Initial Environmental Examination Multitranche Financing ...€¦ · where it will connect to the 220kV transmission line from Cau Bong substation after and 13.42km terminates at

[VIE – MFF0066 – PFR2] – POWER TRANSMISSION INVESTMENT PROGRAM

Initial Environmental Examination July 2012

Multitranche Financing Facility Socialist Republic of Viet Nam: Power Transmission Investment Program Tranche 2 Prepared by National Power Transmission Corporation for the Asian Development Bank.

This initial environmental examination is a document of the borrower. The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent those of ADB's Board of Directors, Management, or staff, and may be preliminary in nature. In preparing any country program or strategy, financing any project, or by making any designation of or reference to a particular territory or geographic area in this document, the Asian Development Bank does not intend to make any judgments as to the legal or other status of any territory or area.

National Power Transmission Corporation

Socialist Republic of Vietnam

TA 7742-VIE: POWER TRANSMISSION INVESTMENT PROGRAM (MFF)

Cau Bong - Duc Hoa

220 kV Transmission Line

Initial Environmental Examination

DRAFT

July 2012 This initial environmental examination is a document of the borrower. The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent those of ADB's Board of Directors, Management, or staff, and may be preliminary in nature.

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CURRENCY EQUIVALENTS (07 May 2012)

Currency unit - dong (D) D1.00 - $0.000048 $1.00 - D20,775.00

ACRONYMS

ADB Asian Development Bank AP Affected person/s B&C Bid and Contract Document CAP Community Awareness Program CEMP Contractor’s Environmental Plan (prepared by contractor) CHSP Community Health and Safety Plan (prepared by contractor) CLO Community Liaison Officer CSE Site Engineer (Contractor’s representative) DE Design Engineer EA Executing Agency EARF Environmental and Review Framework EHSO Environmental Health and Safety Officer (Contractor’s staff) EIA Environmental Impact Assessment EMP Environmental Management Plan EO Environmental Officer ERP Emergency Response Procedure FPD Forest Protection Department (part of MARD) GRM Grievance Redress Mechanism GoV Government of Vietnam HSP Health and Safety Plan (prepared by contractor) IA Implementing Agency IEE Initial Environmental Examination IES International Environmental Specialist MARD Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development MONRE Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources MSDS Material Safety Data Sheet PECC-2 Power Engineering Consulting Joint Stock Company 2 PPE Personal Protective Equipment PPTA Project Preparation Technical Assistance RP Resettlement Plan RoW Right of Way SCD Social and Community Development Specialist SE Project Supervising Engineer (employed by IA, responsible for

construction supervision) SPPMB Southern Power Project Management Board WS Work Statement UXO Unexploded Ordnance

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

B.1.1 Purpose of the Report ................................................................................ 10 B.1.2 Approach to IEE preparation ...................................................................... 10 B.1.3 Report Structure ......................................................................................... 11

C.1 ADB Policies ............................................................................................................ 12 C.2 Vietnam: Environmental Legislation and Supporting Regulations ............................ 12

C.2.1 Environmental Legislation ...................................................................... 12 C.2.2 Other Related Laws, Decrees and Circulars ........................................... 14 C.2.3 Legal Documents and Approvals Required for the Project ..................... 16 C.2.4 Legislation that will also support the project ........................................... 17 C.2.5 The EIA Process and Requirements in Vietnam ..................................... 19 C.2.6 Associated Institutions ............................................................................ 19

C.3 International Environmental Conventions and Protocols .......................................... 20

D.1 Technical Description .............................................................................................. 20 D.1.1 Ho Chi Minh City: Sections G3.11 to G4.8 (12.284 km) .......................... 24 D.1.2 Long An Province: Sections G4.8 to 220kV busbar (1136m) .................. 26 D.1.3 Dismantling and Removal ...................................................................... 27 D.1.4 Right of Way and Land Requirements .................................................... 27

E.1 Physical Environment .............................................................................................. 31 E.1.1 Topography Geology and Soils .................................................................. 31 E.1.2 Climate....................................................................................................... 31

E.2 Water Resources ..................................................................................................... 33 E.2.1 Surface Water ............................................................................................ 33 E.2.2 Underground water .................................................................................... 33

E.3 Biological Environment ............................................................................................ 33 E.3.1 Vegetation and Land Use ........................................................................... 33 E.3.2 Wildlife ....................................................................................................... 33 E.3.3 Conservation Areas.................................................................................... 33 E.3.4 Invasive Alien Species. .............................................................................. 34

E.4 Socio-economic Conditions ..................................................................................... 36 E.4.1 Population .................................................................................................. 36 E.4.2 Ethnic Groups ............................................................................................ 36 E.4.3 Project affected people .............................................................................. 36 E.4.4 Social Infrastructure ................................................................................... 37 E.4.5 Local Economy .......................................................................................... 37 E.4.6 Communications ........................................................................................ 37 E.4.7 Cultural and Heritage Sites ........................................................................ 37 E.4.8 UXO (unexploded ordinance) ..................................................................... 38

F.1 Pre-construction Impacts and Mitigation Measures .................................................. 39 F.1.1 Loss of Property within RoW ...................................................................... 39 F.1.2 Loss of Forests .......................................................................................... 40 F.1.3 Encroachment Into Areas Of Cultural/Historical Significance ..................... 40 F.1.4 Encroachment Into Ecologically Significant Areas ...................................... 40 F.1.5 Impact On Aesthetics ................................................................................. 40 F.1.6 Presence Of Unexploded Ordnances ......................................................... 40

A. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ........................................................................................ B. INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................

C. POLICY, LEGAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE FRAMEWORK ....................................... 12

D. DESCRIPTION OF THE PROJECT ......................................................................... 20

E. DESCRIPTION OF THE ENVIRONMENT ............................................................... 31

F. ANTICIPATED ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS AND MITIGATION MEASURES ...... 39

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F.2 Potential Impacts During The Construction Phase ................................................... 40 F.2.1 Dismantling of the 110 kV transmission line ............................................... 41 F.2.2 Access to sites: Soil erosion and Water Quality ......................................... 41 F.2.3 Excavation of tower bases: Impact on Water Quality .................................. 41 F.2.4 Additional Impacts On Water Quality .......................................................... 42 F.2.5 Impacts On Air Quality ............................................................................... 43 F.2.6 Vibration ..................................................................................................... 43 F.2.7 Noise ......................................................................................................... 43 F.2.8 Generation Of Construction Wastes ........................................................... 43 F.2.9 Disruption To Traffic ................................................................................... 44 F.2.10 Damage To Infrastructure ...................................................................... 44 F.2.11 Occupational Health And Safety ............................................................. 45 F.2.12 Community Health And Safety ............................................................... 45

F.3 Impacts During The Operational Phase ................................................................... 45 F.3.1 Occupational Health and Safety ................................................................. 45 F.3.2 Community Health And Safety ................................................................... 47 F.3.3 Risks And Emergencies Associated With Transmission Lines ................... 47 F.3.4 Management and control of vegetation including invasive species along the Transmission Line .................................................................................................. 47 F.3.5 Bird Collisions ............................................................................................ 48 F.3.6 Restriction On Development In Transmission Line Row ............................. 48

G.1.1 Alternatives to Technology ..................................................................... 49 G.1.2 Alternatives to Route Location ................................................................ 49 G.1.3 Alternatives to Operation ........................................................................ 49 G.1.4 The “no project” alternative .................................................................... 49 G.1.5 Reasons for selection of the proposed site ............................................. 49

H.1 Comments from communal authorities: .................................................................... 50 H.2 Comments from Military Headquarter of Ho Chi Minh City: ...................................... 51

I.1 Purpose of the Mechanism ...................................................................................... 54 I.2 Access to the Mechanism ........................................................................................ 54 I.3 The Grievance Redress Mechanism ........................................................................ 54

I.3.1 Prior to Construction .................................................................................. 54 I.3.2 During Construction and During Operation ................................................. 55

J.1 Environmental Impacts and Mitigation Measures Needed during the Design/Pre-Construction Phase ................................................................................................. 57

J.2 Environmental Impacts and Mitigation Measures Needed during Construction ........ 59 J.3 Environmental Impacts and Mitigation Measures Needed during Operation ............ 68 J.4 Monitoring ................................................................................................................ 75 J.5 Implementation Arrangements ................................................................................. 84

J.5.1 Implementation Schedule ........................................................................... 84 J.5.2 Institutional Arrangements.......................................................................... 84 J.5.3 Reporting Requirements ............................................................................ 85 J.5.4 Staff Requirements .................................................................................... 86 J.5.5 Capacity Building ....................................................................................... 86 J.5.6 Budget ....................................................................................................... 86

G. ANALYSIS OF ALTERNATIVES .............................................................................. 49

H. INFORMATION DISCLOSURE, CONSULTATION AND PARTICIPATION .............. 50

I. GRIEVANCE REDRESS MECHANISM ................................................................... 54

J. ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT PLAN ............................................................. 57

K. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ....................................................... L. CONCLUSIONS .....................................................................................................

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FIGURES Figure 1: Location of the Cau Bong - Duc Hoa 220kV transmission line ........................ 21Figure 2: 220kV 4 Circuit Tower (75.5 m high; clearance to lowest conductor support is 38m) .............................................................................................................................. 28Figure 3: 220 kV 2 Circuit Tower (46m high; clearance to lowest conductor support is 28m) .............................................................................................................................. 29Figure 4: Grievance Redress Procedure ....................................................................... 56 TABLES Table 1: Environment Protection Laws and Associated Legal Instruments .................... 13Table 2: Power Network Legislation and Associated Legal Instruments ........................ 14Table 3: Land and Construction Legislation and Associated Legal instruments ............. 15Table 4: Project Documents and Approvals ................................................................... 16Table 5: Summary of main features of 220 kV Transmission Line ................................. 23Table 6: Summary of Transmission Line Sections ......................................................... 24Table 7: Climate Data for Ho Chi Minh City ................................................................... 32Table 8: Vegetation and Land Use by Province within RoW .......................................... 35Table 9: Population distribution within the project area .................................................. 36Table 10: List of Historic Buildings and Public Infrastructure within 500m of RoW ......... 38Table 11: Attendees at Public Consultation ................................................................... 50Table 12: Items raised during public consultation .......................................................... 52Table 13: Environmental Management Plan ................................................................. 70Table 14: Environmental Monitoring Plan ...................................................................... 76 ANNEXES Annex 1: EIA Approval Decision by Cu Chi People’s Committee (translation) ............... 90Annex 2: Rapid Environmental Assessment .................................................................. 93Annex 3: Organization Chart For Spmb ......................................................................... 97Annex 4: Terms Of Reference For Environmental Safeguard Positions ......................... 98Annex 5: List Of Machinery That May Be Required During Construction - all construction sites ............................................................................................................................ 100Annex 6: Official letter of Military Headquarter of Ho Chi Minh City regarding the need for unexplored ordnance clearance .................................................................................. 101Annex 7: Public Consultation List of Attendees at Public Consultation for Cau Bong Duc Hoa Transmission Line Route ..................................................................................... 103Annex 8: Site Photos ................................................................................................... 106

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A. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

1. The Government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (GoV) has requested the ADB for financing to construct transmission lines and substations that will improve access to a quality and reliable supply of electricity in Vietnam. The Power Transmission Investment Program will be financed through a Multi-tranche Financing Facility (MFF) of the ADB. The power transmission network expansion program is expected to contribute to improving system reliability and quality of electrical supply to industrial, commercial and residential consumers throughout Vietnam. It will (i) facilitate power transfers; (ii) remove transmission bottlenecks: and (iii) reduce transmission losses and voltage fluctuations. The National Power Transmission Corporation (NPT) of Vietnam will be the Executing Agency (EA) while the Southern Power Project Management Board (SPPMB) will be the Implementing Agency (IA) for the project.

2. Preliminary design for the Cau Bong – Duc Hoa 220/110kV transmission line project has been completed. As the transmission line scope of works was smaller than that required for an EIA, an Environmental Protection Commitment was prepared which was approved by the Cu Chi District in November 2008. Based on the ADB’s Safeguard Policy Statement 2009 (SPS) the project has been categorised as a Category B project which requires an IEE. The IEE that has been prepared for this project is based on material that was prepared by PECC-2 together with additional material inserted to strengthen the report. Following approval of the IEE by the ADB the EMP will become a condition of the loan.

3. The Cau Bong - Duc Hoa transmission line will be a double circuit 220 kV transmission line which will be 13.42 km long. The conductors will be carried on towers that can be up to 70m tall where they cross residential areas. For part of the distance the towers will also carry a 110kV transmission line. The transmission line will meet rapidly growing electricity demand in southern Vietnam by improving the distribution and supply of electricity which will alleviate supply issues on under sized systems that are being operated beyond their design capacity. The transmission line has been identified as a priority project under the National Power Development Master Plan VII. Additionally the transmission line will assist in meeting GoV targets of connecting 90% of households by 2020 and 100% by 2025.

4. The project will be funded as the second tranche of four tranches in a 730M USD loan made to the GoVN which will cover transmission distribution systems throughout Vietnam. The total cost of the project is 9.3M USD.

5. The transmission line starts at the 220kV Cu Chi substation (Ho Chi Minh City) where it will connect to the 220kV transmission line from Cau Bong substation and after 13.42km terminates at the 220kV Duc Hoa substation in Long An Province. The route is situated on the extensive low-lying flood plain that surrounds Ho Chi Minh City and this particular area is prone to flooding during the wet season. While the area is situated on the outskirts of Ho Chi Minh City and is reasonably densely settled the transmission line has been located to avoid heavily populated areas in favour of routing through open agricultural areas. The transmission line will initially be a double circuit 220kV transmission line with a planned extension of a further two circuits. The conductors will be carried on galvanised steel towers that are up to 80m high so as to provide sufficient conductor clearance above houses within the RoW as well as allowing for stringing the additional two circuits. The towers will be situated within a 22m wide RoW. A 3.71 km length of 110kV transmission line will also be dismantled and re-strung on the 220kV towers to create a combined 110/220kV over a distance of 4.90km. Construction of the transmission line is expected to take 15 months and is planned to commence in 2012.

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6. The IEE reviews the environmental impacts associated with the construction of the transmission line and is based on information provided by the Feasibility Study and from an IEE that was prepared by the design team. Field inspections were also carried out to verify the data and public consultation arranged.

7. The IEE report has reviewed the environmental impacts associated with the project and has developed a comprehensive EMP to address these activities. The transmission line has few impacts associated with it the main impact being the need to construct a transmission line to be able to pass over residential areas that are located within the RoW. GoV design criteria for houses within the RoW require that any houses must have at least 4.0m and 6.0m clearances between the lowest point of the transmission line for 110kV and 220kV transmission line conductors respectively. A route survey showed that while 37 houses had been identified as being located within the RoW, the erection of towers up to 80m high were able to position the conductors so that no houses are required to be removed. All metal house roofs will be provided with earth connections so as to reduce possible build-up of electrostatic charge. Construction impacts are mainly concentrated at the 46 tower sites where 1.25 ha of land will be permanently acquired for tower foundations which will affect 77 households. Each tower will require about 700m3 of earth to be excavated for the foundation. Any surplus will be used to add to land height for roads and buildings. Additionally 62 houses that are located from 11m to 36m outside the RoW centre line will also be earthed as a precaution against possible build-up of electrostatic charge. The dismantling of the 3.71km section of the existing 110kV transmission line will not create any significant impacts.

8. Land acquisition includes the permanent acquisition of 1.25 ha for the towers while a further 29.5 ha will be temporarily acquired for the RoW. Low crops can continue to be grown within the RoW providing these do not intrude into the safe operating distance required for the conductor. Land ownership and compensation issues have been addressed by a Resettlement Plan which will be implemented by the Southern Power Projects Management Board (SPMB).

9. The right of way in which all work will be undertaken is already highly disturbed and has been transformed into agricultural or residential areas. No primary forest will be affected and no significant flora or fauna will be affected by the project. No areas of heritage value or cultural significance will be affected.

10. During operation the main issue will be ensuring that safety clearances are maintained along the transmission line RoW with regard to buildings and vegetation. Any vegetation will be cleared by hand.

11. An Environmental Management Plan (EMP) has been prepared for implementation and addresses all phases of the project. The EMP outlines potential environmental impacts, mitigation measures, monitoring responsibilities and institutional requirements to implement the EMP. No specialised monitoring is required and responsibility for monitoring construction work rests with SPMB and the contractor. During operation the transmission line will be operated by Power Transmission Co. 4 and monitoring will be undertaken by SPMB.

12. Public consultation was undertaken at the central, provincial, district and community levels. There was overall support for the project at all levels and the main comments received mainly concerned construction impacts such as dust and noise. A Grievance Redress Mechanism has been developed to facilitate resolution of affected people’s concerns. The mechanism is compatible with the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (MONRE) legislated system.

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13. SPMB have an officer within their Resettlement Division who is responsible for environmental matters. This person has limited project supervision experience and an amount of $10,000 has been allowed for in the budget for a skills development training program. SPMB will hire a national safeguards specialist for environment to supervise compliance with the EMP of the sub-projects under the loan. The specialist shall monitor the contractor’s reports on compliance with the EMP, submit environment compliance monitoring reports to NPT, and work closely with the Environment Officer of the NPT to ensure compliance of SPMB’s sub-projects. A budget of US$35,500 is allocated for the hiring of the national environment safeguards specialist for 8 person-months over a period of 16-months. This amount forms part of the $71,000 budget for EMP implementation of the Cau Bong –Duc Hoa and Cau Bong – Hoc Mon sub-projects of the SPMB which will be constructed at about the same time.

14. The IEE concludes that the project has few adverse impacts and as all can be satisfactorily managed an EIA is not required.

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B. INTRODUCTION

15. The Government of Vietnam (GoV) plans to expand power generation and transmission and distribution capacity throughout the country to meet the rapidly growing energy demand. The GoV has requested the Asian Development Bank (ADB) for a Multi-Tranche Financing Facility (MFF) to partly fund the power sector investment program that will cover the physical investments in transmission and distribution. The program is expected to (i) facilitate power transfers; (ii) remove transmission bottlenecks; and (iii) reduce transmission losses and voltage fluctations.

16. The 13.42 km long Cau Bong - Duc Hoa 220kV transmission line is one of the transmission lines that has been selected under the National Power Development Master Plan VII (NPDMP) for urgent construction to address these issues. The project is prepared under the Project Preparation Technical Assistance (PPTA) No. 7742-VIE and is part of the Power Transmission Investment Program (MFF). The proponent and Executing Agency (EA) for the loan is the National Power Transmission Corporation (NPT), Vietnam’s state-owned electricity transmission company which is responsible for the planning and nation wide distribution of electricity. The Southern Power Project Management Board (SPMB) is responsible for the operation of the power system in central Vietnam and will be the Implementing Agency (IA) for the project.

17. The objective of the TA is to confirm the planning of various transmission lines and substations that have been identified by NPT in the NPDMP for construction or upgrading over the next 10 years in order to meet its target of connecting 90% of the population to electricity by 2020 and 100% by 2025. The Feasibility Study that was carried out for this project (PECC-2, 2010), shows that energy demand in the southern part of Vietnam is growing at 14% per year. At this rate and with limited new generation coming on line the current energy shortfall of 14% balloons out to 25% by 2015. From 2016 energy supply will return to a surplus as additional generation comes on stream from both domestic suppliers and from energy imported from Lao PDR. The proposed 220kV transmission line from Cau Bong Duc Hoa will meet this increasing demand by improving the distribution network around Ho Ch Minh City

18. The benefits of the project will be an enhanced and more reliable energy supply to the southern part of Vietnam. South Vietnam is growing rapidly and is the most industrialised and densely settled part of the country with about 10 % of the population living in southern Vietnam. Since unification southern Vietnam has continued to be the main source of economic growth for the Republic.1

19. The loan of 730M USD is prepared as a multi-funded financing facility (MFF) and will be delivered as a series of four tranches that will be released over 7 years until 2020. The construction of the Cau Bong - Duc Hoa transmission line will cost $9.3M and will be funded under the second tranche. A new substation will be constructed at Cau Bong but as this is being funded by the World Bank who have conducted their own safeguards assessment of the site it is not reviewed in this IEE. New substations will also be required at Cu Chi at the start of the transmission line and at Duc Hoa at the end of the transmission line but as these are being funded by other organisations these are not reviewed in this IEE.

1 Vietnam has a total population of 86.93 million people of which Ho Chi Minh City has 7.4 million people. (Vietnam Statistical Handbook, 2010)

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20. Based on the ADB’s Safeguard Policy Statement 2009 (SPS) the proposed project was reviewed by an REA which has classified the project as “Category B” and requires the preparation of an IEE.

B.1.1 Purpose of the Report

21. This IEE assesses the environmental impacts associated with the construction and operation of the proposed Cau Bong - Duc Hoa 220kV transmission line. The IEE is intended to meet the requirements of SPS 2009 for Category B projects and follows the prescribed ADB format for preparing IEEs. The IEE aims to describe the proposed project with regard to its location and assess the potential impacts of the project in the existing environment and community. The location of the transmission line is shown in Fig. 1.

22. The objectives of the IEE are to:

• Following a review of the IEE prepared by PECC-2 to re-issue the IEE in the ADB format.

• Assess the existing environmental conditions in the project area including the identification of environmentally sensitive areas;

• Assess the proposed location, design, construction and operation of the 220kV and 110 kV transmission line to identify potential impacts and determine their significance;

• Develop an EMP that will avoid, prevent or minimise adverse environmental impacts to acceptable levels; and

• Develop an environmental monitoring plan, including institutional responsibilities that will monitor significant environmental parameters of the project.

B.1.2 Approach to IEE preparation

23. Planning of the transmission line is well advanced and to date PECC-2 completed the project Feasibility Study in 2010 together with the initial design. As part of the study and to meet GoV project development requirements an EPC (Environmental Protection Commitment) was completed by PECC-2 for NPT which was submitted to the District People Committee of Cu Chi who approved the EPC in November 2008.

24. Power Engineering Joint Stock Company 2 (PECC-2) undertook the environmental assessment under instruction from SPMB and initially prepared an EPC in Vietnamese to meet the requirements of the Natural Resources and Environment Office in Cu Chi, Ho Chi Minh City. Following the approach to the ADB for funding PECC-2 also prepared a short English version. The version prepared by PECC-2 has been re-issued here with substantial editing and inclusion of new material to meet the requirements of the ADB safeguards.

25. The information used in the IEE is based on data from the IEE prepared by PECC-2, site visits, secondary sources, and information gathered from community and stakeholder consultations.

26. The Environmental Categorization Form and Rapid Environmental Assessment (REA) checklist was used to screen the impacts and determine the environmental category of the proposed project. The environmental impacts have been assessed within the primary impact zone which is determined by the transmission line RoW of 22m while a secondary impact zone includes communities living outside the RoW who may be affected by the construction of the transmission line.

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27. Public consultation including both formal and informal community consultation was undertaken during the IEE. The national environmental consultant attended meetings held with local communities and district and provincial officers that had been arranged by the social and resettlement specialists to verify the original records.

