Environmental Assessment Policy: Principles and Impacts

1. OP/BP 4.01 Environmental Assessment Zagreb, May 6-8 2009 Presenter: Natasa Vetma Presentation prepared by Ruxandra Floroiu

2. OP (Operational Policy) 4.01 – Policy Objectives • To examine the potential environmental risks and benefits associated with Bank financed investments • To support integration of environmental and social aspects of investments into the decision making process • Consult affected people, involve NGOs, and provide opportunities for their participation in the environmental assessment aspects

3. OP (Operational Policy) 4.01 Possible impacts

4. OP (Operational Policy) 4.01 Possible impacts

5. OP (Operational Policy) 4.01 Possible impacts

6. OP (Operational Policy) 4.01 Principles cont’d • EA is required by Bank-financed investments; • The Borrower is responsible for carrying out the EA; • The Bank advises the Borrower on Bank’s EA requirements; • The Bank does not finance activities that will contravene national legislation or relevant international environmental agreements identified during EA

7. OP (Operational Policy) 4.01 Principles cont’d EA instruments used to meet OP 4.01: • Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) • Regional or sectoral EA/SEA; • Environmental Audit; • Hazard or Risk Assessment; • Environmental Management Plan /Checklist • Environmental Framework

8. Environmental Screening in our countries – lists • Based on: • EU EIA (Directive 85/337/EEC as amended by 97/11/EC and 2003/35/EC • SEA Directive (2001/42/EC) • Several levels usually: • A must list • To be determined by relevant Ministry • To be determined on regional or local government levels Some general measures in permits (location / construction / use

9. OP (Operational Policy) 4.01 Principles cont’d Environmental Screening • Category A, B, C or FI • Criteria for clasification include type, location, sensitivity, and scale of project as well as the nature and magnitude of potential impacts • Projects with multiple components or sub-projects are categorized according to the component with the most serious potential impact

10. OP (Operational Policy) 4.01 Principles cont’d Category “A” - project likely to have significant irreversible adverse and sensitive environmental impacts; - impacts may affect an area larger than that subject to physical works; - EA compares project feasible alternatives and their related impacts (including “No action”); - EA recommends preventive/mitigation measures and their monitoring

11. OP (Operational Policy) 4.01 Category “A” examples • large-scale conversion or degradation of natural habitats • extraction, consumption, or conversion of substantial amounts of forest • direct discharge of pollutants resulting in degradation of air, water or soil • production, storage, use or disposal of hazardous materials and wastes • risks associated with the proposed use of pesticides

12. OP (Operational Policy) 4.01 Category “A” examples cont’d • Large-scale infrastructure: ports and harbor development, transport (rail, road and waterways), large- scale water resources management (river basin development, water transfer); dams and large reservoirs, hydropower and thermal power, extractive industries and oil and gas transport; • Large-scale agriculture, irrigation, drainage and flood control, aquaculture; agro industries, and production forestry; • Major urban projects involving housing development, water treatment, wastewater treatment plants, solid waste collection and disposal; • Industrial pollution abatement, hazardous waste management, industrial estates, manufacture and large-scale use of pesticides; and • Projects that, regardless of scale or type, would have severe adverse impacts on critical or otherwise valuable natural or cultural resources.

13. OP (Operational Policy) 4.01 Category “A” examples cont’d Plovdiza Dam, Bulgaria

14. OP (Operational Policy) 4.01 Category “A” examples cont’d Rijeka Port, Croatia

15. OP (Operational Policy) 4.01 Principles cont’d Category “B” • project has potential less adverse environmental impacts, mostly site-specific; • EA scope is narrower than the one for Category “A”; • EA examines the project negative and positive impacts • small scale irrigation and drainage projects • small-scale, relatively clean (gas or light diesel oil fired) thermal power plants, micro hydro power plants, and small sanitary landfills; • rehabilitating or maintaining an existing infrastructure (e.g., roads, power, transmission and irrigation networks)

16. OP (Operational Policy) 4.01 Category “B” examples cont’d • Small-scale infrastructure projects: power transmission and distribution networks, rural electrification, mini (run of the river with no major water impoundments) or micro-hydropower projects, small-scale clean fuel fired thermal power plants, renewable energy (other than hydropower), energy efficiency and energy conservation, rural water supply and sanitation, road rehabilitation, maintenance and upgrading; telecommunications, etc.; • Health care service delivery, HIV-AIDS, education (with limited expansion of existing schools/buildings), repair/rehabilitation of buildings when hazardous materials might be encountered (e.g., asbestos, stored pesticides); and • Small-scale irrigation, drainage, agricultural and rural development projects, rural water supply and sanitation, watershed management and rehabilitation, and small-scale agro-industries, tourism (small-scale developments).

17. OP (Operational Policy) 4.01 Category “B” examples cont’d Rehabilitation of tertiary irrigation canal, Serbia

18. OP (Operational Policy) 4.01 Category “B” examples cont’d Hospital rehabilitation, Turkey

19. OP (Operational Policy) 4.01 Category “B” examples cont’d Wastewater Treatment Plant Rehabilitation

20. OP (Operational Policy) 4.01 Principles cont’d Category “C” • project with minimal or no adverse impact • technical assistance projects on institutional development, computerization, and training • Education and Health projects not involving construction; • Rehabilitation of a limited number of small buildings (e.g., schools or health clinics where health care waste is not an issue) – no changes in blueprint; and • Institutional development, training and certain capacity building activities.

21. OP (Operational Policy) 4.01 Principles cont’d Category “FI” • involve a financial intermediary; investments are done through sub-projects with different environmental impacts; • the FI screens each subproject proposed for financing, and classifies it into any one of three categories: A, B or C; • projects using community development driven approach and social funds; • investments for which the final location / locations is / are not known at time of appraisal

22. OP (Operational Policy) 4.01 Principles cont’d • Policy applies to emergency recovery projects processed under OP/BP 8.00Rapid Response to Crises and Emergencies • the extent to which the emergency was affected by inappropriate environmental practices should be determined as part of the preparation of such projects; • any necessary corrective measures be built into either the emergency project or a future lending operation

23. OP (Operational Policy) 4.01 Mitigation Measures What is incorrect in terms of environmental mitigation management?

24. OP (Operational Policy) 4.01 Mitigation Measures cont’d

25. Borrower Familiar with Bank policy Understand the objective of the EA process Hire and manage EIA Consultants for EIA report preparation and disclosure Responsible for disclosure and consultation of draft EA Alocates costs for EA mitigation measures and EMP implementation OP (Operational Policy) 4.01 Responsibilities Project Preparation Bank • Ensures that Borrower fulfill Bank requirements with EA review; • Responsible for screening and clasification of each investment/sub-project; • Provides advice to Borrower on quality of EA report • Guides the Borrower in proper EA preparation before project appraisal

26. Borrower Compliance with measures agreed in EA; Implements the EMP; Reports the status of mitigation measures; Reports the findings of monitoring program Bank Carries out supervision missions; Ensures due diligence on implementation of Bank environmental policies; Provides advice to Borrower on enhancement of EMP implementation Conduct debriefing with borrower, review any noncompliance issues, agree on corrective actions OP (Operational Policy) 4.01 Responsibilities cont’d Project Implementation

27. How to help yourselves • Nominate a person in PIU for environmental matters that will be trained by the Bank and will closely work with the consultant • Do not forget – this is your document – form it in the way that fits your institutional structure • Use the project to educate your team and yourself • Build on the national document: include water permits and EIA decisions into the document • Remember that mitigation measures and monitoring can be part of the constructor contract and the supervision of the same can be part of the supervising engineers contract • Include the monitoring cost in the budget and if responsibility of the contractor or supervising engineer in their contracts – require regular reporting