Implementing environmental management plans : a review of selected urban environment projects in China

Environmental 45344 and Social Safeguard Note December 1999 Number 1 Implementing Environmental Management Plans: A Review of Selected Urban Environment Projects in China R apid economic growth is according to World Bank Opera- largely based on discussions and changing the face of tional Policy 4.01, "Environmental field visits to selected project sites China's cities. High rise Assessment." Detailed Environmen- in April and May 1999. The sample, office buildings and tal Assessments (EAs) usually albeit limited, has yielded valuable impressive highways intersect a precede these investments, and insights into environmental landscape of crowded living spaces. projects approved after July 1993 management and supervision of Air and water pollution remain must include comprehensive Bank projects in China, as well as serious and social services are environmental management plans general trends in environmental inadequate. To respond to these (EMPs).1 management. We are grateful to problems, the Bank is financing a the task managers, project man- number of environmental im- This note reviews the extent to agement offices, and counterparts provement projects, which are which EMPs have been imple- in local agencies for their coopera- some of the largest in the East Asia mented in the execution and daily tion and thoughtful inputs. and Pacific Region. Because of the operations of several large Bank- enormity of their potential impacts, funded urban environmental WHY ARE ENVIRONMENTAL many of them fall into Category "A" investments in China. The note is MANAGEMENT PLANS IMPORTANT? Environmental management plans have two critical functions: To ensure that project implementa- tion--planning, designing, con- structing, commissioning--has as little negative impact on the environment as is possible; and 1 "A project's environmental management plan consists of the set of mitigation, monitoring, and institutional measures to be taken during implementation and operation to eliminate adverse environmental and social impacts, offset them, or reduce them to acceptable levels. The plan also includes the actions needed to implement these measures. Management plans are essential elements of EA reports for Category A projects; for many Category B projects, the EA may result in a management plan only." Paragraph 1, Annex Public notice describing an investment project on the Xin He River. C , OP4.01, World Bank, 1999. T H E W O R L D B A N K G R O U P  World Bank supported and BOX 1. NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL POLICIES AND encouraged EMP implementation. PROGRAMS IN CHINA1 FRAMEWORK FOR ENVIRONMENTAL The main policies that have guided the development of China's PROTECTION AND MONITORING IN environmental regulation institutions are the following: whoever CHINA causes the pollution shall be responsible for its elimination, preven- tion first, and strengthened environmental management. The There are four levels of lawmaking polluter-pays principle is implemented through a levy system in institutions in China, each of which polluters are assessed fines on discharges that are in excess which enacts environmental on emission standards. With the exception of Shanghai, this fine is legislation. The National People's usually based on pollutant concentration rather than total pollution Congress (NPC) is at the highest- load, although new SEPA policy recommends that total pollution level, with power to enact and loads be monitored. Two policy mechanisms are in place for pollu- amend fundamental statutes. The tion prevention: First, enterprises constructing new, expanded or NPC, along with the newly formed renovated facilities are required to submit EAs for approval by the Environmental Protection and EPB or SEPA, depending on the size of the investment. Second, the Natural Resources Conservation "Three-Synchronizations Program" requires that pollution control Committee, and the State Council, technologies be incorporated into the design, construction and has advisory as well as drafting operation of new projects. End-of-pipe treatment approaches and oversight roles with respect to continue, however, to dominate environmental investments. environmental legislation and The State has established the following eight environmental pro- regulations.2 In 1998, the National grams to control urban and industrial pollution: Environmental Protection Agency was elevated to ministry-level 1. Environmental Impact Assessment status and renamed State Environ- 2. Three Synchronizations (Environmental Management for Con- mental Protection Administration struction Projects). (SEPA). It is responsible for formu- lating national environmental 3. Pollution Levy System (Pollution Charges) standards and other rules. Many 4. Pollution Control within set Deadlines other ministries have environmen- tal protection departments. At the 5. Discharge Permit System local level, the people's congresses 6. Centralized Control of Pollution of provinces, autonomous regions, 7. Environmental Responsibility System with Targets and special municipalities (includ- ing Beijing and Shanghai), formu- 8. Quantitative Annual Assessment of