRUCTION PHASE ................................................ 22 7.3 OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE ................................................ 22 7.4 ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT PLAN FOR YEAR-1 SUBPROJECTS ......................... 22 7.5 ENVIRONMENTAL GUIDELINES FOR DFIMDP SUBPROJECTS FOR YEAR 2 ONWARDS 22 8 INSTITUTIONAL ARRANGEMENTS FOR ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT ................................................................. 22 8.1 CAPACITY BUILDING AND INSTITUTIONAL ARRANGEMENTS FOR ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENTS ................................................................. 23 Public Disclosure Authorized 8.2 PROPOSED STAFFING ARRANGEMENTS ................................................................. 26 FILE COPY D F I M D P Environmental Assessment Final Report LIST OF TABLES Table 1. National Laws, Rules and Administrative Issuances Pertaining to Environmental Assessments ............................................................... 4 Table 2. Brief Descriptions of Sub-Projects for Year 1 Implementation ......................... 6 Table 3. Land Area of Benguet/CAR Focus Area (hectares) .......................................... 8 Table 4. Landuse Pattern in Buguias and Atok Municipalities in Benguet Province... 9 Table 5 Pest Profile in High Value Commercial Crops (HVCC) in Benguet ................ 10 Table 6 Commonly Used Pesticides and other Chemical Inputs in Benguet .............. 10 Table 7 Land Area of Northern Mindanao Focus Area and Bukidnon (hectares) ..... 13 Table 8 Commonly Used Pesticides and other Chemical Inputs in Lantapan, Bukidnon .............................................................. 14 Table 9 Land Area of Central Visayas Focus Area and Cebu (hectares) ................... 16 Table 10 Commonly Used Pesticides and other Chemical Inputs in Lantapan, Bukidnon .............................................................. 18 Table 11 Environmental Management Plan for all Year-1 Subprojects ......................... 24 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. Location Map for the DFIMDP Focus Areas ..................................................... 7 Figure 2. Location Map of Benguet Province ............................................................. 8 Figure 3 Location Map of DFIMDP Areas in Bukidnon .................................................. 12 Figure 4 Location Map of Central Visayas Focus Area and Cebu Province ............... 17 D F I M D P January 19, 2003 Environmental Assessment Final Report 1 Executive Summary The Diversified Farm Income and Market Development Project (DFIMDP) of the Department of Agriculture (DA) proposes to make the needed investments in facilities, human resources, information systems, equipment, organizational systems and research grants to raise the agency's capacity to provide essential public services for competitiveness enhancing support for the private sector-namely, regulatory services, market linkages, technology development and dissemination, and planning, policy and budgeting systems. It will also undertake market-related rural infrastructure and capacity building projects of local governments (LGUs) and grower associations at the village level. Under its rural infrastructure component, the DFIMDP proposes to undertake six road rehabilitation subprojects for the first year of implementation. These are existing farm-to- market roads that can improve strategic connections of production areas with market outlets and trading centers. They are located in the provinces of Benguet, Bukidnon and Cebu, with proponents being the municipal governments in collaboration with the barangays (village). The subprojects all involve gravelling and drainage canal improvements with concreting work, if any, being limited to narrow tire paths along the middle of the road. No land acquisition is going to be necessary as all the sites are currently used exclusively as a public road. Environmental impacts of the six initial subprojects are likely to occur during and after construction work-namely soil erosion, dust, traffic flow disruption and air pollution from generated traffic. These are going to be minimal, temporary and reversible with simple mitigation measures such as provision of slope protection, sprinkling of water over the work area, and management of truck schedules by the contractor of the subproject. After completion of the project, the LGUs will ensure that trucks and other vehicles are regulated to minimize pollution from emissions and overloading. The DA regional field units will monitor compliance with agreed mitigation measures. Other related environmental impacts may arise from pre-existing risks associated with farming in slopes and areas near or within watersheds. The influence area of the subprojects are hilly and upland barangays occupied mostly by migrant-farmers who have settled there over the last 20 to 30 years using a mixture of farming practices that include shifting cultivation and planting techniques that are inappropriate for sloping areas. Some good practices are also observed in the areas, such as terracing of slopes to control soil erosion and the use of integrated pest management to reduce consumption of hazardous chemicals. In two of the subprojects (Lantapan, Bukidnon and Atok, Benguet) economic activities are governed by existing protected area management plans, hence minimizing risks of encroachment and damage to protected zones. To reinforce these measures, it is recommended that the DA regional field units renew partnerships with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and the LGUs and formulate local strategies to promote sustainable farming practices for upland areas and expand the areas under integrated pest management. At the national level, the DFIMDP component for regulatory services will also support environmental protection measures against hazardous chemicals by closely monitoring toxic residue levels on agricultural commodities. Succeeding subprojects for the DFIMDP have yet to be firmed up and evaluated in the course of future implementation work. A set of environmental guidelines, incorporating relevant policies of government and the WB, will ensure that they undergo the same process of environmental impact analysis and assessment. DFIMDP Environmental Assessment Final Report 2 The Project The Diversified Farm Income and Market Development Project is a proposed activity of the Department of Agriculture (DA). The Project seeks the assistance of the World Bank for a Sector Investment and Maintenance Loan to put in place necessary investment in essential services that are in accordance with the envisioned public sector role under the Agriculture and Fisheries Modernization Act (AFMA). The goal of the Project is to stimulate rural growth and farmer incomes by enhancing competitiveness of Philippine agriculture and fisheries commodities and market-oriented private sector-led investments. 2.1 Project Objectives The objectives of the Project are as follows: a) Arrest and reverse the declining competitiveness of Philippine commodities in domestic and foreign markets b) Greater diversification and profitability of farm enterprises c) Increased flow of private investments into market-oriented enterprises. Under agricultural promotion policies before the enactment of the AFMA, the role of the government was to push production targets to achieve such development objectives. Current policies, as spelled out by the AFMA, seek to delimit such intervention by government so that the private sector can play out its more important role in business development and financing. Hence, the DFIMDP will concentrate on the institutional development efforts of DA towards a more focused and strategic role rather than an expanded and untargeted role in the achievement of the afore-cited objectives. With financial and technical support from the World Bank, the basic