China - Ningbo Water and Environment (GEF) Project

Page 1 PROJECT INFORMATION DOCUMENT (PID) APPRAISAL STAGE Report No.: AB2012 Project Name China-GEF-Ningbo Water Management Region EAST ASIA AND PACIFIC Sector General water, sanitation and flood protection sector (100%) Project ID P090336 GEF Focal Area International waters Borrower(s) NINGBO MUNICIPALITY Implementing Agency The World Bank Environment Category [ ] A [X] B [ ] C [ ] FI [ ] TBD (to be determined) Date PID Prepared May 5, 2006 Date of Appraisal Authorization March 2, 2006 Date of Board Approval June 29, 2006 1. Country and Sector Background East Asia's rapid economic growth has been accompanied by significant environmental degradation. Land-based pollution of the region's coasts, estuaries and rivers is one of its most severe environmental problems and is degrading the region's large marine ecosystems (LMEs). To help littoral states address this problem, the GEF and World Bank have agreed to establish a Partnership Investment Fund for Pollution Reduction in the Large Marine Ecosystems of East Asia (the Fund). The objective of the Fund is to reduce land-based pollution discharges that have an impact on the seas of East Asia by leveraging investments in pollution reduction through the removal of technical, institutional, and financial barriers. In particular, the Fund will finance activities related to World Bank pollution reduction investment projects that are in innovative and can be replicated in other areas. Expected outcomes of the Fund would be increased investment in activities that reduce land-based pollution and the replication of cost-effective pollution reduction technologies and techniques demonstrated by the Fund. A Brief on the Fund (Tranche 1 of 3 Tranches) in the amount of US$25 million was approved by the GEF Council in November 2005. The activities under this GEF-financed project were originally conceived as part of the IBRD- financed Ningbo Water and Environment Project (NWEP). The NWEP project was approved by the World Bank Board in FY05, and this associated GEF project will be the first project financed under the Fund. NWEP has three components: i) Ningbo Water Supply (US$157.9 million); ii) Cixi Wastewater (US$128.0 million); and iii) Institutional Development (US$4.5 million). This GEF project is an environmental enhancement to the Cixi component of NWEP. Cixi City covers an area of 1,100 km 2 , with a population of around 1 million, and is located on the northern coastline of Ningbo Municipality bordering Hangzhou Bay. The proposed GEF project is designed to demonstrate simple and effective wastewater treatment methods