E902 Bosnia Herzegovina Urban Infrastructure and Service Delivery Project Environmental Assessment and Management Plan [Draft, February 2, 20041 TABLE OF CONTENTS I. Background ...............................................................3 II. Project Description: Urban Infrastrucutre and Service Delivery (UISD) Project .....4 III. Project Location .............................................................. 5 IV. Monitoring and Enforcement ...............................................................5 V. Baseline Condition ...............................................................6 VI. Environmental Impacts and Environmental Management Plan (EMP) .................... 6 VII. Analysis of Alternatives ..............................................................8 VIII. Institutional Arrangements ...............................................................8 IX Public Consultation ...............................................................8 X. Institutional Strengthening .9 I. Background Administrative Structure: The design and implementation for the Urban Infrastructure and Service Delivery (UISD) Project for Bosnia and Herzegovina requires working with a political structure that includes two separate administrative structures under an over- arching "state umbrella." After signing of the Dayton Peace Accord ( 14. Dec. 1995 in Dayton, Ohio, USA) Bosnia- Herzegovina administratively was divided into two entities: Federation of Bosnia Herzegovina (FiBH) and Republika Srpska (RS) . Another region of Bosnia-Herzegovina is the district of Brcko which is independent of both entities. FiBH is made up of 10 cantons and 80 municipalities, with separate administrations. RS does not have cantons but has seven regions and 61 municipalities The Federation Cantons are as follows: - Una Sana - Posavina - Tuzla - Zenica-Doboj - Bosnia-Podrinje - Srednjebosanski - Herzegovina-Neretva - West Herzegovina - Sarajevo - Herzeg-Bosnia The Republika Srpska regions are the following: - Banja Luka - Doboj - Bjeljina - Sarajevo-Romanija - Trebinje On the State level, the Ministry of Civil Works and Communications, would come the closest to having some relationship to urban services, but in practice all environmental laws in BiH are produced, approved, and implemented at the Entity level. In FBiH, environmental protection is decentralized to the cantonal level. In RS, environmental protection is the responsibility of the entity level. The division of administrative responsibilities is often complex and overlapping. For example, in the Federation, the Ministry of Planning and Environment is responsible for waste management policy and legislation while other Ministries also play a role for related services including: Ministry of Agriculture, Water Utility and Forestry for wastewater discharge; Ministry of Health for clinical waste management and the Ministry for Energy, Mining & Industry for industrial waste management. This structure of organization responsibility is similar at the Cantonal level in FBiH. The Cantonal 3 Ministries are largely responsible for policy and legislation in their respective fields. In RS, the Ministry of Urban Housing, Communal Services, Civil Engineering and Ecology is responsible for waste management policy and legislation. There is no Canton structure but the organization of services in the municipalities closely resembles that of the Federation. Within the municipalities, the Communal Enterprises are usually responsible for waste management as well as collection of fees from customers. There is also an Inter-Entity Environmental Steering Committee that was established in July, 1998 made up of Government officials, professionals and academics, to coordinate environmental policy in harmonizing environmental laws between the Entities. The unevenness in organizational structures, evident from the above description, along with political realities, has led to huge inefficiencies in the provision of urban infrastructure and service delivery. This project will introduce a new approach to service delivery which addresses the institutional, financial, technical and environmental aspects of urban strategic planning. II. Project Description: Bosnia Herzegovina Urban Infrastructure and Service Delivery (UISD) Component 1. Urban Management Improvement Plans and Investments This component would finance: urban management plans for select areas based on an urban database and information system; strengthening institutional capacities and improving coordination, improving revenues to support service delivery; a strategic urban planning process based on more effective planning, implementation and management of municipal assets. The component would also finance investments in selected service sectors based on the conclusions of the strategic planning process. Component 2. Institutional Strengthening This component would finance: institutional strengthening and capacity-building programs for service delivery focusing on efficiency and cost recovery; involvement of local operators; a national study of tariff-setting methodology and guidelines; a national study to quantify the extent of cross-debt among budget enterprises; urban management plans; training of local government staff based on a needs assessment (in coordination with the U. S. Agency for Intemational Development); and other appropriate capacity building. Component 3. Investments for Improved Efficiency This component would finance: least-cost priority investments based on system improvement, lowering energy and related investments as identified during project preparation. 4 Component 4. Engineering Services This component would finance: planning and design; engineering for the preparation of final designs and bidding documents; and assistance with procurement and supervision of construction for investments. Component 5. Project Implementation III. Project Location The location of project sites to be covered under the UISD Project is under preparation. [Details on selection process to be provided in final report]. Five municipalities will be selected and sites will be clustered in these municipalities. Utilities with prepared plans will be given a priority. Targets projected for the first year would be existing facilities and would not, therefore, have negative impact. IV. Monitoring and Enforcement Environmental classification. At the meeting, a PCN-stage environmental assessment category "B" was assigned to the project. Investments for the first year of project implementation will be identified prior to appraisal. The final draft of the EA will cover these investments. Other investments will be identified during first year of project implementation. Environmental management plans (EMPs) will be prepared for the first-year investment program. These will be provided in the final version of this EA. Environmental/Social Management Process Frameworks (ESMPFs) will be prepared to describe the procedures and implementation arrangements for ensuring full consideration of environmental and social concerns of the rest of the investment program in accordance with Bank environmental/social safeguards and Moldova and Ukraine regulations. This will cover natural habitats and involuntary resettlement. Both the EMP and ESMPF will form an integral part of the Project Implementation Plans or Operational Manuals. The EMP will include the minutes of public consultation done with the stakeholders and local NGOs. All safeguards related documents (e.g., EMP, RAP or Policy Framework, Environmental/Social Management Process Frameworks) should be disclosed before project appraisal mission in country in local language. No physical relocation is expected but land acquisition and land use could be impacted. This would be determined by Appraisal for first-year investments. The ESMPF would cover policy for investments for subsequent years. The ESMPF would be a condition of appraisal and would be embedded in the project Operations Manual. 