Environmental Assessment and Review Framework November 2020 SOL: Urban Water Supply and Sanitation Sector Project (Additional Financing) Prepared by Solomon Islands Water Authority, trading as Solomon Water, for the Asian Development Bank. This environmental assessment and review framework is a document of the borrower. The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent those of the 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 any 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. Environmental Assessment and Review Framework Project No. xxxx Status: Draft Date: November 2020 Solomon Islands: Urban Water Supply and Sanitation Sector Project Global Environment Facility - Climate Resilient Urban Development in the Pacific: Honiara Watershed Management Project Prepared by Solomon Water This environmental assessment and review framework is a document of the borrower. The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent those of the 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 any 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. Solomon Islands: UWSSSP GEF - Honiara Watershed Management Project Table of Contents Abbreviations iv Executive Summary v 1 Introduction 1 1.1 Background 1 1.2 Overview of the UWSSSP 2 1.3 Catchment-wide Issues and Context for GEF Grant 4 1.4 Scope of the Environmental Assessment and Review Framework 4 2 Institutional Arrangements and Legal & Policy Framework 6 2.1 Implementation Arrangements 6 2.1.1 Institutional arrangements for the UWSSP 6 2.1.2 Institutional arrangements for the HWMP 9 2.2 Legal and Policy Framework 10 2.2.1 Country safeguard system 10 2.2.2 Other legislation supporting the CSS 11 2.2.3 National strategies and plans 13 2.3 Safeguard Policy Statement 16 2.3.1 Scope and objectives of the SPS 16 2.3.2 Environmental assessment and review 17 2.3.3 Health and safety 18 3 Description of Baseline Conditions 19 3.1 Physical Resources 19 3.1.1 Topography, geology, soils, and water resources 19 3.1.2 Air quality, climate, and climate change 21 3.1.1 Natural hazards and extreme weather 25 3.2 Ecological Conditions 30 3.2.1 Marine and coastal habitats 30 3.2.2 Terrestrial habitats 33 3.2.3 Freshwater habitats 34 3.2.4 Threatened species and protected areas 35 3.3 Socio-Economic Conditions 39 November 2020 Page ii Solomon Islands: UWSSSP GEF - Honiara Watershed Management Project 3.3.1 Administration areas, land-use, and demography 39 3.3.2 Social and economic infrastructure 42 3.3.3 Economy 45 4 GEF Project Components and Activities 48 4.1.1 Honiara watershed management project 49 4.1.2 Turbidity treatment at Kongulai Spring 58 4.1.3 Adaptation benefits 59 5 Stakeholder Engagement, Consultation, Information Disclosure and Grievance Redress 60 5.1 Stakeholder Identification 60 5.2 Consultations Undertaken 65 5.3 Stakeholder Engagement 66 5.3.1 Approach to engaging with stakeholders 66 5.3.2 Developing the stakeholder engagement plan 68 5.3.3 Nakau programme approach 69 5.3.4 Information disclosure 70 5.4 Grievance Redress Mechanism 70 6 Anticipated Impacts of Components and Activities 72 6.1 Significance of impacts Error! Bookmark not defined. 6.1.1 Design and pre-implementation considerations 72 6.1.2 Implementation risks and impacts 74 7 Environmental Assessment and Review Procedures 80 7.1 Screening and Site Selection 80 7.2 Assessment, Mitigation and Management 80 7.3 Monitoring and Reporting 82 Annexes Annex 1: Roles and Responsibilities 1 Annex 2: List of Ratified International Treaties and Agreements 4 Annex 4: Red List - Globally Threatened Avifauna in the Solomon Islands 11 Annex X: Summary of Globally Threatened Species in East Melanesian Hotspot Error! Bookmark not defined. Annex 5: List of Terrestrial Protected Areas in Solomon Islands 12 Annex 6: Details of HWMP Components and Activities 15 November 2020 Page iii Solomon Islands: UWSSSP GEF - Honiara Watershed Management Project Abbreviations ADB Asian Development Bank BCD Bid and contract documents (for HWMP components) CCP communication and consultation plan (for the UWSSSP) CMG catchment management group COLP Code of Logging Practice (of Solomon Islands) CSO civil society organizations CSS country safeguards system DSC design and supervision consultant (for the UWSSSP) ECD Environment Conservation Department (within MECDM) EHSG Environmental, Health, and Safety Guidelines (of the World Bank Group) EMP environmental management plan ESMG environmental and social management guidelines GEF Global Environment Facility GRM grievance