SOCIALIST REPUBLIC OF VIETNAM Ministry of Industry Rural Energy II Project Environmental Guidelines and Framework Attachment to Ministry of Industry’s Decision Number: Date: January, 2004 2 Environmental Guidelines and Framework VIETNAM: Rural Energy II 1. Introduction The Rural Energy II Project (the Project) is classified as Category B for environmental assessment (EA, see OP/BP/GP 4.01 Environmental Assessment). The project may include both positive and negative impacts. Negative impacts are minor, and temporary and are primarily associated with preconstruction and construction activities. Positive impacts are mostly incurred during operation, and are likely to be significant because of their longer term nature at both the local and regional level. 2. Overview This framework document will provide guidance on the EA process to be adopted for subprojects to be considered for financing under the Project. Basically, there are eight elements involved for the EA process during project preparation and three elements involved with project implementation. These are listed below: Investment Preparation Screening EA Documentation/Document Content Consultation Disclosure EA Review and Approval Subloan Conditionality and Approval Environmental Performance Standards Licensing and Permitting Investment Implementation Institutional Responsibilities for Environmental Management Supervision Responsibilities for Mitigation and Monitoring Permits and Licensing A discussion of each of these elements will define the EA process to be followed for subprojects to be considered for financing under the Project. INVESTMENT PREPARATION Screening The Client will prepare an Initial Environmental Examination (IEE) document for the subproject (see next section for content of an IEE document). to determine the magnitude and nature of the impacts. If the PMU determines that the subproject impacts are significant and adverse and/or unprecedented, such a project would be considered Category A under the World Bank EA policy, and therefore would not be considered further for financing. Where the IEE indicates no significant environmental issues (most cases) the subprojects are eligible for financing under the Project. 3 The DONRE will determine if the subproject requires an EIA in accordance with Vietnamese criteria or if no further study is necessary. If an EIA is required by DONRE for subprojects which the PMU assesses to be Category B an EIA acceptable to the Government of Vietnam and an Environmental Management Plan (EMP) acceptable to the WB and DONRE will be required for further processing of the subproject. If an EIA is not required by DONRE for subprojects which the PMU assesses to be Category B an Environmental Management Plan (EMP) acceptable to the WB and an environmental certificate as required by DONRE will be the only environmental requirement for further processing of the subproject. EA Documentation/Document Content Preparation of all EA documentation is the responsibility of the Client. An IEE should include the following sections: • Project Description (see Annex 1) • Screening of Potential Environmental Issues AND Rationale for Their Significance Grading An EMP should be developed from the Environmental Template Document, which has been suggested by WB and the final version is yet to be endorsed by EVN and MOI An EIA or environmental certificate should be prepared in accordance with Vietnamese guidelines as presented in the GOV Circular 490/KHCNMT All EA documents (IEE, EMP, and EIA) should be consistent. For example, priority issues identified should be the same for all EA documents as well as the proposed measures to mitigate these issues. Similarly, institutional responsibilities for mitigation, monitoring etc. should be the same in all EA documents. Consultation The Client will be required to conduct a consultation with project affected people and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). The purpose of the consultation is to identify environmental issues of concern to project affected groups and NGOs, so that they may be included in the EA documents. Therefore consultation may take place either before the EMP is prepared or after a draft EMP is available. In either case, the final EMP should include any appropriate environmental issues identified at the consultation. The consultation can be conducted in any of several forms: door to door survey, public meeting, circulation of questionnaires, call-in to local radio or TV station, etc. Detailed documentation of the consultation (see Annex F of the Environmental Template Document) should be included in the EMP and IEE/EIA. Disclosure The Client will be required to provide a Vietnamese language version of the EMP and IEE/EIA in a public location easily accessible to project affected people. An English language 4 version of the EMP and IEE/EIA should also be provided by the Client to the World Bank Office in Hanoi for display in its library (VDIC) and in the InfoShop in Washington DC EA Review and Approval The Client will be responsible for delivering IEE/EIA and EMP documents of quality acceptable to the Bank for the Bank’s review and clearance. In the final submission to the Bank, the Client should provide evidence to the PMU (e.g. copies of the letters of approval, environmental certificate) that all necessary approvals of the IEE/EIA have been obtained from the responsible Vietnamese authorities. Subloan Conditionality and Approval It is the responsibility of the Client to assure that subloan agreements include a statement which commits the Client to implementing the EMP. The following sample may be useful: “The Client (or sub-Borrower) agrees to implement the Environmental Management Plan (EMP) as presented in (indicate where the officially approved EMP is located----it could be included as an Annex in the loan documents or situated in a project file)” From the environmental view, a subloan may only be approved after the Client has: (a) agreed to the conditionality for EMP implementation, (b) has successfully conducted and documented the public consultation and (c) demonstrated that all appropriate EA documents have been disclosed. Environmental Performance Standards If either construction or operation aspects of the subproject are subject to specific Vietnamese environmental standards, for example: electric and magnetic field strength, prohibition of the use of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), noise, dust, etc. These items should be included in the Environmental Monitoring Program section of the EMP (see Annex C of the Environmental Template Document). It is the Clients’ responsibility to assure that all Vietnamese environmental performance standards are met in the design, construction and operation of the subproject. It is the responsibility of the Vietnamese environmental authorities to assure these standards are obeyed. From time to time, if necessary, the Vietnamese environmental authorities may wish to seek support of the PMU in meeting their responsibility. Licensing and Permitting It is the responsibility of the Client to secure and maintain any necessary licenses or permits which are either issued by or require approval of any Vietnamese environmental authorities during both subproject construction and operation phases for the life of the project. INVESTMENT IMPLEMENTATION Supervision Responsibilities for Mitigation and Monitoring It is the responsibility of the PMU, possibly in collaboration with Vietnamese environmental authorities to supervise both the mitigation and monitoring activities which have been agreed to by the Client in the subloan documentation. The supervision effort should be a regular on-going activity. Additionally, if there are complaints from local project-affected 5 groups, the PMU should be prepared to send staff in a timely fashion to assess the validity of complaints and take any necessary actions to remedy the situation. Institutional Responsibilities for Environmental Management Institutional responsibilities for environmental management must be carefully delineated and described in the EMP. Annex C of the Environmental Template Document indicates the type of information which is required. A clear line of responsibility must be indicated from data collection (numbers, observations), to analysis (information based upon data), to reporting (information flow) to management (decision makers). The PMU will be responsible for monitoring of the implementation of a Site EMP (SEMP) by the contractors. An independent safeguard consultant will be hired by the Client to monitor the general impacts of the project and the EMP implementation. The head of the project’s communes will be sending to the PMU a monthly monitoring report. Based on this reporting line, the PMU will consolidate the implementation of EMP in its quarterly progress report submitted to the Bank, copied to respective DONREs. Permits and Licensing Vietnamese environmental authorities are responsible for assuring that any permits or licenses which they either issue or approve for the subproject are maintained. It is the Clients’ responsibility to maintain all such licenses and permits current. From time to time, if necessary, the Vietnamese environmental authorities may wish to seek support of the PMU in assuring the Client meets this responsibility. 6 Annex 1: RAPID ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT CHECKLIST (Applied for rapid environmental assessment in the Project site) Project's name: Rural Energy II - phase 1b Province: District Commune Screening Question Yes No Remarks 1. Project's sitting: Is the Project site adjacent to or within any of the following environmental sensitive areas? - In the case select "yes", describe detailed information such as: name of historical property, nearest distance from the sensitive area to the Project site etc • Cultural heritage site • Protected areas • Wetland • Forest under Program 661 • Estuary • Buffer zone of Protected areas • Nature reserves like bird yard, mangrove forest etc. Rivers and reservoirs - Name of main water bodies (rivers), lakes, reservoirs and nearest distance to the Project site • Canals and irrigation system - Assess the density of the canal system in the Project's area 2. Potential environmental impacts Will the Project cause: If select " yes", please describe and briefly assess impact's level Encroachment on historical/cultural areas Encroachment on critical ecosystem (e.g. sensitive or protected area, national park, nature reserve etc ) Disfiguration of landscape and increase waste generation Change of surface water quality or water flows If select " yes", please list of main reasons • Increase water turbidity due to run- off and erosion • Waste water from camping sites 7 Screening Question Yes No Remarks are directly discharged to the surface water resources or not? • Construction waste are directly discharged to the surface water or not? Increase the dust level ? If select " yes", please list of main reasons Increase noise and/or vibration? If select " yes", please list of main reasons Permanent land acquisition If select " yes", please list of land area for permanent acquisition, type of soils, and purpose of acquisition Temporary land acquisition If select " yes", please list of land area for permanent acquisition, type of soils, and purpose of acquisition, duration of acquisition Is there any household need to be relocated? If yes, how many households? Would the resettlement site is environmentally and/or culturally sensitive If select “yes” briefly describe the potential impacts Is there any risk of disease dissemination from construction workers to the local peoples (and vice versia) ? - Estimated number of groups of workers to be hired for project construction in the commune/district Is there any potential for conflict between construction workers and local peoples (and vice versia)? Are explosive and hazardous chemicals used within the Project? - If select "yes", please list of these materials In the past, there was any accident incurred due to landmines or explosive materials remaining from the war? Will Project's construction cause disturbance to the transportation in the Project's site? - If select "yes", please assess the impact level: + Significant impact + Medium impact + Minor Project's construction will cause any damage to the existing rural roads system? Will soil excavation during Project's construction cause soil erosion ? - If select "yes", please assess the impact level: + Significant impact + Medium impact + Minor Will Project need to open new access roads? - If select "yes", please briefly estimate number of temporary access roads and their locations Will Project cause fragmentation of habitat of flora and fauna? - If select "yes", please describe Will Project cause impact on air transportation? Will Project cause risk to safety and human health (EMF, electric shock etc.)? If select “yes” ", please describe 8 CHECK LIST FOR RAPID ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT (Applied for rapid environmental assessment of the Project's province) 1.Description of microclimate condition of the Project's province • Average rainfall • Average temperature • Prevalent wind direction • Main seasons and time for each season in the year 2.General geography/ physical environment • Topography • Soil type 3. Natural resources • Fauna resource • Flora resource 9 CHECK LIST FOR RAPID SOCIO-ECONOMIC ASSESSMENT (This check list is applied for rapid socio-economic assessment of the Project's Province) Project's name RURAL ENERGY 2 - PHASE 1b Province Parameter Information A. Land use 1 Land use pattern in the Project's province - Agriculture (%): - Fishery and aquaculture (%): - Forest (%): - Residential (%): - Specific purpose (%): - Other (%): 2 If there is a substantial different of land use pattern in Project's province and Project's district, please add information about landuse pattern in the district - Agriculture (%): - Fishery and aquaculture (%): - Forest (%): - Residential (%): - Specific purpose (%): - Other (%): B. Population 3 Province's demographic figure 4 Demographic figure of the Project's district C. Education and health care service 5 Percentage of children going to school 6 Average number of healthcare stations in each commune D. Infrastructure 7 Source of water for daily use (river, stream, tap or rain water?) 8 Is there any system for waste water collection in the Project's district/communes? 9 Is there any system for solid waste collection in the Project's district or Project's commune? 10 Number and condition of roads in the province/district/commune area E. Industrial activities 11 Please list main industrial activities in the Project's district/commune? 10 . Project Environmental Guidelines and Framework Attachment to Ministry of Industry’s Decision Number: Date: January, 2004 2 Environmental Guidelines and Framework. Consultation Disclosure EA Review and Approval Subloan Conditionality and Approval Environmental Performance Standards Licensing and Permitting Investment Implementation