Urban Environmental Quality late locally relevant regulations 1 Prof. Zhang Kunming/Former Deputy Director, SEPA, Paper titled, based on national statutes. Local "China's Policies on Environment," International Workshop on Environmental Protection Bureaus China's Agenda 21, Beijing 1996. (EPBs), are delegated the authority to enact rules, methods, and standards set by SEPA. There are that project operation is environ- Timely and conscientious imple- EPBs at both provincial and mentally sound. In essence, the mentation of EMPs, however rare, municipal levels. In addition to its EMP ensures that the comprehen- does happen. In the Chinese role as an arm of SEPA, the EPB is sive work done on environmental projects surveyed, EMPs were also a part of the local government, assessments bears fruit in practice. implemented for a number of and reports to the mayor's office. reasons: they were found to be In 1989, the Environmental Protec- By outlining impacts, agencies useful by project management and tion law clarified that each level of responsible for monitoring these the borrower; elements of the local government would be impacts and, in many cases, plans had to be implemented to responsible for environmental indicators to be monitored, the ensure that the general public and protection.3 See Box 1. EMP sets up a simple benchmark the private sector supported the table. An environmentally sound project and did not suffer in the project not only follows the EMP course of project execution; the 2 Hongjun, Zhang and Richard J. Ferris in the initial stages but also, and plans were simple and easy to Jr. (1998) Shaping an Environmental Protection more critically, internalizes "sound" follow; most of the critical mitigat- Regime for the New Century: Environmental Law environmental management ing actions were already part of and Policy in the People's Republic of China. principles throughout the life of Chinese practice; and lastly both Asian Journal of Environmental Manage- the project. the Chinese authorities and the ment, Vol. 6, No. 1., p. 36. T H E W O R L D B A N K G R O U P  BOX 2: ZHEJIANG MULTICITIES PROJECT BEST PRACTICE IN NINGBO CITY The Urban Infrastructure Upgrading office took the following eight steps to ensure that road rehabilitation and upgrading resulted in the fewest possible impacts on citizen safety, traffic flows and the environment: 1. joint option study with the police bureau on how to manage traffic flows 2. phased construction of main roads, to prevent major rerouting 3. formation of a construction-coordinating group with represen- tatives from police department, electricity, water supply compa- nies Worker safety posters at a project construction site. 4. project management office suggested that the municipal government institute a staggered work schedule to avoid delays in commuting ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT 5. completion of construction was put on a fast-track; work done PLAN IMPLEMENTATION-- in three shifts EVIDENCE FROM CHINA 6. special care was taken to make commercial enterprises acces- sible. Although this review encompasses only four projects in five urban 7. construction sites were kept clean, spoil disposal made a centers in Eastern China, we priority and the working areas enclosed believe it provides insights into the 8. section of road near the construction site was cleaned everyday. strengths and weaknesses of the Chinese environmental manage- 9. worker safety was made a priority ment and protection systems. The 10. a weekly assessment of the contractor's work was carried out, following projects were selected for and warnings and fines assessed when necessary. review: Beijing Environment Project4; Local agencies have adopted many ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING AND Shanghai Environment Project; EMP recommendations within ENFORCEMENT OF STANDARDS their standard operating proce- Shanghai Second Sewerage dures and incorporated several National environmental quality Project; key mitigation measures into the standards, including ambient water conditions and specifications of Zhejiang Multicities Project contract documents. The Con- 3 Prof. Zhang Kunming/Former Deputy (Hangzhou, Shaoxing and struction Commissions and Director, SEPA, Paper titled, "China's Ningbo cities covered). Sewage and Sanitation Companies Policies on Environment," International take very seriously recommenda- Workshop on China's Agenda 21, Beijing There are currently eleven urban tions on control of noise pollution, 1996. environment/development projects removal of construction waste, 4 It is important to note that the Beijing in China (as of July 1999). The replacement of topsoil, and traffic Environment Project which closed on majority of these projects focus on management during construction. June 30th, 1999 was classified a Category the delivery of services--water Worker safety is usually a top D project, and neither an EA nor an EMP supply, sewerage, sanitation, and priority and with the exception of were prepared for it. However, environ- solid waste management. Projects one glaring omission in which mental management was an implied in the sample are indicative of the very deep excavations were left objective of the project. A follow