redress mechanism HWMP Honiara Watershed Management Project (this GEF project) IEE initial environmental examination MECDM Ministry of Environment, Climate Change, Disaster Management and Meteorology MID Ministry of Infrastructure Development MOFR Ministry of Forestry and Research MOFT Ministry of Finance and Treasury NCCP National Climate Change Policy 2012 – 2017 NDS National Development Strategy 2017-2035 NGO non-governmental organizations PER public environment report (under the CSS) PES payment for ecosystem services PMU Project Management Unit (in SW) PPP project participation protocol (key element of HWMP’s SEP) PSC Project Steering Committee (for the UWSSP and HWMP) SEMP site-specific environmental management plan SEP stakeholder engagement plan (for the HCMP) SW Solomon Islands Water Authority trading as Solomon Water SPS Safeguard Policy Statement 2009 (of ADB) UWSSSP Urban Water Supply and Sanitation Sector Project (financed by ADB and World Bank) CURRENCY EQUIVALENTS (as of Nov 2020) Currency Unit Solomon Island Dollar (SBD) USD 1.00 = SBD 8.000 SBD 1.00 = USD 0.120 November 2020 Page iv Solomon Islands: UWSSSP GEF - Honiara Watershed Management Project Executive Summary 1. Background. The Solomon Islands is divided into nine provinces: Central, Choiseul, Guadalcanal, Isabel, Makira-Ulawa, Malaita, Rennell and Bellona, Temotu, and Western. Nearly one-fifth of its estimated present total population of 515,870 (2009 Census) lives in urban and peri- urban areas. The country’s capital, Honiara City, is situated on the northwestern coast of Guadalcanal. The population growth rate is the highest in Guadalcanal (4.4%) followed by Honiara (2.7%), Western (2%), Central (1.9%) and Malaita (1.2%). Temporary and informal settlers are often not captured in the Census and at any one time the population of Guadalcanal can be closer to 150,000. In 2018, Honiara’s municipal population was estimated at over 86,000 while the population of the greater Honiara area (GHA) —including the peri-urban populations of Tandai and Malango—is estimated at around 115,000. On average, GHA residents are both young and relatively poor. Honiara’s poverty levels are higher than the national average, in part due to a higher cost of food and non-food goods and services. In GHA, most of the poor live in informal settlements. Making up nearly 25% of GHA’s population, informal settlers live on marginal land such as river-banks, steep and unstable slopes, and on the edge of swamps, and therefore tend to be more exposed to natural hazards. Informal settlements also lack centralized urban services, notably water supply and sanitation. 2. The Solomon Islands Water Authority, trading as Solomon Water (SW), a state-owned enterprise, was created and mandated to provide for the proper management and development of urban water resources and wastewater services in Solomon Islands. SW has been guided by its Five-year Action Plan and 30-Year Strategic Plan since 2017. These plans outline the strategy to meet the demand for water and wastewater services up to 2047 for Honiara, including peri- urban areas, as well as meeting the needs of other major urban centers in Solomon Islands. In line with SW’s plans, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) together with World Bank (WB), European Development Fund (EDF) and the Government of Solomon Islands (the government), have initiated the Solomon Islands Urban Water Supply and Sanitation Sector Project (UWSSSP) to help improve access to safe water and improved sanitation. To support associated matters including effective protection and management of the wider Honiara catchment, the Global Environment Facility (GEF) is financing the Honiara Catchment Management Project (HCMP) as a project under Climate Resilient Urban Development in the Pacific program. The HCMP fully support the overall objectives of the UWSSSP. 3. Impact, outcome, and outputs of the UWSSSP. To be implemented from November 2019 to June 2027, UWSSSP will seek to increase access to safe water and improved sanitation in urban areas increased with the outcome of efficiency, climate change and disaster resiliency, and sustainability of safe water and sanitation in the GHA being improved. The UWSSSP includes four outputs: • Output 1: Urban water supplies are continuous and safe. Including: (i) expanding the surface water intake with additional 5 million liters per day (MLD) and upgrading water treatment plant capacity in Kongulai (15 MLD); (ii) building new 11 km treated water trunk