5 If the project makes use of wetlands or lagoons owned by municipalities, (but perhaps currently encumbered by legal or illegal users) land acquisition through eminent domain could be involved, triggering OP 4.12. If project sites are to be determined during preparation, this issue should be addressed as part of a social assessment, and/or a Land Acquisition Assessment or a Resettlement Action Plan, which would then be a condition of appraisal. For subsequent land acquisitions, a Policy Framework will be in place by appraisal. The Policy Framework must include a screening mechanism for land acquisition. In addition, the Policy Framework basically spells out the steps that must be taken to ensure compliance with the OP if there is land acquisition. This would include a description of standard procedures in Moldova/Ukraine when private land is expropriated for public use, and an assessment of the extent to which these procedures meet the requirements of the OP (particularly compensation at full replacement value--in all cases--and income restoration--if the loss is more than 10% of the holdings of the affected party). If local procedures do not meet these criteria, the Policy Framework will outline what additional steps will be taken to ensure compliance. V. Baseline Condition In Bosnia-Herzegovina there is no central that might provide baseline water quality information, nor is there any available written evidence. The data that is not available contains surface water, groundwater monitoring, and air quality. The final draft will include some indicative information. VI. Environmental Impacts and Environmental Management Plan (EMP) No potentially negative environmental impacts are expected. The project, therefore, has been classed as category B. An EMP will be prepared for the first list of investments by Appraisal and included in the final EA. The EMP will include a mitigation plan and a monitoring plan for the first list of investments. These will also serve as the models for the subsequent investments identified for years two and three. Framework agreements will provide requirements for these years as well, including land acquisition and wet- lands protection. A sample for the matrix for the mitigation plan is shown in figure 1. 6 Fieure 1. SAMPLE TABLE For Mitigation Plan LOCATION: Cost Institutional responsibility Phase Issue Mitigating measure Comments Install Operate Install Operate 7 VII. Analysis of Alternatives Without the project, urban infrastructure and the provision of related services would continue to decline in a dangerous spiral. The negative economic and social impacts would result, with significant public health impacts. The time scale for this scenario cannot be predicted with accuracy. Currently, the situation is already serious. The project will provide targeted assistance to water services and other services as identified by the respective participating communities. The assistance to the planning process will enable more effective management of the sector, avoid duplicative efforts, and in the long rung ensure inclusion of the community in investment decisions and service management. VIII. Institutional Arrangements Each utility, agency, or municipality receiving assistance under the project will be responsible to the PIJ for documenting compliance with the EMP and responsibilities designated under the Monitoring Plan. Included would be responsibilities for conducting inspections, mandating monitoring activities, collecting and forming a database of monitoring results and analyses. IX. Public Consultation The key stakeholders included the concerned agencies and the citizens of the municipalities to be serviced by the project's rehabilitated urban infrastructure and services. During project preparation stakeholders, including local and national NGOs, are being involved in workshops, local level community meetings, and public consultations. A social assessment conducted by a local consultant identified primary and secondary stakeholders and prepared profiles of communities. In addition to collecting baseline social data a communication strategy was also developed The assessment also identified and prioritized the most critical interventions to improve urban service delivery The methodology for the conduct of the assessment included: * Face-to-face interviews based on a standardized questionnaire that the Consultant develops [sample of 250 respondents/beneficiaries for each of the five municipalities]; * focus group discussion with target groups drawn from (i) representative beneficiaries and (ii) primary stakeholders, including NGOs, in each of the five municipalities [possible segregation into more than one group is possible for either beneficiaries or stakeholders]; and 8 in-depth interviews with representatives of the local municipal government, utilities and other service providers, and key informants in each of the five municipalities (three to ten). The EA and EMP will also be discussed during project preparation with and will be publicly disclosed. The minutes of such consultations will be attached to these documents. public consultation meeting will be the week of 18th February 2002. X. Institutional Strengthening Considering the current institutional situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina it is projected that there is a need for technical assistance and training of staff to support monitoring the EMP. Recommendations for training packages are under preparation and will be present in the final draft. Possible activities would include seminars and workshops,. For example: * Public consultation and disclosure * Environmental policies and disclosure * Environmental impact assessments during the construction and rehabilitation phases * System and organization of managing the environment * National regulations A sample costing for a two-day workshop is provided in figure 2. Figure 2: Cost Estimate -Two day workshop Description Local consultants in US$ Foreign consultants in (2) US$ (2) Lectures and literature 1,600.00 3,500.00 Room and technical 500.00 equipment Overnight stay of 50.00 / participant x 20= participants 1,000 refreshments 300.00 TOTAL $3400 $3,500 TOTAL for 5 years $17,000 $17,500 Bosnia: UISD Project February 2, 2002 5:49 PM 9 I i i i I i 4