B.1.3 Report Structure

28. The report structure follows the format outlined in the Annex to Appendix 1 of the Asian Development Bank Safeguard Policy Statement, June 2009. The IEE consists of eleven sections: A, Executive Summary; B, Introduction; C, Policy, Legal and Administrative Framework; D, Technical description of the project; E, Description of the Environment; F, Anticipated Environmental Impacts and Mitigation Measures; G, Analysis of Alternatives; H, Information Disclosure, Consultation, and Participation; I, Grievance Redress Mechanism; J, Environmental Management Plan; K, Conclusions and Recommendations. A series of annexes is provided at the end of the report to support the report findings.

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C. POLICY, LEGAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE FRAMEWORK

C.1 ADB Policies

29. All ADB financed projects are required to undergo environmental assessment to ensure the environmental soundness and sustainability of the projects. It also aims to support the integration of the environmental considerations in the decision making process.

30. The ADB’s Safeguard Policy Statement, June 2009 (SPS) clarifies the rationale, scope and content an environmental assessment as supported by the technical guidelines (Environmental Assessment Guidelines, 2003) The initial screening of the project to determine its environmental category was carried out using the Rapid Environmental Assessment (REA) Checklist for Transmission Lines as attached to the SPS. Accordingly the proposed project was categorised as a Category “B” project which requires an IEE.

31. The SPS emphasizes the need for effective implementation of the environmental safeguards which are to:

• Avoid possible impacts of projects on the environment and affected people, where possible

• minimise, mitigate and/or compensate for adverse project impacts on the environment and affected people when avoidance is not possible; and

• help borrowers/clients to strengthen their safeguard systems and develop the capacity to manage environmental and social risks.

32. The SPS contains a number of operational principles that includes the requirement to ensure that the measures identified during the impact assessment are included in the EMP and are implemented in agreement with the borrower. The borrower/client is required to monitor the progress of implementation of the EMP, document the monitoring results, identify necessary corrective actions and reflect them in a corrective action plan. Periodic monitoring reports on implementation of the EMP are submitted to the ADB on a semi-annual basis during construction of projects with significant adverse environmental impacts and quarterly for highly complex and sensitive projects. During operation, reporting to the ADB for projects with significant adverse impacts is required on an annual basis.

C.2 Vietnam: Environmental Legislation and Supporting Regulations

33. Legislation and supporting instruments that the project will have to comply with are presented in this section. Also presented are legal documents and approvals required for the project that have been issued by the national and local governments. These documents are issued in Vietnamese and only the outlines to the documents are provided here.

C.2.1 Environmental Legislation

34. Environmental impact assessment and management in Vietnam is addressed by the Environment Protection Law No. 52/2005/QH11 adopted on 29th November 2005 which became effective from 1st July 2006. The EPL is supported by six Decrees, seven Circulars and one Decision as follows:

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Table 1: Environment Protection Laws and Associated Legal Instruments Law Description

Environment Protection Law 52/2005/QH11 Date issued: 29/11/2005

Regulates environmental protection activities; policies, measures and resources for protection of the environment; and the rights and obligations of organizations, family households and individuals with respect to protection of the environment.

Biodiversity Law, No. 20/2008/QH12, 2009

Pursuant to the 1992 Constitution of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, which was amended and supplemented under Resolution 51/2001/QH10 dated on December 25, 2001 of the Xth National Assembly, the 10th session; this Law stipulates biodiversity conservation and sustainable development.

Decrees Decree 29/2011/ NĐ-CP Date issued: 18/04/2011

Regulation on the strategic environmental assessment, environmental impact assessment and environmental protection commitment. This Decree takes effect on June 5, 2011, and replaces Articles 6 thru 17 of the Government’s Decree No. 80/2006/ND-CP of August 9, 2006, detailing and guiding a number of articles of the Environmental Protection Law; and Clauses 3 thru 10, Article 1 of the Government’s Decree No.21/2008/ND-CP of February 28, 2008, amending and supplementing a number of articles of Decree No. 80/2006/ND-CP of August 9, 2006, detailing and guiding a number of articles of the Environmental Protection Law.

Decree 04/2009/ND-CP Date issued: 14/01/2009

Incentives and support for environment protection activities.


Regulation on sanctioning administrative violations in environmental protection

Decree 21/2008/ NĐ-CP Date issued: 28/02/2008

Amending and supplementing some articles of Decree 80/2006/NĐ- CP detailing the guidelines in the implementation of Environment Protection Law.


Regulation on solid waste management

Decree 80/2006/NĐ-CP Date issued: 09/08/2006

Detailing the guidelines in the implementation of a number of articles of the Environmental Protection Law regarding environmental standards; strategic environmental assessment; environmental impact assessment and environmental protection commitments; environmental protection in production, business and services; hazardous waste management; and disclosure of environmental information and data.

Circulars MoNRE Circular No. 26/2011/TT-BTNMT Date issued: 18/7/2011

Detailing the guidelines on the implementation of a number of articles of the Decree 29/2011/ NĐ-CP. Dated 18/04/2011 regarding strategic environmental assessment; environmental impact assessment and environmental protection commitments.

MoNRE Circular No. 12/2011/TT-BTNMT Date issued: 14/14/2011

Regulation on hazardous waste management

MoNRE Circular 39/2010/TT-BTNMT Date issued: 16/12/2010

National Technical Regulation on Noise (QCVN 26:2010/BTNMT) and Vibration (QCVN 27:2010/BTNMT).

MoNRE Circular 25/2009/TT-BTNMT Date issued: 16/11/2009

National Technical Regulation on hazardous waste threshold (QCVN 07: 2009/BTNMT), among others.

MoNRE Circular No. 16/2009/TT-BTNMT Date issued: 07/10/2009

National Technical Regulation on air quality (QCVN 05: 2009/BTNMT) and hazardous substance in ambient air (QCVN 06: 2009/BTNMT)

MoNRE Circular Guiding strategic environment assessment, environmental impact

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05/2008/TT-BTNMT Date issued: 08/12/2008

assessment, and environment protection commitment.

MONRE Circular No. 04/2008/TT-BTNMT Date issued: 18/09/2008

Guidance on preparation, approval or certification of environment protection proposal, checking and inspection on implementation of environment protection proposal.

Decisions MoNRE Decision No. 16/2008/QĐ-BTNMT Date issued: 31/12/2008

National Technical Regulation on environment regarding surface water quality (QCVN 08: 2008/BTNMT), underground water quality (QCVN 09: 2008/BTNMT, and domestic wastewater (QCVN 14: 2008/BTNMT), among others.

C.2.2 Other Related Laws, Decrees and Circulars

35. Power Network Protection. The Electricity Law proscribes the detail for the power industry in such areas as development planning and investments, privileges and responsibilities of related organisations and individuals, protection of electrical equipment and facilities and safety. (Table 2).

Table 2: Power Network Legislation and Associated Legal Instruments Law Description

Electricity Law 28/2004/QH11 Date issued: 03/12/2004

Prescribes the electricity development planning and investment; electricity saving; electricity markets; rights and obligations of organizations and individuals conducting electricity activities and also on the use of electricity; protection of electric equipment and facilities, electricity works and electrical safety.

Decrees Government Decree 81/2009/NĐ-CP Date issued: 12/10/2009

Amending and supplementing a number of articles of Government Decree No. 106/2005/NĐ-CP detailing the guidelines in the implementation of Electricity Law on safety protection of high voltage power grid works.

Government Decree 105/2005/NĐ-CP Date issued: 17/08/2005

Detailing the regulations and guidelines in the implementation of a number of articles of the Electricity Law

Government Decree 106/2005/NĐ-CP Date issued: 17/08/2005

Detailing the guidelines in the implementation of a number of articles of the Electricity Law regarding the safety protection of high-voltage power grids.

Circulars Ministry of Construction (MOC) Circular No: 22/2010/TT-BXD Date issued: 03/12/2010

Provides labour safety in work construction; construction and installation of equipment which are newly built, repaired, renovated, relocated, embellished or restored; dismantling of works; and warranty for and maintenance of works.

Ministry of Industry and Trade Circular No. 03/2010/TT-BCT Date issued: 22/01/2010

Regarding protection on high-voltage power network.

Ministry of Industry and Trade Circular No. 06/2006/TT-BCN Date issued: 26/09/2006

Guidance for implementation of some articles in Decree No. 106/2005/ND-CP dated 17th August 2005 of the government.

Source: IEE Power Engineering and Consulting Joint-stock Company No. 4 (PECC-4). Initial Environmental Examination for the Cau Bong - Duc Hoa 220kV Transmission Line

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36. Decrees 106/2005/ND-CP and 81/2009/ND-CP

These decrees establish the permitted safety requirements within transmission line corridors.

Article 1: states that the decree applies to construction and renovation of overhead transmission cables. It particularly addresses; transmission lines stretching over housing areas, public rally places, industrial and hi-tech parks, export processing zones, important defence or security works, historical-cultural relics and classified scenic places. (as quoted by Decree 81/2009) include the following criteria:

a/ Poles must be made of steel or reinforced concrete with a safety coefficient not less than 1.2.

b/ Conductors must have a safety coefficient not less than 2.5

c/ Double insulators will be used.

d/ Distance from lowest point of transmission cable in maximum sag state to ground is not to be lower than: for 110kV 15m; for 220kV 18m.

Article 4: states that houses and works inside 220kV corridors are not required to be relocated if the following conditions are met:

a/ Their roofs are made of fire-proof materials.

b/ Metal structures are earthed.

c/ They do not obstruct access for maintenance of the transmission line.

d/ The distance from any part of a house or works to the nearest transmission cable in maximum sag state: for 110kv the distance is to be not less than 4m; for 220kV the distance is to be not less than 6m.

Article 5 b/: trees are allowed within corridors situated within residential areas must not be higher than the following: for 110kv 2.0m; for 220kV 3.0m.

Rice and vegetables must be planted at least 0.5m from a tower or pole foundation.

37. Land and Construction. Implementation guidelines for the Land Law, amendments, stipulations on land use, and details of compensation, support and resettlement are detailed in Government decrees and circulars. Legal instruments that apply to construction management and labour safety during the construction phase of investment projects are shown in Table 3.

Table 3: Land and Construction Legislation and Associated Legal instruments Law Description

Land Law No: 13/2003/QH11 Date issued: 26/11/2003

Governs the powers and responsibilities of the State as owner of land and representative of the entire people for uniform administration of land and the rights and obligations of land users

Decrees Government Decree No: 69/2009/ND-CP Date issued: 13/08/2009

Providing for land use planning, land pricing, land recovery, compensation, support and resettlement.

Government Decree No: 12/2009/ND-CP Date issued: 10/02/2009

Regulation on management of investment projects related to construction Ministry of Construction (MOC)

Government Decree No: 84/2007/ND-CP Date issued:25/05/2007

Stipulating the grant of land use right certificates, recovery of land, exercise of land use rights, order and procedures for compensation, support and resettlement upon land recovery by the State, and settlement of land related complaints

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Amending and supplementing some articles of the decree guiding the implementation of Land Law 13/2003/QH11

Government Decree No: 197/2004/ND-CP Date issued: 03/12/2004

Regulation on compensation, support, and resettlement on land recovered by the State


Guidelines for the implementation of Land Law 13/2003/QH11

Circulars and Dispatch Circular No: 22/2010/TT-BXD Date issued: 03/12/2010

Provides labour safety in work construction; construction and installation of equipment which are newly built, repaired, renovated, relocated, embellished or restored; dismantling of works; and warranty for and maintenance of works.

MoNRE Circular No: 14/2009/TT-BTNMT Date issued:01/10/2009

Detailing the compensation, support, resettlement and the order of and procedures for land recovery, allocation, and lease

Government Official Dispatch No: 181/DC-CP Date issued: 23/10/2009

Correcting the Government Decree No. 69/2009/ND-CP (which additionally provides for land use planning, land prices, land recovery, compensation, support, and resettlement

Source: IEE Power Engineering and Consulting Joint-stock Company No. 4 (PECC-4). Initial Environmental Examination for the Cau Bong - Duc Hoa 500 Transmission Line

C.2.3 Legal Documents and Approvals Required for the Project

38. Correspondence relating to the approval of the project is shown in Table 4.

Table 4: Project Documents and Approvals Documents and Approvals Description

Letter No. 1695/UBND-QLĐT dated 25/7/2007 of People committee of Cu Chi district

On the agreement of location of 500kV Cau Bong substation and route direction of 220kV, 500kV transmission line.

Letter No. 243/SQHKT-QHC&HT dated 22/1/2008 of Department of Planning and Architecture of HCMC

Comments of location of 500kV Cau Bong substation and route direction of 500kV transmission line, 220kV Cau Bong – Duc Hoa transmission line, 220kV Cau Bong - Cu Chi transmission line, 220kV Cau Bong – Hoc Mon transmission line.

Letter No. 921/UBND-KT dated 21/04/2008 of People committee of Cu Chi district

On the agreement of line route direction.

Letter No. 1294/SXD-KT dated 08/09/2008 of Construction Department of Long An province and

On the route direction of 220kV Cau Bong - Duc Hoa transmission line.

Letter No. 6676/UBND-CN dated 17/09/2008 of People committee of Long An province

On the route direction of 220kV Cau Bong - Duc Hoa transmission line.

Letter No. 2740/UBND-VP dated 24/09/2008 of committee of Cu Chi district.

On the agreement of line route direction from G4.6 to G4.8 of 220kV Cau Bong - Duc Hoa transmission line

Letter No. 3769/TB-SQHKT dated 21/10/2008 of Department of Planning and Architecture of HCMC

On agreement’s letter of line route direction of 220kV Cau Bong – Hoc Mon, Cau Bong – Cu Chi and Cau Bong – Duc Hoa transmission line.

Letter No. 3209/UBND-CT dated 14/11/2008 of committee of Cu Chi district

On the agreement of line route direction of 220kV Cau Bong – Hoc Mon, Cau Bong - Cu Chi and Cau Bong – Duc Hoa transmission line.

Certificate of registration of environment protection commitment of 220kV Cau Bong – Duc Hoa transmission line project No. 3210/XN-UBND dated 14/11/2008 of committee of Cu Chi district.

Approval of environment protection commitment of 220kV Cau Bong – Duc Hoa transmission line

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Letter No. 4324/SQHKT-HTKT dated 09/12/2008 of Department of Planning and Architecture of HCMC

Comments of 220kV Cau Bong – Hoc Mon, Cau Bong - Cu Chi Cau Bong – Duc Hoa transmission line.

Letter No. 6980/ĐCT-KT dated 25/12/2008 of High voltage enterprise – Ho Chi Minh Power Company (HCMPC)

On agreement of using existing 110kV R.O.W to build the new construction of 220-110kV transmission line to sync with 200/220kV Cau Bong substation.

Letter No.11565/ĐLHCM-KH dated 26/12/2008 of HCMPC

On agreement of using existing 110kV R.O.W to build the new construction of 220-110kV transmission line.

Letter No. 551/QSLA dated 19/06/2009 of Deputy Commander of politics of Long An province

Regarding landmines, explosive remnants of war.

Letter No. 3210/XN-UBND dated 14/11/2009 of committee of Cu Chi district

Regarding certificate of environment protection commitment of 220kV Cau Bong – Duc Hoa transmission line.

Letter No. 753/BCH-CB dated 04/12/2009 of HCMC’s Deputy Commander of politics

Regarding the status and the need for detection of landmines and explosives left over after the war in the region expected to build 220kV Cau Bong – Hoc Mon, 220kV Cau Bong - Cu Chi, 220kV Cau Bong - Duc Hoa transmission lines .

Letter No. 325/Tg1-QC dated 12/04/2010 of Operational department - Joint Chiefs of Staff

On agreement of construction’s height clearance of 220kV Cau Bong - Duc Hoa transmission line.

Letter No. 441/PTM-TT dated 22/07/2010 of HCMC’s Deputy Commander of politics

The answer about the effects to Defense Ministry’s communicaton system of 220kV Cau Bong – Hoc Mon, Cau Bong – Cu Chi and Cau Bong – Duc Hoa transmission line.

Letter No. 781/QSLA dated 03/08/2010 of Long An’s Deputy Commander of politics

On National defense’s view of points about construction of the 220kV Cau Bong - Duc Hoa transmission line.

Letter No. 4771/BTM-T1 dated 20/09/2010 of Joint Chiefs of Staff

On preventing the effects of 220kV Cau Bong - Cu Chi and Cau Bong - Duc Hoa transmission line on military communication.

Source: IEE, Power Engineering and Consulting Joint-stock Company No. 2 (PECC-2). Initial Environmental Examination for the Cau Bong - Duc Hoa 220kV Transmission Line, 2010.

C.2.4 Legislation that will also support the project

39. The following legislation will also apply to the project:

40. Sand and gravel extraction operations are governed by the Mineral Law (amended and supplemented in 2005) and its regulations on mineral activities. All organizations and individuals that exploit river sand and gravel must be licensed by the state management agency- DONRE. Thus the contractor can only source materials from suppliers or sites approved by DONRE. The contractor has no authority to extract sand or gravel without DONRE’s approval.

Legal documents related to the minerals sector include:

41. Mineral Law dated March 20, 1996;

Law amending and supplementing some articles of the Mineral Law dated June 14, 2005;

Decree 160/2005/ND-CP dated 27/12/2005 Detailing and guiding the implementation of the Mineral Law and the Law amending and supplementing some articles of the Law on Mineral Resources;

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Government Decree No. 150/2004/ND-CP dated 29/7/2004 stipulates for sanctioning of administrative violations in the field of minerals;

Decree No. 68/1998/ND-CP dated 03/9/1998 detailing the implementation of the provisions of the Ordinance on Royalties (amended);

Ministry of Finance's Circular No. 105/2005/TT-BTC November 30, 2005 guiding the implementation of Decree No. 137/2005/ND-CP dated 09/11/2005 of the Government on environment protection fee for mining activities;

Circular on 15/7/1999 04/1999/TT-BXD the Ministry of Construction guiding the implementation of Decree No. 11/1999/ND-CP dated 03/03/1999 of the Government for material goods construction and business conditions.

Directive No. 16/2002/CT-TTg on 31/07/2002 of the Prime Minister on strengthening state management of exploration of sand and gravel combined with sand collection.

42. Vietnamese Labour Code - 23 June 1994 (as amended 2 April 2002 and effective 1 January 2003). The Labour Code protects the right to work, the interests and other rights of the labourer. At the same time it protects the rights and lawful interests of the labour user. Therefore creating conditions for the establishment of harmonious and stable labour relations, helping to develop the creativeness and talent of the intellectual and manual workers, of the labour managers in order to achieve productivity, quality and social progress in labour, production, service, efficiency in the use and management of labour, thus contributing to the industrialization and modernization of the country in the cause of bringing prosperity to the people and strength to the nation and building a just and civilized society.

43. Conditions of the Code are relevant to the health and safety of workers employed during construction and are reflected in the IEE.

44. Law on Cultural Heritage No. 28/2001/QH10 of June 29, 2001 This law aims to protect and promote the cultural heritage value, meet the people’s increasing cultural demands, contribute to the building and development of the progressive Vietnamese culture deeply imbued with national identity and contribute to the world cultural heritage treasure; to enhance the State management effectiveness and raise the people’s sense of responsibility for taking part in the protection and promotion of the cultural heritage value;

45. Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on Cultural Heritage (Law No. 32/2009/QH12). The National Assembly promulgates the Law Amending and Supplementing a Number of Articles of Law No. 28/2001/QH10 on Cultural Heritage.

46. Law On HIV/AIDS Prevention And Control (Law No. 64/2006/QH11). Pursuant to the 1992 Constitution of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, which was amended and supplemented under December 25, 2001 Resolution No. 51/2001/QH10 of the Xth National Assembly at its 10th session. This Law provides for HIV/AIDS prevention and control.

47. National Technical Regulation on drinking water quality. QCVN 01:2009/BYT. This Technical Regulation stipulates limits of quality criteria for water used for drinking and processing food (drinking water). This Technical Regulation applies to institutions, organizations, individuals and households who exploit, trade drinking water, including piped water providers for domestic purposes with capacity of 1,000 m3/day or above.

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C.2.5 The EIA Process and Requirements in Vietnam

48. EIA Process: Decree No 29/2011/ND-CP issued on 18 April 2011 outlines the regulation on strategic environmental assessment, environmental impact assessment and environmental protection and came into effect on 05 June 2011. Categorization of transmission lines is now based on the voltage capacity of the transmission line and transmission lines with voltages greater than 110kV and located in more than one province are required to submit an EIA to MONRE. Should projects not be implemented with 36 months of the approval the proponent is required to submit a new application.

49. Prior to this Decree 21/2008 projects with small-scale impacts required the preparation of an Environmental Protection Commitment (EPC) which is a short document and follows a template developed by MONRE. The outline of an EPC is described in Circular No 5/BTNMT. The EPC is approved by District Natural Resources and Environment Office. However due to the large number of projects that used the simpler EPC MONRE revoked the use of EPCs in 2011 by Decree 29 which requires transmission lines from 110kV upwards to be assessed by an EIA. As the EPC for the Cau Bong - Duc Hoa project was prepared and approved before 2011 the requirement to prepare an EIA has not been triggered.

50. The EPC for Cau Bong - Duc Hoa project was approved by the Cu Chi District and a Certificate of Registration of Environmental Protection Commitment was issued on 14th November 2008. This allows the project to proceed. A copy of the approval is shown in Annex 1.

51. However, according to the Article 45 of Official Letter No. 26/2011/TT-BTNMT of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, if the project is not implemented within 24 months of approval the approval lapses which applies to this project. Based on a new regulation (Decree 29/2011/NĐ-CP) new developments of this kind are required to conduct an EIA, however it is possible for previously approved projects to re-apply to the District Natural Resources and Environmental Office to renew their application. Accordingly PECC-2 will re-apply for this approval.

C.2.6 Associated Institutions

52. The Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (MONRE) is the Governmental agency performing the state management in the fields of land; water resources; mineral resources; geological environment; meteorology and hydrology; surveying, mapping; integrated management and general agreement on the sea and islands. It provides state management over public services in areas under its management.

53. MONRE consists of 24 departments/units, from which 18 assist the Minister performing the State management; the other 6 units are in service management functions. The Vietnam Environment Administration (VEA) was established according to the Decision No. 132/2008/QĐ-TTg by the Prime Minister. The VEA is a subsidiary body under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MONRE) to advise and assist the Minister of the MONRE in the field of environment management and to provide public services in compliance with the laws. MONRE is represented at provincial and district level by DONRE which works through the People’s Committees at provincial level. The EIA approval requires NPT to monitor the EMP and prepare a quarterly report on Environmental Performance which is submitted to DONREs.

54. The National Power Transmission Corporation (NPT) was established in 2008 when the transmission distribution system was split off from Electricity of Vietnam (EVN). NPT is responsible for operating the power transmission networks throughout the

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country and ensuring construction investment in 220-550kV transmission projects and distribution systems at the national level. As NPT does not have any environmental staff, EVN who have an environment department review environmental assessments carried out on behalf of EPT. During project implementation EVN train Technical Supervisors on behalf of NPT to supervise and monitor EMP requirements. To address the changing project requirements NPT has (i) issued a document 269/QD-NPT in 2008 requiring NPT’s Technical Department in supervise and monitor environmental activities and (ii) is now recruiting a person to manage environmental issues who will be located in the Technical Department.

