69962

Commissioned by the World Bank

SEA Centre, Nankai University

College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Nankai University, 94 Weijin Road, Tianjin, P. R. China

Phone: +86 22 2350 8348, Fax: +86 22 2350 8348

Econ Pöyry as

P.O. Box 5, 0051 Oslo, Norway. Phone: + 47 45 40 50 00, Fax: + 47 22 42 00 40,

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

List of Tables and Figures

List of Acronyms

Executive Summary

Background

Impact assessment of the HRNP and proposed mitigation measures

Institutional assessment and proposed actions

Follow up

1.Introduction

1.1Background

1.2SEA in China

1.3The SEA process for HRNP

1.4Methodology and data quality

1.5Plan Overview

1.6HPCD’s Role

1.7Stakeholder analysis

1.8Potential added-value of the SEA

2.Baseline and situation analysis

2.1Introduction

2.2Overview of Hubei Province

2.3Road Development in Hubei

2.4Environment in Hubei

2.5Land Use and Ecological Environment in Hubei

2.6Social and Economic Development in Hubei

2.7 Conclusion of key issues

3Potential Effects of HRNP on Strategic Environmental and Social Issues

3.1Identification of HRNP’s Key Effects

3.2Scoping of significant impacts and key issues

3.3Prioritization of social and environmental issues

3.4Impact assessment, forecast and mitigation

4Institutional Capacity Assessment

4.1Background

4.2Environmental Management Capacity within HPCD

4.3Inter-sectoral Coordination between HPCD and
Other Relevant Sectors

5Action Plan

5.1Recommendations of the Action Plan

5.2Monitoring the Implementation of the Action Plan

5.3Final remarks and next steps

Annex 1: Analysis of Consistency of Plans

Annex 2: Characteristics of Roads in HRNP

Annex 3: Classification Criteria of Air Quality

Annex 4: Classification Criteria of Environmental Noise in Urban Area

Annex 5: Checklist for Identification of HRNP’s Effects

Annex 6: Methodology for Air Quality Assessment

Annex 7: Methodology for Noise Assessment

Annex 8: Impacts by Ecological Factors

Annex 9: Impacts on Cultural Relics

Annex 10: Environmental Legislation and Regulations for Highway Projects

List of Tables and Figures

Table 1- 1 Relevant Plans

Table 2- 1 Composition of Arterial Highway in Hubei

Table 2- 3 Road Accidents History for Hubei Province

Table 2- 5 Tourists Received in Cities from 2003 to 2005

Table 2- 7 Data on social development in ethnic minority areas

Table 3- 1 Checklist for Identification of HRNP’s Effects

Table 3- 2 Final results from the scoping of the SEA

Table 4- 4 Noise evaluation of main roads in Scenario A

Table 4- 11 Highway distribution in areas with
different soil erosion intensities

Table 4- 12 Impacts on Nature Reserves

Table 6- 1 Action Plan for strengthening environmental and
socio-economic analysis and performance

Table 6- 4 Monitoring of indicators for Action Plan performance

Table 4- 15 Impacts by Ecological Factors

Table 4- 16 Impacts on cultural relics

1

Figure 1- 1 SEA Work plan

Figure 1- 2 Hubei Road Network

Figure 1- 3 Organizational relationships

Figure 1- 4 Matrix for Prioritizing Key Stakeholders

Figure 2- 2 Hubei Road Network Plan (Finished)

Figure 2- 3 Hubei Road Network Plan (Unfinished)

Figure 2- 5 Proportion of Cities Meeting Standard Grade II
and Days of API≤100 Out of 365 Days in Hubei

Figure 2- 6 Average Frequency of Acid Rain

Figure 2- 7 Amount of Air Pollutant Emission

Figure 2- 11 Intensities of Soil Erosion in Hubei

Figure 2- 14 Plants Coverage Densities in Hubei

Figure 2- 18 Values for GDP and the GDP per capita in
Hubei Province (1987-2005)

