Republic of Belarus Proposed Energy Efficiency Project Environmental Assessment

February 2009

Executive Summary

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  The environmental study confirms that the proposed EEP falls under the Category ‘B’ according to the provisions of the World Bank Operational Policy 4.01, ‘Environmental Assessment’.
  
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  The project will have predominantly positive impacts on the environment and human health from reduced air pollution at the national level from reduced amount of fossil fuels burned.
  
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  The anticipated adverse environmental impacts will occur during both, construction and operation stages. It is not expected that the project will affect human populations or involve significant conversion or degradation of natural habitats, or have significant negative impact on forest ecosystems. The proposed mitigation measures will reduce the adverse impacts and be readily designed.
  
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  Air pollution can increase at the locations of the Borisov and Mogilev sites due to the increase in the amount of fuel burned. However, according to the emissions modelling exercises conducted for the above sites, it is not expected that the increased local air pollution in the sites’ air shed will exceed the established national standards.
  

Contents

APPENDIX 1. List of Persons Consulted.

APPENDIX 2A. Map of Belarus, showing the location of the interventions proposed under the Borisov and Mogilev sites component.

APPENDIX 2B. Location of the Boiler House #3 in Borisov.

APPENDIX 2C. Location of the Boiler House #3 in Mogilev.

APPENDIX 3. EIA procedural framework.

APPENDIX 4. Minutes of a public consultation meeting dedicated to the Environmental Assessment.

APPENDIX 5. Detailed emissions modeling exercise: borisov CHP

List of Abbreviations

CHP	Combined Heat and Power
EA	Environmental Assessment
EED	Energy Efficiency Department of the Committee for Standardization
EEP	Energy Efficiency Project
EIA	Environmental Impact Assessment
EMP	Environmental Management Plan
HOBs	Heat-Only-Boilers
MACs	Maximum Allowable Concentrations
MoEnv	Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection of Belarus
MHU	Ministry of Housing and Utilities
PHR	Public Health Regulation
PMU	Project Management Unit
PUC	Public Utility Company
SER	State Environmental Review
WB	World Bank

1. Introduction

The purpose of this document is to provide an Environmental Assessment (EA) of proposed infrastructure investments to be undertaken under the Energy Efficiency Project (EEP).

The EA was carried out in March 2008– February 2009 and encompassed site visits, meeting with the relevant Belarusian specialists and WB environmental experts (see Appendix 1 for a full list of persons consulted), analysis of project’s related information available, review of the pertinent Belarusian legislation and public consultations on the EA findings. The results of environmental impact assessment (EIA), which included pollutants emission modelling exercise, studies conducted for the Borisov and Mogilev sites where used in this EA.
Based on the assessment’s results, Environmental Management Plan (EMP) has been prepared for the Borisov and Mogilev sites. The EMPs contain summary of the project’s possible adverse environmental impacts, and measures proposed to mitigate these negative effects, along with plans for environmental monitoring