55. NPT is represented at three regional levels - north, central and southern by NPMB, CPMB and SPMB who manage the design and construction of transmission and substation networks.

56. Maintenance of transmission lines and substations is handled by four Power Transmission Companies; PTC1, PTC2, PTC3 and PTC4 respectively from the north to the south of Vietnam.

C.3 International Environmental Conventions and Protocols

57. Vietnam is a party to the following conventions:

• the UNESCO World Heritage Convention, • Ramsar Convention on Protection of Wetlands, • Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous

Wastes and their Disposal, • Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora

(CITES, also known as the Washington Convention), • Convention on Biological Diversity (known informally as the Biodiversity

Convention), • Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, • Kyoto Protocol (on climate change).

D. DESCRIPTION OF THE PROJ ECT

D.1 Technical Description

58. The location and layout of the components of the Cau Bong-Duc Hoa transmission line is shown in Figure 1. The transmission line is 13.42 km long and is situated in two provinces (Ho Chi Minh City, 5 districts; and Long An, 1 district). The transmission line starts at the Cu Chi substation (HCM City) and terminates at the Duc Hoa substation in Long An Province 2

2 The Cu Chi substation is a component of the Cau Bong 220kV system which has given its name to the project.

. The majority (8.52km) of the 220kV transmission line consists of two circuits i.e. 6 conductors, which will be carried on three horizontal arms on steel lattice towers. A 4.90 km long section (G4.1a - G4.2) will additionally contain a two-circuit 110kV transmission line which will be strung on the same tower and below the 220kV conductors i.e. there will be 6 horizontal arms on this section. A 22 m wide right of way (RoW) i.e. 11m from either side of the centre line will be provided as well as an earth grounding zone for any buildings that are situated from 11m to 36m from the centre line.

Figure 1: Location of the Cau Bong - Duc Hoa 220kV transmission line

G4.2

G4.1a

Existing 110 kV line departs at G4.2

DC4

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59. The project consists of three different sections totalling 13.42km. All will be contained within a 22m RoW:

• A first section (0.99 km) corresponding to a double circuit 220kV line. The two 220kV circuits originate from the Cau Bong substation and while they pass the Cu Chi substation will not connect to this substation and will go direct to the Duc Hoa substation.

• A second section (4.90 km) corresponding to a four-circuit combined 220/110 kV line. The two 220kV circuits include those originating from Cau Bong plus two 110kV circuits (Cu Chi - Trảng Bàng) which originate from the Cu Chi 110 kV substation and are existing lines. Part of the existing Cu Chi - Trảng Bàng 110kV line will be dismantled over a 3.71km distance due to the construction of a new motorway and will be restrung on the same towers as the 220kV transmission to provide a combined 220/110kV transmission line from G4.1a to G4.2 a distance of 4.90 km.

• A third section (7.53 km) will begin at G4.2 - the location where the 110kV circuits leave the line - which continues as a double circuit 220kV line which terminates at the 220kV Duc Hoa substation. While the line will be constructed with two circuits, provision will be made in the design for two further 220kV circuits to be installed later when the need arises.

60. The ADB will finance the transmission lines from Cu Chi to Duc Hoa which includes erection of the 2 circuit 220kV transmission line over 13.42 km, the removal of 3.71 km of 110kV and the re-erection of 4.90 km of 110kV. Financing of the substations at Cau Bong and Duc Hoa is not included as a part of the ADB financing package.

61. A total of 46 galvanised steel lattice towers will be required of which 16 are tension towers and 29 will be suspension towers. Suspension towers will be located on straight sections. Tension towers are located on all angles and these will be constructed either as single or as double body towers. Towers will be up to 80 m in height to lift the cables above residential areas so as to meet clearance requirements specified in Decree 106/2005/ND-CP as amended in 2009. This decree states that for 110kV and 220kV systems the minimum ground clearance from the point of lowest sag is 15m and 18m respectively, while for clearances between houses within the RoW minimum clearances are 4m and 6m for 110kV and 220kV respectively. Decree 106/2005 also required double insulators to be fitted where any transmission line passes over residential areas that are contained within the RoW. The transmission line traverses flat land allowing towers to be evenly spaced at about 300m. No river crossings will be required. Towers will be supported on cast-in-place reinforced concrete slab, pier and pile foundations. The land requirement that will be taken for each tower foundation is about 0.28ha and in total 12.5ha will need to be permanently acquired for the tower foundations. Figures 2 and 3 show typical designs for the 220kV suspension towers.

62. The conductors selected for both the 220kV and 110kV transmission lines are ACSR 795MCM conductors which consists of a 28 mm diameter bundle of aluminium conductors surrounding a steel cable. A ground wire and an optical communication cable will also be strung on the towers. Ceramic insulators will be used that meet IEC standard. Single suspension insulators will be used on suspension towers but as required by Decree106/2005/ND-CP these will be increased to double suspension insulators where the transmission line is strung over buildings or national and provincial roads.

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63. A summary of the main features of the transmission line is given in Table 5.

Table 5: Summary of main features of 220 kV Transmission Line

Item 220 kV T/L Starting point At G3.11 - anchor tower from the 220kV Cau Bong - Cu

Chi transmission line. Ending point Planned 220kV Duc Hoa substation Length of line 13.42 km Right of Way width 22 m Earth grounding width 22 m - 36 m Voltage 220 kV and 110kV Number of circuits i. G3.11 - G4.1a: 2 x 220kv circuits = 0.99km

ii. G4.1a - G4.2: Combined 220/110; 2 circuits each, 4 in total = 4.90 km iii. G4.2 - DC: 2 circuits + 2 future 220kV = 7.53km

Conductor Steel-cored aluminium conductor, split phase 4xACSR795MCM – Code name Cuckoo (equivalent to 4xAC400/52).

Earthwire 01 Steel-cored aluminium alloy Fibre optical cable OPGW-120 Insulator Composite insulator types: 70kN and Suspension towers (no.) 16 Tension towers (number) 29 Tower foundation Cast-in-place reinforced concrete slab with 4 above

ground pier foundations. Total excavation requirement (earth and rock)

30,793 m3

Av. excavation requirement / tower

669 m3

Total concrete requirement 73,242 m3 Av. concrete requirement / tower

1,592 m3

Area to be acquired for 46 towers

1.25 ha

Av. area required/tower foundation

280m2

Area to be acquired for 22 m wide RoW

29.52 ha

Houses within the RoW 37 houses. These houses satisfy the safe clearance requirements and will not be required to be relocated. Only houses with metal roofs will be earthed.

Houses to be earthed from 11m – 36m from centre line of RoW

617 houses.

Cost of project $9.3M Construction requires 15 months Source: Adapted from Feasibility Study 220kV Cau Bong - Duc Hoa transmission Line, 2010 together with provision of additional information.

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64. While the transmission line route is located within the outskirts of Ho Chi Minh City the route has been selected to wherever possible avoid residential areas and developed infrastructure such as roads transmission lines etc. The transmission line route is described in the following section and summarised in Table 6. The longest section of the transmission line is located within Ho Chi Minh City (12.28 km) with the remaining section of 1.4 km is located within Long An Province. Table 6: Summary of Transmission Line Sections

Section

Province

Length (m) Cau Bong - Duc Hoa T/L crosses RoW Affected hh Section Cumulative 220 kV 110kV

H’way Prov. Rd. Canal 0-22

22-36

G3.11-G4.1 HCM City 125 125 G4.1- G4.1A HCM City 1,163 1,288 1 4 2 G4.1A- G4.1B HCM City 200 1,488 G4.1B-G4.1C

HCM City 157 1,645 6 6 3

G4.1C- G4.1D HCM City 3,559 5,204 19 23 G4.1D- G4.2 HCM City 683 5,887 5 3 1 G4.2- G4.3 HCM City 1760 7,647 2 1 12 26 G4.3- G4.4 HCM City 444 8,091 G4.4- G4.5 HCM City 565 8,656 1 2 1 1 G4.5- G4.6 HCM City 1,145 9,801 G4.6- G4.7 HCM City 323 10,124 3 1 1 1 G4.7- G4.8 HCM City 2,160 12,284 3 9 G4.8- G4.9 Long An 834 13,118 2 G4.9-DC Long An 232 13,350 DC-220kV

Long An 70 13,420

Totals 13.420 17 1 1 11 11 37 61 Source:. Details of intersections and affected hh taken from FS prepared by PECC-2

D.1.1 Ho Chi Minh City: Sections G3.11 to G4.8 (12.284 km)

65. From G3.11 to G4.1 (125m).

Starting from G3.11 (belongs to 220kV Cau Bong – Cu Chi TL), the route turns right and crosses rice fields, ponds, and fruit trees. The terrain is low and flat with little height variation. The route runs through Nhuan Duc and Trung Lap H commune. G4.1 is located in a fruit garden in the Trung Lap Ha – Cu Chi district. The transmission line does not cross any special infrastructure nor does it cross any particular obstacles.

66. From G4.1 to G4.1A ( 1,163m).

At position G4.1, the route turns right with and crosses four drainage canals and one pathway to G4.1A. Vegetation along the route is mainly rice field and fruit trees. The terrain is flat and access is good. G4.1A is located in a rice field of Nhuan Duc – Cu Chi district – HCMC. There are 2 houses within the 22m wide RoW.

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67. From G4.1A to G4.1B (200m)

At position G4.1A, the route turns right. The terrain is flat and the height variation is not large. G4.1B is located in a rice field of Nhuan Duc – Cu Chi district – HCMC. The transmission line does not cross any special infrastructure

68. From G4.1B to G4.1C (157m)

At position G4.1B, the route turns left, the variation height of terrain is not large and the route mainly traverses wet rice fields. G4.1C is located in a rice field of Nhuan Duc – Cu Chi district – HCMC. The transmission line does not cross any special infrastructure

69. From G4.1C to G4.1D (3559m)

At position G4.1C, the route turns left and continues to G4.1D. There are mainly rice field, fruit tree on the route. Population density is rather high. The transmission line runs through Nhuan Duc and Trung Lap Ha – Cu Chi district – HCMC. The transmission line crosses the following infrastructure:

• Low and medium voltage transmission lines: 6 times • Provincial road: 6 times. • Drainage canals: 3 times. • Houses within the RoW (0 – 22m): 19 • Houses within the (22 – 36m): 23

70. From G4.1D to G4.2 (683m).

At position G4.1C, the route turns left and runs through rice field with flat terrain. G4.2 is located in the rice field of Trung Lap Ha – Cu Chi district – HCMC. The transmission line does not cross any special infrastructure

71. From G4.2 to G4.3 (1.760m)

At position G4.2, line route goes straight through rice field, fruit trees, and residential areas. The terrain is flat, the transportation is convenient and cross many of arroyos and pathways. G4.3 is put at the rice field of Phuoc Hiep commune – Cu Chi district – HCMC. The transmission line crosses the following infrastructure:

• Low and medium voltage transmission lines: 5 times • Road: 3 times. • Dau Tieng irrigation canal - Cu Chi: 1 time • Houses within the R.O.W (0 – 22m at each side): 12 • Houses within the R.O.W (11 – 36m at each side): 26

72. From G4.3 to G4.4 (444m).

At position G4.3, the route turns right with an angle of 54o53’20”, crosses National road 22, runs through rice fields, crops and rubber trees. G4.4 is put at the fresh rubber trees garden of Cho commune – Cu Chi district – HCMC. The transmission line crosses the following infrastructure:

• Low and medium voltage transmission lines: 2 times • The National Road 22: 1 time.

73. From G4.4 to G4.5 (565m)

At position G4.4, the route turns left with an angle of 28o43’09”, crosses rice fields, fruit trees and melaleuca forest. The terrain is flat and transportation is convenient. G4.5 is

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put at the rice field of Cho commune – Phuoc Thanh ward - Cu Chi district – HCMC. The transmission line crosses the following infrastructure:

• House within the R.O.W (0 – 11m at each side): 1 • House within the R.O.W (11 – 50m at each side): 1

74. From G4.5 to G4.6, (1.145m)

At position G4.5, the route turns right and crosses rice fields, fruit trees and a drainage/irrigation canal. The terrain is flat and access is good. G4.6 is located in a rice field in the Thai My ward - Cu Chi district – HCMC. The transmission line crosses the following infrastructure:

• 220kV transmission lines: 1 time • Pathway: 1 time • Irrigation canal: 1 time

75. From G4.6 to G4.7 (323m)

At position G4.6, the route turns right and crosses rice fields to G4.7. The terrain is flat and the height variation is not large. G4.7 is located in the Thai My ward - Cu Chi district – HCMC. The transmission line does not cross any special infrastructure.

76. From G4.7 to G4.8, 2.160m long.

At G4.7, the route turns left and crosses rice fields and scattered Melaleuca trees. The terrain is flat and the height variation is not large. G4.8 is located close to Melaleuca forest within Bau Cong commune - Tan My ward – Duc Hoa district – Long An province. The transmission line crosses the following infrastructure:

• Crossing low and medium voltage transmission lines 3 times • Crossing 110kV transmission line under construction: 1 time. • Crossing transportation road: 1 time. • Crossing with Thay Cai canal: 1 time • 3 houses within the R.O.W (0-22m). • 9 houses within the R.O.W (22-36m).

D.1.2 Long An Province: Sections G4.8 to 220kV busbar (1136m)

77. From G4.8 to G4.9, 834m.

At G4.8, the route turns left and crosses canals and 1 pathway. The terrain is flat and clear. Vegetation along the route is mainly scattered Melaleuca, Eucalyptus, grass and fruit trees. G4.9 isolated beside a Eucalyptus area within Bau Cong commune - Tan My ward – Duc Hoa district – Long An province. The transmission line crosses the following infrastructure:

• 2 houses within the R.O.W (22-36).

78. From G4.9 to ĐC, 232m.

At G4.8, the route turns right to the 220kV/110kV Duc Hoa substation. Vegetation cover along the route is mainly rice field and Eucalyptus. ĐC is located within the Bau Cong commune - Tan My ward – Duc Hoa district – Long An province. The transmission line does not cross any special infrastructure.

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79. From ĐC to 220kV busbar of 220kV Duc Hoa substation, 70m long.

The transmission line route crosses a rice field of the Bau Cong commune - Tan My ward – Duc Hoa district – Long An province. The transmission line does not cross any special infrastructure.

D.1.3 Dismantling and Removal

80. The project will also dismantle and remove a 3.74km long section of the 110kV Trang Bang-Cu Chi transmission line to allow for the construction of a new motorway. This portion of the line will be re-routed alongside the double circuit 220kV transmission line which will be erected from G4.1a to G4.2. See Figure 1.

D.1.4 Right of Way and Land Requirements

81. The RoW will be 13.42 km long and includes a 22 m wide (11 m on either side of the centre line). This is immediately under the conductors. A second outer zone extending from 11m to 36m has been identified as an earth grounding zone for any buildings located within this area.

82. For 110/220kV transmission lines, Vietnamese regulations allow houses within the 22m inner RoW provided there is a minimum safety clearance between the top of the house of 4.0 m for 110kV and 6.0m for 220kV. Use of the RoW is governed by MIT Circular 22/2010/TT-BXD of 03/12/2010 which identifies that rice, crops and trees can be grown in the inner RoW provided these do not reach heights of more than 3.0m.

83. Land acquisition will require both permanent and temporary acquisition.

Permanent acquisition is required for the tower foundations with each tower on average requires an area of 280m2. Total land for tower foundations is 1.25 ha. This land will be permanently acquired. Temporary acquisition is required for land along the RoW during both construction and operation. During construction access to the RoW will be required for excavation of foundations, erecting the towers and pulling the conductor. Additionally temporary access will be required for construction of temporary facilities for the contractor’s use. During operation PTC-4 will require guaranteed access to the RoW to maintain vegetation with safe clearance heights to the conductors. This is part of temporary acquisition. Land to be acquired on a temporary basis to provide access rights for the power company within the 22m RoW is 29.5 ha.

Compensation is paid for the use of this land either as permanent or temporary use of the RoW. Apart from growing tree crops land use is little altered and the original landholder continues to use the land as before provided crops do not intrude into the conductor clearance safety zone.

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Figure 2: 220kV 4 Circuit Tower (75.5 m high; clearance to lowest conductor support is 38m)

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Figure 3: 220 kV 2 Circuit Tower (46m high; clearance to lowest conductor support is 28m)

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84. Construction work involves the following and will need to be undertaken simultaneously at several locations to ensure that the transmission line is completed within two years.

• Demarcation and payment of compensation • Clearing of the right of way • Removal of houses and buildings from within the RoW where minimum sag

clearance of 4.0m for 110kV and 6.0m for 220kV transmission lines is not met. Resettlement of affected households.

• Preparation of contractor’s facilities. • Providing access to the tower bases. • Transport of materials to site for construction of the towers • Excavation of tower foundations either by hand within residential areas or

machinery in open areas. • Preparation and building of tower foundation including fixing of reinforcing steel

followed by concrete pouring. • Erection of prefabricated towers and fitting tower equipment. • Pulling the conductors, tensioning with winches and attaching to the insulators. • Testing and energising the transmission line.

85. The project will use 2 teams to construct the transmission line in 2 separate sections. Construction of transmission towers, stringing and tensioning conductors is a specialised task. Each team will consist of about 30 people of which about 21 will be unskilled workers while 9 will be skilled workers. Due to the proximity of residential area, unskilled workers are expected to be drawn from the surrounding areas and the requirement for worker camps is not expected, however this will be determined by the contractor.

86. Machinery that may be used on the site is shown in Annex 6 and includes a range of heavy and light machinery. Apart from noise, none of the machinery will produce excessive and damaging vibrations. Machinery that will have environmental consequences includes the use of a bulldozer for levelling the tower base and to form access roads as required while an excavator will be used to excavate the tower foundations in open sites. Normally access will be closed after construction is completed apart from some that will remain to provide access to the towers for maintenance during operation. A fuel truck will be required for refuelling equipment and vehicles.

87. Materials that will be used on the project includes: cement, sand and aggregate, steel for tower foundations, galvanized steel for the tower framework, insulators and conductors. Fuel will need to be stored on site. Paint and paint thinners are not required as galvanized steel is used for the towers.

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E. DESCRIPTION OF THE ENVIRONMENT

E.1 Physical Environment

E.1.1 Topography Geology and Soils

88. The transmission line runs through nearly flat land with residential areas, paddies rice and fruit gardens. PECC-2 have prepared a route corridor traverse map that shows that the route varies in height from elevations of 2.64m at the start of the route at Cu Chi substation which rises slightly to 10.10m after G4.1D after which it progressively falls to 0.16m at G4.6 it then fluctuates close to 1.0m until it reaches the site for the Duc Hoa substation where the elevation is 0.43m. The lower areas are seasonally flooded and this is the reason for the extensive network of drainage canals3

89. Ho Chi Minh City is located in the transitional zone between the south east plains and the Mekong delta. Topography is lower from north to south and from west to east. The transmission line corridor and substations are situated on the flood plains of the Saigon River and is formed from accumulation relief. This section is characterised by relatively flat topography with low relief with elevation ranging from 5m – 0.5m. Accumulation relief areas are overlain by deep Quaternary period deposits of clay, clay loam, sand, and sandy clays which overlie Holocene bedrock.

that service the area.

90. Soils that have developed on the floodplain are younger and mainly consist of deeper silty clay loams with moderate nutrient status. These soils are poorly drained. All topsoils tend to be slightly acidic. The floodplain soils have now been converted to paddy areas, the majority of which are irrigated. Due to their low relief and greater inherent nutrient base, these soils are not prone to water based erosion. However as these soils are extensively used for crops, protective cover is often removed and structural breakdown will occur when these are exposed to storms with high rainfall erosivity indices.

E.1.2 Climate

91. The project area is situated in the Southern Climate Zone which is typified by a tropical monsoon climate characterised by high temperatures with very little seasonal variation. Annual average temperature for lowland areas are reasonably constant within a narrow range of 27.2 - 27.7 oC. The highest temperature recorded is 40 oC (April) and the lowest recorded was 13.8 oC in January. Average sunshine hours are 2,400 hr/yr up to 2,700 hr/yt.

92. The area is humid and there is little difference in rainfall between the monsoon seasons. From November to April, the wind is mainly from the north east and dry while from May to October the wind is mainly from the south west and brings heavy rainfall to the low lying plains and eastern slopes of the Trung Son mountains. The annual average wind speed recorded at Tan Son Nhat is 2.9 m/s. The maximum recorded wind speed observed was 32m/s (frequency 1 in 20 years).

93. Average annual rainfall at Ho Chi Minh City is 1,983 mm with 159 rainy days. The most rainfall occurs in September which averages 335mm with the maximum rainfall recorded being 500mm. February has the lowest rainfall averaging less than 3mm. In several years no rain may be recorded in this month. Climate data for Ho Chi Minh City is shown in Table 7. 3 The drainage canals also double as irrigation canals during the dry season.

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Table 7: Climate Data for Ho Chi Minh City Item Unit Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec TotalAv. Rainfall mm 15 3 13 43 221 330 315 269 335 269 114 56 1983Av. Rain days no 2 1 2 4 16 21 33 21 21 20 11 7 159Av. Sunlight hour 155 140 155 180 124 120 124 155 150 124 124 124 1675Av. Max Temp oC 32 33 34 35 33 32 31 31 31 31 31 31 32Av. Min Temp oC 21 22 23 24 24 24 24 24 23 23 23 22 23Extreme Max oC 37 39 39 40 39 38 34 35 36 34 35 36 40Extreme Min oC 14 16 18 20 21 21 19 20 21 20 18 14 14Av.Humidity % 65 61 61 62 71 78 80 78 79 79 75 70 71 Source: US National Weather Service, 2012

94. The Feasibility Study (PECC-2, 2010) recommends that an average of 130 thunderstorm days be used in the design. This is greater than Tan Son Nhat in HCM City that recorded 68 thunderstorm days on average. Thunderstorms occur regularly during the summer months when turbulent conditions arise with the development of cumulus and cumulonimbus clouds building up along the lower slopes of the Truong Son mountains.

95. Air pollution values have been assessed in the determination of insulator sizes. The Technical Feasibility study shows that as the transmission line passes through areas with high population density, factories and traffic roads. This has been considered as a light to moderate air pollution environment.

96. The southern part of Vietnam lies outside the typhoon belt that mainly affects the central part of the country. Much of the flooding that occurs in the area is from high rainfall events arising from orographic effects of the SW monsoon being forced upwards by the proximity of the Tron Son Mountains.

97. Vietnam is exposed to climate variation and has regularly experienced extreme weather conditions including; cyclones, landslides, flooding and droughts related to El Nino conditions. Evidence shows that in the Central Highlands over a 30-year period (1980-2009), average annual temperature increased by 0.5 to 0.7oC, while precipitation decreased by 2%. Climate change is affecting the frequency of natural disasters which are becoming more intense and difficult to predict4

98. In the Mekong region (Ho Chi Minh City) average temperatures over the last century, have risen between 0.3 to 0.8°C. Further temperature increases are expected along with more extreme weather events, such as floods and droughts, changes in the amount and distribution of rainfall, disruption of seasonal monsoons, and rising sea levels

.

5

.

4 Source: Seminar "The impact of climate change and environment in the Central Highlands" by the Dak Lak People's Committee, coordinated by the Vietnam Union of Science and Technology, held in Dak Lak province. 5 Report of the Working Group on Climate Change and Development, 2007.

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E.2 Water Resources

E.2.1 Surface Water

99. The area is located in the Delta of the Saigon River and Vam Co Dong River and has low topography ranging in height from 0.3 - 10.0m above the sea level. The area is profoundly influenced by flood heights within the Saigon River during the rainy season which can also be backed up by tidal surges in the estuary from the East Sea.

100. The area is crossed by many canals which serve to both drain and provide irrigation water for the intensive rice cropping of the flood plain areas. Similarly the water level in the canals is also be influenced by flood levels and the tidal effects from the Saigon and Vam Co Dong river.

E.2.2 Underground water

101. As expected with such depositional geology, an adequate rainfall and low lying topography, hydro-geological survey results show that underground water reserves are quite large, averaging 400,000m³/day. The ground aquifer is on average 3-5m from the land surface, is about 40m thick and produces good quality water. Ground water is exploited by pumping to meet the industrial and residential requirements of the surrounding area.

E.3 Biological Environment

E.3.1 Vegetation and Land Use

102. Vegetation and land use systems occurring within the RoW is shown in Table 8 which shows that the majority of the RoW has been converted to agricultural use. Paddy rice accounts for 64% of the length of the RoW while the next most common land use is stands of Melaleuca (11% of length) which are grown for oil extraction and firewood. The transmission line Row also crosses 1,181m of residential areas, 9% of the total length. The entire RoW has now been converted to agricultural and other uses and many areas have been replanted to exotic species such as Melaleuca and Eucalyptus. There is no undisturbed natural forest remaining anywhere within the RoW, this having all been removed for a very long time.

E.3.2 Wildlife

103. The area has been extensively changed and no original habitats remain in the area. No significant wildlife occurs any longer within the area. Wildlife has been replaced by domesticated cattle, goats and buffaloes. There are no climbing animals that could interfere with the transmission line. A check of websites e.g. Birdlife International does not identify any bird migration routes through Vietnam. The Asian Flyway does not pass through Vietnam and instead heads south through the Philippines. PECC-2 staff did not know of any reported bird strikes on any transmission line.

E.3.3 Conservation Areas

104. There are no conservation areas within the proximity of the transmission line the area being significantly changed to a residential area with pockets of farm land. Accordingly the route does not cross or intrude into any conservation area, buffer area or any possible planned future extension of these areas. This is also confirmed in the Environmental Protection Commitment that was prepared in 2008 for the project.

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E.3.4 Invasive Alien Species.

105. No significant invasive species are known in the area. Mimosa pigra which is commonly found throughout Vietnam particularly along waterways is not present in the area. Apart from Mimosa pigra there are few other significant terrestrial invasive species that could cause problems along the transmission line. This was also confirmed by PECC-2 technical staff.

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Table 8: Vegetation and Land Use by Province within RoW

Paddy Vegetable Fruit tree Rubber Eucalyptus Melaleuca Mixed tree Canals Roads Residential1 G3.11-G4.1 125 0.28 83 24 182 G4.1-G4.1A 1,163 2.56 998 120 453 G4.1A-G4.1B 200 0.44 195 54 G4.1B-G4.1C 157 0.35 1575 G4.1C-G4.1D 3,559 7.83 2807 118 6346 G4.1D-G4.2 683 1.50 6837 G4.2-G4.3 1,760 3.87 1462 98 2008 G4.3-G4.4 444 0.98 383 26 10 259 G4.4-G4.5 565 1.24 428 89 27 12 910 G4.5-G4.6 1,145 2.52 1018 106 16 511 G4.6-G4.7 323 0.71 32312 G4.7-G4.8 2,160 4.75 302 1035 414 71 33813 G4.8-G4.9 834 1.83 94 50 482 189 13 614 G4.9-ĐC 232 0.51 127 10515 DC-220kV 70 0.15 7015 TOTAL 13,420 29.52 8653 383 433 53 155 1517 603 406 36 1181

% 64% 3% 3% 0% 1% 11% 4% 3% 0% 9%

No. Segment Distance (m)

Area (ha)

Land Use (m)

Source: from PECC-2, 2012

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E.4 Socio-economic Conditions

E.4.1 Population

106. The transmission line crosses through 5 communes in 2 districts within 2 provinces namely: Long An and Ho Chi Minh City. Population within the immediate project area (as defined by communes through which the transmission line passes) is 70,838 persons with 100% of the population according to the classification given to the communes as being rural based. Population statistics for Long An and for the part of Ho Chi Minh City in which the transmission line is located is shown in Table 9.

Table 9: Population distribution within the project area Location Rural Urban Population

Province District Commune HCM City Củ Chi Nhuận Đức 12,008 12,008

Trung Lập Hạ 12,406 12,406 Phước Thạnh 19,102 19,102 Thái Mỹ 13,842 13,842

Long An Đức Hòa Tân Mỹ 13,480 13,480 TOTAL 70,838 0 70,838 % 100% 0% 100%

Source: Statistical Data from 2010 Census

E.4.2 Ethnic Groups

107. The ethnography of the area has been significantly changed by in and out migration from a mobile mainly residential population. There are no ethnic groups in the area.

E.4.3 Project affected people

108. Communities will be affected by loss of land and loss of assets within the RoW. All households that are affected by permanent or temporary losses will be compensated according to the Resettlement Plan.

109. Loss of land includes both permanent and temporary loss of land. Permanent loss: of (i) land includes the loss of 12.51 ha for the construction of the tower bases. This land will be acquired by SPMB and will affect 77 households with 363 persons. Additionally to maintain conductor clearances and establish safe operating distances within the 22m wide RoW, 37 households (hhs) will be affected. All houses will remain within the RoW as they will meet the safe separation distance criteria of 4m for 110kV and 6m for 220kV transmission lines.

Temporary loss: includes the loss of land along the RoW which will be cleared of vegetation. Landholders will be compensated for loss of access to crop areas during conductor stringing when vehicle access will be required along the RoW which will destroy crops and interfere with crop practices. During operation farmers will be able to grow and cultivate crops under the RoW provided these do not exceed the established conductor safety limits. In total 29.5 ha of land will be temporarily affected. Additionally another 61 households which are located from 11 to 36m from the transmission centre line will be fitted with earth conductors to neutralise any stray EMF radiation

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E.4.4 Social Infrastructure

110. Public Health. The location of the transmission line close to Ho Chi Minh City means that all communities have good access to medical services. Local medical facilities include healthcare stations at the commune level which includes first aid and medical assistance for minor illnesses and maternal services. Medical emergencies are referred to district hospitals while more complex surgery is carried out in the main hospitals in Ho Chi Minh City. Services and trained medical staff are increasing.

111. HIV/AID rate in Ho Chi Minh City is one of the highest in Vietnam. According to the “Analysis and Advocacy” project of USAID the total number of people living with HIV in Ho Chi Minh City is expected to rise from 72,400 in 2006 to 89,900 in 2010 and 105,800 in 2020. Clients of sex workers have become the largest single group of new HIV infections. By 2005, almost 4,000 clients a year were contracting HIV. These and previous infections among men have led to an estimated 2,000 women per year being infected by their husbands by 2005. In 2006, there were about 4,800 new AIDS cases in Ho Chi Minh City. This will climb to an estimated 7,700 new cases in 2010.

112. Education. Infrastructure for education and literacy is high in the area due to good access to primary and secondary schools, while technical and tertiary education is available in numerous colleges within Ho Chi Minh City.

E.4.5 Local Economy

113. The population in Ho Chi Minh City is about 7,396,446 and accounts for 6.6% of the population of the country. Ho Chi Minh City is also where the Southern Key Economic Area is located which is the main business and economic centre of the country.

114. Ho Chi Minh City leads the country on economic growth. In 2001 the GDP growth rate was 7.4%, which in 2005 increased to 12.2%. Ho Chi Minh City now accounts for one third of the country's GDP and is the main economic area and growth centre in the south of Vietnam where it contributes 66.1% of GDP in the southern key economic area and 30% of the total GDP of the southern region.

E.4.6 Communications

115. The area is well serviced by an extensive road, rail and a canal network which is focused on servicing Ho Chi Minh City. Both national, provincial, district and commune roads are represented in the area. All of the major roads have been upgraded to bitumen surfaces though some village roads still remain unpaved. Access to markets and services is good.

E.4.7 Cultural and Heritage Sites

116. PECC-2 have complied a list of cultural and heritage items within the RoW which are shown in Table 10. While there are several temples and other public infrastructure within the vicinity of the transmission line corridor, the RoW has been sited to avoid these structures. There are no distance criteria to justify the acceptability of the location of the RoW with regard to the transmission line. However, based on the project scale and activities, it can be confirmed that the project activities will not have an impact on those cultural heritage sites. PECC-2 confirms that the separation distances are acceptable and as such none of these structures will be affected by the project. A list of sites within the vicinity of the RoW is given in Table 10.

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Table 10: List of Historic Buildings and Public Infrastructure within 500m of RoW Distance from centre line (m) Building Location Left Right 200 Temple Bau Chua Village – Nhuan Duc - Cu Chi

400 Trung Lap Ha Nursery School Gia Be Village – Trung Lap Ha Commune - Cu Chi

107 Ngu Hanh Temple Gia Be Village – Trung Lap Ha Commune - Cu Chi

25 Ba Temple Tao Lao Trung Village – Trung Lap Ha Commune - Cu Chi 127 Phuoc Khanh Pagoda My Khanh Village - Thai My Commune - Cu Chi

Source: PECC-2, 2012

E.4.8 UXO (unexploded ordnance)

117. After decades of war UXO is a significant issue in Vietnam. The presence of UXO was confirmed by the various military headquarters in which the RoW is located who consider that there is a high risk of UXO remaining within the transmission line RoW. While most of UXO has been cleared from agricultural areas, the HCM Military HQ says that particular attention should still be given to the route. It is a legal requirement that the safety of construction workers is ensured by having specialized army units clear UXO before construction commences6

. It is a requirement that surveys be made to identify and clear UXO before construction commences in keeping with the two letters received from the Cu Chi District (24/11/09) and from Ho Chi Minh City’s Deputy Commander of Politics (04/12/09). Both of these letters are identified in Table 4 List of Project Documents and Approvals. UXO clearing within the RoW is the responsibility of NPT and is not funded as a part of the loan. This is confirmed by SPMB.

6 Details of landmine clearance are presented in the Circular 146/2007/TT-BQP by Ministry of Defence dated September 11 2007 guiding UXO clearance for project construction.

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F. ANTICIPATED ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS AND MITIGATION MEASURES

118. This section of the report discusses the potential impacts of the project and recommends environmental mitigating measures to address adverse environmental impacts in following project phases; (i) preconstruction, (ii) construction, and (iii) operation of the transmission line.

119. Impacts are based on an initial assessment carried out for the Rapid Environmental Assessment (REA) checklist and the requirements of the Environmental Assessment and Review (EARF) Framework that have been re-appraised during the development of the IEE.

120. The project area includes the following: the 22m width of the RoW and the earthing zone out to 36m. Work outside this area will also include the construction of access roads and sourcing of sand and aggregate for concrete. Impacts are assessed for both the construction and dismantling of the transmission lines.

121. The main issues will be (i) excavation of the tower bases in a wet environment and (ii) stringing and tensioning of the conductors over houses and buildings that will remain in the RoW. Construction will create a range of expected minor impacts which can be addressed by conditions imposed within the Environmental Management Plan (EMP). Land that will need to be acquired is addressed by the Resettlement Plan. No cultural or heritage sites will be affected nor will any primary forest be cleared. Operation impacts concern safety issues of structures remaining within the RoW.

122. The impacts are presented in terms of their impacts on the physical, biological and socio-economic environments. For each of these categories, the impacts are discussed in terms of their decreasing order of magnitude. Only the main impacts are discussed in this section while a complete list of impacts and risks together with mitigation measures, areas of responsibility, costs and monitoring requirements are presented later in the EMP section.

F.1 Pre-construction Impacts and Mitigation Measures

123. The potential impacts associated with the design and preconstruction phase of the project are related to the siting of the towers and the acquisition of land for the Row. There is potential for the location of the transmission line to affect agricultural land, irrigation and drainage canals, rivers and roads. The construction of the towers will create a visual impact.

F.1.1 Loss of Property within RoW

124. The selection of the route has been made to reduce resettlement requirements and the transmission line route has been selected to avoid passing through densely settled areas even though this has slightly increased the length of the transmission line. However, construction of the transmission line will result to the permanent acquisition of 1.25 ha of land for the tower foundations and the temporary acquisition of 29.5 ha of land for the RoW. Additional land will be temporarily required on an “as need basis” by the contractors for construction camps, material storage areas, and temporary access roads. Most of the land along the ROW is used for rice crops (64%) and Melaleuca plantings (11%) while residential areas occur along 9% of the RoW. There are 37 houses located within the RoW all of which will remain as these are all within safety

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criteria requirements. All of these will be provided with an earth connection while a further 61 houses in the 36 m wide zone will also be earthed.

125. Compensation for land and assets is discussed in the Resettlement Plan which is also being prepared as part of the TA. The RP is prepared in accordance with the ADB and national requirements and will be implemented by the District Resettlement and Compensation Committee.

F.1.2 Loss of Forests

126. The transmission line route does not contain any areas of natural or plantation forest. Small groves have been planted to exotic species such as Melaleuca and Eucalyptus trees, which where these will require removal will be covered by compensation payments. No primary forest will be affected.

F.1.3 Encroachment Into Areas Of Cultural/Historical Significance

127. The RoW will not traverse or displace any historical or culturally significant sites.

F.1.4 Encroachment Into Ecologically Significant Areas

128. The transmission line route will not traverse or affect any conservation area or any buffer area.

F.1.5 Impact On Aesthetics

129. The impact of the project on aesthetics has not been identified as a significant issue in the local context. There are already several existing transmission lines in the vicinity such that the aesthetic impact of additional transmission infrastructure at this location would be less than if such infrastructure was entirely new to the area. It is not possible to mitigate this impact.

F.1.6 Presence Of Unexploded Ordnances

130. UXO is a significant issue in Vietnam after decades of war. The presence of UXO was confirmed by the various military headquarters in which the RoW is located who consider that there is a high risk of UXO remaining within the transmission line RoW. While most of UXO has been cleared from agricultural areas the HCM Military HQ says that particular attention should still be given to the route. It is a legal requirement that the safety of construction workers is ensured by having specialized army units clear UXO before construction commences7

F.2 Potential Impacts During The Construction Phase

. It is a requirement that surveys be made to identify and clear UXO before construction commences in keeping with the two letters received from the Cu Chi District (24/11/09) and from Ho Chi Minh City’s Deputy Commander of Politics (04/12/09). Both of these letters are identified in Table 4. The cost of clearance for the transmission line is met by NPT and is independent of the loan.

131. The following activities will be undertaken during construction that will impact on the environment. While construction activities will be of short duration and the areas will recover quickly the main mitigation measure is to schedule activities so that where possible these are completed during the dry season.

7 Details of landmine clearance are presented in the Circular 146/2007/TT-BQP by Ministry of Defence dated September 11 2007 guiding UXO clearance for project construction.

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132. During construction, SPMB will appoint an independent organisation to monitor construction work. SPMB will also appoint a supervising engineer who will be responsible for supervising the contract and monitoring construction work. The contractor will have prime responsibility for ensuring that the work complies with the Environmental Management Plan (EMP). SPMB will have the overall responsibility of ensuring that the contractor complies with the EMP conditions. This includes ensuring that the EMP conditions are unambiguously carried into the construction contract.

F.2.1 Dismantling of the 110 kV transmission line

133. A 3.71km section of the110kV transmission line will be dismantled and upgraded to a combined 110/220kV transmission line. Dismantling will include the removal of conductors, insulators and towers. Due to their size the foundations will remain in place. Dismantling of transmission lines is undertaken by SPMB who require that the materials that are recovered are placed in store for re-use as required. The recovered materials will be returned to the HCMC electric utility storage for reuse as needed. The impacts associated with the dismantling of the transmission line are similar to the construction impacts and apart from any the disposal of any waste which is addressed by the EMP all other materials are recovered and placed in store for re-use as required.

F.2.2 Access to sites: Soil erosion and Water Quality

134. During construction access to the tower bases will be required which may require construction of temporary access tracks across cropland. There will be frequent vehicle movements along these tracks during construction and with exposed soil surfaces these areas will erode and where they are close to water receiving bodies will affect water quality. The impact will be concentrated and of short duration and will terminate when construction and stringing of the conductors has been completed.

135. To minimise the adverse effect on water quality and to control soil erosion the following procedures will be required to be undertaken by the contractor.

(i) Schedule construction activities to the dry season to minimize affects on stream crossings and areas exposed by excavation activities.

(ii) Access tracks to be provided with adequate surface drainage. (iii) On the completion of construction the access tracks are to be closed. Those

that are not required to be kept open are to be ripped to break up soil compaction caused by heavy vehicle movement. Those that are required to remain for maintenance during operation are to be provided with adequate drainage facilities and the surfaces should be encouraged to revegetate with grass species.

The contractor will be responsible for these actions which are to be included as a requirement in the contract document. SPMB will be responsible for including these requirements in the contract documents8

F.2.3 Excavation of tower bases: Impact on Water Quality

.

136. Each tower base will require about 670 m3 of earth to be excavated and with 46 towers the total excavated material is estimated to be 30,790 m3. The tower foundations

8 While SPMB will have overall responsibility for ensuring that the EMP conditions are attached to the Bid and Contract document, SPMB will normally pass this responsibility to another organisation to prepare the Bid and Contract document on their behalf.

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will be hand excavated within residential areas where ability to operate machinery is limited and may take 7 days plus a further 7 days to complete the foundation. Where machines can be used excavation may take 2 days and a further 7 days to complete the foundation.

137. The area is a very low-lying floodplain with a water table that will be close to the surface during the wet season. This will make any excavation work during the wet season difficult due to the need to pump out the excavation. To mitigate this avoid excavation during the wet season and plan all work for the dry season. Should water need to be pumped from the foundation this is to be discharged into a sediment settling pond before being discharged into any watercourse.

138. Excavated material will be sorted into (i) competent (re-usable material e.g. topsoil) and (ii) incompetent material that cannot be reused and will need to be disposed of. Both topsoil and incompetent material will need to be temporarily stored in secure areas that will not allow the material to enter water courses or become sources of dust. In such a low lying area it will be easy to arrange the disposal of incompetent material and this is normally arranged with the local government who will use the material for road fill.

139. The contractor will be responsible for planning work so that it is carried out during the dry season. These actions which are to be included as a requirement in the contract document.

F.2.4 Additional Impacts On Water Quality

140. The construction of the project facilities will have additional impacts on water quality. These include potential sources of water pollution from contamination due to spillage of oil and other lubricants, contamination due to disposal of construction wastes, and wastewater from washing of construction equipment and vehicles9

141. The contractor will be required to implement measures to prevent the discharge of wastewater during the construction of the project from entering directly into natural and formed drainage channels and other water bodies. Measures to mitigate impacts on water quality include:

.

(i) Provision of adequate on-site sanitation facilities with septic tanks to prevent untreated sewage from being channelled into the drainage and irrigation canals. (if applicable - see footnote comment)

(ii) Implementation of appropriate solid waste and construction waste collection and disposal system, with provision for waste segregation.

(iii) Designation of areas for equipment services, refuelling, and wash down. Vehicle maintenance areas should be provided with oil and grease traps to prevent oil from being washed into the offsite drainage canals.

(iv) Preparation of an oil spill emergency response plan.

142. Proper implementation of the above measures will ensure that the potential water quality impacts during construction will be insignificant. SPMB will be responsible for including these requirements in the contract documents.

9 It is assumed that construction workers will not be housed in worker camps. If they are then an additional source of water pollution will be camp sourced sewage and washing water from kitchens and worker showers.

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F.2.5 Impacts On Air Quality

143. Dust: as construction will be carried out during the dry season dust will be an issue from (i) transport and (ii) construction activities.

144. Vehicle traffic will increase and where this occurs on unpaved roads construction vehicles will increase the dust hazard within villages. Additionally dust will also become a work place hazard at the construction site from the operation of excavation equipment and the movement of vehicles.

145. Additionally air quality in the area can be affected by exhaust gases but it is considered that the overall impact on air quality from construction equipment and vehicles will be insignificant and temporary.

146. The contractor will be responsible for ensuring that all vehicles and equipment are operated within their specifications to limit excessive release of air pollutants. Vehicles and equipment is to be maintained to the manufacturers specifications and any that show produce excessive air pollution are to be stood down until they have been repaired.

147. Dust is to be controlled by spraying water on roads through villages and around the construction site. Vehicle speed and movement is to be reduced where excessive dust is likely to be a problem. Fugitive materials being transported on truck trays must be covered with tarpaulins. The contractor will be responsible for meeting these conditions and these shall be specified in the contract document. Environmental monitoring of dust and exhaust gases will be arranged by SPMB who will be responsible for including these requirements in the contract documents.

F.2.6 Vibration

148. Apart from a small compactor to settle earth around the tower foundations vibration issues are unlikely to be of any significance.

F.2.7 Noise

149. The major sources of noise will be movement of vehicles transporting construction materials and equipment to the site. Within residential areas noise will be an issue and work should be carried out in accordance with the National Technical Regulation on Noise (QCVN 26:2010/BTNMT) which caps noise in “normal” residential areas at 70 dBA between 0600 and 2100 hrs and 55 dBA between 2100 hrs - 0600 hrs. Should vibration become an issue the contractor is to curtail activities to daylight hours (0700hrs - 1900 hrs). Otherwise in rural areas noise issues will be minor, localized, and temporary.

150. SPMB will be responsible for including these requirements in the contract documents.

F.2.8 Generation Of Construction Wastes

151. During the construction of the transmission towers, construction wastes such as discarded construction materials, cement bags, wood, steel, lubricants, fuels, and vegetation debris will be generated. Packaging materials such as wooden pallets, plastic, foam, and cardboard boxes used for storing the equipment and electrical parts delivered at the site for installation will also form part of the waste. Worker construction camps will also generate solid and liquid wastes.

152. Wastes generated during construction and installation of equipment parts have the potential to contaminate land and water resources. Oil may potentially leak from

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improper storage and handling of fuel and lubricants. Packaging materials that may have potential for reuse are to be separated to avoid being haphazardly left around the construction sites.

153. With proper collection and disposal procedures, the generation of construction wastes will have minimal impact on the environment. Construction materials and stockpiles of spoils should be covered to reduce material loss. Particular attention should be made when conducting works near waterways to avoid discharge of wastes into the water course. Stockpiles, lubricants, fuels, and other materials should be located away from water bodies while solid wastes should be disposed of properly in a designated disposal area within the construction site. All domestic solid wastes need to be segregated at source into biodegradable and non-biodegradable for disposal at designated solid waste disposal site.

154. SPMB will be responsible for including these requirements in the contract documents.

F.2.9 Disruption To Traffic

155. Two possible impacts are identified: (i) restriction to traffic movement when the conductors are pulled across roads10

156. The transmission line crosses National Highway 22 once and provincial roads 11 times. While these roads carry high traffic volumes there will be little or no restriction to traffic as established construction practice require supports and a platform to be constructed over the road which prevents the conductors fouling the traffic flow when they are being laid. Consequently there will be no restriction to traffic flow.

and (ii) increased movement of construction vehicles along provincial and communal roads.

157. Due to the settlement density in the area all roads have reasonably high traffic movements. Accordingly construction will only cause a slight increase in traffic movements to and from the construction sites along these roads. However, where commune roads are encountered which are relatively narrow and frequently unpaved the movement of large construction vehicles along these roads may cause temporary blockage and nuisance to villagers. This will disrupt the normal traffic patterns and may also expose the villagers to risk of injury or accidents.

158. SPMB will ensure that supports are erected where the conductors will be carried across major roads. SPMB will also advise communities of upcoming construction activities and the effects that it may have on traffic volumes. SPMB will also ensure that access is not impeded by construction operations to agricultural fields and residences.

F.2.10 Damage To Infrastructure

159. The increased movement of vehicles and construction activities may cause damage to public infrastructure such as roads, buildings and irrigation and drainage canals.

160. Any damaged infrastructure caused by the construction activities will be repaired at the contractor’s cost to at least the same standard and condition as it was before the project.

10 Good construction practice is to avoid the conductor coming in contact with the ground during stringing.

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161. SPMB will ensure that this provision is included as an item in the contract and further stipulates that payment will be with held from the contractor until the damage is repaired.

F.2.11 Occupational Health And Safety and HIV/AIDS

162. Construction activities may cause harm and danger to the lives and welfare of workers. The wearing of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) such as hard hats, safety gloves, ear protection etc is to be strictly imposed.

163. The contractor will be required to comply with the Law On HIV/AIDS Prevention And Control (Law No. 64/2006/QH11) and.implement an HIV/AIDS and Other STIs Awareness Plan in cooperation with the Ministry of Health. The plan will address both workers and the local communities in raising awareness of these diseases. The HIV/AIDS Awareness Plan will be incorporated within the Health and Safety Plan (HSP) and will be prepared and implemented by the contractor. At least one trained first-aid worker is to be available at each construction site. SPMB will be responsible for including these requirements in the contract documents.

F.2.12 Community Health And Safety

164. Project construction will result in impacts to community health and safety such as increased construction traffic from the transport of materials, fires, emergency spills of materials, and unauthorized entry by the villagers into work areas.

165. To mitigate these potential impacts, the civil works contractor will be required to develop a Community Health and Safety Plan (CHSP). The CHSP is to include details of procedures for dealing with emergency situations and to explain work place hazards to communities within the immediate area of the work. The plan should include specific emergency response procedures, communication systems and protocols, interaction with local and regional emergency and health authorities and provision of emergency service vehicles.

166. The CHSP should also include the requirement for the erection of safety barriers either as tape or fencing as determined by the risk to prevent unauthorised access to construction areas. Warning signs around sites are to be printed clearly in Vietnamese language. This will be the responsibility of the contractor. SPMB will be responsible for including these requirements in the contract documents.

F.3 Impacts During The Operational Phase

167. The expected adverse impacts during the operational phase of the transmission lines are generally related to the occupational and community health and safety issues. The impacts are reversible, manageable, and can be mitigated with proper engineering and management controls. PTC 411

F.3.1 Occupational Health and Safety

will be responsible for the operation of the 110/220kV transmission line.

168. The occupational health and safety issues inherent to the operation of high voltage transmission line systems include hazards due to exposure to live power lines and high voltage systems, working in heights and risks of accidents, and potential

11 PTC 3 is responsible for the transmission line from Kontum to Dak Nong and PTC4 from Binh Phuoc to Ho Chi Minh City.

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exposure to electric and magnetic fields. Accidents that may occur include; electrocution, lightning strike, fire and explosion.

169. Exposure to Live Power Lines and High Voltage Systems. Workers may come in contact with live power lines during the maintenance of the facilities and electrocution from direct contact with high-voltage electricity is a hazard directly related to power transmission lines and facilities.12

170. PTC 4 should be guided by the IFC (2007) guidelines when carrying out maintenance of the transmission line and substation facilities. Some of the prevention and control measures when working with electrical systems are:

(i) Restricting access to electrical equipment to only those workers who are trained and certified to work on electrical equipment.

(ii) Adherence to electrical safety standards. (iii) Proper grounding and deactivation of live power distribution lines during

maintenance work or if working in close proximity to the lines. (iv) Provision of PPE for workers, safety measures, personal safety devices, and

other precautions (v) Observe guidelines regarding minimum approach distances for excavations,

tools, vehicles, pruning, and other activities when working around power lines and the substation.

(vi) The entrance to all buildings, vaults, rooms, or enclosures containing exposed live parts or exposed conductors should be kept locked unless such entrances are under the observation of a qualified person at all times.

(vii) Switchboards, panel boards, industrial control panels, meter socket enclosures, and motor control centres that are likely to require examination, adjustment, servicing, or maintenance while energized should be field marked to warn qualified persons of potential electric arc flash hazards.

171. Working in Heights. Accidents may happen when working in heights. However, a worker safety plan may be implemented to reduce risks that include testing of structural integrity prior to proceeding with the work and the use of fall protection measures.

172. Worker Exposure to Electric and Magnetic Fields (EMF). Typically, electric utility workers have higher exposure to EMF than the general public because of working in close proximity to electric power lines. The occupational EMF exposure should be minimized through the implementation of an EMF safety program that includes:

i. Identification of potential exposure levels in the work area including surveys of exposure levels and establishment of safety zones

ii. Limit access to properly trained workers and those equipped with appropriate PPE when entering safety zones.

iii. Utilization of personal monitors during work activities. iv. Posting of safety signs and warning signs.

12 International Finance Corporation (IFC) environmental Health, and Safety Guidelines - Electric Power Transmission and Distribution. 30 April 2007.

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F.3.2 Community Health And Safety

173. Electrocution Hazards: the community can be exposed to electrocution hazards as a result of direct contact with high voltage electricity or from contact with tools, vehicles, or other devices that come in contact with high-voltage electricity. To prevent these hazards, PTC 4 will implement the following:

(i) Provision of signs and anti climbing devices on all transmission towers.

Ensure that any new buildings within the 36 m wide earthing zone are earth grounded.

174. Exposure to Electromagnetic Field. The transmission frequency commonly used in transmission systems ranges from 50Hz – 60Hz which is considered to be an extremely low frequency (IFC, 2007). Effects reduce with distance and electric fields also become shielded by trees, buildings, and other materials that conduct electricity. In general electric fields are strongest close to the source and diminish with distance.

175. The World Health Organization (WHO) reported that there is inconclusive evidence about substantive long-term health issues related to radiation emanating from low frequency electric fields at levels generally encountered by members of the public. The potential health effects associated with exposure to EMF is not well-established due to lack of empirical data demonstrating adverse health effects. However, the public should be warned about the safety distances from the transmission system and power lines through warning signs and the restrictions on erecting any houses or buildings within the RoW and earth zone are to be enforced by PTC 4.

F.3.3 Risks And Emergencies Associated With Transmission Lines

176. There are several risks that could occur with the operation of transmission lines, including the likelihood of the cable being damaged, vandalism of the equipment along the transmission line, corrosion of the towers over time which could compromise its structural integrity, potential fire events, explosion of equipment, and being hit by lightning.

177. Lightning strike systems will be provided along the transmission line. There should also be provision for ensuring security of the equipment to avoid vandalism. Regular inspections of the line and especially the insulators is required to identify components that may be about to fail.

178. Workers should be trained on emergency preparedness and response procedures and a manual on safety and emergency procedures should be prepared and disseminated to workers for fighting oil fires, e.g. from transformer leaks. The procedure should outline the system to identify potential emergency situations and potential accidents that can have an impact to the health and safety of the workers and to the community.

This is the responsibility of PTC4 as the operator of the 110/220kV transmission line.

F.3.4 Management and control of vegetation including invasive species along the Transmission Line

179. One of the regular programs to maintain the integrity of the transmission line is the trimming of vegetation within and along the RoW to meet the necessary conductor safety clearances.

180. Vegetation maintenance activities will not cause any significant disturbance to local people who can benefit from being hired to undertake the work. PTC4 uses hand

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labour to undertake vegetation control which is ideally suited to hiring local people for this activity. Herbicides are not used to control vegetation growth.

181. Should infestations of Mimosa pigra be found along the transmission line PTC4 will arrange the removal and control any invasive species, including Mimosa pigra.

F.3.5 Bird Collisions

182. Based on the field inspections and interviews with key informants about the path of migratory birds, there are relatively few birds in the project area. The site is not established as a path of migratory birds. PECC-2 stated that there have been no reports about birds colliding with existing transmission lines.

F.3.6 Restriction On Development In Transmission Line Row

183. PTC4 will institute restriction on development along the RoW during operation of the line. This will be done to maintain the RoW free of structures within the designated clearance requirements.

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G. ANALYSIS OF ALTERNATIVES

G.1.1 Alternatives to Technology

184. A possible technology option would be to lay the transmission line underground but this is an extremely expensive option which can increase the cost by 10 times. For transmitting energy of this magnitude there are no practical technological alternatives.

G.1.2 Alternatives to Route Location

185. The area is reasonably developed with concentrations of buildings in village communities while road, canal and power transmission systems traverse the area which has restricted the choice of rational route alternatives. The route that has been selected has wherever possible attempted to minimise impacts on people and established infrastructure. Thus the route that has been selected is not the shortest route but is the route that will cause the least impacts. The route also reduces the impact by utilizing an existing 4.9km long corridor between G4.1a and G4.2 which has shortened the possible distance that would be disturbed had this corridor not been selected. This route has been discussed with and has received approval from the affected provinces by the Department of Planning and Architecture of HCM City, the People’s Committee of Long An Province and Central Ministries. Accordingly the route as proposed is the most technically and economically suitable route.

G.1.3 Alternatives to Operation

186. There are no readily identifiable alternatives to operation as the transmission line will be required to operate on a 24/7 basis.

G.1.4 The “no project” alternative

187. Should the transmission line not be constructed power shortages will become increasingly more acute in the southern part of Vietnam.

G.1.5 Reasons for selection of the proposed site

188. The project is selected as it meets the energy growth requirements of the surrounding area and creates more security in the distribution system due to the increased connectivity of the various systems. This will give greater flexibility to PTC4 by allowing electricity to be routed via alternative transmission lines should one of the systems be shut down for maintenance or a failure occurs in one of the systems.

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H. INFORMATION DISCLOSURE, CONSULTATION AND PARTICIPATION

189. This Chapter presents the public consultation process that was undertaken for the project, the results of the surveys and consultation meetings, and the concerns raised by the stakeholders.

190. This Chapter presents the public consultation process that was undertaken for the project, the results of the surveys and consultation meetings, and the concerns raised by the stakeholders.

191. Formal community consultation meetings were held to discuss the location and impact of the transmission line and substations. Public consultations were held in Cu Chi Districts of Ho Chi Minh city from 10 February 2012 to 14 February 2012. Consultation included meetings with 3 of 5 communes. As the transmission line traverses Cu Chi District where the war occurred violently, the Ho Chi Minh city’s military headquarter was consulted for unexploded ordnance.

192. The participants of the public consultation meeting included Commune leaders, representatives of mass organization such as Women Union, Farmer union and affected people. Total consulted people was 54 (Table 11), while a list of items discussed is given in Table 12. A list of attendees is given in Annex 7.

Table 11: Attendees at Public Consultation

Province District Commune Attendees Official Households Total

HCM City Cu Chi Nhuan Duc 8 2 10 Trung Lap Ha 9 17 26 Phouc Thanh 11 7 18

TOTAL 3 28 26 54 Source: PECC2

193. During the meeting, the project content, potential environmental impact, proposed mitigation measures as well as grievance redress mechanism were presented to participants. Then, people raised their questions and comments on the environmental issues. The PECC 2 consultants answered and explained all questions to people. The majority of the concerns raised were related to compensation issues concerning losses of land and crops.

194. The official letter of Military Headquarter of Ho Chi Minh City regarding the need of unexplored ordnance clearance and pertinent environmental issues raised by the stakeholders are given in Annex 7.

H.1 Comments from communal authorities: (i) Land lost along the route will need to be compensated.

Response

(ii) Mitigation measures are required against dust, and exhaust noise.

: compensation will be paid for permanent land losses and loss of privately owned assets such as agricultural and tree crops that may be disturbed or removed.

Response: The EMP has identified these issues and the contractor will be required to carry out dust and noise suppression activities. If these continue unabated communes may report the matter to the Project Engineer which will be addressed according to the Grievance Reporting Mechanism.

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(iii) Houses, structural works, trees and crops should be satisfactorily compensated at market price. Response

(iv) Locations of tower foundation should be chosen by the consulting firm to minimize impact on people and houses.

: Compensation rates will be appropriately calculated in accordance with decision 35/2010/QD-UBND

Responsea. the transmission line route has been selected to minimise impacts on

people and houses.

:

b. People were informed that fruit trees in the height limits; houses lower than 11m can be exist in the Row which meets electrical safety regulations.

c. The Clearance Council will cooperate with land officials to determine the extent of impacts and then mitigate/compensate properly.

d. Local people were explained about impact of electro-magnetic field on the human health and infrastructures under the corridor of the line that if the height of houses under the safety corridor meet electrical safety regulations, they shall be allowed to exist.

e. Households which have 10% of affected agricultural land, will be considered as heavily affected households. They will be compensated to support production and stable life of people (according to ADB's policies)

(v) Project owner should strictly implement measures in the EMP to minimize environmental impacts.

(vi) Project owner should ensure that the project construction schedule is met. (vii) Project owner should comply with Law on Environmental Protection and adopt

policies for compensation for land, crops, and properties for affected households.

H.2 Comments from Military Headquarter of Ho Chi Minh City:

(i) The construction of the transmission lines are located in the city outskirt areas of

Hoc Mon and Cu Chi Districts. This area is a gateway to Ho Chi Minh City, where during the war the battle often happened, especially on roads where the enemy constructed many military posts and used explosive obstacles for protection. Therefore, unexploded ordnance clearance to ensure the construction and exploitation of the works is necessary.

(ii) The Power Engineering Consulting Joint Stock Company 2 is requested to contact the authorities to carry out the unexploded ordnance clearance in accordance with regulations.

(iii) Agencies assigned for unexploded ordnance clearance must contact the relevant city authorities to get the permission from the Military Headquarter of Ho Chi Minh City for unexploded ordnance clearance before the work starts. After completion, the drawings and records should be submitted to Military Headquarter of Ho Chi Minh City (by the Engineer Board) for inspection and management.

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Table 12: Items raised during public consultation

No.

Province/distri

ct/commune

Implemen

tation time Results Feedbacks Number of participants

I Ho Chi Minh City I.1 Cu Chi District

I.1.1 Nhuan Duc commune

Feb. 10, 2012

Local people and local authority support chosen alternative route.

-- Agreeing completely that the project crosses over the commune. - The line running through communes including: 8-towers, the largest is 316m2, the smallest is 169 m2, the impacts should be mitigated -For houses, structural works, trees and crops, they should be satisfactorily compensated, assisted at market at compensation implementation time - It should have suitable assistance, mitigation measures against dust, exhausts, noise.

-The exact line routes will be informed to people after design stage - Agreed for the project construction, the project would be implemented soon. The project owner should implement all steps better; compensate satisfactorily to people avoiding questioning.

Total number of participants: 12 people. Including: - CPC’s leadership:02 people - Inhabitants in the project area:10 people •Male:9 • Female:1

I.1.2 Trung Lap Ha

commune

Feb 14, 2012

Local people and local authority support chosen alternative route.

- Agreeing completely that the project crosses over the commune. - Locations of tower foundation should be chosen by the consulting firm to minimize impact on people - People were informed that fruit trees in the height limits; houses lower than 11m can be exist in the Row to ensure electrical safety regulations - The Clearance Council should cooperate with land officials to determine the extent of impacts and then mitigate/compensate properly . People were informed that the project would be built by the end of 2012 early 2013. The construction period is about a year. -Local authorities and residents agree to the project deployment and construction and require early implementation of the project to ensure stable life of local people.

Total number of participants: 31people. Including: -CPC’s leadership:05people -Inhabitants in the project area 26 people. •Male:19 • •Female: 7

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I.1.3

Phuoc Thanh commune

Feb 13, 2012

Local people and local authority support chosen alternative route

-The positions of tower should be designed to minimize impact to households, in terms of land acquisition and damage to houses - Local people asked: whether the communication equipment is affected by the transmission line or not. The answer was the transmission line does not affect people's health as well as the communication devices of the affected households below the line - Local people asked: How does the land or property affected during transport of construction equipment and construction process being compensated? Are the trees in the corridor higher more than 10 meters, being compensated? How the land remaining area to be compensated because of difficulties in the production and residence? The answer: According to ADB's policies, households that have 10% of affected agricultural land, will be considered as heavily affected households. They will be compensated to support production and stable life of people

Total number of participants: 24 people. Including: CPC’s leaders :06 people-Inhabitants in the project area 18 people. •Male:14 •Female :4

I.1.4 Thai My commune

PECC2 has contacted CPC but CPC hasn't arranged time to hold the public consultation meeting

I.2 Long An

I.2.1 Tan My

Commune April, 4, 2012

Local people and local authority support chosen alternative route

- Houses are allowed to exist in safety corridors under Decree 106/2005/ND-CP dated August, 17th, 2005. -Crops, rice, trees are allowed to produce in the safety corridor - Local people expect the project providing adequate compensation and implementing construction on time to avoid delay. - Local authority and people support the project.

Total number of participants: 12 people. Including:

- CPC’s leadership: 02 people

- Inhabitants in the project area:10 people

•Male: 8 •Female: 2

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I. GRIEVANCE REDRESS MECHANISM

I.1 Purpose of the Mechanism

195. During the course of the project it is possible that people may have concerns with the project’s environmental performance including the implementation of the EMP.13

I.2 Access to the Mechanism

Issues may occur during construction and again during operation. Any concerns will need to be addressed quickly and transparently, and without retribution to the affected party/person (AP). The following Grievance Redress Mechanism (GRM) is to be used and commences with an attempt to sort out the problem directly at project level.

196. Any person who has a complaint regarding the environmental performance of the Project during pre-construction, construction and operation phases shall have access to the grievance redress mechanism described in the following section. The Project through the Grievance Point Person (GPP) shall ensure that:

(i) the grievance redress mechanism is publicly disclosed, and posted in the offices of the affected communes and in strategic places of the Project’s area of influence;

(ii) the grievance redress mechanism is accessible to all segments of affected villages/communes; and

(iii) the public, most especially the residents living in the vicinity of the area of influence of the Project are aware of their rights to have free and uninterrupted access to the GRM mechanism and legal charges and without adverse action being taken against them.

I.3 The Grievance Redress Mechanism

197. The grievance redress procedure will comply with the requirements of ADB SPS (2009) in addressing people’s concerns and complaints promptly and in transparent manner. Managing grievances takes a step-by-step process. It requires assigning responsibilities and specifying timelines for prompt responses/actions to grievances to avoid prolonging the concerns of affected person/s (AP/s). The formal mechanism is discussed in the following section.

I.3.1 Prior to Construction

198. Prior to the commencement of the Project the SPMB will appoint a member of its staff to be the Grievance Point Person (GPP) to handle grievances lodged during construction. SPMB will ensure that the GPP has sufficient support in terms of facilities to implement the grievance redress mechanism.

199. At least one month prior to the start of construction, the GRM is to be disclosed to affected villages and communes by the GPP in coordination with the concerned Commune People Committees (CPCs). It may be disclosed during social preparation, or

13 This procedure is for addressing environmental issues. Any grievances dealing with land and compensation issues are to be directed to the Department of Lands who have established procedures for dealing with these issues.

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preferably, during an independent IEE disclosure. The information to be disclosed/ explained shall, at least, include:

i) the objective/purpose of the grievance redress mechanism; ii) who can raise grievances; iii) what grievances are within the scope of the Subproject mechanism; iv) potential grievances that are outside the scope of the Project mechanism and should be directed to established mechanisms outside the Project; v) no cost involved on the part of complainants; vi) the benefits from/advantages of using the grievance redress mechanism, as opposed to an informal resolution approach (e.g., the person’s rights and protection are guaranteed, etc.); vi) the step-by-step procedure; vii) the entities involved in the mechanism, persons to contact together with their contact numbers and addresses; the contractor shall also have a grievance action team that will be introduced to the villages and communes during construction mobilization; viii) the timeframe for resolving complaints.

I.3.2 During Construction and During Operation

200. During construction complaints may include those related to physical construction works on the towers and substation. During the operational phase of the project complaints that may be related to maintenance activities of the RoW and facilities. The GRM is shown graphically in Figure 5.

a. Lodging a Complaint

201. The affected persons (APs) can lodge complaints to i) Commune People’s Committee of affected communes ii) Contractors, during construction; iii) PTC 4 during operation; and iv) the SPMB, through its Grievance Point Person, prior to construction and during construction.

b. Grievance Documentation/Registration

202. The Grievance Point Person (GPP) and the Southern Power Project Management Board (SPMB) will be responsible for documenting and registering complaints received during construction and PTC 4 during operation. Other potential complaint recipients shall make sure that the received complaints are documented by, and registered with the GPP as soon as possible. The GPP/SPMB shall make sure that documented/registered complaints are acknowledged, duly referenced and complainants informed of the expected action timelines as set forth in the established mechanism. The GPP/SPMB shall inform the AP immediately if the grievance is within, or outside, the purview of the mechanism. If it is outside the scope, AP shall be directed to the proper institution and/or proper mechanism for the complaint.

c. Review, Investigation, Resolution

203. If it is covered by the mechanism, the complaint will be immediately reviewed, investigated and discussed together with the Contractor or PTC 4’s duly designated grievance officer. The review of the complaint should take place immediately preferably before the next day. If the issue is minor and can be resolved at this level the contractor or PTC 4 shall immediately act on the complaint. If the issue is more serious and will need a more comprehensive review and investigate the Contractor or PTC 4 shall resolve the grievance within 5 days from the day the grievance is lodged.

d. Progress Tracking

204. The SPMB or PTC 4 shall keep track of, and document, the progress of each step for record purposes, future reference and for monitoring and evaluation of the effectiveness of the mechanism. If, according to the AP, the impact has been resolved

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satisfactorily, GPP or PTC 4 shall obtain a written confirmation of satisfaction from the complainant, which will form part of the grievance documentation.

e. Monitoring and Evaluation

205. For at least a week after closure of a grievance (that is, when action implemented has been satisfactorily confirmed in writing by the complainant), the SPMB or PTC 4 shall monitor the effectiveness of the resolution. Monitoring shall be properly documented. The SPMB or PTC 4 shall make sure that the status of grievance management is reported. The report shall provide comprehensive information on number of grievances received, timeframe of actions made, number of action backlogs, efficiency rate, and remarks particularly on the constraints and lessons learned. Reports shall serve as basis for evaluating the effectiveness of the mechanism and shall help in determining improvements to strengthen the mechanism and improve the environmental management Plan. It is also advisable to use the monitoring reports to report back to the concerned villages and communes on the implementation of the grievance redress mechanism.

f. Appeal Mechanism for Dissatisfied Complainants/APs

206. In the case that the issue persists, AP can lodge an appeal to District Court. If the complaint is not resolved at the district level, it could be elevated to the People’s Committee at the provincial/city level for resolution.

Figure 4: Grievance Redress Procedure

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J. ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT PLAN

207. This section identifies mitigation and management measures to avoid, reduce, mitigate or compensate for adverse environmental impacts that have already been identified in the previous sections. The environmental management plan (EMP) is a management tool and the issues are accordingly addressed with regard to the sequence of operations, i.e. those activities that apply to; pre-construction, construction and operation. The plan will be used to address the construction of the Cu Bong – Duc Hoa transmission line and the dismantling of the 3.71 km section of the 110kV transmission line.

208. While the institutional arrangements are dealt with separately in the later part of the EMP it is noted here that the management system that will oversee the EMP consists of:

(i) The SPMB in HCM City has appointed one Environmental Officer (EO) within the Division of Resettlement. Observational monitoring and supervision will be required for this project which will be carried out by SPMB. SPMB will appoint a Site Engineer (SE) who will have the overall responsibility for supervising the construction contract including the EMP. The SPMB EO will work in conjunction with the SE to supervise the execution of the EMP while monitoring will be done by the independent organisation.

(ii) An international Environmental Specialist (IES) will be appointed as an advisor to the NPT Environmental Officer. The IES will assist the NPT EO and the SPMB EO in implementing the EMP. As there is inadequate understanding of the need to link the EMP with the Bid and Contract Document the IES will need to be appointed at an early stage in the project so as to assist the EO in developing the pre-construction and construction requirements of the EMP.

(iii) The Contractor will appoint two staff members an Environmental and Health and Safety Officer and a Community Liaison Officer who will be responsible for implementing the EMP.

209. Table 13 shows a matrix of the EMP and is attached at the end of this section. The construction section of the EMP including the matrix is to be attached to the contract documents.

J.1 Environmental Impacts and Mitigation Measures Needed during the Design/Pre-Construction Phase

210. The design and pre-construction phase will address the environmental mitigation measures that are outlined in this section. The majority of the measures are already established as Best Engineering Design Practices and would normally be expected to be addressed by the technical engineering team using their own procedures. The pre-construction work concludes with the integration of the EMP conditions into the Bid and Contract Documents and the evaluation and selection of the contractor. The responsibility for carrying out this work is shared by the Design Engineer and the EO. No additional costs have been identified for this work and all work required at this time will be covered by the budget for the pre-construction work carried out by SPMB. The following items are to be addressed during pre-construction.

• Acquisition of land and payment of compensation • Review EMP, extract construction section of the EMP and attach to the Bid and

Contract Document (B&C).

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• Inclusion of Appendix 5 Prohibited Activities in B&C Document • Bid evaluation and selection of contractor

211. Acquisition of land and payment of compensation

212.

: Land acquisition and compensation will be addressed by the Resettlement Plan (RP). All land acquisition and compensation payments must be settled and completed before construction commences. While it is likely that the District Resettlement and Compensation Committee will be selected to implement the RP the SPMB has the ultimate responsibility and will select the organisation to pay the compensation.

Inclusion of Appendix 5 - Prohibited Investment Activities List - in Bid and Contract Document

The Project Manager and EO will be responsible for including reference to Appendix 5 Activities in the B&C document in the section “Special Conditions of Contract”.

: It will be necessary to include in the B&C document reference to Appendix 5 - Prohibited Investment Activities List that is found in The Safeguards Policy Statement - 2009, especially Item (ii) - production or trade in any product or activity deemed illegal under host country laws and regulations or international conventions and agreements or subject to international phase-outs or bans, such as (a) pharmaceuticals, pesticides, and herbicides (b) ozone-depleting substances, (c) polychlorinated biphenyls and other hazardous chemicals etc.

213. Review EMP, extract construction section of the EMP and attach to the B&C document

214. While a brief outline of the requirements are shown below, preparation of the Bid and Contract Documents is a specialised task and needs to be carried out by a person skilled in contract preparation. Initially this will be challenging as few B&C templates are available for the inclusion of the EMP with the B&C documents

: Experience shows that inadequate application of the EMP by the contractor may occur due to weak linkages of the EMP with the contract document. The EMP is a part of the work program and as such it must be addressed by the contractor and carried out as required. If the EMP is not satisfactorily addressed then the environmental safeguards and project sustainability will be compromised.

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(i) prior to the tender being called the EO will revise and update the EMP;

. In the B&C section “Special Conditions of Contract” the EO will arrange the following;

(ii) extract the construction section of the EMP and together with the SE will attach this to the Bid and Contract Documents in section; Part II - Requirements; Section 6 - Employer’s Requirements;

(iii) in Part 1 the Price Schedule 4 - Bill of Quantities this must include reference to particular requirements e.g. Preparation of Contractor’s EMP (CEMP) including procedures and safeguards, as per Specification Clause x.x. which requires the bidder to specify the cost of the item within the Price Schedule;

(iv) In the B&C section “Special Conditions of Contract” list the construction section of the EMP as forming part of the B&C document. The contractor will use this document to cost his compliance with the EMP.

14 It is recommended that the person preparing the documents obtain a copy of the following document from the Pacific Operations Department in the ADB. ADB TA RSC-C00919 (SOL) Review of Environmental Safeguards Policy Implementation in ADB-Funded Projects in the Solomon Islands. October 2010. This document evaluates the application of EMP safeguards to various construction activities undertaken in the Solomon Islands and sets out a practical system for incorporating the EMP into the B&C documents.

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This will be the responsibility of the EO and SE who will assist the Procurement Officer in addressing this issue.

215. Bid evaluation and selection of contractor

(i) that the construction section of the EMP conditions have been costed into the bid price,

: If for any reason the B&C documents have not been prepared with adequate reference to the system outlined in RSC-C00919 (SOL) then the contractor will be required to provide a short statement that confirms the following three points. The statement is to be attached to the Bid in the section “Special Conditions of Contract”.

(ii) the contractor is to provide prior experience of working with an EMP, (iii) the contractor is required to provide the name, details of qualifications and

experience of the person on the contractor’s team who will be responsible for the environmental compliance requirements of the EMP.

216. During bid evaluation these strengths will be evaluated and will be awarded 10% of the bid in the selection of the contractor. Should the contractor not provide these details, the bid will be judged to be non-compliant and the bid rejected.

217. Both the SE’s representative and EO are to be members of the bid evaluation panel. The EO will evaluate the contractor’s environmental capability and present this to the evaluation panel. The SE will be responsible for ensuring that these conditions are included as conditions in the B&C document

J.2 Environmental Impacts and Mitigation Measures Needed during Construction

218. Environmental impacts identified during construction are limited in size, are site specific and temporary. The activities would normally be recognised and implemented as part of Best Construction Practice. For construction projects of this magnitude the contractor will require the usual range of facilities including site offices, workshops, storage areas and possibly construction camps.

219. During construction the major materials that will be hauled to site includes materials for the tower foundations; reinforcing steel, concrete or materials for making concrete, while the towers will be constructed from pre-cut lengths of galvanised steel that will be bolted together. Insulators will be supplied for each tower while conductors will be unwound from large drums before being pulled through pulleys attached to the tower arms and tensioned.

220. Machinery that may be used on the site is shown in Annex 6 and includes a range of heavy and light machinery. None of these items have the capacity to create adverse vibration. Bulldozers and excavators will expose areas to soil erosion.

221. The project plans to construct the transmission line using 2 teams operating in 2 separate sections. Construction of transmission towers, stringing and tensioning conductors is a specialised task. Each team will consist of about 69 people of which 60 will be unskilled and 9 will be skilled workers. The unskilled workers will be recruited from local communities. In total about 138 people may be employed for about 2 years during the construction of the transmission line.

222. SPMB will arrange contracts for the construction of the transmission line and will contract an organisation supervise the contracts. Depending on its role with preparing

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the B&C Documents or in supervising design, PECC-2 could be selected to undertake supervision providing there is no conflict of responsibilities.

223. Construction work involves the following and will need to be undertaken simultaneously at both construction locations to ensure that the transmission line is completed within two years.

• Demarcation and payment of compensation • Clearing of the right of way • Removal of houses and buildings from within the RoW where minimum sag

clearance of 4.0m for 110kV and 6.0m for 220kV transmission lines is not met. Resettlement of affected households.

• Preparation of contractor’s facilities. • Providing access to the tower bases. • Transport of materials to site for construction of the towers • Excavation of tower foundations either by hand within residential areas or

machinery in open areas. • Preparation and building of tower foundation including fixing of reinforcing steel

followed by concrete pouring. • Erection of prefabricated towers and fitting tower equipment. • Pulling the conductors, tensioning with winches and attaching to the insulators.

224. Testing and energising the transmission line. Construction is expected to take 2 years with the most critical activity being the erection of the transmission towers. To construct the transmission line and address the above activities the following issues will need to be addressed during construction. These are arranged as much as possible in order of undertaking.

• Contractor prepares CEMP • Induction of contractor to site • Control of invasive species • Establishment of contractor’s facilities; camps, offices, quarries, concrete

batching plants, etc. • Demarcation and clearing of the right of way • Preparation of site: excavation, removal and disposal of unusable (incompetent)

material. • Sourcing concrete making materials • Noise and vibration • Dust management • Prevention of soil erosion on the construction site • Storage and handling of (i) fuel and lubricants and (ii) bitumen. • Public access to site • Community safety from increased vehicle movements • Use of hazardous materials and application of Appendix 5 Prohibited Activities • Workplace health and safety • Worker Issues - hiring of workers and HIV/AIDS issues • Worker issues - location of camps and employment of local labour • Worker issues - provision of adequate living conditions within the campsite • Worker issues - camp water heating and cooking; use of fuelwood • Disposal of site waste • Chance discovery of archaeological and cultural sites

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• Clearance and rehabilitation of construction sites and removal of contractor’s facilities

225. During construction the contractor will work according to the requirements of the Contractors Environmental Management Plan (CEMP) which will be prepared by the contractor after the award of the contract and before moving to site. Supervision and monitoring of the CEMP activities will be undertaken as follows;

(i) The contractor has the initial responsibility for supervising and monitoring the CEMP which is covered as a supervision item in the works contract.

(ii) The Project Supervising Engineer appointed by SPMB (SE) will direct the contractor with regard to compliance with the CEMP. The SE will be supported by the Environmental Officer (EO) from NPT.

(iii) The EO will carry out independent monitoring of the work and can issue Defect Notices to the SE who will issue these to the contractor.

(iv) The contractor will have three representatives on site who will be responsible for the EMP (a) the Contractor’s Site Engineer (CSE) who will be responsible for implementing the contract and complying with the CEMP; (b) an Environmental and Health and Safety Officer (EHS) who will be responsible for monitoring compliance with the EMP and the health and safety plans and (ii) a Community Liaison Officer (CLO) who will act as the contact point between the local communities and the contractor. .

226. Contractor prepares CEMP

227.

: following the award of the contract and before commencing work the contractor will be required to prepare a Contractors Environmental Management Plan (CEMP) that addresses the conditions of the construction EMP that has been attached to the B&C Documents. The CEMP will amplify how the contractor will address the activities in the construction section of the EMP. An outline of the CEMP will be provided by the EO. The contractor will submit the CEMP to the EO for approval and will forward this to the ESP for final approval. The contractor has 10 days to prepare the CEMP, the EO has 5 days to review the CEMP as has the ESP (5 days).

Induction of contractor to site:

228.

Following the selection of the contractor and the approval of the CEMP, the contractor together with the person on the contractor’s staff who will be responsible for supervising the CEMP will meet the EO on-site where the CEMP conditions will be confirmed with the contractor. When the EO is confident that the contractor understands and can comply with the CEMP, the EO will advise the SE that the contractor can now commence work.

Control of invasive species

229. Prior to the contractor mobilising the EO will arrange to review the site and determine whether there are any infestations of invasive species in the area.

: invasive species have the ability to out compete local vegetation and the introduction of these into new areas is to be avoided.

(i) The contractor is to advise where his machinery was last used and whether the area is infested with any invasive species. Depending on the state of any infestation at the project construction site then the SE will advise the contractor whether or not machinery must be cleaned before moving to the site. This includes the removal of any potential seed sources such as earth and organic material that may be attached to the machinery.

(ii) The contractor and the EO will be required to observe for any infestations. (iii) Should infestations occur on construction sites that are due or are not due to

the contractor’s activities the contractor will be required to control the infestation.

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(iv) Control and avoidance of the introduction of invasive species is the contractor’s responsibility and this also extends to any sub-contractors that are working under his control.

This will be the responsibility of the contractor. The SE and the EO will be responsible for the supervision and monitoring of the contractor for this activity.

230. Establishment of contractor’s facilities

The sites are to be selected so that:

: This applies to all of the contractor’s facilities, offices, worker camps, storage areas, workshops, quarries, concrete batching areas, etc.

(i) They do not interfere with the welfare of surrounding communities in terms of noise, dust, and vibration from construction activities and their social well-being from their proximity to contractor’s labour camps,

(ii) the areal extent of the contractor’s facilities are to be limited to reduce unnecessary clearing of vegetation,

(iii) sanitary waste and grey water is not to be released untreated into surface water systems.

(iv) sites are to be properly drained. Paved areas, including vehicle parking areas, workshops and fuel storage areas are to drain to an oil and water separator.

(v) Fuel storage areas are not to be located within 20m of a water course. (vi) The contractor’s facilities are to be contained within an adequate security

fence. (vii) Concrete batching areas are to be provided with bunds to control movement of

runoff to waterways.

The location and development of contractor’s facilities are to be approved by the SE and the EO.

231. Demarcation and clearing of the RoW and ancillary facilities

232. The ROW is 13.42 km long and only objects that will be cleared from the 22 m wide RoW where these are within the safe minimum sag clearance of 4.0m for 110kV and 6.0m for 220kV transmission lines. Following the survey of the RoW that was carried out by PECC-2, no houses or any buildings will be required to be removed. Accordingly clearance requirements will be minimal and will be confined to a few trees. Apart from cutting down trees when chain saws will be used all other clearing will be undertaken by hand labour and local communities will be recruited to undertake the work. Where the RoW crosses crop land some minor clearing of scattered trees will be required. Additional clearance will be required on “as needs basis” for removal of vegetation for temporary facilities such as materials storage, construction camp, and assembly areas. Crops will be potentially damaged during the construction of the transmission line when the conductor is strung. This is treated as a temporary RoW loss and will be paid as part of the Resettlement Plan.

: this applies to the Right of Way, temporary access road and the contractor’s site facilities.

233. SPMB will arrange the clearing of the RoW as an item in the contract. Clearing will be the responsibility of the contractor. The SE and the EO will responsible for the supervision and monitoring of the contractor.

234. Preparation of site: Excavation, removal and disposal of incompetent materials: this applies to all cleared sites where excavation will be undertaken and includes the transmission towers, access road etc. The contractor is to arrange the following.

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(i) Limit the areas to be excavated to a size that can be effectively managed and protected.

(ii) Topsoil is removed and stored in separate heaps that are located in stable areas for later re-use for site rehabilitation.

(iii) Excavated material is sorted and stored as either competent (able to be reused) and incompetent (to be disposed of) materials. Incompetent materials have many uses especially as fill materials in such low lying flood prone areas and will be disposed of in accordance with requirements of local government authorities who will direct where the material is to be dumped.

(iv) At completion of work dumping areas that will be re-used for building sites etc are to be topsoiled and revegetated.

This will be the responsibility of the contractor. The SE and the EO will responsible for the supervision and monitoring of the contractor.

235. Sourcing concrete making materials

This will be the responsibility of the contractor. The SE and the EO will be responsible for the supervision and monitoring of the contractor.

: all material is to be sourced from outlets that have been given exploitation approval by MONRE or DONRE. The contractor has no authority to open any material site and must source all concrete making material from MONRE or DONRE approved sites.

236. Noise and Vibration


: this applies to all machinery, vehicles and construction sites where noise and vibration may affect susceptible receptors. The principle sources of noise and vibration will be construction equipment. The contractor will be responsible for ensuring that noise and vibration does not affect the surrounding communities. Noise and to a lesser extent vibration will be an issue where towers are to be erected close to or within residential areas. The contractor will be required to abide by the National Technical Regulation on Noise (QCVN 26:2010/BTNMT) which caps noise in “normal” residential areas at 70 dBA between 0600 and 2100 hrs and 55 dBA between 2100 hrs - 0600 hrs. Should vibration become an issue the contractor is to curtail activities to daylight hours (0700hrs - 1900 hrs).

237. Dust management

238. This will be the responsibility of the contractor. The SE and the EO will be responsible for the supervision and monitoring of the contractor.

: this applies to all construction sites, haul roads, unsealed village roads, topsoil and spoil dumps. Work that is carried out during the drier time of the year and especially when wind speeds increase may create localised dusty conditions. During construction when dust may be generated the contractor is to monitor the worksite conditions and apply dust control measures which includes reducing traffic movements and spraying water on exposed areas. Use of oil for dust control is not allowed. The contractor is to maintain a Dust Control Record that shows where and when dust control practices were carried out. This is to be made available as required when requested by the SE and/or the EO.

239. Prevention of soil erosion on construction site

(i) Limit the extent of excavation to reduce soil erosion potential.

: this applies to all excavated sites. The contractor will be responsible for ensuring that the site is stable and that erosion is contained by appropriate soil conservation protection methods.

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(ii) Soil conservation protection methodology is to be applied to susceptible areas to avoid storm water runoff carrying eroded materials either, off-site to susceptible areas or, else onto already finished work areas.

(iii) Where ground water accumulates in excavations and needs to be pumped out the contractor is to appraise the extent of the turbidity in the water. Where turbid water occurs the contractor is to discharge the water into sediment traps to allow the sediments to settle before allowing it to discharge into any watercourse.

(iv) Avoid excavating areas and operating machinery in wet ground conditions. (v) Excavated areas are to be revegetated as soon as possible at the completion

of the site work.


240. Storage and handling of construction materials including fuel and lubricants

(i) Storage areas to be prepared to avoid deterioration of materials.

: Only small amounts of construction materials are likely to be brought to site. These will include sand, gravel and cement for concrete manufacture, reinforcing rods and steel mesh, wood and other construction materials, fuel and lubricants.

(ii) Fuel should be stored in properly sealed containers. Storage of large quantities of fuel > 5000 l are to be stored in tanks above a bunded concrete platform with a capacity of at least 110% of the above ground fuel storage capacity. The bunded area is to drain to an oil and water separator.

(iii) All fuel storage areas to be security fenced. Fuel hoses and shut off valves are to be locked when unattended.

(iv) All refuelling is to be done at least 20 m away from waterways by trained personnel.

(v) All waste oil and oil filters to be collected and if possible recycled, otherwise they are to be disposed of in secure landfills.

(vi) The contractor is develop a Fuel Handling and Accidental Spill Reaction Procedure and to train refuelling personnel in these procedures.

241. Any major spill into the watercourse is to be reported to the DONRE. All waste oil is to be collected and disposed of at recycling place, while oil and fuel filters are to be collected and disposed of in secure landfill areas. At the closure of the site all contaminated soil is to be excavated, removed and replaced with fresh topsoil.


242. Public access to the site


: this applies to the contractor’s site and work areas. Access is to be controlled to the contractor’s facilities. All visitors will be required to report to a site security area before being allowed to enter the site. Work areas will be demarcated by barrier tape and signs erected as required to warn people that there is no right of entry to these areas.

243. Community safety from increased vehicle movements: this applies to all vehicles and in particular haul trucks that have to pass through villages. The contractor is to ensure that all vehicles that are required to pass through villages are operated and transport equipment and materials safely without endangering these communities. The contractor is to ensure:

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(i) That trucks and other vehicles are maintained in a safe operating condition, (ii) all drivers and machinery operators act responsibly, (iii) all loads are to be secured and all loads with fugitive materials (e.g. excavated

soil and sand) are to be covered with tarpaulins, (iv) the contractor is to immediately remove any drivers that ignore any of the

community safety requirements.


244. Use of (i) hazardous materials and (ii) Prohibited Activities

245. (i) Hazardous Materials: Care will need to be taken should any hazardous (HAZCHEM) materials be required to be used during construction. It is recommended that the contractor uses the HAZCHEM system and follows the QCVN 07: 2009/BTNMT -National Technical Regulation on Hazardous Waste Thresholds. The contractor will be required to prepare a list of all materials that are proposed to be brought to site together with their HAZCHEM rating. The EO is to verify the HAZCHEM rating and approve the use of any HAZCHEM rated chemicals. Should HAZCHEM materials be used in the work place the contractor will be required to display Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) in all work areas and to train workers in the safe use of these materials, including the provision of protective equipment for handling these substances.

:

246. (ii) Prohibited Activities: The contractor is to be aware of the activities shown in Appendix 5 of the of the ADB's Safeguard Policy Statement, Prohibited Investment Activities List that became effective in January 2010. Any listed Appendix 5 activities are prohibited. The SE and EO are to verify that the contractor is aware of the Appendix 5 requirements and that none of these activities will be sanctioned during construction.


247. Workplace health and safety

• Hazards from working at heights on the transmission towers.

: The contractor will meet the requirements of the Vietnamese Labour Code as amended 2002. The main workplace safety issues include:

• Electrocution hazards when working with high voltage equipment. • Hazards from operating machinery including direct hazards to the machine

operators and to workers working in the vicinity of the machine • Hazards from working in tower foundations where there is a risk of sides

collapsing. • Hazards to workers exposed from heavy materials being lifted by cranes. • Refuelling hazards. • Exposure to HAZCHEM materials. • Traffic accident hazards

248. Before commencing work in any of these activities (and in any other areas that the contractor identifies), the contractor will be required to prepare a brief Work Statement (WS) that identifies hazards that apply at a particular site together with an outline of the approved work procedure and details of protective safety equipment to be used by any person entering the specified work area. The WS is also to include an Emergency Response Procedure (ERP) to address serious accidents and nominate a person who is to be immediately contacted should an accident occur. A copy of the WS and the person to contact in case of an emergency is to be posted at the site where it is visible to all workers. Before commencing work the contractor is required to discuss the

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WS and ERP requirements with the workers. The WS is to be submitted to the SE at least one week prior to work commencing on the site.

249. The contractor is to make the following arrangements.

(i) Erect warning signs and barriers around work areas (ii) No drugs or alcohol allowed on-site (iii) Noise and dust to be controlled. (iv) All workers provided with safety equipment appropriate for the task in which

they are employed. The contractor is to arrange for the following to be supplied on-site for workers:

(i) Potable water, (ii) chemical toilet, (iii) changing place with clothes storage, and (iv) facilities for washing and showers.

The contractor is to prepare Work Statements for each activity

(i) Prior to starting work for the first time all workers are to be inducted to the site and site hazards explained together with an explanation of work site safety procedures.

