Page 1 INTEGRATED SAFEGUARDS DATA SHEET CONCEPT STAGE Report No.: AC4068 Date ISDS Prepared/Updated: 04/10/2009 I. BASIC INFORMATION A. Basic Project Data Country: Belarus Project ID: P114515 Project Name: Belarus Solid Waste Management Project Task Team Leader: Maha J. Armaly GEF Focal Area: P-Persistent Organic Pollutants Global Supplemental ID: P111110 Estimated Appraisal Date: July 20, 2009 Estimated Board Date: November 20, 2009 Managing Unit: ECSSD Lending Instrument: Specific Investment Loan Sector: Solid waste management (100%) Theme: Pollution management and environmental health (P);Other urban development (P);Municipal governance and institution building (S) IBRD Amount (US$m.): 60.00 IDA Amount (US$m.): 0.00 GEF Amount (US$m.): 5.50 PCF Amount (US$m.): 0.00 Other financing amounts by source: BORROWER/RECIPIENT 0.00 0.00 B. Project Objectives [from section 2 of PCN] 1. The proposed project development objective (PDO) is twofold: (i) to support the GoB efforts to manage solid wastes according to international good practice; and (ii) to reduce environmental and health risks to Belarus’ population associated with the presence of POPs in the environment. The PDO outcome indicators are expected to be: (a) level of materials recovered/recycled; (b) where feasible, energy recovery from waste generation; and (c) ratio of current incomes/current expenditures. Outcomes to measure the reduction of environmental risks are (d) reduction in pesticide contamination; and (e) reduction of contamination at specific sites. 2. The objective would be achieved through support for the development of an integrated Solid Waste Processing Facility in Grodno Oblast, addressing management of current POPs stockpiles, specifically PCBs and POPs pesticides that have accumulated to date, initiating action on POPs contaminated sites, and to supporting the development of institutional, technical and Page 2 infrastructure capacity to manage POPs and Solid Waste Management (SWM) aspects into the future. C. Project Description [from section 3 of PCN] 3. The proposed project will consist of three components that will cover investments targeting the construction of a municipal solid waste processing plant in Grodno, a GEF funded POPs management, and a component covering project management activities. The project will be implemented by the Project Coordination Team (PCT) recently established in the Ministry of Housing and Utilities (MHU) for the implementation of the Water Supply and Sanitation Project (WSSP). Details of project components are given below: 4. Component I Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) Management Investments in Grodno. The estimated cost of the component is about US$ 56 million (February 2009 exchange rates) for the construction of a modern mechanical separation plant for mixed household waste to recover recyclable materials The objectives of this component are to: (a) reduce the amount of waste deposited in landfills; (b) recycle valuable materials by extracting up to 45% of materials (polymers, scrap paper, metals, and other materials); (c) increase the compactness of waste; (d) increase landfill service life; and (e) reduction of CO2 and potential generation of energy. This component will finance (a) activities related to the construction of a 120,000 ton facility for solid waste processing to separate and produce recyclable materials from mixed waste, including design and supervision, construction and procurement and installation of equipment, support to start-up the operation of the plant; (b) training, public information and educational campaigns; (c) technical assistance to improve the current operations of SWM in Grodno and to further integrate the proposed new facility into the regional waste management operations; and (d) support to improve quality of the extracted materials and the further marketing thereof. Land acquisition has already been completed, and a site near a polymer processing facility has been fenced. The residual material after mechanical separation of recyclables will be mainly a mixture of putrescent and inert materials. This residual material will be disposed off in the landfill. The feasibility study will investigate possibilities for pre-treatment of this waste (e.g. simple composting) or landfill gas extraction in a separate section of the landfill. This component will have environmental benefits as reflected in reduced waste in landfills – in line with the government’s regulations, utilizing materials of value, reducing the need for controversial new landfills in the future. 5. Component II POPs Stockpile Management. The estimated cost of this component is US$ 5.5 million which will finance the following activities: (1) Risk reduction of POPs Stockpiles and Wastes - This sub-component, aims to secure and provide environmentally sound management destruction of high-priority stockpiles of POPs and associated contaminated equipment and to address contaminated sites as identified in the National Implementation Plan (NIP). The NIP includes repackaging of 3,500 ton of hazardous chemicals and transferring them to secure storage facilities and will address the assessment; monitoring and clean-up requirements to mitigate the immediate risks posed by two contained DDT burial sites at Slonim and Dribin as well as informal PCB storage sites identified among 9 priority POPs-contaminated sites. Page 3 (2) Technical Support for Capacity Development - This sub-component supports strengthening of the technical capacity required for implementation of the NIP and long-term sustainability of compliance with the Stockholm Convention. (3) Institutional and Regulatory Strengthening - - This sub-component supports activities required to ensure that the management of POPs is fully covered within the overall national regulatory and legislative framework. 