Public Disclosure Authorized Public Disclosure Authorized Public Disclosure Authorized Public Disclosure Authorized YPWR_SD_LS CHS 1    RP363 $ / 37 B. / 2 (a) (b) (c) (d) OP/BP4.12 (a) (b) (c) (d) (i) (ii) (iii) (iv) (v) (e) (f) (i) (ii) (iii) (g) / 3 (h) (i) (j) (k) (l) (m) (n) & (a) (i) (ii) (iii) (b) (c) 200 200 10% “ ” 4 OP4.12 (d) / (e) (f) (a) (b) (c) (d) (e) (f) - (a) (b) (c) (d) 5 (e) (f) (g) (h) (i) (j) '  “ ” “ ” RP ( PAP R&R (a) (b) 6 (c) (d) (a) 6 / 15 (b) 30 (c) (i) (ii) (iii) (d) (a) (b) (c) / 7 (a) (i) (ii) (iii) (b) ) 1986 6 25 1998 8 29 2004 11 1999 9 24 2000 9 22 2001 1 1 1999 9 27 1999 4 2 1999 1 1 OP/BP. 4.12 * z z z 8 z z + z z z z z 1 , 9 (a) (b) / (c) - 3 10 3 6 Y Y 16 / . 10 – – z z z / / z z z z z z 11 YPWR_SD_LS ENG The Policy Framework for Resettlement and Land Acquisition on The Changjiang/Pearl River Watershed Rehabilitation Project Hohai University Novermber 1, 2005 12 A. Project Introduction The development objective of the Changjiang/Pearl River Watershed Rehabilitation Project is to create and promote an integrated and replicable model of sustainable rural development in the poor and highly degraded watersheds of Southern China. This model would achieve the interconnected objectives of economic as well as environmental sustainability in the targeted sub-watersheds. The components of efficient and sustainable use of land and water resources would reverse the trend of decades of unsustainable resources management practices that have led to widespread poverty and serious environmental destruction, and reduce the sediment inflow into the two major river systems of Southern China. This project will be implemented in 37 counties in Yunnan, Guizhou, Chongqing and Hubei Provinces. By targeting severely eroded watersheds in these counties, this project works in area that are home to many of the poor and disadvantaged people in China, including many of their national minorities. By providing alternatives to the currently dominating unsustainable land use practices, this project will work with these people and communities to increase their incomes, improve their environment, and contribute to other aspects as their well-being. For the above-mentioned objectives, the project will contain components such as construction of terraces in areas with thin layers of soil, irrigation and drainage, village infrastructure construction of drinking water supply systems and small reservoirs/ponds, renewable energy supply, horticulture and economic trees, livestock development, as well as afforestation and vegetative cover. Although no population resettlement and land acquisition are expected in the project design, some potential loss of land or assets by individuals might occur with these components, such as small village-level infrastructure construction, unforeseeable at the project preparation and appraisal stages. Therefore, this Policy Framework for Resettlement and Land Acquisition is thus prepared as a guideline for resettlement preparation and implementation, if there is any. B. Principles and Objectives In the World Bank assisted projects, final borrowers or component sponsors are expected to take all necessary measures to mitigate adverse social impacts. The costs associated with mitigation of adverse social impacts on project affected people, such as relocation of affected persons or restoration of livelihoods will be met by the component implementing units. The general guidelines of this PF are to be followed by all components under the Loan involving involuntary resettlement. Where adverse social impacts are identified, plans for resettlement and rehabilitation (R&R) will need to be prepared based on policies and procedures laid out in this framework. 13 Every effort will be made to avoid or minimize the need for land acquisition and resettlement for any components. In the unlikely and exceptional event that any of the components under the Changjiang/Pearl River Watershed Rehabilitation Project (WRP) require additional land, houses and other assets becomes unavoidable, the implementing units shall adopt this PF. The principle objective of the PF is to ensure that all Project Affected People (PAP) will be compensated for their losses and provided with rehabilitation measures to assist them to improve, or at least maintain, their pre-project living standards and income earning capacity. The PAP includes the following persons to be identified by the baseline information collected: (a) The persons whose place of business or employment, and/or agricultural land is in part or in total affected (permanently or temporarily) by the subprojects; (b) Persons whose houses are in part or in total affected by the subprojects; (c) Persons whose business are affected in part or in total (temporarily or permanently) by the subprojects; and (d) Persons whose crops (annual and perennial), trees and fixed assets are affected in part or in total by the subprojects; or whose access to grazing is reduced by hill closure or grazing bans in areas where re-vegetation is promoted. The principles outlined in the World Bank’s OP/BP 4.12 have been adopted in preparing this PF. In this regard the following principles and objectives would be applied: (a) Acquisition of land and other assets, and resettlement of people will be minimized as much as possible. Where land acquisition is unavoidable, the project will be designed to minimize adverse impact on the (PAP), especially the vulnerable groups; (b) All PAP will be compensated, relocated and rehabilitated, if required, so as to improve their standard of living, income earning capacity and production capacity, or at least to restore them to pre-Project levels; (c) All PAP residing in, or cultivating land, or having rights over resources within the project