(ii) Provision of medical and first aid facilities together with a person qualified in first aid.

A Record of Accidents and time lost from accidents will be required to be kept by the contractor which will be forwarded each month to the SE’s representative for the attention of the EO.

The SE or EO will inspect and approve the adequacy of these arrangements.

250. Worker Issues: (i) Hiring of Workers and HIV/AIDS issues

251. Where workers are sourced from local communities where the workers return to their homes at night the risk of infection is minimised. However, if the contractor brings in workers from other localities to undertake specialised work on the transmission line, these workers may contain “at-risk” or HIV/AIDS infected persons who can transmit the disease to uninfected communities. It will be necessary to ensure that workers employed on the Project from other localities be targeted via an HIV/AIDS and Other STIs Plan.

: HIV/AIDS rates in the Ho Chi Minh City area are some of the highest in Vietnam and the contractor will have a duty of care to his workers to ensure that they are not exposed to HIV/AIDS or they spread HIV/AIDS into the surrounding communities.

252. The contractor will be required to comply with the Law On HIV/AIDS Prevention And Control (Law No. 64/2006/QH11) and.implement an HIV/AIDS and Other STIs Awareness Plan in cooperation with the Ministry of Health. The plan will address both workers and the local communities in raising awareness of these diseases.

253. The SE and EO will approve the contractor’s HIV/AIDS and Other STIs diseases plan which will be implemented by the contractor’s Community Liaison Specialist.

254. Worker issues: (ii) location of camps and employment of local labour

(i) Local communities to be preferentially offered employment for unskilled work.

: It is unlikely that in this situation construction camps will bee required. However, should the contractor establish a construction worker camp the contractor is to make the following arrangements:

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(ii) Camps to be sited well away from villages if there is any potential for social conflict to arise.

(iii) Each camp should have a solid waste disposal site and a soakage pit to pre-treat camp wastewater.


255. Worker issues: (iii) provision of adequate living conditions within campsites

The contractor will be required to provide:

: If workers are housed in camps, workers will need to be provided with adequate housing, sanitation and recreational facilities. The contractor will provide acceptable camp facilities with potable water, adequate food rations and recreational facilities to either meet requirements of the Vietnamese labour requirements or an acceptable international standard whichever is the higher.

• adequate shelter • potable water • Sanitation and washing facilities, • Kitchen with adequate cooking facilities • Nutritionally adequate food rations,


256. Worker issues: (iv) camp water heating and cooking - use of fuel wood


: Again this requirement is only triggered if workers are brought in from outside or housed in camps. To avoid sudden and unsustainable loss of any resources to the detriment of surrounding communities, the contractor will be required to provide gas and kerosene for water heating and cooking.

257. Disposal of site waste

258. This will be the responsibility of the contractor. The SE and the EO will responsible for the supervision and monitoring of the contractor.

: All construction waste materials including steel and timber off-cuts, sand and gravel, cement bags etc are to be collected and sorted. If these cannot be recovered for scrap value these materials are to be taken to an approved landfill sites and dumped there.

259. Chance discovery of archaeological and cultural sites


: Archaeological sites are protected under the Law of Cultural Heritage (2001). While there are no known archaeological or cultural sites within the project boundaries, it is possible that “chance discoveries” may be made when tower foundations are being excavated. In the case of special discovery, the contractor/SE will inform the Department of Culture-Sport and Tourism for further action and is to immediately stop work where the discovery has been made to allow the discovery to be evaluated. Following evaluation the contractor will be advised whether or not it is possible to resume work on the site.

260. Clearance and rehabilitation of construction sites and removal of contractor’s facilities: It is the contractor’s responsibility to clean up the site when construction is completed. This includes the removal all waste materials, machinery and any

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contaminated soil. All construction sites and work areas are to be rehabilitated so that these can be returned as close as possible to their previous use. This includes the stabilization and landscaping of all of the construction sites to re-establish site drainage. Any contaminated soil must be removed from fuel and oil storage areas and the site revegetated. No waste is to remain behind after work is completed that will not naturally and safely decompose. Should waste not be removed SPMB is entitled to withhold payment and arrange the clean up and deduct the cost of the clean-up from the final payment amount less an additional 10% for arranging the task.

261. The SE is to ensure that all waste is removed and the site restored. The EO will also inspect and approve the clean up of the site.

J.3 Environmental Impacts and Mitigation Measures Needed during Operation

262. During operation the main issues will be :

• Maintenance of safety clearance requirements along the RoW • Control of development within the RoW.

PTC4 will be responsible for complying with the EMP requirements during operation. The EO will arrange to audit compliance with the EMP requirements. Other issues such as work place safety when operating within high voltage areas will be addressed by PTC4 own safety operating procedures which they will apply.

263. Maintenance of safety clearances along the RoW

264. Safety clearances will be particularly important for buildings and houses located within the RoW as these may be at risk should an insulator fail allowing a conductor to fall or a building owner unintentionally adds additional height to a building.

: PTC4 will undertake regular inspection of the transmission line corridor to ensure that safety clearances are maintained underneath the conductors. This is established as 4.0m for 110kV and 6.0m for 220kV transmission lines. Clearance criteria will particularly apply to houses and buildings and trees within the 22m wide RoW.

265. PTC4 currently carries out annual line inspections. It is recommended that this be increased to six monthly inspections where any houses are located under the conductors. Particular attention will be required with regard to the insulators which secure the conductor to the tower to ensure the integrity of the insulator.

266. Vegetation maintenance activities will be minor as the majority of the transmission line passes over rice fields. Trees will present the only risk and these can cleared by hand labour. NPT does not allow the use of herbicides to control vegetation growth. Burning to control vegetation along the transmission RoW is also prohibited as this may cause flash-overs to occur from smoke particles.

To minimize the impacts associated with the removal of vegetation, clearing will only be allowed within the designated width of the RoW and to achieve the required clearances.

267. A significant invasive species is Mimosa pigra which is found throughout Vietnam particularly along waterways. PTC4 will be required to control any spread of invasive species including Mimosa pigra.

268. Control of development within the RoW: PTC4 will institute restriction on development along the RoW during operation of the line. This will be done to maintain the RoW free of structures within the designated clearance requirements. PTC4 will

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monitor this requirement as one of their tasks when they carry out their annual inspection of the RoW.

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Table 13: ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT PLAN

IMPACT MITIGATION

Project Activity Applies to

Potential Environmental Impact and/or consequence Proposed Mitigation Measure Implementing

Responsibility Mitigation Cost

PRE-CONSTRUCTION ACTIVITIES

Acquisition of land and payment of compensation.

Constructed area Social disaffection with project. Resettlement Plan

District Resettlement and Compensation Committee or organisation as selected by SPMB

To be determined

Inclusion of Appendix 5 Prohibited Investment Activities in B&C document

B&C documents

Loss of environmental values from application of banned materials.

Appendix 5 Prohibited Activities to be included as a requirement under “Special Conditions of Contract” within the B&C document.

SE and EO Project cost

Review EMP and extract construction section of EMP. EMP Avoids loss of environmental

competence in project

EMP to be revised before extraction of construction conditions to B&C document. EMP re-issued before construction commences.

EO Project cost

EMP construction conditions included in Bid Documents

B&C documents

Loss of environmental values and project sustainability.

EMP construction conditions included in B&C documents in Part II - Requirements; Section 6 - Employers Requirements. List EMP construction section as a Special Condition of Contract.

SE and EO Project cost

Bid evaluation and selection of contractor Contractor

Selection of competent contractor will ensure that the environmental integrity of the project is maintained.

EO to evaluate each bid for environmental competence of contractor. Rank bids and advise Bid Evaluation Panel.

EO Project cost

CONSTRUCTION ACTIVITIES

Contractor prepares CEMP Contractor Maintains environmental integrity of the project.

Contractor prepares Contractor’s Environmental Management Plan (CEMP) that establishes the contractor’s management and compliance requirements with the construction section of the EMP.

Contractor Contractor’s cost.

Induction of contractor to site. Construction site

Maintenance of environmental values by ensuring that contractor understands and addresses the CEMP conditions.

Before commencing work the CEMP conditions are confirmed with the contractor at an on-site meeting. When the EO considers that the contractor is competent to comply with the CEMP the EO advises the SE that the contractor can now mobilise.

EO and SE Project cost.

Control of invasive species Construction site Loss of indigenous vegetation.

i. EO to evaluate sites for presence of invasive species. ii. If site is not infested with invasive species the SE is to advise the contractor that if moving from an infested

EO, SE and contractor

Costed by contractor and cost carried into contract.

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IMPACT MITIGATION




site all earth must be removed from machinery and machinery washed down before moving to site. iii. Any outbreaks are to be controlled and this is the contractor’s responsibility. iv. Applies to all sub-contractors under the contractors responsibility.

Establishment of contractor’s facilities (camps, offices, quarries, concrete batching areas etc).

Construction site

i. Maintains environmental integrity of site. ii. Avoids water and soil pollution, iii. Maintains harmonious relationships with surrounding communities.

i Sites are located so that they do not interfere with the welfare or social cohesion of surrounding communities ii. Site is limited to reduce unnecessary clearing of vegetation. iii. Sanitary soakage areas from offices and camps to be sited so that effluent is treated. iv. No discharge of grey water or sewage allowed to surface water systems. v. Workshops to be provided with oil and water separators. vi. Fuel storage areas not to be located within 20m of watercourse. vii. Contractor’s storage facilities may need to be surrounded by a security fence. viii. Concrete batching areas to be provided with bunds to control movement of runoff to waterways.

Contractor


Demarcation and clearing of RoW and ancillary facilities RoW Loss of vegetation resources

i. Define the 32m RoW width. ii. Identify useable trees within the RoW and arrange for these to be approved for removal. iii. Limit area to be cleared iv. Identify areas with any significant vegetation. v. Areas to be defined by a clear boundary. vi. Clearing boundaries shown to machinery operators. vii. Vegetative material to be offered to communities for disposal as fuel wood or viii if an impediment to work may otherwise be disposed of by clean burning fires.

SPMB and Provincial DARD.


Compensation planting of 231 ha As identified Loss of vegetation resources Replant equivalent area of forest cleared. PTC 3 and 4. $577,500 to be

met from MFF.

Preparation of site: excavation, removal and disposal of unusable (incompetent) materials.

Any areas to be excavated including road approaches

a. Lowered water quality from eroded material. b. Loss of visual amenity from poorly located and finished dumpsites

i. Limit area to be excavated. ii. Topsoil to be removed and stored for re-use. ii. Excavated incompetent material to be disposed of outside and away from the work area. iii. At completion of work dumping areas to be re-topsoiled and revegetated.

a. Contractor to arranges location of topsoil and material dump sites with SE. b. SE and EO

Costed by contractor and cost carried into contract

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IMPACT MITIGATION




Noise and vibration

Construction site including road approaches

Noise and vibration nuisance to surrounding communities. Impact will be mainly limited to pile driving and compaction of access road.

i. If particularly noisy activities are required work may need to be limited to daylight hours. ii. Noise not to exceed 55dBA at boundary of any residential area between 2100 - 0600hrs and 70 dBA between 2100 and 0600hrs.

i. and ii. contractor


Dust management

Construction site including road approaches and aggregate heaps.

Dust may be generated from activities. Will affect air quality of workplaces and surrounding areas

When dust is carried towards residential areas or becomes problematic on-site, the contractor is to apply dust control measures

Contractor


Prevention of soil erosion on construction site.

Construction site

a. Loss of soil resources. b. Water quality affected. c. Eroded soil interfering with construction activities.

i. Apply soil conservation and erosion protection technologies. ii. Avoid operating machinery in adverse ground conditions. iii. Protect and revegetate newly excavated areas as soon as possible

Contractor EO will advise on revegetation requirements


Storage and handling of: fuel and lubricants

i. Fuel storage and handling equipment. Refuelling of plant and machinery.

Pollution of soil and water resources

i. Storage areas to be prepared to avoid deterioration of materials. ii. Fuel should be stored in properly sealed containers. Larger than 5000 l to be stored on bunded concrete platform with 110% storage capacity. iii. All fuel storage areas to be security fenced and provided with oil and water separators. Fuel hoses and shut off valve to be locked. iv. All refuelling to be done at least 20 m away from waterways by trained personnel. v. All waste oil and oil filters to be collected and if possible recycled, otherwise to be disposed of to landfills. vi. The contractor is to train refuelling personnel in these procedures. vii. The contractor is to have developed an accidental spill handling action plan.

Contractor


Public access to site Construction site Accidents to surrounding communities

i. Erect warning signs and barriers around work areas. ii. Site can only be accessed with permission of contractor. iii. Visitors to be inducted to site with an explanation of the site hazards that may be experienced.

Contractor


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IMPACT MITIGATION




Community Safety from increased vehicle movements

Villages situated on haul roads.

Accidents to surrounding communities from vehicles transiting villages.

i. All vehicles to be properly maintained and operated in accordance with road laws. ii. All loads to be properly secured and fugitive loads to be covered. iii. Drivers to be fired if ignore safety requirements.

Contractor


i. Use of hazardous materials and ii. Prohibited activities

Construction site

Health dangers to workers and the environment. Loss of water quality

i. Contractor to provide list of all HAZCHEM products to be used on site ii. List verified against HAZCHEM. iii. Contractor to display MSDS sheets in work areas. iv. Contractor to abide by Appendix 5 Prohibited Activities (SPS, June 2009) and: QCVN 07: 2009/BTNMT -National Technical Regulation on Hazardous Waste Thresholds

Contractor and EO.


Workplace health and safety

Labour working on construction site

Workplace accidents and health of workers. Loss of productivity.

Contractor to abide by: Vietnamese Labour Code as amended 2002. Workers to be provided with safe working environment including: i. Erect warning signs and barriers around work areas ii. No drugs or alcohol allowed on-site iii. Noise and dust to be controlled. iv. All workers provided with safety equipment appropriate for the task in which they are employed. v. To be supplied on-site for workers: Potable water, chemical toilet, changing place with clothes storage, and washing and showering facilities. vi. Work Statements prepared for each activity vii. Prior to entering site for first time workers to be inducted to site and site hazards explained together with explanation of work site safety procedures. ix. Medical and first aid facilities provided together with a person qualified in first aid.

Contractor


Worker issues (i): Hiring of workers and HIV/AIDS issues.

labour and surrounding communities

Spread of communicable diseases into unaffected communities from unsafe sex.

Contractor to implement HIV/AIDS awareness program. Contractor


Worker issues (ii): Location of camps and employment of local labour

i.Surrounding communities ii. labour

Social unrest from poor location of camps and perceived bias in employment policy if local workers not hired

i. Local communities to be preferentially offered employment for unskilled work. ii. Camps to be sited to avoid social conflicts. iii. Each camp should have a solid waste disposal site and a soakage pit to pre-treat camp wastewater

Contractor


Worker issues (iii): provision of adequate living Labour Poor health and loss of worker

productivity. Camp conditions to meet Labour Law requirements. Provide: Contractor Costed by

contractor and

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IMPACT MITIGATION




conditions within campsite. i. adequate shelter ii. potable water iii. Sanitation and washing facilities, iv. Kitchen with adequate cooking facilities v. Nutritionally adequate food rations,

cost carried into contract.

Worker issues (iv): Camp water heating and cooking. Use of fuel wood.

Labour

i. Unsustainable removal of forest resources to detriment of surrounding communities. ii. Disturbance to forests, wildlife, and biodiversity

i. the contractor will provide gas and kerosene for water heating and cooking. ii. Locate camp away from significant forest areas, and: limit collection and use of fuel-wood.

Contractor


Worker issues (v): Hunting and sale of wildlife by workers

Labour i. Unsustainable loss of wildlife and ii. affect on biodiversity.

i. Labour employment agreement enforced by contractor that bans hunting and trading in wildlife by workers. ii. Labour who disregard this requirement are handed over to Forest Protection Department for prosecution and immediately dismissed. Contractor is to provide nutritionally adequate camp rations

Contractor


Disposal of site waste Construction site Soil and water pollution.

All waste materials to be collected and sorted; (i). those that can be recycled and (ii) those that need to go to an approved landfill site for disposal.

Contractor


Chance discovery of archaeological and cultural sites

Construction site Loss of cultural values

No known sites. Chance discoveries are to be notified to the SE who will advise the EO. EO to advise on procedure for dealing with chance discoveries.

Contractor, SE and EO


Clearance and rehabilitation of construction sites and removal of contractor’s facilities.

Construction site Re-establishes environmental values

i. All solid waste to be removed from sites and disposed in approved landfills. ii. All contaminated soil to be removed. iii. All sites to be rehabilitated and restored to original condition. iv. Drainage to be re-established. v. To be included as part of Final Inspection before payment made.

Contractor


OPERATION ACTIVITIES Control of vegetation along RoW RoW Unsafe operation of transmission line i. Vegetation cut and controlled to safe operating limits.

ii. Use hand labour PTC 3 and PTC 4. PTC3 and 4 operating cost

Control of development within the RoW.

RoW i. Unsafe habitation within RoW ii. Unsafe operation of transmission line.

i. All buildings kept out of 32 m RoW ii. All buildings outside 16m RoW width from centreline to 72 m earthed.

PTC 3 and PTC 4. PTC3 and 4 operating cost

EO = Environmental Officer attached to NPT; SE = Project Engineer based with SPMB; MSDS material safety data sheet

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J.4 Monitoring

269. A matrix summarizing the monitoring that is required for the EMP is attached as Table 14 which shows the monitoring measures that are required together with the frequency of measurement, the means of verification and who is responsible for monitoring the activity. Due to the nature of the work and the small size of the excavation works, no water, noise or air quality monitoring is required. Dust will be an issue but it is unrealistic to establish dust monitoring stations on work of this size and instead construction site monitoring is carried out as visual observations. Additionally dust that may be generated from unpaved roads within village communities can be reported to the contractor via the Grievance Redress Mechanism.

Monitoring is carried out as follows:

270. Pre-construction

271.

: during preconstruction the SPMB EO will monitor the tasks identified within the EMP.

Construction

(i) The contractor has the initial responsibility for monitoring compliance with the IEE as reflected in the Contractors Environmental Management Plan (CEMP). The responsibility for undertaking this is identical and similar to the contractor’s responsibilities for monitoring the civil construction works.

: During construction monitoring of construction activities is carried out to ensure that construction work complies with the requirements of the EMP. Monitoring responsibilities are arranged as follows.

(ii) SPMB Supervising Engineer (SE) is responsible for monitoring the

contractor’s compliance with the CEMP. The SE will be assisted in this role by the SPMB EO. In the initial stage of the project the SPMB EO is assisted by the National EO and as required the IES.

(iii) The SPMB EO also monitors the work but has more of an auditing role. The

SPMB EO can issue Defect Notices for non-compliant work and depending on the seriousness of the work may instruct the contractor that this is to be completed by a certain date. The Defect Notice is given to the SE who directs the contractor to undertake the work as shown in the Defect Notice. If the work is not completed by the due date then the SE can arrange for the work to be completed by another contractor and the cost deducted from the contract plus 10% as a management charge.

(iv) The NPT EO may audit the EMP as required and together with the IES provide

assistance to the SPMB EO for monitoring the EMP.

272. Operation: During operation monitoring will be undertaken by the SPMB EO on behalf of PTC-4.

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Table 14: Environmental Monitoring Plan Project Activity Applies to Proposed Mitigation

Measure Parameter to be monitored

Frequency and means of Verification

Monitoring responsibility

Achieved Yes or No

Date of Verification

Name of person verifying

Signature of person verifying

Remarks: e.g. Defect Notice Issued etc

PRE-CONSTRUCTION Acquisition of land and payment of compensation.

Pre-construction Resettlement Plan

i. RoW land transferred to NPT ii. Landowner satisfaction

Once verify transfer EO

Inclusion of Appendix 5 Prohibited Investment Activities in B&C document

Bid and Contract Documents

Appendix 5 Prohibited Activities to be included as a requirement under “Special Conditions of Contract” within the B&C document.

Appendix 5 attached to B&C documents

Once verify that Appendix 5 has been attached to the B&C documents.

EO and SE

Review EMP and extract construction section of EMP

EMP EMP to be revised and re-issued at the completion of the pre-construction tasks.

EMP revised and changes incorporated in it.

Once. EMP re-issued.

SE

EMP construction conditions included in Bid Documents


EMP construction conditions included in B&C documents in Part II - Requirements; Section 6 - Employers Requirements. List EMP construction section as a Special Condition of Contract.

EMP construction conditions attached to B&C documents.

Once verify EMP construction section attached to B&C documents.

EO and SE

Bid evaluation and selection of contractor


EO to evaluate each bid for environmental competence of contractor. Rank bids and advise Bid Evaluation Panel.

Bids evaluated for compliance with environmental conditions.

Once. EO has verified environmental conditions of Bids.

EO and SE

CONSTRUCTION ACTIVITIES

Contractor prepares CEMP Contractor

Contractor prepares Construction Environmental Management Plan (CEMP) that establishes the contractor’s

CEMP prepared by contractor and approved by EO and ESP

Once. CEMP; (a) prepared and (b) approved.

EO

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Project Activity Applies to Proposed Mitigation Measure

Parameter to be monitored



Achieved Yes or No





management and compliance requirements with the construction section of the EMP.

Induction of contractor to site.

Contractor

Before commencing work the CEMP conditions are confirmed with the contractor at an on-site meeting. When the EO considers that the contractor is competent to comply with the SEMP the EO advises the SE that the contractor can now mobilise.

Record of induction meeting and decision advising contractor to mobilise.

Once. Verify that induction has been carried out and contractor is competent to undertake CEMP.

EO

Control of invasive species

Contractor and all construction sites.

i. EO to evaluate sites for presence of invasive species. ii. If site is free of invasive species the SE is to advise the contractor that all earth must be removed from machinery and machinery washed down before moving to site. iii. Any outbreaks are to be controlled and this is the contractor’s responsibility. iv. Applies to all sub-contractors under the contractors responsibility.

Site kept free of invasive species.

Monthly during wet season or as required until site has been cleared of introduced invasive species. Verify that contractor has washed down machinery.

EO, SE and contractor

Establishment of contractor’s facilities (camps, offices, concrete batching areas etc).

Construction sites

i Sites are located so that they do not interfere with the welfare or social cohesion of surrounding communities ii. Site is limited to reduce unnecessary

Compliance with proposed mitigation measures

At commencement of site establishment, then as required.

Contractor

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Achieved Yes or No





clearing of vegetation. iii. Sanitary soakage areas from offices and camps to be sited so that effluent is treated. iv. No discharge of grey water or sewage allowed to surface water systems. v. Workshops to be provided with oil and water separators. vi. Fuel storage areas not to be located within 20m of watercourse. vii. Contractor’s storage facilities may need to be surrounded by a security fence. viii Concrete batching areas to be provided with bunds to control movement of runoff to waterways.

Demarcation and clearing of RoW and ancillary facilities

RoW

i. Define the 32m RoW width. ii. Identify useable trees within the RoW and arrange for these to be approved for removal. iii. Limit area to be cleared iv. Identify areas with any significant vegetation. v. Areas to be defined by a clear boundary. vi. Clearing boundaries shown to machinery operators. vii. Vegetative material to be offered to

i. All salvageable trees removed. Salvageable ii. trees approved by DARD. iii. RoW cleared to 32m. ii. All material removed to provide clear RoW.

