nd Environmental Impact Assessment (2 Draft) Project Number: 41193 September 2013 MON: Western Regional Roads Corridor Investment Program Tranche 2 Prepared by Ministry of Roads and Transportation for the Asian Development Bank. This is an updated version of the draft originally posted in August 2013 available on http://www.adb.org/projects/41193-019/documents. This environmental impact assessment 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. NOTE On 1 August 2013 the draft EIA for Western Regional Roads Corridor Investment Program Tranches 2 and 3 was uploaded to the ADB website. Originally, Tranche 2 was planned to be financed in 2013 and Tranche 3 was to be financed in 2014. In August 2013, the project team was informed that in response to the request from the Government of Mongolia, additional funds had been allocated to finance Tranche 3 in 2013. The ADB management decided to combine Tranche 2 and Tranche 3 into a single tranche, Tranche 2. The project team revised the draft EIA (this version of the draft EIA) to reflect that the components previously under Tranche 2 and Tranche 3 will be financed and implemented under a single tranche. There is no change in the findings of the draft EIA. CURRENCY EQUIVALENTS (as of 24 June 2013) Currency unit – Mongolian Tughrik (MNT) MNT1.00 = $0.0007 $1.00 = MNT1,438 ABBREVIATIONS ADB – Asian Development Bank AP – Affected Person CAREC – Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation CBD – Convention on Biological Diversity CITES – Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Fauna and Flora COMO – Community Outreach and Monitoring Officers CSC – Construction Supervision Company DOR – Department of Road Policy Implementation and Coordination EIA – Environmental Impact Assessment EMP – Environmental Management Plan EMS – Environmental Monitoring Specialist GHG – Greenhouse Gas GOM – Government of Mongolia GRM – Grievance Redress Mechanism HSES – Household Social Economic Survey IWRMP – Integrated Water Resource Management Plan MFF – Multitranche Financing Facility MNET – Ministry of Nature, Environment And Tourism MRT – Ministry of Roads and Transportation NO2 – Nitrogen Dioxide PCC – Public Complaints Center PIU – Project Implementation Unit PM – Particulate Matter POP – Persistent Organic Pollutants PRC – People’s Republic of China RCAG – Research Center of Astronomy and Geophysics of the Mongolian Academy of Sciences SE – Supervising Engineer SOx – Sulphur Oxides SO2 – Sulphur Dioxide SPS – ADB Safeguard Policy Statement UNCCD – UN Convention on Combating Desertification UNESCAP – UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific UNESCO – United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization UNFCCC – United National Framework Convention on Climate Change WCS – World Conservation Society WFPF – Water Financing Partnership Facility WHO – World Health Organisation WRRCIP – Western Region Regional Road Corridor Investment Program WRRDP – Western Regional Roads Development Project WWF – World Wildlife Fund WEIGHTS AND MEASURES oC – degree celsius dB – decibel km – kilometer LAeq – Equivalent Continuous Level ‘A weighting’ - ‘A’-weighting = correction by factors that weight sound to correlate with the sensitivity of the human ear to sounds at different frequencies m – meter NOTES In the report, “$” refers to US dollars; aimag - provincial country division; soum – sub-district division; bagh – sub-division of soum; and davaa – a mountain pass. 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 I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .......................................................................................... 2 A. INTRODUCTION AND PURPOSE .................................................................................... 2 B. KEY FINDINGS ............................................................................................................ 5 C. ANTICIPATED ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS AND MITIGATION ............................................ 7 D. ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT PLAN ......................................................................... 9 E. CONCLUSION ........................................................................................................... 11 II. INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................... 12 A. BACKGROUND .......................................................................................................... 12 B. INTRODUCTION AND PURPOSE .................................................................................. 13 C. ADB AND DOMESTIC ENVIRONMENTAL DUE DILIGENCE .............................................. 16 D. STRUCTURE OF THIS REPORT ................................................................................... 17 III. POLICY, LEGAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE FRAMEWORK .................................... 19 A. MONGOLIA’S ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY ...................................................................... 19 B. ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT REQUIREMENTS ............................................ 20 C. ENVIRONMENTAL STANDARDS ................................................................................... 24 D. CLIMATE CHANGE POLICY......................................................................................... 25 E. SPECIALLY PROTECTED AREAS ................................................................................. 26 F. MONGOLIA’S OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY STANDARDS ................................. 26 G. STRATEGIC TRANSPORT POLICY ............................................................................... 26 H. INTEGRATED WATER RESOURCE MANAGEMENT PLAN ................................................ 28 IV. DESCRIPTION OF THE PROJECT ....................................................................... 30 A. JUSTIFICATION AND RATIONALE ................................................................................. 30 B. TRANCHE 2 PROJECT COMPONENTS AND SUBCOMPONENTS ...................................... 31 C. CLIMATE CHANGE .................................................................................................... 39 D. ASSOCIATED FACILITIES ........................................................................................... 41 V. DESCRIPTION OF THE ENVIRONMENT .............................................................. 45 A. PROJECT AREA OF INFLUENCE .................................................................................. 45 B. GEOGRAPHY, TOPOGRAPHY AND GEOLOGY ............................................................... 45 C. METEOROLOGY AND CLIMATE ................................................................................... 51 D. HYDROLOGY, SURFACE WATER QUALITY................................................................... 54 E. LAND USE ................................................................................................................ 58 F. AIR QUALITY ............................................................................................................ 60 G. NOISE ..................................................................................................................... 60 H. CLIMATE CHANGE .................................................................................................... 61 I. NATURAL DISASTERS ............................................................................................... 62 J. PHYSICAL CULTURAL RESOURCES ............................................................................ 64 K. ECOLOGICAL RESOURCES ........................................................................................ 64 L. SOCIO-ECONOMIC CONDITIONS ................................................................................ 72 VI. ALTERNATIVE ANALYSIS ................................................................................... 77 A. NO ACTION ALTERNATIVE ......................................................................................... 77 B. LOCATION ALTERNATIVES ......................................................................................... 77 C. TECHNOLOGICAL ALTERNATIVES ............................................................................... 82 VII. ANTICIPATED IMPACTS AND MITIGATION MEASURES ................................... 84 A. ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT SCREENING ....................................................................... 84 B. POSITIVE IMPACT AND ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFITS ..................................................... 84 C. IMPACTS ASSOCIATED WITH PROJECT LOCATION, PLANNING AND DESIGN ................... 86 D. ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT AND MITIGATION MEASURES DURING CONSTRUCTION .......... 89 E. ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT AND MITIGATION MEASURES DURING OPERATION ................. 98 F. CUMULATIVE AND INDIRECT IMPACTS....................................................................... 100 G. UNANTICIPATED IMPACTS DURING CONSTRUCTION AND OPERATION.......................... 101 VIII. INFORMATION DISCLOSURE AND PUBLIC CONSULTATIONS ...................... 102 A. PUBLIC CONSULTATIONS DURING PROJECT PREPARATION........................................ 102 B. PUBLIC CONSULTATIONS DURING