6. Component III: Project Management and other Support Activities: The estimated cost of this component is US$ 4 million. About $0.5 million will be available for PCT operation including audits, monitoring and evaluation, training and other project management activities to ensure adherence to Bank fiduciary, safeguards and reporting issues. The remaining funds are contingencies for additional needed studies in the solid waste management sector. D. Project location (if known) 7. Component I investment is located in Grodno, the Grodno Oblast capital, situated at the Polish border and including about 320,000 people. The six-hectare site proposed for the construction of the new SW facility plant is located nearby a polyethylene processing factory newly developed by the Oblast. The site is easily accessible by road system. The FS developed by Client includes a brief environmental assessment of the surrounding areas. 8. Bank visits and discussions with the authorities at the site revealed that waste pickers do not exist on the landfill in Grodno. A program of formal separation of valuable material (plastic, metals) takes place at the building level. The landfill site is fenced and well protected; and is close to the border with Poland. There is no market for individual sale of recyclables in Grodno. Nevertheless, social surveys will be undertaken and will include monitoring the situation at the landfill. 9. Activities financed by Component II which have the higher environmental risks will be those possibly occurring at the Cherchersk facility in Gomel Oblast, and the two sites, located at Slonim in Gordno Oblast and Dribin in Mogilev Oblast, were POPs pesticides are to be removed from contained/restricted burial sites. All three sites are located in accessible but relatively remote areas well removed from settlements or any conflicting development. The nearest settlements to the Cherchersk site are Chechersk (14 km to the north east), Buda-Koshelevo (20 km to the south-west) and Vetka (30 km to the south-east). The villages of Dubrovka, Zarya, Slobodka, Lukomskie Poplavy, Bratstvo, Proletarsky and Bolotovo are located within a 2 km radius but are officially uninhabited and the site has a designated 3 km sanitary protection zone. The site occupies an area of 18 ha that offers a basic natural hydro-geological barrier and is provided with an extensive surface water management system. The Slonim and Dribin sites are located in forested territories which are not consdiered protected areas. E. Borrower’s Institutional Capacity for Safeguard Policies [from PCN] 10. Belarus has an established EIA process involving performance of an OVOS or EIA and its expert review through a State Environmental Expertise (SER) which is part of the overall approvals cycle for all development activities. Unlike other countries in the region, the OVOS/SER process has been maintained and consistently resourced in Belarus. As a consequence, the country and specifically the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Page 4 Protection (MNREP) and MHU who both act as the project’s executing agencies have maintained a high level of expertise related to environmental assessment and continue to develop this using experience from the EU. Also supporting this capacity is the maintenance and expansion of the National Environmental Management Systems (NEMS) and associated environmental health monitoring systems, both of which have now been expanded to include POPs and which will see further laboratory and physical monitoring capacity upgrading through this project. The above operates in a comprehensive framework of legal and regulatory instruments covering air, water, land and waste management, as summarized in the NIP. Belarus is an active party to the principle relevant international conventions related to EIA, namely the UNECE ESPOO Convention on EIA in a trans-boundary context, the Aarhus Convention on accesses to information, public participation and environmental justice, and the UNECE Convention on industrial accidents. 11. To date the OVOS/EA process has been applied to activities associated with government financed NIP activities such as POPs recovery, repackaging and transfer to secure storage, and to the infrastructure development at the Cherchersk facility. It would be applied to future activities undertaken under the project including continuation of the significant level of public and NGO participation that has characterized the work undertaken to date. At a practical level, operational capacity in the management of hazardous waste has developed through the implementation of the OP management program, which has included early bi-lateral support from Denmark for training on EU practices and techniques. There is currently an established capability for this work with the Ministries of Agriculture and Emergency Situations that will be utilized during the project. 