At commencement of clearing and then as required.


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Achieved Yes or No





communities for disposal as fuel wood or viii if an impediment to work may otherwise be disposed of by clean burning fires.

Compensation planting of 231 ha

As identified Replant equivalent area of forest cleared.

231 ha of forest has been replanted.

Initially every 2 months and then annually for next 3 years until program has been completed.

PTC 3 and 4.

Noise and vibration

Construction sites

i. If particularly noisy activities are required work may need to be limited to daylight hours. ii. Noise not to exceed 55dBA at boundary of workplace between 2100 - 0600 hrs and 70dBA between 2100-0600hrs..

i. Noise complaints from surrounding communities. ii. Noise measurement

At start of noisy activities then as required. Community complaints. Noise measured at workplace boundary.


Dust management

Construction sites

When dust is carried towards residential areas or becomes problematic on-site the contractor is to apply dust control measures

Work areas are acceptable with regards to generation of dust.

i. As determined by wind and site conditions.. ii. Complaints from communities.


Prevention of soil erosion on construction site.

Construction sites

i. Apply soil conservation and erosion protection technologies. ii. Avoid operating machinery in adverse ground conditions. iii. Protect and revegetate newly excavated areas as soon as possible

Soil erosion and sediment supply to water courses controlled.

Monthly and then as required. Sites are stable.


Storage and handling of construction materials. Fuel and lubricants.

Storage areas for materials, fuel and lubricants

i. Storage areas to be prepared to avoid deterioration of materials. ii. Fuel should be stored

Storage areas prepared. Fuel and oil storage and handling procedures

Initially once to approve storage and handling procedures then as required. Verify that storage


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Achieved Yes or No





in properly sealed containers. Larger than 5000 l to be stored on bunded concrete platform with 110% storage capacity. iii. All fuel storage areas to be security fenced and provided with oil and water separators. Fuel hoses and shut off valve to be locked. iv. All refuelling to be done at least 20 m away from waterways by trained personnel. v. All waste oil and oil filters to be collected and if possible recycled, otherwise to be disposed of to landfills. vi. The contractor is to train refuelling personnel in these procedures. vii. The contractor is to have developed an accidental spill handling action plan.

practiced and well understood

and handling of construction materials, fuel and lubricants meet these requirements.

Public access to site

Construction sites

i. Erect warning signs and barriers around work areas. ii. Site can only be accessed with permission of contractor. iii. Visitors to be inducted to site with an explanation of the site hazards that may be experienced.

Warning signs and barriers erected around work places. Access to work areas controlled.

Weekly. Accident reports involving community.


Community Safety from increased vehicle

Villages along haul routes

i. All vehicles to be properly maintained and operated in accordance with road laws.

Trucks and vehicles operated safely

Weekly. Accident reports. Community complaints


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Achieved Yes or No





movements ii. All loads to be properly secured and fugitive loads to be covered iii. Drivers to be dismissed if ignore safety requirements.

i. Use of hazardous materials and ii. Prohibited activities

Materials brought to site

i. Contractor to provide list of all HAZCHEM products to be used on site ii. List verified against HAZCHEM. iii. Contractor to display MSDS sheets in work areas. iv. Contractor to abide by Appendix 5 Prohibited Activities (SPS, June 2009)

a. List of chemical compounds and their hazard ratings. b. Appendix 5 activities

At start of work and whenever any hazardous compounds are to be brought to site. b. No Appendix 5 activities initiated


Workplace health and safety

Construction sites

Workers to be provided with safe working environment including: i. Erect warning signs and barriers around work areas ii. No drugs or alcohol allowed on-site iii. Noise and dust to be controlled. iv. All workers provided with safety equipment appropriate for the task in which they are employed. v. To be supplied on-site for workers: Potable water, chemical toilet, changing place with clothes storage, and washing and showering facilities. vi. Work Statements

Provision of safe and healthy workplace, safety procedures and equipment. First aid equipment.

Spot checks and weekly inspections. Accident record.


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Achieved Yes or No





prepared for each activity vii. Prior to entering site for first time workers to be inducted to site and site hazards explained together with explanation of work site safety procedures. ix. Medical and first aid facilities provided together with a person qualified in first aid.


Surrounding communities and labour

Contractor to implement HIV/AIDS awareness program.

HIV/AIDS awareness program completed

Monthly Contractor


Worker camps and surrounding communities

i. Local communities to be preferentially offered employment for unskilled work. ii. Camps to be sited to avoid social conflicts.

i. Local people employed ii. Harmonious conditions established (lack of complaints)

i. Monthly checking of employment records. ii. Grievance records from surrounding communities.

Contractor and SE, EO

Worker issues (iii): provision of adequate living conditions

Worker camps and workers

Camp conditions to meet Labour Law requirements. Provide: i. adequate shelter ii. potable water iii. Sanitation and washing facilities, iv. Kitchen with adequate cooking facilities v. Nutritionally adequate food rations,

Worker satisfaction

i. Monthly checking of first aid records. ii. Complaints from workers.


Worker issues (iv): Camp water heating and cooking. Use of fuel wood.


i. the contractor will preferentially provide gas and kerosene for water heating and cooking. ii. Locate camp away

i. Gas or kerosene used for camps. ii. Limited harvesting of fuel wood

Monthly verify i. camp cooking facilities. ii. access to forests for fuel wood.


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Achieved Yes or No





from significant forest areas, and: limit collection and use of fuel-wood.

Worker issues (v): Hunting and sale of wildlife by workers


i. Labour employment agreement enforced by contractor that bans hunting and trading in wildlife. ii. Provision of adequate camp rations

Wildlife being traded from camp area

Monthly Verify prosecution and dismissal of employees for wildlife infringements..


Disposal of site waste

Construction sites

All waste materials to be collected and sorted; (i). those that can be recycled and (ii) those that need to go to an approved landfill site for disposal.

Sites cleaned of materials. Materials dumped in approved sites

Spot checks and weekly inspections. Waste being collected and disposed of to meet requirements.


Chance discovery of archaeological and cultural sites

Construction sites

No known sites. Chance discoveries are to be notified to the SE who will advise the EO. EO to advise on procedure.

Contract document, and specification

Yearly. Notification of chance discoveries


Clearance and rehabilitation of construction sites and removal of contractor’s facilities.

Construction sites Worker camps Contractor’s work areas

i. All solid waste to be removed from sites and disposed in approved landfills. ii. All contaminated soil to be removed. iii. All sites to be rehabilitated and restored to original condition. iv. Drainage to be re-established. v. To be included as part of Final Inspection before payment made.

Sites cleared, waste removed, sites landscaped and revegetated.

At completion of construction. Site has been cleared of materials, rehabilitated and returned to original state.


EO = Environmental Officer attached to NPT; SE = Project Engineer based with SPMB; MSDS material safety data sheet.

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J.5 Implementation Arrangements

J.5.1 Implementation Schedule

273. The PPTA will be funded as a Multi-Tranche Finance Facility (MFF) which will be made available to NPT who will act as the implementing agency. SPMB will act as the executing agency. The project will be constructed over a 15-month period starting in mid 2012.

J.5.2 Institutional Arrangements

274. NPT as the Executing Agency (EA) will arrange for SPMB to act on their behalf as the implementing agent. SPMB will arrange for a Supervising Engineer (SE) to have overall responsibility for implementing the contract which includes the EMP. SPMB will also allocate their EO to monitor the construction work.

275. Other organisations involved in implementing the EMP include.

(i) The Asian Development Bank (ADB) (ii) NPT, SPMB and PTC4: as executing and implementing agencies have

responsibilities for implementing the EMP and for actioning the RP. (iii) The Contractor who will be responsible for complying with the EMP and reporting

on environmental activities during construction.

276. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) will be responsible for the following:

(i) The ADB will review and approve the IEEs as required to meet the MFF tranche releases.

(ii) The ADB will arrange to provide a TA for the appointment of a skilled international safeguards consultant (the International Environmental Specialist) who will assist the EO who is to be recruited to the NPT in implementing the EMP15

(iii) Reviewing the quarterly reports sent to the ADB that contain the contractor’s monthly environmental reports.

.

(iv) Undertaking site inspection as required.

277. NPT, SPMB and PTC4: as executing and implementing agents have responsibilities for implementing the EMP.

278. NPT is in the process of forming and advertising for an Environmental Officer who will be in charge of reviewing environmental compliance within the Technical Department of NPT. This person will be responsible for environmental management activities throughout NPT and its subsidiary organisations i.e. SPMB and the PTC Companies. The EO will be responsible for supervising the EMP within these structures.

279. SPMB has its own Environmental Officer (EO) who is attached to the Resettlement Division. An organisational diagram of SPMB which shows the location of the Resettlement Division within the SPMB structure is attached as Annex 4. The SPMB EO will be responsible for implementing and monitoring the EMP. The SPMB EO has limited skills and would need help in monitoring the construction activities, in particular, in ensuring that the EMP is included in the Bid and Contract Documents and that this is developed into a detailed Construction Environmental Plan (CEMP) of the contractor. At the start of the project, guidance from the international IES together with the NPT EO will be provided through training of the SPMB EO, mainly consisting of on-the-job training with the NPT EO and organised by the IES.

15 The ToR and budget details for this position are included in the Pleiku - Cau Bong 500kV Transmission Line IEE.

85

280. In addition to the IES and NPT EO, a national safeguards specialist on environment will be hired for a period of 8 persons-months over a period of 15 months to assist and provide training to the SPMB EO. As noted in the Pleiku – My Phuoc – Cau Bong IEE, (2011) it is important the IES of the NPT and the national safeguards specialist on environment are appointed before the construction program commences so that the IES can assist the SPMB EO with preparing the construction section of the EMP for inclusion in the Bid and Contract Document.

281. The Contractor. The contractor’s responsibilities include;

282. At the time of bidding the contractor will submit the names and experience for two full time staff positions. These will be (i) Environmental and Health and Safety Specialist and (ii) Community Liaison Specialist, the requirements for these positions are given in Annex 5 and contractors are to be aware of these requirements at the time of submitting bids.

283. Prior to commencement of construction, the contractor will address the construction section of the EMP which has been attached to the Bid and Contract Documents and develop this into a detailed Construction Environmental Plan (CEMP) that amplifies the conditions established in the EMP. The CEMP also identifies persons who will be responsible for undertaking the work within the contractor’s team. It will include a basic monitoring plan and a reporting program.

284. The contractor will prepare a Community Awareness Program (CAP). The CAP will show how the contractor will arrange a series of community meetings whereby the construction program, an HIV/AIDS awareness program and opportunities to provide unskilled work on the construction site will be explained to the local communities.

(i) The contractor arranges for the CEMP and the CAP to be submitted to the SPMB EO for approval.

(ii) Following approval of the CEMP and the CAP the contractor is required to attend a site induction or orientation meeting conducted by the SPMB EO where the CEMP and the CAP is discussed directly with the contractor to ensure that all compliance conditions are clearly understood.

(iii) Following clearance from the SPMB EO the contractor can now commence work. (iv) The contractor will maintain a Control Record which is to be available as requested

for inspection by the SE and the SPMB EO. (v) The contractor will prepare a quarterly compliance report that will be submitted to

SPMB. The report will also contain the Monthly Accident Report. (vi) The SPMB EO will submit the report to the ADB and include a copy for DONRE in

the project’s quarterly progress report prepared to meet the ADB loan requirements.

J.5.3 Reporting Requirements

285. The following reports will be required:

(i) Monthly: contractor’s report to SPMB on compliance with the EMP. The contractor will be responsible for preparing this report that establishes how the EMP is being implemented, problems and alterations that may have been made to the CEMP to address these issues. Attachments to the contractor’s report include: the Control Record and the Record of Accidents.

(ii) Quarterly or bi-annual report16

16 To be advised by ADB.

from SPMB to ADB concerning monitoring compliance with the EMP. The EO will prepare the report and include sections in the report on monitoring work undertaken by the SPMB EO and how the EMP is being addressed by the contractor. This includes sections on progress with the work and implementation of the EMP, problems encountered, issuing of Defect

86

Notices and how these have been addressed, work that has been completed and signed off by the SPMB EO, etc.

J.5.4 Staff Requirements

286. NPT currently has no environmental capacity and in February 2012 recruited one person whose role will be to develop environmental awareness and establish compliance requirements for the NPT with the Environmental Protection Law, 2005. The person has been appointed to the Technical Division of the NPT and will provide guidance to all of NPT’s subsidiary corporations such as the Power Project Management Boards and the Power Transmission Companies. As NPT is a sister company to EVN, NPT previously used the services of the EVN Environmental Science and Technology Department for environmental management services.

287. The Environmental Officer is well qualified and holds a Masters in Environmental Conservation from a UK university. The appointee has a good command of English and language will not present a challenge to the IES. It would be opportune for a training component to be developed to support the introduction of safeguard systems within the NPT.

288. Additionally an international Environmental Specialist (IES) will be appointed to the NPT to assist in the introduction of safeguard systems and to assist and train the NPT EO in adoption of these procedures. Additionally the IES would also use the construction of the transmission lines as an opportunity to assist the NPT EO and the SPMB EO in the application of the EMP within an actual situation as on-the-job-training. The IES would be recruited for 6 person-months over a period of 2.5 to 3 years.

289. The IES and national safeguard specialist for environment will need to be appointed prior to the establishment of the Bid and Contract document to ensure that the EMP conditions are transferred into the document. The ToR for the IES is attached as Annex 4.

290. Contractor’s staff: the EMP requires the appointment of two safeguards staff to the contractor’s team. These are an Environmental and Health and Safety Officer (EHS) who will be responsible for monitoring compliance with the EMP and the health and safety plans and (ii) a Community Liaison Officer (CLO) who will act as the contact point between the local communities and the contractor. Terms of Reference for the EHS and the CLO are included in Annex 4.

J.5.5 Capacity Building

291. Capacity building is recommended for NPT and it subsidiaries (the PPMBs and the PTCs), and may possibly be needed for the contractor for this project. The need for capacity building within the contractor will be evaluated by the IES with the EO from NPT and SPMB.

292. The objective of capacity building is to strengthen compliance with (i) the Vietnam legislation and safeguard requirements and (ii) the ADB safeguard requirements. This will be addressed by the appointment of an experienced international IES and national safeguard specialist for environment to anchor both safeguard systems within the NPT and the SPMB.

J.5.6 Budget

293. For this project there are no specialised monitoring requirements that require the services of laboratories or other specialised equipment. Monitoring consists of observations only which will be undertaken by the SPMB EO.

294. An amount of $71,000 is included in the budget specific for the hiring of the national safeguards specialist for environment and for the training for the SPMB EO to support the Cau Bong - Duc Hoa and additionally the Cau Bong - Hoc Mon sub-projects which will be constructed at about the same time. A budget of $35,500 will be allocated from this amount for the Cau Bong-Duc Hoa transmission line sub-project. Apart from the hiring and training

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cost component of $35,500 no other budget costs have been identified for this project. All SPMB staff and other related costs will be met from the SPMB internal budget.

Table 1: Budget Requirements for EMP

Item Unit Cost (S) Year

Total 1 2

1 Remuneration $2,500 per person @ 8 person-months 10,000 10,000 20,000

2 Per Diem $150 @ 20 days 1,500 1,500 3,000 3 Domestic travel expenses

250 250 500

4 Vehicle hire $150 per person @ 35days 2,625 2,625 5,250

5 Report preparation, production 500 500 1,000 6 Seminars, workshops, training (public awareness, consultations) 2,500 2,500 5,000

Sub-total (1+2+3+4+5+6) 17,375 17,375 34,750 Contingency 375 375 750 TOTAL 17,750 17,750 35,500

K. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

295. The proposed project will construct a 13.42 km long 110/220kV transmission line from the Cu Chi substation to the Duc Hoa substation. The transmission line is identified within the National Power Development Master Plan VII which addresses future energy requirements. The line will assist in providing additional distribution capacity to meet a rapidly growing electricity demand within the outskirts of Ho Chi Minh City.

296. The IEE report has reviewed the environmental impacts associated with the project and has developed a comprehensive EMP to address these activities. Overall there are few impacts associated with the project all of which can be addressed by the EMP. Construction impacts are concentrated at 46 towers along the RoW where temporary access will be required to the tower bases. The tower bases will require the excavation of about 670m3 of earth and rock for each tower foundation. Land acquisition includes the permanent acquisition of 1.2 ha for the towers while 29.5 ha will be temporarily acquired for the RoW. There are 37 houses within the RoW but none of these houses or any other buildings will be removed from the 22m wide RoW as these are within the Vietnamese safety criteria of 4.0 m separation for 110kV and 6.0m separation for 220kV transmission lines. Crops and trees can also be grown within the 22m wide RoW providing these do not exceed these safe operating distances. All houses within the 22m RoW plus another 61 houses out to 36m from the centreline will also be earthed to remove any build up of residual EMF currents within metal house roofs. Land ownership and compensation issues have been addressed by a Resettlement Plan which will be supervised by the District Resettlement and Compensation Committee.

297. Pre-construction requirements include payment of land compensation, and the preparation of the EMP as a contractual document.

298. Construction activities include demarcating and clearing any vegetation that exceeds the safety criteria from within the RoW, excavating the tower bases and then pulling, tensioning and attaching the conductors to insulators. All impacts are of a relatively small

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size. The Row is significantly disturbed and no significant flora or fauna will be affected by the project. No primary forest will be cleared, the transmission line route does not pass through any existing or planned extensions to any protected areas and will not affect any cultural or heritage object. All impacts can be addressed by the EMP. During construction the contractor will be initially responsible for monitoring and supervising compliance with the EMP. The SE will be assisted by the SPMB EO in supervising the contractor while the EO will monitor the work and report any defects to the SE as required. A budget of $35,500 has been allocated from the total budget of $71,000 to support EMP implementation of the Cau Bong-Duc Hoa and Cau Bong-Hoc Mon sub-projects. The $35,500 EMP budget includes costs for the hiring of a national safeguards specialist for environment, training, and reporting on EMP implementation for a period of 8 person-months over a period of 15 months.

299. Based on the above it is concluded that the project has few adverse impacts and all impacts can be satisfactorily managed by the application of the EMP.

L. CONCLUSIONS

300. The Project is classified as a Category B project that requires an IEE to be completed. The IEE concludes that there are few adverse environmental impacts arising from the construction and operation of the 220kV Cau Bong - Duc Hoa transmission line and all can be satisfactorily addressed by the EMP and reduced to acceptable levels. Therefore, a full EIA is not warranted.

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REFERENCES

ADB, 2009. Safeguard Policy Statement, ADB Policy Paper, June 2009.

ADB, 2010. Review of Environmental Safeguards Policy Implementation in ADB-Funded Projects in the Solomon Islands. ADB TA RSC-C00919 (SOL). Pacific Operations Department. October 2010.

ADB, 2011. Environmental Assessment and Review Framework. Project No. 42039. (EARF for ADB TA-7742-VIE)

NPT, 2011. Pleiku – My Phuoc - Cau Bong 500 kV Transmission Line IEE

PECC-2, 2010. Cau Bong - Duc Hoa 220kV Transmission Line Initial Environmental Examination.

PECC-2, 2010. Cau Bong - Duc Hoa 220kV Transmission Line: Summary Feasibility Study.

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Annex 1: EIA Approval Decision by Cu Chi People’s Committee (translation)

HO CHI MINH CITY

No. 3210/XN-UBNN PEOPLE COMMITTEE OF CU CHI DISTRICT

VIETNAM SOCIALIST PUBLIC

Cu Chi 14 November 2008 Independence-Freedom-Happiness

Certification:

Environmental Protection Commitment of

220kV transmission line Cau Bong- DucHoa

After reviewing environmental Protection Commitment document of 220kV transmission line Cau

Bong – Duc Hoa managed by south Power transmission line under National Power transmission

Company, which is represented by Mr Nguyen Cong Toan at document No 5965/CV-AMN-PDB

dated 7 November 2008. The People Committee of Cu Chi District has the following comments:

Pursuant to Environmental Protection Law of Vietnam Socialistic of Vietnam dated 29thNovember,

2005 and Decree 80/2006 ND - CP dated 9th August, 2006 of the Government on detailed regulations

and guidelines for implementation of some articles of the Environmental Protection Law, Decree

21/2008/ND-CP dated 28th February, 2008 amending and supplementing some articles of Decree the

80/2006/ND –CP dated 9th August, 2006 of the Government on detailed regulations and guidelines for

implementation of some articles of the Environmental Protection Law;

1. Certified environmental commitment of 220kV transmission line Cau Bong – Duc Hoa with

scale works: starting point G3.11- Nhuan Duc commune -Cu Chi District ; end point 220KV

substation in Tan My commune – Duc Hoa District - Long An Province; length of 11.145 km

(The passing of Cu Chi District has a length of 10.1 km), circuit number: 4 mixture (two

circuits of 220 kV and two circuits mix of 110 kV) and 4 circuit of 220 kV; corridor width:

22m, a corridor area: 22.22 ha represented by Mr. Nguyen Cong Toan.

2. The project owner shall comply with and complete what has been stated in the environmental

protection commitments on noise, dust, waste water, solid waste, wastewater workers

generation from construction projects, they must be collected and treated in order to reach

environmental standards.

3. The environmental commitment of the project is the basis for the State management agency

on environmental protection to monitor, check and inspect the implementation of

environmental protection of the project during the construction and operation period.

4. This certificate is valid from the date of signing. /.

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Recipients:

o Department of Natural Resources and Environment;

o SBMP;

o Documented in the Natural resources and Environmental office

.

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Original Document

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Annex 2: Rapid Environmental Assessment

RAPID ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT (REA) CHECKLIST

Instructions: (i) The project team completes this checklist to support the environmental classification of a project. It

is to be attached to the environmental categorization form and submitted to Environment and Safeguards Division (RSES) for endorsement by Director, RSES and for approval by the Chief Compliance Officer.

(ii) This checklist focuses on environmental issues and concerns. To ensure that social dimensions are

adequately considered, refer also to ADB's (a) checklists on involuntary resettlement and Indigenous Peoples; (b) poverty reduction handbook; (c) staff guide to consultation and participation; and (d) gender checklists.

(iii) Answer the questions assuming the “without mitigation” case. The purpose is to identify potential

impacts. Use the “remarks” section to discuss any anticipated mitigation measures.

Country/Project Title: Sector Division:

Screening Questions Yes No Remarks A. PROJECT SITING Is the Project area adjacent to or within any of the following environmentally sensitive areas?

CULTURAL HERITAGE SITE x No cultural or historical heritage sites are affected.

Protected Area x The transmission line does not cross any protected areas.

WETLAND x The transmission line does not cross any wetland areas.

MANGROVE x Not applicable.

ESTUARINE x The transmission line does not cross any estuarine areas.

BUFFER ZONE OF PROTECTED AREA

x The project does not intrude into the buffer zone of any protected area.

SPECIAL AREA FOR PROTECTING BIODIVERSITY

x The project does not cross any special areas that have been set aside for protecting biodiversity.

B. