PROPOSED ACTIONS TO MITIGATE POTENTIAL ENVIRONMENTAL & SOCIAL IMPACTS

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Proposed Actions to Mitigate Potential Environmental & Social Impacts

E1918

China: Rapid Assessment of Chemical Contamination

of the Wenchuan Earthquake in Sichuan Province

Overall Positive Impacts

The proposed project is a technical assistance project that aims to help Sichuan identify potential environmental risk associated with hazardous materials in the earthquake area. As an integral part of the Program on Post Earthquake Environmental Safety Assessment and Countermeasures of the Ministry of Environment (MEP) of China, the project itself is an environmental safeguarding activity that will have significant positive environmental and social contributions to the recovery and reconstruction of the project area.

Project Level Negative Impacts and Mitigation Measures

At the project level, the major environmental concerns are related to personal health and safety of site investigators and laboratory technicians and proper management of a very limited amount of wastes generated under this project.
Health and safety. Concerns on health and safety issues will be adequately addressed through provision of necessary personal protection equipment (PPE) and prior safety training to all involved staff. In particular, the training will emphasize the importance of how to carry out inspection and sampling in the damaged area without provoking any risks from physical stability of the structures as well as from hazardous substances.
Limited amount of hazardous wastes generated under the project. Implementation of this project will generate laboratory waste, including those unused samples and all hazardous wastes generated from sampling and analysis processes. In addition, personal protection clothes and equipment will also become waste if they are no longer usable. All these wastes will be collected, properly packaged, and disposed of according to hazardous waste management procedures defined by the national environmental regulations. By doing so, environmental and health risks caused by improperly stored or disposed wastes can be minimized.

Potential Negative Impacts Associated with Future Actions and Mitigation Measures

Although this project will not finance any investment activities, the project will finance consulting services that will deliver recommendations that assist MEP/Sichuan Environmental Protection Bureau (EPB) prioritize their mitigation actions. Therefore, the project is expected to have indirect impacts in the project area when MEP/Sichuan EPB adopt the project’s recommendations to plan its emergency response and future mitigation actions at the high priority sites. Properly planned and implemented emergency response and future mitigation actions are expected to generate positive social and environmental impacts for the project counties. However, it is also recognized that improper use of such recommendations in emergency response and future mitigation actions may lead to secondary environmental contamination if identified hazardous substances are mishandled.
Given this practical concern, the project will require the technical consultant to particularly highlight how the emergency response measures should be implemented to avoid or minimize possible secondary environmental risks associated with such mitigation actions. In addition, all emergency responses actions should be carried out with the greatest care and follow all national environmental requirements, including those policies, technical guidelines issued specifically for the recovery and reconstruction of the earthquake area.
For medium- and long-term actions, MEP/Sichuan EPB will be reminded that results of this project are based on preliminary assessment activities. In-depth site assessment will have to be carried out to help MEP/Sichuan EPB further understand site situations before they can develop any site mitigation plans.

Sequencing of Mitigation Activities to Avoid and Minimize Risks

MEP emergency policies, plans and guidelines issued prior to June 2, 2008. MEP and the Sichuan EPB have already taken a series of actions in their efforts to minimize such risks. To minimize potential secondary environmental risks associated with activities to be carried out during the recovery and reconstruction process, MEP issued eleven emergency notices, policies, and technical guidelines (see Annex 1 of the Project Document for details). In addition, MEP commissioned technical experts to review environmental impact of the earthquake immediately after the earthquake. Based on the findings and recommendations of technical experts, MEP initiated its MEP Program to systematically assess environmental impacts and risks in the post-earthquake environment and recommend counter measures on key issues, such as drinking water safety, nuclear and radioactive safety, soil and ecology, environmental protection in reconstruction and resettlement, chemical contamination, and recovery and strengthening of environmental protection capacity (see Annex 1 of the Project Document for details). This proposed project has been included in the program as one of its ten components.
The MEP Program on integrated assessments on environment (launched on June 3, 2008 and expected to be completed by June 3, 2009). Component 10 will reach conclusions from different assessments on soil, drinking water, solid waste, nuclear and radioactive substances, ecology and biodiversity, temporary resettlement, potential chemical contamination (from this proposed project), industrial development strategy and environment protection during reconstruction, environmental protection infrastructure and enforcement capacity. This will allow Component 10 of the MEP Program to develop an integrated assessment which will provide a comprehensive understanding of the earthquake damages to the environment and propose measures to ensure that mitigation actions and future remediation and reconstruction programs will be consistent with applicable national policies and standards. Information collected from the MEP’s ongoing environmental monitoring program will also be reviewed and analyzed so that priorities for environmental safety of the earthquake area can be identified. Based on the integrated assessment, new policies, guidelines and action plans will be developed and enforced to better regulate environmental emergency responses as well as long-term mitigation actions to be carried out in the earthquake area.
Sichuan’s integrated re-construction program (expected to start after situations in the earthquake area are stabilized). To support the future reconstruction, MEP will present the integrated assessment to the Sichuan EPB and Sichuan Government. This assessment, together with other sectors’ assessments (such as assessment on effects on agriculture and livestock, construction, health, education, infrastructure, utilities, etc.) will help Sichuan to prioritize its reconstruction and recovery program, which is expected to be presented to the State Council. Initial estimate is that the reconstruction period will last three to eight years.
Government’s requirements in construction (including upgrading and expansion) of any facility. The reconstruction of the earthquake area will be carried out by following strictly all existing national regulations and technical standards and guidelines, including those for environmental protection. All large construction (any construction of building, facilities, schools, hospitals, road, sewerage plants, chemical plants, etc) will have to be reviewed and cleared by the National Development and Research Committee (NDRC) or by the Sichuan DRC, and other relevant authorities, including the Sichuan EPB. Any proposed planning and construction activities (including reconstruction of damaged facilities) will have to follow national environmental regulations to carry out either planning environmental assessment or environmental impact assessment to identify and mitigate potential environmental impacts of such proposed actions. Conclusion of any construction activities (such as schools, landfills, industrial plants, waste management facility) will also be reviewed and commissioned by relevant government authorities (either provincial or local) to ensure the facility has met all safety, health, fire fighting and other construction codes. Only when this permit is obtained, can the facility be used.

Public Disclosure

Another measure to ensure proper implementation of emergency response and future actions is public disclosure of project information. Due to the fact that the projects counties have been severely damaged by the earthquake and have suffered secondary disasters such as landslides, flooding and continuous aftershocks, the preparation of this project has been carried out mainly with MEP through direct phone and email communications with the Sichuan EPB. It is also not expected that disclosure of project documents at the project counties can be done at this stage. One project county, Beichuan, has been partially flooded, and the entire population has been re-settled throughout the Sichuan province. The other four project counties have also been seriously damaged – roads are almost impassible, most schools, libraries, hospitals have collapsed, and local authorities and population are currently mainly concerned with safety, sanitary, and survival issues.
In view of this, MEP has agreed to disclose the project document in English on the MEP POPs website within a month and disclose the project document in Chinese within two months after the signing of the Grant Agreement between the Bank and the Ministry of Finance of China. Following the MEP practice, the Sichuan Academy of Environmental Sciences will disclosure the project document on its own website.
The project has included one project component – Component 4 on Information Disclosure – to effectively carry out public disclosure to ensure the public are aware and fully informed. Monitoring results, preliminary risk assessment reports, and recommendations on mitigation measures will be publicized through leaflets, websites, TV and radio programs. In addition, this component will support preparation and distribution of information to the public on necessary safeguards measures for avoiding or minimizing potential exposure to releases of hazardous chemicals and wastes. However, caution will be exercised in information disclosure to ensure that any disclosed information will not be misinterpreted and cause widespread panic to the currently very vulnerable population.

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