China - Third Xinjiang Highway Project

ISDS THE WORLD BANK GROUP AWorld Frec o Povcrty 4 InfoShop Integrated Safeguards Data Sheet (Initial) Date ISDS Prepared/Updated: 05/30/2002 24260 Section I-Basic Information May 30, 2002 A. Basic Project Data Country: CHINA Project ID: P058847 Project: Third Xinjiang Highway Project Task Team Leader: Jacques M. Tollie Authorized to Appraise Date: Miay 24, 2002 IBRD Amount ($m): 150.00 Bank Approval: August 27, 2002 IDA Amount ($m): Mdanaging Unit: EASTR Sector: TH - Highways Lending Instrument: Specific Investment Loan (SIL) Status: Lending I.A.2. Project Objectives: The project aims to improve transport infrastructure and sector governance in support of social and economic development in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), a remote province in Western China. To meet the above developmeni objective, the project will produce the following outputs: A. Traffic congestion relieved and mobility increased along the regional and international trade corridor between Kuitun and Sailimu close to the Kazakhstan Border, part of the main east-west section of China's National Trunk Highway System (NTHS); B. Accessibility to selected poor areas in the Region improved through a Local Roads Rehabilitation Program (LRRP); and C. Efficiency and effeetiveness in public sector management of the road network enhanced. I.A.3. Project Description: Kuitun-SailimuHu Highway I . The main project component is the Kuitun-SailimuHu Highway (KSH), an important section of the National Trunk Higlhway System (NTHS) and the remaining gap on the 1430 km stretch of the National Highway 312 in Xinjiang. Various design alternatives were considered, including: i) the construction of a four-lane expressway; ii) the construction of additional two lanes (Class I standard); iii) upgrading of the existing two lane roads to Class I and/or Class 2 standard; and iv) combining new and existing alignments. The preferred alternative was a combination in tune with the traffic needs of the 311.5 km highway section: (i) Kuitun to Wusu: new construction of a 18 km expressway; (ii) Wusu to Bole Fork: upgrading to a 229 km Class I  2 ISDS highway; and (iii) Bole Fork to 'iailimuHu: rehabilitation of a 55.6 km Class 2 highway. About 80% of the KuiSai highway will use the existing alignment; the new alignments mostly serve as bypasses to the urbanized areas in Wusu and Jinghe. Local Roads Rehabilitation Program 2. The primary objective ofthe local roads component is to assure that in poor counties villages have primary road access and townships are well connected to the provincial and national highway system. Taking into account the progress already made in providing basic access to almost all the villages in the poor counties as well as the expenditures proposed during the 1OthFYP to complete this basic accessibility, the proposed component would focus on road links between the major townships and the provincial and national highways in the rural areas of Xinjiang. The eligibility criteria (economic/ social/ environmental) have been defined for the LRRP (see Annex 2). A tentative list of 12 links has been proposed by the Region, totaling about 600 km. This will be a four-year rehabilitation program, to be implemented under a programmatic approach. The links selected for the first year program were evaluated during project preparation. Strengthening Sector Institution, 3. The capacity building componient will include institutional strengthening, training, and provision of specialized equipment, to address the sector issues identified to be key to preparinig the sector for future reforms as per section B.3 above. Specific sub-components are described in Annex 2. Components: I. New construction in main corridor: .1I Main highway 1.2 Construction supervision 1.3 land acquisition/resettlement 1.4 2. Rehabilitation of local roads in poor counties 3. Capacity building: 3.1 training 3.2 studies 3.3 provision of equipment I.A.4. Project Location: (Geographic location, information about the key environmental and social characteristics of the area and population likely to be affected, and proximity to any protected areas, or sites or critical natural habitats, or any other culturally or socially sensitive areas.) Geography and Meteorology. The proposed Kuisai Highway is located on the northern foot of Tianshan Mountain and the sout:hern edge of Junggar Basin. More than 80 % of the proposed 311.5 km highway will use the existing highway, which mainly lies at the edge of an oasis, passing agriculture fields of 42 km (13% of total length) and 269.5 km of desert (87% of the total). The areas belong to a continental dry climate. The difference in annual and daily temperatures can be great, annual rainfall is little, and evaporation is considerable. The annual average temperature is range 5.8C-7.3C. Annual average rainfall is 91.4-183.2 mm, while annual average maximum evaporation is 1562.4-2046 mm, which is greater than rainfall.  3 ISDS Ecological and Cultural Environment. The project area comprises oasis, natural desert, and toWn1s. Along the alignment the natural desert is dominant, 270 km / 316 km. The basic feature of vegetation along the highway is fragile vegetation with few types and simple structure. In the proposed project area, there are no Protected Areas. A local expert identified six state-protected species, which are desert plants and very common in this region. Along the whole line, the wild animals are mainly birds and rodent, concentrating in oases, grasslands and near the rivers. Two relevant local forestry departments confirmed that there are no critical natural habitats. It was also crosschecked with "A Biodiversity Review of China" by WWF and with "A Directory of Asian Wetlands" by IUCN that there exists no ecologically important area along the alignments. It was also confirmed by Local Authority that there are not cultural relics along the proposed alignment. Social and Cultural Character istics. Xinjiang is ethnically diverse, and sits astride the Silk Road as a historical and contemporary contact point between the Han Chinese and the peoples of Central Asia. The largest single ethnic group within the population are Uygurs, for whom the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region is designated. Though IJygurs constitute about 46% of the population, decades of sponsored or spontaneous migration have increased the Han Chinese proportion among the population to about a third. Sizeable numbers of Hui, Kazakh, Mongol, Kyrgis, Uzbeks, Tajiks, Tatars, and others also live in the region. Though demographic and socioeconomic patterns vary, rural minority nationality communities typically follow a more traditional lifestyle. Reliance on pastoralism is prevalent in many areas. Most of the peoples with origins in Central Asia (as well as the Hui) identify closely with the Islamic faith. Though ethnic tension only sporadically arises to the level of violence, ethnic relations generally is considered to be a sensitive subiect. B. Check Environmental Classification: A (Full Assessment) Comments: The EA work has been entrusted to the Xinjiang Environment Technique and Assessment Center, which is a public corporation supervised by the Xinjiang Environmental Protection Bureau and independent from the borrower in terms ofadlministrativejurisdiction. The TOR for the EA was submitted to the Bank for review in September 2000. The Bank reviewed the EA reports several times fiom May 2001 to January 2002. The Bank received the fifth and final draft of the EIA, EAP, and EA Summary in the beginning of February 2002. C Safeguard Policies Triggered Policy Applicability Environmental Assessment (OP/BP/GP 4.01) 0 Yes l No TBD Forestry (OP/GP 4.36) C Yes * No TBD Natural Habitats (OP/BP 4.04) Yes * No TBD Safety of Dams (OP/BP 4.37) C Yes * No TBD Pest Management (OP 4.09) ?D Yes * No ZTBD Involuntary Resettlement (OP/BP 4.12) 0 Yes S No I,' TBD Indigenous Peoples (OD 4.20) * Yes CNo ? TBD Cultural Property (OP 4.11) C Yes * No TBD Projects in Disputed Territories (OP/BP/GP 7.60)* C Yes * No C TBD Projects in International Waterways (OP/BP/GP 7.50) CS Yes * No C TBD *By supporting the proposed project, the Bank does not intend to prejudice the final determination of the parties' claims on the disputed areas  4 ISDS Section II - Key Safeguard Issues and Their Management D. Summary of Key Safeguard Issues. Please fill in all relevant questions. If information is not available, describe steps to be taken to obtain necessary data. II.D.la. Describe any safeguard issues and impacts associated with the proposed project. Identify and describe any potential large scale, significant and/or irreversible impacts. There are no large scale and/or irreversible impacts on the Environment. More than 80 % of the proposed 311.5 km highway will use the existing highway. The results of EA work indicate that there exist no Protected Areas or critical natural habitats along the proposed alignment. The expected major potential impacts are noise, dust, and damage to fragile vegetation, which are common in most highway project in China. A local ecological expert conducted field-surveys and identified two sections as ecologically sensitive spots and developed a variety of mitigation measures. One section belongs to a desert area, where the vegetation is so fragile that it will take a long time to be rehabilitated if damaged. The other is the most western section near Sailimu Lake, where the lake, mountains, and grasslands compose beautiful scenery. II.D.1b. Describe any potential cumulative impacts due to application of more than one safeguard policy or due to multiple project component. None lI.D.lc Describe any potential long term impacts due to anticipated future activities in the project area. The increased number of tourists might have some potential impacts to the scenic Sailimu Lake area, which would be mitigated to a tolerable level by proposed measures including construction of appropriate parking facility, insr:allation of garbage collection system, monitoring and regulation of effluents water from accommodations. II.D.2. In light of 1, describe the proposed treatment of alternatives (if required) None II.D.3. Describe arrangement for the borrower to address safeguard issues The borrower has prepared separate action plans consistent with World Bank Safeguard Policy requirements and objectives. This includes an Environmental Action Plan consistent with OP 4.01, a Resettlement Action Plan consistent with OD 4.30 (in force at the time of project preparation), and an Ethnic Communities Action Plan consistent with OD 4.20. The borrower has experience in two prior World Bank projects with implementation of environmental and resettlement measures. II.D.4. Identify the key stakeholders and describe the mechanisms for consultation and disclosure on safeguard policies, with an emphasis on potentially affected people. The number of towns and villages within 200 m of either side of the alignment is 11 and tlleir total population is 12,253, among which 7,253 persons will be affected by the project. Among them total 653 persons were consulted on the environmental impacts of the project either at a meeting or through questionnaire. The TOR of EIA. and the draft report of EIA has been disclosed in August 1999 and in September 2001, respectively. The final draft of EIA was disclosed locally in early March 2002. The RAP is based on a census of the affected population, an inventory of impacted assets, a socioeconomic survey, and other forms of consultation with the affected population. The RAP has been translated into English, Chinese and Uygur, and is available for public review within the project area. The Ethnic Communities Action Plan responds directly to issues and concems raised by members of minority nationality communities during a social assessment process. The ECAP has been translated into  5 ISDS Chinese, English and Uygur. It Nvas made available to the public in the project area by May 17, 2002, and in the Bank by May 24, 2002. E. Safeguards Classification. Category is determined by the highest impact in any policy. Or on basis of cumulative impacts from multiple safeguards. Whenever an individual safeguard policy is triggered the provisions of that policy apply. SI. - Significant, cumulative and/or irreversible impacts; or significant technical and institutional risks in management of one or more safeguard areas [X] S2. - One or more safeguard policies are triggered, but effects are limited in their impact and are technically and institutionally manageable [ S3. -No safeguard issues SF. - Financial intermediary projects, social development funds, community driven development or similar projects which require a safeguard framework or programmatic approach to address safeguard issues. F. Disclosure Requirements Environmental Assessment/A naiysis/Management Plan: Expected Actual Date of receipt by the Bank 2/6/2002 1/31/2002 Date of "in-country" disclosure 1/31/2002 3/5/2002 Date of submission to InfoShop 2/7/2002 1/31/2002 Date of distributing the Exec. Summary of the EA to the ED 5/31/2002 (For category A projects) Resettlement Action Plan/Framework: Expected Actlal Date of receipt by the Bank 1/31/2002 2/26/2002 Date of "in-country" disclosure 3/1/2002 3/5/2002 Date of submission to InfoShop 2/20/2002 3/5/2002 Indigenous Peoples Development Plan/Framework: Expected Actual Date of receipt by the Bank 2/20/2002 5/13/2002 Date of "in-country" disclosure 5/31/2002 5/17/2002 Date of submission to InfoShop 5/31/2002 5/24/2002 Pest Management Plan: Expected Actual Date of receipt by the Bank Not Applicable Not Applicable Date of "in-country" disclosure Date of submission to InfoShop Dam Safety Management Plan: Expected Actual Date of receipt by the Bank Not Applicable Not Applicable Date of "in-country" disclosure Date of submission to InfoShop If in-country disclosure of any of the above documents is not expected, please explain why. Signed and submitted by Name Date Task Team Leader: Jacques M. Tollie 05/24/2002 Project Safeguards Specialists 1: Daniel R. Gibson/Person/World Bank 05/16/2002 Project Safeguards Specialists 2: Naoya Tsukamoto/Person/World Bank 04/29/2002 Project Safeguards Specialists 3: Zhefu Liu/Person/World Bank 05/11/2002  6 ISDS Approved by: Name Date Regional Safeguards Coordinator: Glenn S. Morgan 05/31/2002 Sector Manager/Director: Jitendra N. Bajpai 05/29/2002 For a list of World Bank news releas;es on projects and reports, click here SEARCE - ' FlEOBACK SUE MAP 2- SHCACASE