Public Disclosure Authorized Sustainable Wastewater Management Project Subproject on the Construction and Operation of Tskaltubo Public Disclosure Authorized Wastewater Treatment Plant (with a Design Capacity of 6171 m3/d) Environmental Impact Assessment Report Public Disclosure Authorized Gamma Consulting Ltd Director Z. Mgaloblishvili Public Disclosure Authorized Tbilisi 2018 Gamma Consulting Ltd 17A D. Guramishvili avenue 0192 Tbilisi, Georgia tel: +(995 32) 260 44 33; 260 15 27 E-mail: [email protected]; [email protected] www.gamma.ge; www.facebook.com/gammaconsultingGeorgia EIA report – Tskaltubo WWTP Contents NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARY ................................................................................................................. i 1. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................... 1 1.1. General Overview ................................................................................................................................................... 1 1.2. Legal Basis for EIA .................................................................................................................................................. 2 1.3. Objectives of EIA..................................................................................................................................................... 2 2. LEGAL AND INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK ................................................................................... 3 2.1 National Environmental Legislation ....................................................................................................................... 3 2.2 General Environmental Standards of Georgia related to the Project .................................................................... 6 2.3 Safeguard Policies of the World Bank ..................................................................................................................... 7 2.4 Gaps between the National Environmental Legislation and World Bank Requirements .................................... 8 3. PROJECT ALTERNATIVES ................................................................................................................... 9 3.1 No Action Alternative .............................................................................................................................................. 9 3.2 Alternatives for the Location of WWTP ............................................................................................................... 10 3.3 Technological Alternatives for Wastewater Treatment ....................................................................................... 11 3.4 Description of Adopted Alternative ...................................................................................................................... 16 3.5 Organization of Construction Works .................................................................................................................... 23 4. ENVIRONMENTAL BASELINE ............................................................................................................27 4.1 General Overview ................................................................................................................................................. 27 4.2. Results of Environmental Audit of WWTP site .................................................................................................. 28 4.2 Physical Environment ............................................................................................................................................ 30 4.3 Biological Environment ......................................................................................................................................... 37 4.4 Socio-Economic Environment ............................................................................................................................... 42 5. ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT METHODOLOGY ........................................................45 5.1 General Principles of EIA Methodology ............................................................................................................... 45 5.2 Receptors of Impact and their Sensitivity ............................................................................................................. 46 5.3 Characterization of the Impacts ............................................................................................................................ 46 5.4 Methods and Assessment Criteria ......................................................................................................................... 47 Assessment Criteria and Methods Used for Calculating Noise Propagation ............................................................. 49 Methodology and Criteria for Assessing Tskaltubostskali River Water Quality Impact .......................................... 50 Assessment of impacts on Biological Environment .................................................................................................... 53 6. ASSESSMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS ...............................................................................56 6.1 Impact on Ambient Air Quality ............................................................................................................................ 56 6.2 Noise Propagation .................................................................................................................................................. 62 6.3. Impact on Surface Waters ..................................................................................................................................... 66 6.4 Impact on Groundwater ......................................................................................................................................... 70 6.5. Soil Stability and Quality ...................................................................................................................................... 72 6.6. Geological Hazards, Risk of Flooding ................................................................................................................... 75 6.7. Landscape and Visual Impact................................................................................................................................ 75 6.8 Impact on Biological Environment ....................................................................................................................... 77 6.9 Waste Generation ................................................................................................................................................... 82 6.10 Social and Economic Impact ................................................................................................................................ 85 6.11 Impact on Cultural and Archaeological Monuments ......................................................................................... 90 6.12 Cumulative Impact ............................................................................................................................................... 90 7. OPERATION OF WWTP ......................................................................................................................90 7.1 Institutional Mechanisms of WWTP Operation .................................................................................................. 91 7.2 Emergency Situations ............................................................................................................................................. 91 EIA report – Tskaltubo WWTP 7.3. Halting of WWTP Operation ............................................................................................................................... 91 8. ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT AND MONITORING ...............................................................92 8.1 Institutional Mechanisms for Environmental Management ................................................................................ 93 8.2 Environmental Mitigation Plan ............................................................................................................................. 94 8.3 Environmental Monitoring Plan ......................................................................................................................... 105 9. STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT AND GRIEVANCE REDRESS MECHANISMS ............................ 112 9.1 Consultation with Stakeholders .......................................................................................................................... 112 9.2 Communication Policy with Persons within Impact Zone ................................................................................ 114 9.3 Grievance Redress Mechanism during Construction Works ............................................................................. 114 REFERENCES .......................................................................................................................................... 116 ANNEXES ................................................................................................................................................ 117 Annex 1. Tskaltubo WWTP Project Description ..................................................................................................... 117 Annex 2. Report on Pollutant Emissions into Ambient Air....................................................................................