Figure 2- 21 GDP and Economic Density of Hubei in 2005

Figure 4- 5 Geographic distribution of CO emission intensity in
scenario A

Figure 4- 6 Geographic distribution of NOx emission intensity in scenario A

Figure 4- 11 Geographic distribution of CO emission intensity in
scenario B

Figure 4- 17 Geographic distribution of CO emission intensity
in scenario C

Figure 4- 18 Geographic distribution of NOx emission intensity in scenario C

Figure 4- 26 Overlay of the planned road network on nature reserves

Figure 4- 32 Accessibility of tourism areas before HRNP implementation

Figure 4- 33 Accessibility of tourism areas after HRNP implementation

1

List of Acronyms

API / Air Pollution Index
B[a]P / Benzo (a) pyrene
BMP / Best Management Practice
CH4 / Methane
CO / Carbon monoxide
CO2 / Carbon dioxide
DCH / The Department of Construction of Hubei Province
DLRH / The Department of Land and Resources of Hubei Province
CTEM / Center of Transport Environmental Monitoring
EIA / Environmental Impact Assessment
EIA Law / Environmental Impact Assessment Law of the People’s Republic of China
EID / Environmental Impact Document
EIS / Environmental Impact Statement
EM / Environmental Management
EMIS / Environmental Management Information System
ENV / Environment
EP / Environmental Protection
EPB / Hubei Provincial Environmental Protection Bureau
EPO / Environmental Protection Office
F / Fluorine
FHWA / Federal Highway Administration
GDP / Gross Domestic Product
GIS / Geographic Information System
HPCD / Hubei Provincial Communication Department
HRNP / Hubei Road Network Plan (2002-2020)
HBH / Hubei Bureau of Highway
HBRTTA / Road Transport Trade Association of Hubei Province
HESI / Hubei Environment Science Institute
HFB / Hubei Forestry Bureau
HPSB / Hubei Provincial Statistics Bureau
HTB / Hubei Provincial Tourism Bureau
HWB / Hubei Water Bureau
ISC / International SEA Consultant
LSC / Local SEA Consultant
M&E / Monitoring & Evaluation
MOC / Ministry of Communications of China
NGO / Non-Government Organization
NH3 / Third National Highway Project
NMVOC / Non-Methanic Volatile Organic Compounds
NO2 / Nitrogen dioxide
N2O / Nitrous oxide
NOx / Nitrogen oxide
O3 / Ozone
Pb / Lead
PDRC / Hubei Provincial Development and Reform Committee
PEIA / Plan Environmental Impact Assessment
PES / Project Environmental Supervision
PM / Particulate Matter
PRC / People’s Republic of China
REIA / Regional Environmental Impact Assessment
SARS / Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome
SEA / Strategic Environmental Assessment
SEPA / State Environmental Protection Administration
SPEP / Steering Panel for Environmental Protection
SO2 / Sulfur dioxide
TES / Technology and Education Section
ToR / Terms of Reference
TPRI / Transport Plan Research Institution
TSP / Total Suspended Particles
WB / World Bank

1

Executive Summary

Background

The World Bank (WB) is supporting China to conduct Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) for development policies, programs and plans through a regional SEA program and a series of analytical and advisory activities. The Hubei Provincial Communication Department (HPCD) requested the Bank’s support to conduct an SEA for the Hubei Road Network Plan (HRNP) for 2002-2020 that was funded by the Environment Department’s Pilot Program on Institutions-centred SEA. The findings and recommendations of the SEA will also inform the preparation of the institutional strengthening component of the YiBa highway project supported by the WB. While the SEA focuses on the provincial wide transport plan and not the project itself, the institutional adjustments recommended by the SEA will provide immediate assistance to HPCD to enhance the environmental management of the YiBa project.

The objective of the HRNP is to build a network of key national highways and national and provincial arterial highways in Hubei that complement existing national roads and link key nodes in the province. The road network would cover all cities and allow for faster and more convenient access to Wuhan, Hubei’s capital. It would link important provincial traffic hubs—railways, roads, ports and airports—and also link Hubei to several cities in other provinces. The total mileage of the road network would be 7,350 km, including 5,000 km of expressways and over 2,000 km of class I and II highways. HPCD commissioned the Transport Plan Research Institution of the Ministry of Communications of China and the Plan Research Office of HPCD to prepare the plan. The HRNP was ready in 2004 and approved by the provincial government at the end of that year.

The objectives of the SEA are to:

  • assess significant environmental and social impacts of the transport plan;
  • identify and recommend mitigation measures and institutional adjustments in the province of Hubei needed to address these impacts; and
  • identify and recommend measures needed to build the capacity of the HPCD for mainstreaming environmental and social considerations into infrastructure plans and programs, and facilitate inter-institutional coordination among agencies relevant to transport development

Typically, an SEA seeks to influence the development of a policy, plan or program prior to its finalization and approval. In this case the plan was already written and approved when the SEA was undertaken. The SEA study therefore focused on social and environmental priorities associated with implementing the plan, and strengthening institutional capacities in HPCD for managing these priorities.

