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, http://www.econ.no
Table of Contents
Table of Contents iii
List of Tables and Figures v
List of Acronyms vii
Executive Summary 1
Background 1
Impact assessment of the HRNP and proposed mitigation measures 2
Institutional assessment and proposed actions 5
Follow up 6
1. Introduction 8
1.1 Background 8
1.2 SEA in China 9
1.3 The SEA process for HRNP 9
1.4 Methodology and data quality 11
1.5 Plan Overview 12
1.6 HPCD’s Role 15
1.7 Stakeholder analysis 15
1.8 Potential added-value of the SEA 17
2. Baseline and situation analysis 18
2.1 Introduction 18
2.2 Overview of Hubei Province 18
2.3 Road Development in Hubei 19
2.4 Environment in Hubei 21
2.5 Land Use and Ecological Environment in Hubei 23
2.6 Social and Economic Development in Hubei 25
2.7 Conclusion of key issues 29
3 Potential Effects of HRNP on Strategic Environmental and Social Issues 32
3.1 Identification of HRNP’s Key Effects 32
3.2 Scoping of significant impacts and key issues 35
3.3 Prioritization of social and environmental issues 36
3.4 Impact assessment, forecast and mitigation 37
4 Institutional Capacity Assessment 54
4.1 Background 54
4.2 Environmental Management Capacity within HPCD 54
4.3 Inter-sectoral Coordination between HPCD and
Other Relevant Sectors 58
5 Action Plan 60
5.1 Recommendations of the Action Plan 60
5.2 Monitoring the Implementation of the Action Plan 68
5.3 Final remarks and next steps 72
Annex 1: Analysis of Consistency of Plans 73
Annex 2: Characteristics of Roads in HRNP 78
Annex 3: Classification Criteria of Air Quality 81
Annex 4: Classification Criteria of Environmental Noise in Urban Area 83
Annex 5: Checklist for Identification of HRNP’s Effects 84
Annex 6: Methodology for Air Quality Assessment 88
Annex 7: Methodology for Noise Assessment 89
Annex 8: Impacts by Ecological Factors 91
Annex 9: Impacts on Cultural Relics 97
Annex 10: Environmental Legislation and Regulations for Highway Projects 100
List of Tables and Figures
Table 1- 1 Relevant Plans 13
Table 2- 1 Composition of Arterial Highway in Hubei 19
Table 2- 3 Road Accidents History for Hubei Province 21
Table 2- 5 Tourists Received in Cities from 2003 to 2005 27
Table 2- 7 Data on social development in ethnic minority areas 29
Table 3- 1 Checklist for Identification of HRNP’s Effects 32
Table 3- 2 Final results from the scoping of the SEA 35
Table 4- 4 Noise evaluation of main roads in Scenario A 44
Table 4- 11 Highway distribution in areas with
different soil erosion intensities 46
Table 4- 12 Impacts on Nature Reserves 47
Table 6- 1 Action Plan for strengthening environmental and
socio-economic analysis and performance 61
Table 6- 4 Monitoring of indicators for Action Plan performance 69
Table 4- 15 Impacts by Ecological Factors Error! Bookmark not defined.
Table 4- 16 Impacts on cultural relics 97
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Figure 1- 1 SEA Work plan 10
Figure 1- 2 Hubei Road Network 13
Figure 1- 3 Organizational relationships 15
Figure 1- 4 Matrix for Prioritizing Key Stakeholders 16
Figure 2- 2 Hubei Road Network Plan (Finished) 20
Figure 2- 3 Hubei Road Network Plan (Unfinished) 20
Figure 2- 5 Proportion of Cities Meeting Standard Grade II
and Days of API≤100 Out of 365 Days in Hubei 22
Figure 2- 6 Average Frequency of Acid Rain 22
Figure 2- 7 Amount of Air Pollutant Emission 23
Figure 2- 11 Intensities of Soil Erosion in Hubei 23
Figure 2- 14 Plants Coverage Densities in Hubei 24
Figure 2- 18 Values for GDP and the GDP per capita in
Hubei Province (1987-2005) 26
Figure 2- 21 GDP and Economic Density of Hubei in 2005 26
Figure 4- 5 Geographic distribution of CO emission intensity in
scenario A 39
Figure 4- 6 Geographic distribution of NOx emission intensity in scenario A 39
Figure 4- 11 Geographic distribution of CO emission intensity in
scenario B 40
Figure 4- 17 Geographic distribution of CO emission intensity
in scenario C 41
Figure 4- 18 Geographic distribution of NOx emission intensity in scenario C 42
Figure 4- 26 Overlay of the planned road network on nature reserves 47
Figure 4- 32 Accessibility of tourism areas before HRNP implementation 53
Figure 4- 33 Accessibility of tourism areas after HRNP implementation 53
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List of Acronyms
API / Air Pollution IndexB[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
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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 IssuesAir 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