12. In general, the government and specifically the main executing ministries have developed capacity for implementation of the anticipated EA, EMP and public disclosure requirements associated with Bank safeguard policies. This includes prior experience with Bank safeguard procedures in the framework of the existing Bank projects, the experience to date of effectively managing POPs based on EU practice, the existence of strong professional and the basic infrastructure for monitoring and laboratory analysis, a PCT within the MHU which is managing a Bank-financed Water Supply and Sanitation Project respectively. The MNERP is managing the NIP process. 13. The MNREP is the recipient of the PPG for the preparation of the EIA. The MNREP will hire a consultant to undertake the study, through the Waste Management Inspection Department. The EIA will be reviewed and approved by the SEE department of the MNREP. F. Environmental and Social Safeguards Specialists Ms Maria L. Amelina (ECSSD) Ms Ruxandra Maria Floroiu (ECSSD) II. SAFEGUARD POLICIES THAT MIGHT APPLY Safeguard Policies Triggered Yes No TBD Environmental Assessment (OP/BP 4.01) X The overall project is proposed as environmental assessment category "A" in accordance with the Bank's operational policies. The Client was advised on the scope and schedule for the overall project EA process. The MHU and MNREP will have joint re sponsibility for the Page 5 Safeguard Policies Triggered Yes No TBD preparation of the EIA report as main counterparts in the proposed project, with MNREP taking the lead as the country’s legally authorized entity in this process. Draft ToR for a full EIA report have been discussed and agreed with the Client. The EIA will include a detailed POPs site assessment that will reflect the nature and quantity of hazardous materials and contaminated soils needing to be removed and cleaned under the POPs component. Natural Habitats (OP/BP 4.04) X The POPs sites in Slonim and Dribin do not present any natural habitats in accordance with current assessments performed at these locations. Forests (OP/BP 4.36) X Some of the POPs-contaminated sites are located within forest areas to prevent easy access by people. POPs Clean-up activities related to these sites will require special permitting from the Ministry of Emergency Situations related to possible elimination of trees during the GEF funded operation. The project EIA will fully evaluate the applicability of this policy to the proposed project. Pest Management (OP 4.09) X Physical Cultural Resources (OP/BP 4.11) X Indigenous Peoples (OP/BP 4.10) X Involuntary Resettlement (OP/BP 4.12) X The policy is not triggered since no ressetlement or land aqusition is involved. The Solid Waste processing facility(mechanical separation for mixed household waste to recover recyclable materials), to be financed in Component I, is proposed at a six-hectare site which is public land and was owned by nearby collective farm as confirmed by local and oblast offcials in Grodno. The workers who used to work on this land parcel would continue as employees of the collective farm. There are no waste pickers at the landfill site in Grodno. Safety of Dams (OP/BP 4.37) X Projects on International Waterways (OP/BP 7.50) X Projects in Disputed Areas (OP/BP 7.60) X Environmental Category: A - Full Assessment III. SAFEGUARD PREPARATION PLAN A. Target date for the Quality Enhancement Review (QER), at which time the PAD-stage ISDS would be prepared: 06/26/2009 B. For simple projects that will not require a QER, the target date for preparing the PAD-stage ISDS: 06/26/2009 C. Time frame for launching and completing the safeguard-related studies that may be needed. The specific studies and their timing 1 should be specified in the PAD-stage ISDS. 1 Reminder: The Bank's Disclosure Policy requires that safeguard-related documents be disclosed before appraisal (i) at the InfoShop and (ii) in-country, at publicly accessible locations and in a form and language that are accessible to potentially affected persons. Page 6 13. The full EIA documents including specific EMPs developed for each project component will be prepared, disclosed and discussed in country in local language and in English in Infoshop before project appraisal. The Executive Summary of the EIAs will be sent to the Board before project appraisal. Two public consultations will take place before project appraisal as follows: (i) One public consultation as soon as the draft EA ToRs for the selected option (Component I) and POPs component are developed; and (ii) a 2nd public meeting to disclose and discuss the draft EIAs for the selected option and the POPs evaluation. IV. APPROVALS Signed and submitted by: Task Team Leader: Ms Maha J. Armaly 04/01/2009 Approved by: Regional Safeguards Coordinator: Ms Agnes I. Kiss 04/09/2009 Comments: Sector Manager: Mr Jonathan S. Kamkwalala 04/10/2009 Comments: