China - Second Tianjin Urban Development and Environment Project : resettlement action plan (Vol. 1 of 2) : Resettlement policy framework

Second Tianjin Urban Development and Environment Project Resettlement Policy Framework RP 11 6 Vol. 1 rev. A. Project Introduction 1. The project's objective is to enhance the efficiency and equity of wastewater management and transportation systems in Tianjin, and thereby facilitate the sustainable development of Tianjin Municipality, and establish a model for other Chinese cities. For wastewater management, the project will support measures to increase the utilization of wastewater treatment facilities; reuse of wastewater; increase sewerage services in underserved areas including the fast-growing suburban areas; and to improve wastewater management institutions and finances. For improved transportation, the project will support modifications and better management of selected sections of existing roads, focusing on facilitating public transportation. These programs include.significant innovations -- the suburban wastewater management, water reuse, and bus priority measures -- that will serve as important experiments and demonstration for advances in urban management in China. 2. The project consists of the following of environmental and transportation components, along with associated technical assistance: Environmental Components (a) City Drainage and Sewerage: Construction of storm water drains and sanitary sewers in Nanbeicang and Fukangnanlu areas, complementing the wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) being financed by JBIC and ADB; drains and sewers, and the Shuanglin WWTP (200,000 m3/day), in the south suburb district of Tianjin. These facilities will complete the drainage system envisioned by Tianjin drainage master plan. (b) Urban Wastewater Reuse: Construction of water reclamation (tertiary treatment) plants for approximately 20% of the treated effluent from the Dongjiao, Nanbeicang, and Shuanglin WWTPs; and reclaimed water distribution systems mainly for industrial cooling and landscape irrigation. (c) Rehabilitation of Dagu Canal: Dredging of sediments and rehabilitation of cross- sections, bridges and culverts, and three pump stations of Dagu Canal (70 km) and its associated tributary canal Xinfeng (20 km). These are main wastewater canals for the southern part of Tianjin City draining directly into the Bohai Sea since 1960. The project will remove, treat, and dispose of about 2 million cubic meters of sediment, about half of which is estimated to be contaminated with heavy metals, in an environmentally sound manner. This will prevent recontamination of treated wastewater (three of the new Tianjin wastewater treatment plants will discharge into Dagu canal), and also restore its flood water conveyance capacity. FILEF COnPY  (d) Suburban Sewerage: Creation of municipal wastewater collection and treatment systems in two or three small towns of Tianjin municipality on a programmatic basis. Water pollution from the Tianjin suburbs as a whole is already greater than from the city itself, yet there are no wastewater treatment systems serving these small cities. The project will initiate and set models for the wastewater management in these areas. A proposed GEF-financed project for an improvement of Bohai water quality will include a direct support for this and the Dagu rehabilitation as well as complementary measures of groundwater management and water conservation. Transportation Components (e) Urban Roads: Construction of interchanges at two major intersections of the Middle Ring Road (MRR), and low cost traffic engineering improvements on selected locations along the Inner Ring Road (IRR) and the Eastern and Southwestern parts of the MRR. (f) Traffic Management: Extension of the existing Area Traffic Control System to 300 new intersections -- 89 on or within IRR and the rest within the MRR, with channelization and often in connection with bus priority measures. (g) Public Transportation: Preparation and implementation of bus priority measures on selected corridors, including bus ways and traffic engineering measures, to increase the efficiency of bus operations and to contribute to increasing the modal share of the bus system. Technical Assistance 3. Among the above components, land acquisition and relocation are involved in the following subprojects: Environmental Components (1) Storm water drains and sanitary sewers in Nanjiaowai; (2) Storm water drains and sanitary sewers in Nanbeicang; (2) Storm water drains and sanitary sewers in Fukangnanlu area: (3) Wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) at Shuanglin; (4) Water reclamation plants for the Dongjiao, Beicang, and Shuanglin WWTPs; (5) Rehabilitation of Dagu Canal (6) Suburban Sewerage Transportation Components (7) Construction of interchange at Jinzhonghe; (8) Construction of interchange at Dagunan; (9) Improvement of intersection at Hongxing Road; (10) Revisions to junction layout at AnshanDao: (11) Optimizing the operation of the Inner Ring Road; (12) Bus corridor for public transportation. 4. Except the Suburban Sewerage component, Bus Corridor and Dagunan Interchange component, details of land acquisition and relocation for all the other  subprojects are identified before the project appraisal, hence the preparation of a Resettlement Plan according to the Bank requirements. Since the subprojects under the Suburban Sewerage component, the Bus Corridor and Dagunan Interchange component are not fully determined and the possibility of land acquisition and relocation is likely but unknown, this Resettlement Policy Framework (RPF) is prepared as a guideline for resettlement preparation and implementation, if there is any. B. Principles and Objectives 5. In World Bank assisted projects, final borrowers or subproject sponsors are expected to take all necessary measures to mitigate adverse social impacts. The costs associated with mitigation of adverse social impacts on project affected people, such as relocation of affected persons or restoration of livelihoods, will be met by the subproject sponsors. The general guidelines of this RPF are to be followed by all subprojects under the Loan involving involuntary resettlement. Where adverse social impacts are identified, plans for resettlement and rehabilitation (R&R) will need to be prepared based on policies and procedures laid out in this framework. 6. Every effort will be made to avoid or minimize the need for land acquisition and resettlement for any subprojects. In the unlikely and exceptional event that any of the subprojects under the Second Tianjin Urban Development and Environment Project require additional land, houses and other assets becomes unavoidable, the subproject sponsors shall adopt this RPF. 7. The principle objective of the RPF is to ensure that all Project Affected People (PAP) will be compensated for their losses and provided with rehabilitation measures to assist them to improve, or at least maintain, their pre-project living standards and income earning capacity. 8. The PAP include the following persons to be identified by the baseline information collected: (a) The persons whose place of business or employment, and/or agricultural land is in part or in total affected (permanently or temporarily) by the subprojects; (b) Persons whose houses are in part or in total affected by the subprojects; (c) Persons whose business are affected in part or in total (temporarily or permanently) by the subprojects; and (d) Persons whose crops (annual and perennial), trees and fixed assets are affected in part or in total by the subprojects. 9. The principles outlined in the World Bank's OP 4.12 have been adopted in preparing this RPF. In this regard the following principles and objectives would be applied: (a) Acquisition of land and other assets, and resettlement of people will be minimized as much as possible. Where land acquisition is unavoidable, the project will be designed to minimize adverse impact on the (PAP), especially the vulnerable groups;  (b) All PAP will be compensated, relocated and rehabilitated, if required, so as to improve their standard of living, income earning capacity and production capacity, or at least to restore them to pre-Project levels; (c) All PAP residing in, or cultivating land, or having rights over resources within the subprojects area of the socioeconomic survey are entitled to compensation for their losses and/or income rehabilitation. Lack of legal right to the assets lost will not bar the PAP from entitlement to such compensation, rehabilitation and relocation measures; (d) The rehabilitation measures to be provided are (i) compensation at full replacement cost for houses and other structures; (ii) compensation for land acquisition and resettlement subsidy for the affected villages and farmers; (iii) dislocation allowance and transition subsides; (iv) full compensation for crops, trees and other similar agricultural products at market value; and (v) other assets, and appropriate rehabilitation measures to compensate for loss of livelihood; (e) Replacement house-plots, place of business and agricultural land will be as close as possible to the land that was lost, and acceptable to the PAP; (f) Land-for-land is the preferred option. Land-for-land may be substituted by cash provided that: (i) land is not available in the proximity of the subproject area; (ii) PAP willingly accept cash compensation for land and all assets on it; and receive full replacement value without any deductions for depreciation; and (iii) cash compensation is accompanied by appropriate rehabilitation measures which together with project benefits results in restoration of incomes to at least pre-subprojects levels; (g) The resettlement transition period will be minimized, land-for-land and/or cash compensation provided to the PAP completed prior to the expected start-up date of works in the respective subprojects. (h) Resettlement plans will be implemented following consultations with the PAP, and will have the endorsement of the PAP; (i) The previous level of community services and access to resources will be maintained or improved after resettlement; (j) Any acquisition of, or restriction on access to resources owned or manage by PAP as common property will be mitigated by arrangements ensuring access of those PAP to equivalent resources on a continuing basis; (k) Financial and physical resources for resettlement and rehabilitation will be made available as and when required; (1) Resettlement program will include adequate institutional arrangements to ensure effective and timely design, planning and implementation of resettlement and rehabilitation measures; (m) Adequate arrangements for effective and timely internal and external monitoring will be made on implementation of all resettlement measures; (n) Wherever possible the subprojects will ensure that local residents in the affected areas benefit from the services and facilities created for, or by, the subprojects. C. Process for Preparing and Approving Resettlement Plans  10. All subprojects involving involuntary resettlement will be required to carry out a socioeconomic survey to determine the impact on the affected area and the affected population. The survey will determine whether or not the subproject would need preparation of a Resettlement Plan (RP) or an Abbreviated Resettlement Plan (ARP) to offset adverse impacts and access to benefits by the affected communities. The main sequential steps involved in the resettlement approval process are as follows: (a) subproject sponsor furnishes preliminary information report on the proposed subproject to the Project Management Office of Construction Commission of Tianjin Municipal Government (TJPMO) and the local authorities at the earliest possible stage. The preliminary information report would contain basic information on: (i) the proposed location of project; (ii) the total area of land required for the physical component of the subproject, the type of land, current land use and possible impacts of land use changes, and the proposed strategy for land acquisition; and (iii) the people to be affected by the subproject including those losing home, land or livelihoods; and those deriving benefits (employment, electricity, etc.) from the subproject; (b) TJPMO will, after its review and consultation with the local authorities, inform the subproject sponsor to prepare a resettlement document according to this RPF; (c) For each subproject that may involve resettlement, the Bank requires a satisfactory resettlement plan or an abbreviated resettlement plan that is consistent with the provision of the policy framework be submitted to the Bank for approval before the subproject is accepted for Bank financing. When the number of persons affected by the subproject exceeds 200, a resettlement plan shall be prepared. Where impacts on the entire affected population are minor, or fewer than 200 people are affected, an abbreviated resettlement plan may be agreed with the borrower. Impacts are considered "minor" if the affected people are not physically displaced and less than 10% of their productive assets are lost; (d) The subproject sponsor prepares the RP or ARP and submits it to the local authorities, TJPMO and the World Bank for review/concurrence; (e) The reviewers shall verify the adequacy of the report in light of policies, principles and procedures set out in this RPF, and convey the decision to the subproject sponsor; (f) After obtaining concurrence of the World Bank, the subproject sponsor executes the loan agreement which would also contain terms and conditions related to implementation of the plans agreed in the RPF. 11. The ARP for each subproject will be prepared by the respective subproject sponsor in accordance with the provisions of this RPF. The ARP includes the following contents: (a) a census survey of displaced persons and valuation of assets; (b) description of compensation and other resettlement assistance to be provided; (c) consultations with displaced people about acceptable alternatives; (d) institutional responsibility for implementation and procedures for grievance redress;  (e) arrangements for monitoring and implementation; and (f) a timetable and budget. 12 The RP to be submitted thereafter needs not include the policy principles, entitlements, and eligibility criteria, organizational arrangements, arrangements for monitoring and evaluation, the framework for participation, and mechanisms for grievance redress set forth in the resettlement policy framework. The subproject- specific resettlement plan needs to include baseline census and socioeconomic survey information; specific compensation rates and standards; policy entitlements related to any additional impacts identified through the census or survey; description of resettlement sites and programs for improvement or restoration of livelihoods and standards of living; implementation schedule for resettlement activities; and detailed cost estimate. D. Estimated Population Displacement 13. Under the Suburban Sewerage component, wastewater treatment plants will be built and/or sewage network will be installed. Generally, land less than 100 mu is requested for one wastewater treatment plant and temporary land is used for installation of the pipe network. Non-agricultural land is encouraged. However, agricultural land will be taken if non-agricultural land is not available. Population affected is generally the farmers working on the land. Demolition of residential houses can be avoided. For the Bus Corridor component demolition of some shops and few enterprises facing the streets and relocation of electric poles and trees will be undertaken in some cases. It is foreseen that the impacts for these two subprojects are minor. During the project implementation, new proposals under other components may be made; or the Resettlement Plan prepared before the project appraisal may need to be revised or updated. E. Eligibility Criteria 14. The entitlement policy aims to enable PAP to replace the assets they have lost on account of the project, to recover and to improve upon their pre-subproject living standards within the shortest possible time. In general, the resettlement & rehabilitation (R&R) package would consist of (a) provision for replacement assets or its cash equivalent, where replacement is not feasible; (b) rehabilitation grants to compensate for temporary disruption in life and economic activities; (c) either employment or training, capital and enterprise support for income restoration in case of loss of livelihoods, and (d) provision for replacement of community facilities and services for affected communities. 15. PAP losing agricultural land will be entitled to the following types of compensation and rehabilitation measures: (a) for the majority of schemes, the land will be reallocated within the village by the village committees. According to the Land Administration Law, it situations where land reallocation is not possible, the PAP will be paid a maxim compensation and resettlement subsidy equivalent to 6 times of the average annual production output value of the land in the previous three years. If this is not sufficient to restore the livelihoods of the PAP to the pre-subproject level, the  compensation/subsidy may be raised to a maximum of 15 times of the average annual output value of the land in the previous three years; (b) If land compensation and resettlement subsidies paid are still insufficient to help the PAP needing resettlement to maintain their original living standards, the resettlement subsidies may be increased upon approval by the People's Governments of Tianjin Municipality. However, the total land compensation and resettlement subsidies shall not exceed 30 times the average annual value of the requisitioned and for the three years preceding such requisition; (c) These amounts will be paid to the village committees whose land is affected and will be used for (i) increasing land areas under cultivation if land is available; (ii) intensification of agriculture through provision of irrigation, improved agricultural practices, etc.; and (iii) development of non-agriculture based income generation activities. PAP will be compensated for the loss of standing crops, fruit or industrial trees, as well as any fixed assets at market prices; (d) PAP whose land is temporarily taken by the works under the subprojects will be compensated for their loss of income, standing crops and for the cost of soil restoration and damaged infrastructures. 16. PAP losing house and auxiliary structures will be entitled to the following compensation and rehabilitation measures: (a) PAP whose houses are being acquired by the subprojects will be provided replacement housing within easy communing distance of their existing homes; (b) PAP will be provided with compensation at full replacement value, without any deduction for depreciation, for any structures and fixed assets affected by the subprojects; (c) A pre-determined dislocation allowance according to the prevailing rates of the subproject areas will also be provided. 17. If the house and/or structure is only partially affected by the subprojects, the subproject sponsors may, if its is acceptable to the PAP, acquire the entire structures with full compensation or provide cash compensation for the portion affected as mutually agreed between the PAP and the sponsors. 18. PAP losing business will be entitled to the following compensation and rehabilitation measures: (a) The mechanism for compensation loss of business will be: (i) the provision of alternative business site of equal size and accessibility to customers, satisfactory to the PAP; (ii) cash compensation to the owner for lost business structure reflecting full replacement cost of the structures, without depreciation and the cost of transfer; and (iii) cash compensation for the loss of income during the transition period. (b) PAP will also be provided compensation at full replacement cost, without depreciation for any other fixed assets affected in part or in total by the subprojects. F. Legal Framework  19. The Land Administration Law of the People's Republic of China (adopted at the 16'h Meeting of the Standing Committee of the Sixth National People's Congress on June 25, 1986, amended in accordance with the Decision on Revising the Land Administration Law of the People's Republic of China made by the Standing Committee of the Seventh National People's Congress at its 5th Meeting held on December 29, 1988, and revised at the 4th Meeting of the Standing Committee of the Ninth National People's congress on August 29, 1998); the Regulations on Administration of Urban House Dismantling and Relocation (Order No. 305 of the State Council of the People's Republic of China which was approved at the 40th executive meeting of the State Council held on June 6, 2001); and relevant Tianjin Municipal regulations constitute the legal framework governing the implementation of this RPF. The World Bank's O.P. 4.12 on Involuntary Resettlement sets forth all the resettlement policies and principles which will be well considered by the Tianjin Municipal Government (TMG). G. Organizational Procedures 20. Although the primary responsibility for enforcement of the RPF and implementation of the R&R rest with the subproject sponsors, the oversight responsibility shall rest with TMG via the Municipal Engineer Bureau (MEB) for the urban sector and TJPMO for the rural sector in coordination with the respective local government authorities in each of the subproject areas. TJPMO, with the authorization of TMG, shall also carry out regular monitoring as required by the World Bank, to ensure that the provisions of the RPF are satisfied. H. Implementation Process 21. A detailed implementation schedule of the various activities to be undertaken will be included in the resettlement instrument. Payment of compensation and furnishing of other rehabilitation entitlements (in cash or in-kind), and relocation if that be the case, will be completed at least one month prior to the scheduled start-up date of works in the respective subproject site. I. Grievance Redress Mechanisms 22. Since the resettlement work will be carried out with the full participation of the PAP, it is expected that no major grievance issue will arise. However, to ensure that the PAP have avenues for redressing their grievance related to any aspect of land acquisition and resettlement, detailed procedures of redressal of grievances have been established in this RPF. The objective is to respond to the complaints of the PAP speedily and in a transparent manner, without resorting to complicated formal channels to the extent possible. 23. The procedures are as follows: (a) Stage 1, any person aggrieved by any aspect of the resettlement document can lodge an oral or written grievance to the Village Committee, township/ town government or Residents Committee, District Government; (b) Stage 2, if the aggrieved person is not satisfied with the decision of the grass-roots authorities at Stage 1, s/he can present the case to the land  administration bureau from those immediately above Stage I level through the highest authorities of the respective subproject area. (c) Stage 3, if the PAP is still dissatisfied with the decision of the higher authorities, the case may be submitted for consideration by the People's Court in Accordance with the "Civil Procedure Act". J. Funding Arrangement 24. Compensation of land is based on ten times of the average annual output value of the requisitioned land for three years preceding such requisition. Resettlement subsidies for requisition of cultivated land shall be six times the average annual output value of the requisitioned cultivated for three years preceding such requisition. In order to protect the interests of the farmers and to ensure the land acquisition and resettlement compensation will not be reduced by the drop of agricultural output value in the market, a minimum of Y937.5/mu of the output value or Y15,000/mu (multiplied by 16) of compensation is determined. 25. The value of the fix assets is estimated according to the replacement cost. Details of the cost estimation and other compensation for moving and loss of production/business are included in the Resettlement Plan prepared for the project before appraisal. 26. The land acquisition and resettlement compensation are sourced from the counterpart funds. All the funds shall be paid to the PAP before the land is taken and the house is demolished. K. Participation and Consultation 27. The subproject sponsors would be required to carry out the participation and consultation of the people in the subprojects areas. A broad acceptance of proposed measures by the PAP - including relocation areas and replacement lands, compensation policies and rates, proposed income restoration measures for R&R - will be a necessary condition for approval of the resettlement plans. 28. PAP will participate throughout the various stages of the planning and implementation of the resettlement plans. For these purposes and prior to the preparation of the resettlement plans, the PAP will be informed of the provisions of this RPF at public meetings. Each affected household or shop will be fully informed by the relevant local governments of their entitlements and rehabilitation choices under the respective resettlement plan. L. Monitoring 30. The internal monitoring of resettlement impacts will be carried out by the subproject sponsors as an integral part of the implementation of the plans, and will cover the subproject and post-subproject periods. It will assess achievements against key implementation targets and objectives and, accordingly, make corrections in the plans where necessary. Periodical monitoring reports will be submitted to TJPMO. In addition, the external monitoring, arranged under the Resettlement Plan prepared before the project appraisal, will cover all resettlement subprojects under the Second  Tianjin Urban Development and Environment Project.