area of the socioeconomic survey are entitled to compensation for their losses and/or income rehabilitation. Lack of legal right to the assets lost will not bar the PAP from entitlement to such compensation, rehabilitation and relocation measures; (d) The rehabilitation measures to be provided are (i) compensation at full replacement cost for houses and other structures; (ii) compensation for land acquisition and resettlement subsidy for the affected villages and farmers; (iii) dislocation allowance and transition subsides; (iv) full compensation for crops, trees and other similar agricultural products at market value; and (v) other assets, and appropriate rehabilitation measures to compensate for loss of livelihood; (e) Replacement house-plots, place of business and agricultural land will be as close as possible to the land that was lost, and acceptable to the PAP; 14 (f) Land-for-land is the preferred option. Land-for-land may be substituted by cash provided that: (i) land is not available in the proximity of the subproject area; (ii) PAP willingly accept cash compensation for land and all assets on it; and receive full replacement value without any deductions for depreciation; and (iii) cash compensation is accompanied by appropriate rehabilitation measures which together with project benefits results in restoration of incomes to at least pre-subprojects levels; (g) The resettlement transition period will be minimized, land-for-land and/or cash compensation provided to the PAP completed prior to the expected start-up date of works in the respective activities. (h) Resettlement plans will be implemented following consultations with the PAP, and will have the endorsement of the PAP; (i) The previous level of community services and access to resources will be maintained or improved after resettlement; (j) Any acquisition of, or restriction on access to resources owned or manage by PAP as common property will be mitigated by arrangements ensuring access of those PAP to equivalent resources on a continuing basis; (k) Financial and physical resources for resettlement and rehabilitation will be made available as and when required; (l) Resettlement program will include adequate institutional arrangements to ensure effective and timely design, planning and implementation of resettlement and rehabilitation measures; (m) Adequate arrangements for effective and timely internal and external monitoring will be made on implementation of all resettlement measures; (n) Wherever possible the implementing units will ensure that local residents in the affected areas benefit from the services and facilities created for, or by, the project. C. Process for Preparing and Approving Resettlement Plans All components (that is, project activities associated with a certain sub-watershed, such as hill closure, terracing, or irrigation rehabilitation) involving involuntary resettlement will be required to carry out a socioeconomic survey to determine the impact on the affected area and the affected population. The survey will determine whether or not the implementing units would need preparation of a Resettlement Plan (RP) or an Abbreviated Resettlement Plan (ARP) to offset adverse impacts and access to benefits by the affected communities. The main sequential steps involved in the resettlement approval process are as follows: (a) Component sponsor (who is responsible for specific project component implementation, such as the county Forestry Bureau for afforestation, or the village counsel for community level infrastructure construction) furnishes preliminary information report on the proposed component to the PMO and the local authorities at the earliest possible stage. The preliminary information report would contain basic information on: (i) the proposed location of project; (ii) the total area of land required for the physical component , the type of land, current land use and possible impacts of 15 land use changes, and the proposed strategy for land acquisition; and (iii) the people to be affected by the component including those losing home, land or livelihoods; and those deriving benefits (employment, electricity, etc.) from the component ; (b) The PMO will, after its review and consultation with the local authorities, inform the component sponsor to prepare a resettlement document according to this RPF; (c) For each component that may involve resettlement, the Bank requires a satisfactory resettlement plan or an abbreviated resettlement plan that is consistent with the provision of the policy framework be submitted to the Bank for approval before the component is accepted for Bank financing. When the number of persons affected by the project exceeds 200, a resettlement plan shall be prepared. Where impacts on the entire affected population are minor, or fewer than 200 people are affected, an abbreviated resettlement plan may be agreed with the borrower (impacts are considered “minor” if the affected people are not physically displaced and less than 10% of their productive assets are lost). In the latter case, the Bank may review and approve the first plans and when they are adequate, then agree to approval of subsequent plans by the implementation agency (either PMO or specific resettlement office/unit), if it has demonstrated adequate institutional capacity to review resettlement plans and ensure their consistency with OP4.12; (d) The component sponsor prepares the RP or ARP and submits it to the local authorities, the PMO and the World Bank for review/concurrence; (e) The reviewers shall verify the adequacy of the report in light of policies, principles and procedures set out in this PF, and convey the decision to the component sponsor; (f) After obtaining concurrence of the World Bank, the component sponsor executes the RP or ARP which would also contain terms and conditions related to implementation of the plans agreed in the PF. The ARP for each component will be prepared by the respective implementing units in accordance with the provisions of this PF. The ARP includes the following contents: (a) a census survey of displaced persons and valuation of assets; (b) description of compensation and other resettlement assistance to be provided; (c) consultations with displaced people about acceptable alternatives; (d) institutional responsibility for implementation and procedures for grievance redress; (e) arrangements for monitoring and implementation; and (f) a timetable and budget. The RP to be submitted thereafter needs not include the policy principles, entitlements, and eligibility criteria, organizational arrangements, arrangements for monitoring and evaluation, the framework for participation, and mechanisms for grievance redress set forth in the resettlement policy framework. The component - specific resettlement plan needs to include baseline census and socioeconomic survey information; specific compensation rates and standards; policy entitlements related to 16 any additional impacts identified through the census or survey; description of resettlement sites and programs for improvement or restoration of livelihoods and standards of living; implementation schedule for resettlement activities; and detailed cost estimate. The RP includes the following contents: (a) description of the component; (b) potential impacts; (c) socioeconomic studies and baseline census; (d) additional policy entitlements; (e) compensation rates for losses; (f) resettlement measures; (g) site selection, site preparation, and relocation; (h) housing, infrastructure, and social services; (i) implementation schedule; (j) costs and budget D. Estimated Possible Resettlement/Land Acquisition and Prepared Ways to Avoid the Possibility The investment of the project is mainly provided for on-farm irrigation in water resources component, agro-technology and production service systems in agriculture, and shelterbelts and afforestation in forestry. No main systems will be built. All subprojects will be applied for bottom up, while selected optimum top down. Local farmers are fully aware of, and warmly demanding, the subprojects to be designed and implemented in their areas. According to previous experience accumulated locally, the following measures are determined by each of the local PMOs to avoid any land acquisition: Upgrade the quality to the specified standard by dredging and repairing the existed branch canals, laterals, and ditches; Increase arable land by reducing ditches length with straight instead of curved on- farm works; Minimize land using by optimum canal profile design and seepage control (lining) of the canals which will reduce the canal cross-section and land required; Hill closure will be carried out after extensive informed consultation with local communities, by which alternatives for farmers’ gathering, grazing or firewood collection are discussed and worked out, such as biogas and fencing liveskock to be introduced and established in parallel; and Strengthen monitoring on project land use and impact. During the project implementation, new proposals under other components may be made; or the RP prepared before the project appraisal may need to be revised or updated. E. Eligibility Criteria The entitlement policy aims to enable PAP to replace the assets they have lost on account of the project, to recover and to improve upon their pre-project living standards within the shortest possible time. In general, the resettlement & 17 rehabilitation (R&R) package would consist of (a) provision for replacement assets or its cash equivalent, where replacement is not feasible; (b) rehabilitation grants to compensate for temporary disruption in life and economic activities; (c) either employment or training, capital and enterprise support for income restoration in case of loss of livelihoods, and (d) provision for replacement of community facilities and services for affected communities. PAP losing agricultural land will be entitled to the following types of compensation and rehabilitation measures: (a) For the majority of schemes, the land will be reallocated within the village by the village committees which are in charge of the collective land. According to the Land Administration Law, it situations where land reallocation is not possible, the PAP will be paid a maxim compensation and resettlement subsidy equivalent to 6 times of the average annual production output value of the land in the previous three years. If this is not sufficient to restore the livelihoods of the PAP to the pre-component level, the compensation/subsidy may be raised to a maximum of 15 times of the average annual output value of the land in the previous three years; (b) If land compensation and resettlement subsidies paid are still insufficient to help the PAP needing resettlement to maintain their original living standards, the resettlement subsidies may be increased upon approval by the PMO and relevant provincial governments. However, the total land compensation and resettlement subsidies shall not exceed 30 times the average annual value of the requisitioned and for the three years preceding such requisition; (c) These amounts will be paid to the village committees whose land is affected and will be used for (i) increasing land areas under cultivation if land is available; (ii) intensification of agriculture through provision of irrigation, improved agricultural practices, etc.; and (iii) development of non-agriculture based income generation activities. PAP will be compensated for the loss of standing crops, fruit or industrial trees, as well as any fixed assets at market prices; (d) PAP whose land is temporarily taken by the works under the project activity will be compensated for their loss of income, standing crops and for the cost of soil restoration and damaged infrastructures. PAP losing house and auxiliary structures will be entitled to the following compensation and rehabilitation measures: (a) PAP whose houses are being acquired by the components will be provided replacement housing within easy communing distance of their existing homes, and the new housing will be equal size/quality of the house lost; (b) PAP will be provided with compensation at full replacement value, without any deduction for depreciation, for any structures and fixed assets affected by the components ; (c) A pre-determined dislocation allowance according to the prevailing rates of the project areas will also be provided. 18 If the house and/or structure is only partially affected by the project activity, the implementing unit may, if it is acceptable to the PAP, acquire the entire structures with full compensation or provide cash compensation for the portion affected as mutually agreed between the PAP and the sponsors. PAP losing business will be entitled to the following compensation and rehabilitation measures: (a) The mechanism for compensation loss of business will be: (i) the provision of alternative business site of equal size and accessibility to customers, satisfactory to the PAP; (ii) cash compensation to the owner for lost business structure reflecting full replacement cost of the structures, without depreciation and the cost of transfer; and (iii) cash compensation for the loss of income during the transition period. (b) PAP will also be provided compensation at full replacement cost, without depreciation for any other fixed assets affected in part or in total by the subprojects. F. Legal Framework The Land Administration Law of the People’s Republic of China (adopted at the 16th Meeting of the Standing Committee of the Sixth National People’s Congress on June 25, 1986, and revised at the 4th Meeting of the Standing Committee of the Ninth National People’s congress on August 29, 1998); Directives on Compensation and Resettlement as for Land Acquisition (approved by Ministry of Land Resource on November 2004); Land Administration Regulations in Yunnan Province (approved and put into force on September 24, 1999); Land Administration Regulations in Guizhou Province (approved on September 22, 2000 and put into force on January 1, 2001); Land Administration Regulations in Hubei Province (amended approved and put into force on September 27, 1999); Chongqing Compensation and Resettlement Rules as for Land Aquisition (amended approved on April 2 1999 and put into force on January, 1999); The above laws and regulations constitute the legal framework governing the implementation of this PF. The World Bank’s OP/BP. 4.12 on Involuntary Resettlement sets forth all the resettlement policies and principles which will be well considered by the PMO. G. Organizational Procedures Although the primary responsibility for enforcement of the PF and implementation of the R&R rest with the component sponsors, such as specific line agencies or local communities as the construction units who are responsible for implementation of the respective project components, the oversight responsibility shall rest with the PMO and the local PMOs. First of all, the PMOs are fully responsible for the project plan and implementation. If any change in project design measure or construction site imply land acquisition and/or resettlement, the PMOs and governments at each level will take joint 19 responsibilities with local land management authorities in regard to: (i) directing and guiding construction units in the formulation of a land acquisition and resettlement plan in line with the Framework; (ii) assisting the construction units in arranging and settling compensation funds; (iii) assisting the land management authority to solve problems between the construction units and the affected people; (iv) supervising implementation of resettlement plan; (v) preparing implementation progress reports. In addition, the PMOs will appoint people to be responsible for review and management of sub-project land acquisition. If the construction of sub-project has to involve land acquisition and/or resettlement, the construction unit should formulate a specific plan which has to be submitted to the higher level PMO and the local land authority at the same level. Land management authority at each government level should review the scope, quantity of land acquisition, carry on land acquisition registering, handling land acquisition procedures and supervise compensation by local governments. The PMOs shall also carry out regular monitoring as required by the World Bank, to ensure that the provisions of the PF are satisfied. In the meantime, the PMOs will arrange special training for the relevant project staff as locally needed, on this Policy Framework, and on the planning and implementation of land acquisition and resettlement mitigation measures. H. Implementation Process A detailed implementation schedule of the various activities to be undertaken will be included in the resettlement instrument. The basic implementation process will designed as follows: Carrying on investigation on social and economic situation in the would-be land acquisition areas; Carrying on investigation and registering on affected populations (persons, households, villages, types and quantities and the affected scope etc.); Conducting consultation with the affected communities and people; Formulating measures for land acquisition and resettlement in line with relevant policy, law , regulation and compensation standard; Formulating design for land acquisition and its implementation schedule; and Payment of compensation and furnishing of other rehabilitation entitlements (in cash or in-kind), and relocation if that be the case, will be completed at least one month prior to the scheduled start-up date of works in the respective component site. I. Grievance Redress Mechanisms Since the resettlement work will be carried out with the full participation of the PAP, it is expected that no major grievance issue will arise. However, to ensure that the 20 PAP have avenues for redressing their grievance related to any aspect of land acquisition and resettlement, detailed procedures of redressal of grievances have been established in this PF. The objective is to respond to the complaints of the PAP speedily and in a transparent manner, without resorting to complicated formal channels to the extent possible. The procedures are as follows: (a) Stage 1, any person aggrieved by any aspect of the resettlement document can lodge an oral or written grievance to the Village Committee, township/ town government or Residents Committee, District Government; (b) Stage 2, if the aggrieved person is not satisfied with the decision of the grass- roots authorities at Stage 1, s/he can present the case to the land administration bureau from those immediately above Stage 1 level through the highest authorities of the respective project area. (c) Stage 3, if the PAP is still dissatisfied with the decision of the higher authorities, the case may be submitted for consideration by the People’s Court in Accordance with the “Civil Procedure Act”. J. Funding Arrangement Compensation of land is based on ten times of the average annual output value of the requisitioned land for three years preceding such requisition. Resettlement subsidies for requisition of cultivated land shall be six times the average annual output value of the requisitioned cultivated for three years preceding such requisition. In order to protect the interests of the farmers and to ensure the land acquisition and resettlement compensation will not be reduced by the drop of agricultural output value in the market, a minimum of Y(to be defined)/mu of the output value or Y(to be defined)/mu (multiplied by 16) of compensation is determined. The value of the fix assets is estimated according to the replacement cost. Details of the cost estimation and other compensation for moving and loss of production/business are included in the Resettlement Plan prepared for the project before appraisal. The land acquisition and resettlement compensation are sourced from the counterpart funds. All the funds shall be paid to the PAP before the land is taken and the house is demolished. In the case of large-sized construction, the compensation funds will be paid by the land user (the construction unit) to the Land Management Bureau at the county level, after the verification of its land acquisition plan by the Bureau and PMO. The Bureau is responsible for allocation of the compensation payments for land to the land owners, and the compensation for private assets to individual owners, coordinated by the PMO. For the small, village level construction, land acquisition will be normally offset by reallocation of collective land under the village council’s arrangement, and any compensation related will be carried out through cooperation of the council and PMO. 21 K. Participation and Consultation The component sponsors would be required to carry out the participatory consultation with the people in the project areas. A broad acceptance of proposed measures by the PAP – including relocation areas and replacement lands, compensation policies and rates, proposed income restoration measures for R&R – will be a necessary condition for approval of the resettlement plans. PAP will participate throughout the various stages of the planning and implementation of the resettlement plans. Prior to taking of land or other assets, the PMO and the land management authorities will visit affected villages or households to discuss the location and quantity of assets to be acquired, and compensation rates and any other rehabilitation measures to be provided. Following consultations, any remedial plans will be disseminated to the project-affected persons in a manner accessible to them. Information disseminated to the project-affected persons will include: (i) compensation rates for all categories of affected assets; (ii) eligibility criteria for all other forms of assistance that may be provided; and (iii) grievance procedures (including specific contact information for initiating, or following up on, grievances). L. Monitoring The internal monitoring of resettlement impacts will be carried out by the implementing units as an integral part of the implementation of the plans, and will cover the project and post-project periods. It will assess achievements against key implementation targets and objectives and, accordingly, make corrections in the plans where necessary. The monitoring of land acquisition and resettlement impacts and compensation payments will form an integrated part of the reporting for each related component or sub-project, and be recorded in the project MIS. In addition, an independent third party will be employed for the external monitoring, that, as arranged under the Resettlement Plan prepared before the project appraisal, will cover all resettlement components under the WRP. The main monitoring indicators would include: • Duration to sign land acquisition agreement; • Duration for paying compensation expenses; • Time to raise compensation funds and its disbursement period; • Changes in affected households’ economic situation; • Usage of the occupied land • Re-cultivation time of the temporarily acquired land. 22 23