Impact assessment of the HRNP and proposed mitigation measures

Some social and economic impacts are emphasized in HRNP, but all are considered positive. Negative environmental impacts of HRNP are not anticipated. Although the principle of environmental protection is included in HRNP, detailed indicators and measures are lacking.

The SEA team began by preparing an overview of the environmental and socio-economic challenges in Hubei province. The key effects of HRNP then were narrowed down through a scoping process involving key stakeholders. The overview and scoping exercise were then used as the basis for a strategic assessment of the priority social and environmental issues that are likely to arise during the implementation of HRNP (see Table 1). Issues included are likely to have important impacts but unlikely to receive the attention they deserve, because: (i) their effects are so diffuse so as to make it unlikely that any group of stakeholders will press for their mitigation (or enhancement if positive); (ii) they mostly affect less powerful groups in society whose interests are underrepresented; or (iii) they are likely to be swept aside in the drive for rapid economic development.

Table 1: Priority Issues for Strategic Assessment

Issues / Reasons for Selection / Related Issues
Air quality / Very high levels of PM, CO, SO2 and NO2; SO2 levels rising rapidly across the province. / Climate change, energy consumption
Noise / Very high noise levels; large increase in highway traffic will exacerbate; highest ranked environmental contamination issue in scoping.
Soil erosion / 43% of land in Hubei suffering soil erosion and growing rapidly; highways will cut through mountainous areas; loss of ecosystem services a priority issue in scoping; landslides big problem in Hubei. / Land use and ecosystem services, geological disasters
Nature reserves and forest parks / Large but decreasing biodiversity in Hubei concentrated in reserves and parks; many new highways will cross or border reserves and parks. / Biodiversity, ecosystem services, land use
Regional socio-economic development / Main driving force of HRNP; second highest ranked issue in scoping. / Industrial developments along roads, tourism, household income, employment, distribution of economic benefits, mineral resources
Ethnic minorities / Poorest and most vulnerable groups in Hubei; most to gain and lose from the road network expansion; very highly rated in scoping. / Resettlement, tourism, household income, employment, distribution of economic benefits, rural-urban migration, transport system accessibility, cultural heritage

Source: Compiled by authors as explained in text.

i) Air and noise pollution

Rapid road development will have direct effects on the ambient air environment and noise levels through increased traffic and have indirect effects if it leads to more rapid industrialization. These were assessed in each of three different scenarios: (i) Scenario A: fast development of the economy with few changes in environmental protection systems; (ii) Scenario B: relatively slow economic growth, while environmental protection systems remain the same as in scenario A; and (iii) Scenario C: great progress in environmental protection and relative slow economic growth.

In all three scenarios intensity of air and noise pollutants increases although there is not much difference between scenarios A and B. Only in Scenario C, where rapid progress is made in environmental protection, does the level of air and noise pollution eventually begin to fall, with the situation in 2020 being better than in 2010. In all scenarios the pollution increase in eastern Hubei will likely be much higher than that of western Hubei, especially in the regions of Wuhan City Circle and areas on Jianghan Plain around Jingzhou and Yichang. These regions are the most developed areas in Hubei, with the highest road density and biggest transportation demand.

With respect to the curbing of the emissions of air pollutants, many potential measures would likely need to be implemented at the national level, including:

  • Strengthening vehicle energy consumption and emission standards;
  • Imposing fuel taxes; and
  • Enacting energy consumption standards for passenger cars and light commercial vehicles.

But some measures could be implemented locally, such as:

  • Control overload and oversize transportation with more intensive monitoring and enforcement of standards through vehicle inspections;
  • Monitor traffic volume for some key road sections and control it where the volume of emissions is above permitted standards; and
  • Develop more effective logistics networks to reduce unnecessary energy consumption.

With respect to noise pollution, noise assessments at the project level should be carried out in accordance with national and industry-related technical guidelines. Specific measures that should be taken are:

  • Section routes passing by noise-sensitive buildings should be redesigned;
  • Use low-noise road surface and take measures such as relocation, functional replacement of buildings, sound barriers, soundproof windows and strengthening of traffic control to prevent and reduce road traffic noise pollution;
  • Strictly control the planning and construction of new noise-sensitive buildings to prevent making new acoustic sensitive points; and
  • Project-level EIA needs to consider regulations on establishment of new residential areas along the roads after the completion of the construction.

ii) Soil erosion, nature reserves and forest parks

The soil erosion intensities of the impacted areas were calculated using GIS techniques. 47% of the land taken by HRNP is classified as high intensity or relatively high intensity of erosion. These are concentrated in the western mountainous areas and in the hilly areas in the north and east. The ecosystems of these areas could suffer important negative impacts if major efforts at erosion control, sediment trapping, and stream diversion are not undertaken where necessary. Moreover, about half of the road network will be in areas with high frequency of geological disasters.

13 nature reserves and 6 forest parks may be negatively affected by the highway development. Likely effects include the threat to rare and endangered species; destruction, fragmentation and degradation of habitats; and disruption of natural landscape and ethnic rural villages.

In HRNP highway corridors and alignments have basically been selected, but certain minor adjustments can still be made in some highway projects. The mitigations proposed here mainly focus on the implementation of HRNP.

  • Maintain the integrity of fragmented habitats by the provision of buffer areas and the creation of habitat corridors, mainly through preservation of natural habitat along rivers, steep slopes and other sensitive areas;
  • Adopt erosion control structures, protective re-vegetation and reforestation during the construction phase;
  • Limit constructions to dates when spawning, nesting, and breeding are not at risk;
  • Reshape landscape and replant the quarries, tunnel spoil tips etc. after the construction phase; and
  • If the ecosystem of concern is not adequately preserved due to lack of effective management, restoration or compensation measures should be considered.

iii) Regional socio-economic development and ethnic minorities

Highways can contribute very significantly to the economic development of a region and the implementation of HRNP will likely produce far-reaching effects on socio-economic development in Hubei, particularly in more remote areas, many of which have large populations of ethnic minorities. For example, it is estimated that construction of the road network alone will create about 400,000 jobs per year over the lifetime of the plan. Road construction will also promote the development of associated industries in Hubei Province and other parts of the country, such as iron and steel, building materials, and machinery. Furthermore, the road network should contribute to changes in the industrial structure and the urbanization of the province. Utilization of local and natural resources and tourism are among the sectors that should achieve the greatest benefits from HRNP.

The road network will pass through several ethnic minority areas, particularly the Miao and Tujia people. HRNP could bring a huge positive economic development impact for these areas and, given the low average incomes in these areas, could result in a relatively greater improvement of their living standards than in other parts of Hubei. Better transport access should also contribute to improved education and medical care in the minority areas. However, HRNP might also pose a potential threat to the ethnic minorities’ cultures—i.e. language, dress, diet and belief systems—due to increased contact with the Han Chinese. To avoid negative effects, several measures should be taken:

  • Some section routes should be redesigned to avoid ethnic minorities’ traditional places of cultural activities and villages;
  • Control the number of tourists and develop Hubei’s tourism at a sustainable pace;
  • Promote and adequately fund bilingual education to protect minority languages; and
  • Devote more effort on communications and education to protect the cultures of ethnic minorities.

Institutional assessment and proposed actions

An analysis of HPCD’s strengths and weaknesses in environmental management (EM) of road projects was an important part of the SEA. The inter-institutional linkages between HPCD and other relevant organizations at provincial level were also assessed.

i) Results from the assessment

Generally, the EM for road projects in HPCD is good. The management of Project EIA is smooth and all project EIAs involve public participation. However, the SEA team’s assessment revealed the following shortcomings:

  • The implementation of ‘Regulations of Environmental Protection for Transport Sector in Hubei’ is still on paper. The Steering Panel for Environmental Protection of HPCD and the Environmental Protection Office have no budget and power to perform their functions as identified in the regulations.
  • Plan EIAs proposed by HPCD are delayed, reflecting the weak implementation of China’s EIA law. A mechanism for integrating environmental considerations into the design of transport plans has not been established.
  • Public participation methods in EIA should be more user-friendly and based on indigenous customs in order to avoid becoming a mere formality.
  • HPCD has held some training on SEA, but it is not systematic.
  • There is no organization in HPCD responsible for EM for the whole project cycle.
  • Mechanisms for collecting environmental data and EM information in the transport sector are not established. Moreover, there is little systematic monitoring of environmental performance of plans or projects. There are gaps between the monitoring plan in Environmental Impact Statements (EIS) and its implementation.
  • Cooperation between HPCD and other relevant institutions during the whole planning process is limited.

ii) Institutional Action Plan

In the institutional action plan several actions to start a long term process to overcome these institutional shortcomings and strengthen HPCD’s environmental capacity and performance are proposed. These are grouped into three categories: