DESCRIPTION
The project consists of the following components:
Component One: Tuz Golu Gas Storage Expansion Facilities consisting of surface facilities, subsurface facilities, water and brine pipelines, electricity supply, instrument, control and telecommunication systems and contractor services.
Component Two: Supervision Consultancy consisting of the review of engineering drawings, the supervision of construction and the installation of the facilities and developmentation and implementation of the overall project quality assurance and quality control program.
Component Three: ESIA and RAP Monitoring Consultancy consisting of regular monitoring of the compliance of the construction activities with the Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) and the Resettlement Action Plans (RAP).
ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIAL INFORMATION
The project would use the WB’s Environmental and Social Safeguard Policies (Safeguard Policies) since: (i) they are consistent with the AIIB’s Articles of Agreement and materially consistent with the provisions of the Bank’s Environmental and Social Policy (ESP) and relevant Environmental and Social Standards (ESSs); and (ii) the monitoring procedures that the WB has in place to ascertain compliance with its Safeguard Policies are appropriate for use under the AIIB project. Under the WB’s Safeguard Policies, the proposed project has been assigned Category A, which is consistent with the provisions of the Bank’s ESP.
The main environmental concern is the potential adverse impacts on the Tuz Golu (Salt Lake). The Salt Lake has been designated a Special Environmental Protected Area by the Turkish Ministry of Environment and Urbanization. The ongoing WB financed project’s potential impacts on the protected area were assessed as part of the original environmental assessment and revisited with additional studies in 2013. Both assessments concluded that there were no significant adverse impacts on the Salt Lake. The brine solution has the same characteristics as the natural inflows to the lake and the total amount of brine solution discharged is not significantly affecting the amount of water in the lake. Monitoring will continue under implementation of the expansion project.
The project’s social concerns include impacts on downstream users of Hirfanli Dam and the economic and livelihood impacts due to involuntary land acquisition. During the preparation of the additional finance for the WB’s ongoing project, dam safety assurance measures were agreed with the dam operator (State Hydraulic Works or DSI), Electricity Generation Corporation of Türkiye (EUAŞ) and BOTAŞ for implementation by the DSI field organization. These measures have been updated and revised in line with the WB review for the proposed project, including the Operations and Maintenance Plan. They did not involve significant and complex remedial works. Since the details of the exact land requirement are still unknown, a Resettlement Policy Framework (RPF) in line with the World Bank’s OP/BP 4.12 has been prepared. Corresponding Resettlement Action Plans (RAP) for different project sub-components will be prepared and implemented by BOTAS to reflect the final design. Both the land acquisition process and potential nuisances impacting community members in the Project’s area of influence will be covered in the Grievance Redress Mechanism (GRM), which comprises the state-managed national GRM, and a project-level GRM managed by BOTAŞ.
The ESIA also provides frameworks for the sub-management plans (e.g. waste management, biodiversity action plans, labor influx management, traffic management plan, occupational health and safety management plan, etc.) and requires the contractor to finalize these plans and submit them for BOTAŞ’ approval.
Following two rounds of public consultations, the environmental and social safeguard instruments including the Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA), Environmental and Social Management Plans (ESMP), GRM and the RPF have been disclosed and can be consulted at the following links:
www.botas.gov.tr/docs/ihaleler/2018/ddb_GSEP_ESIA_Report.pdf
www.botas.gov.tr/docs/ihaleler/2018/ddb_Resettlement_Policy_Framework_RPF.pdf
http://projects.worldbank.org/P162727/?lang=en&tab=documents&subTab=projectDocuments
Further stakeholder engagement is planned throughout the course of the project implementation.
