Turkey - Second Energy Community of South East Europe Project : environmental assessment : Framework for environmental assessment procedures

El 077 VOL. 2 Framework for Environmental Assessment Procedures for Energy Transmission Line Projects in Turkey 1. Introduction Under ECSEE (formerly SEEREM), the power transmission component will consist mainly of rehabilitation of existing power lines, new 154 kV power lines, new 380 kV power lines, rehabilitation of substations and new 380 kV substations. The power lines will follow existing rights-of-way, where possible, which ensures that environmentally sensitive areas outside the road envelope will not be adversely affected. The procedures presented in this Framework Document details actions, which will be taken to ensure compliance with Turkish Environmental Regulations and Procedures (basically Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Regulation) and the World Bank environmental assessment (EA) policies and procedures as specified in the World Bank Operational Policy OP/BP/GP 4.01 (Environmental Assessment) for a 'Category A" and a "Category B" project. The procedures consist of the following nine elements, which address both design/construction and operational aspects: Design/Construction Phase * Project Screening * EA Documentation/Document Content * Consultation * EA Review and Approval . Disclosure * Implementation Conditions/Obligations * Environmental Standards/Guidelines L icensing and Permitting FILE COPY  ImRlementation Phase * Institutional arrangements for environmental management * Reporting Descriptions for the above elements, basically the procedures, which will be followed, are presented below. 2. Design/Construction Phase 2.1. Project Screening The planning and design of power transmission lines are under the responsibility of TEIAS General Directorate, Department of Electric Transmission Lines Project Design, Expropriation and Environment. This department identifies the corridor for the project right-of-way and establishes a project design, which will be the basis for the implementation tender of the project. The Environmental Unit of TEIAS, which is a subunit of the above mentioned department, decides and coordinates the requirement for the preparation of an environmental assessment report (EAR) or an environmental management plan (EMP) in accordance with the Turkish EIA Regulation and the World Bank requirements for Category A and B projects. According to Turkish EIA Regulation (Annex 1) a full EIA report and process (that is the classification equivalent to the EA requirements of the World Bank for a Category A project) is required for the power transmission line projects of 154 kV or above that has a length of more than 15 km, including transformer stations or switchyards as a part of the project. For the transmission line projects the EIA service tenders are conducted by the Environmental Unit of TEIAS based on the prequalification of independent consulting companies (consultants), which are already given license by the Turkish Ministry of Environment and Forestry (MoEF) specifying that these consultants are eligible to prepare EIA reports for the Ministry of Environment and Forestry. The Turkish process for full EIA requirements can be followed from the flowchart provided below. 2  Turkish Environmental Impact Assessment Regulation Flow Scheme (Regulation of December 16, 2003 (Official Gazette No. 25318) Project Description Brief is prepared and submitted to the MoEF The MoEF reviews the Project Description Brief and Review |eCommittee is formed Public Participation Meeting I Scoping Meeting Ministry of Environment and Forestry provides the Project Specific Format| |Preparation of the EIAreport and Submission of the report to the MoEF | Review of the MoEF and Review Committee Meetingsl EIA Report is finalized based on the comments of the Review Committee and Final Report submitted to the MoEF 'EIA Positive / Negative" Verdict is given by the MoEF Project approved (with conditions) | Project rejected 3  Annex 2 of the Turkish EIA Regulation lists the projects where a Project Description Brief is required by the MoEF in order to screen these projects, that is to decide if a full EIA is necessary or not. This Annex includes power transmission lines of 154 kV and more, which has a length shorter than 15 km. The power transmission line projects are generally classified as Category B by the World Bank OP 4.01. For the projects under this classification generally preparation of and EMP is required based on the criteria provided in Annex A to this document. For the projects that are classified in Annex 2 of the Turkish EIA Regulation and decided by the MoEF that a full EIA is not needed, the Environmental Unit of TEIAS will decide if an EMP will be required for the project based on the above mentioned criteria given in Annex A to this document. With this regard if it is decided that the project is small and/or with negligible environmental issues that no EMP is required, no further environmental procedures are necessary. The Environmental Unit of TEIAS will document this decision together with the reasons for it. 2.2. EA Documentation/Document Content For the projects that require the preparation of a full EIA report (Category A projects according to World Bank classification), the reports will be prepared in accordance with the project specific format to be provided by the MoEF. However, this format will have some differences with the general format of the World Bank. The World Bank general EA format includes the following chapters: * Introduction * Policy, Legal and Administrative Framework * Project Purpose * Project Description * Baseline Data * Environmental Impacts * Analysis of Alternatives * Environmental Management Plan 4  * Record of Public Consultation Basically all of these headings are covered in the specific format provided by the MoEF for the full EIA reports. However, there is naturally no 'Policy, Legal and Administrative Framework" chapter. In addition, mitigation actions are required to be specified for the adverse impacts and a monitoring plan is required as a part of the EIA report by the MoEF. However, they may not be in the form of an environmental management plan as required by the World Bank. Furthermore, institutional requirements for the monitoring actions are not much explicitly specified as required by the World Bank. Following chapters are included in a typical EIA format for a power transmission line: * Project Purpose and Description * Characteristics of the Project Area * Economic and Social Dimensions of the Project * Impact Area of the Project and Baseline Characteristics of this Area * Environmental Impacts of the Project and Mitigation Measures * Analysis of Alternatives * Conclusions * Therefore, for a project that requires a full EIA report according to Turkish EIA Regulation, the appendices of this report will include and appendix for the Policy, Legal and Administrative Framework in Turkey, an appendix for the EMP (including mitigation and monitoring activities as a plan) and the institutional requirements to carry out the mitigation and monitoring measures and an Appendix for the Record of Public Consultation. For the projects that are classified in Annex 2 of the Turkish EIA Regulation and decided by the MoEF that a full EIA is not needed, the Environmental Unit of TEIAS will decide if an EMP will be required for the project based on the above mentioned criteria given in Annex A to this document. If the preparation of an EMP is required by TEIAS, it will be prepared in accordance with the format provided in Annex Bi (Format for an Environmental Management Plan) of this document. As can be seen 5  from this Annex the key elements of the EMP are the Mitigation and Monitoring Plan for which samples are provided in Annex B2. Other key components of an EMP are Institutional Arrangements and Consultation with Local NGOs and Project-Affected Groups. The final EIA report (for the projects requiring a full EIA) and the final EMP for any project will be translated into English and copies of each will be submitted to the World Bank by TEIAS. In addition, the approval documents for the EMP and the verdicts of the MoEF will be provided to the World Bank as well. 2.3. Consultation For the projects requiring full ElAs, the public consultation process of Turkish EIA Regulation is basically compatible with the World Bank. According to this regulation a public information and consultation meeting is held in the scoping stage of the EIA process. The issues identified in this meeting are taken into account in the formation of the specific format for the project and preparation of the EIA report. For this consultation meeting announcements are made in at least one of the newspapers published countrywide, in the local governorate, municipality, and by the headmen in the villages. The announcements include the subject (project name, place etc., date and place of the meeting). Generally places suitable for the participation of everybody is selected, such as a village coffeehouse. In addition, if it is found necessary arrangements for the transportation of locals to the meeting place are made. Public consultation for discussion is also a part of the review process of the EIA report. When the review period is started by the MoEF it is announced to the public and the EIA report is opened to public review at the local governorates. The locals are informed via the written announcements in the local authorities (municipalities, governorates etc.). Public consultation at this stage aims to determine if any other issues should be added or removed from the EIA report. By these means the voice of the locally affected groups are fully recognized in the final EIA report. 6  For a project that does not require a full EIA, but decided by TEIAS that it requires an EMP, public consultation will be announced, organized, conducted and documented as described in Annex B1 (Section E - Consultation with Local NGOs and Project- Affected Groups) to this document. The purpose of the consultation is to obtain views of the local people concerning the environmental issues related to the project, which they feel are important. These issues will then be included in the EMP. The consultation meeting(s) will be conducted before a draft EMP is prepared and when preparing the EMP the issues identified in the consultation will be included. The final EMP will be open to public access in the local governorates and TEIAS will make it available in its website on the internet as well. 2.4. EA Review and Approval For the projects requiring a full EIA, the review and approval is the responsibility of the MoEF. When the EIA report is completed in accordance with the project specific format provided by the MoEF in the end of the scoping phase, it is submitted to the MoEF. The MoEF first reviews the report according to the format and then calls the review committee to meetings, called as review committee meetings. In these meetings the report is presented and the questions or concerns of the Review Committee are answered and necessary changes, additions to, or removals from the report are done. The committee members review the statement according to their scope of responsibilities. Representative organizations on the Committee may include: - Related General Directorates of the MoEF - The General Directorate of State Hydraulic Works (DSI) - General Directorate of State Meteorological Works (DMI) - The General Directorate of Forestry - Provincial Environment and Forestry Directorate - The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs - The Ministry of Health. - Provincial Health Directorate - Municipalities 7  - Experts from University (if found necessary) - Project owner (TEIAS) - EIA Consultant As a result all Committee Members provide their opinion regarding to approval of the EIA report and the project. Based on this review results the MoEF, General Director of Planning and EIA either gives an EIA positive or negative decision. The positive decision means project is approved (generally with conditions at least indicating that the EIA report is a commitment for the project implementation and has to be complied with by the project owner and all relevant contractors of the project) and the activities should be commenced in 5 years (if they are not commenced in 5 years a new EIA report is required for the project). The negative decision indicates that project is rejected and cannot be carried out. For the projects requiring the preparation of an EMP, the Environmental Unit of TEIAS will review and approve the EMP. TEIAS experts will review the EMP in accordance with the requirements specified in Annex B1 of this framework document. The EMP will be finalized according to the comments of the Environmental Unit of TEIAS and will be approved. The MoEF will not be a part of review or approval process for the EMPs of such projects. 2.5. Disclosure As described in Heading 2.3 above, the EIA report will be disclosed by the MoEF. This approved EIA report will be available in the offices of local authorities and are publicized on the website of the MoEF. Similarly, the approved EMP will be available to public in local TEIAS offices, where it will be convenient to the people living in or near the area, where the project is to be implemented. In addition, these EMPs will be available in the internet on the website of TEIAS. 2.6. Implementation Conditions/Obligations As mentioned before, the EIA report is a commitment by TEIAS to the MoEF and the World Bank regarding its' obligation for agreed upon measures of environmental R  management throughout the life of the project. This commitment is the responsibility of the project owner and all related contractors. Thus, prior to contract award by TEIAS the Environmental Unit of TEIAS will insure that all bid documents contain conditions (or articles) specifying that the approved (not needed since the Category A EIA will have an EMP as an Annex) EMP are a part of the conditions to be complied with and must be included in all bid documents. The monitoring of the performance of the contractor during constuction will be carried out by the responsible parties specified in the monitoring plan. Environmental Unit of TErAS will be the authority to make the final check with regard to the performance of the Contractor with regard to the relevant specifications in the bid documents and EMP. For the case of an EIA report, TEIAS will have 'first line' responsibility for assurance compliance with conditions of the EMP (Category A or B). However, the MoEF is the ultimate responsible agency for auditing and ensuring that the conditions in the EIA report are complied with. 2.7. Environmental Standards/Guidelines TEIAS will use Turkish or World Bank environmental standards and standards (which ever is stricter) for electric power transmission line projects. These standards are basically related, but not limited, to the following: T Environmental impact assessment * Solid and hazardous waste management E Noise levels (during construction) w Electric and magnetic field intensities at ground level (transmission/distribution) or at the fence line (transformer substation)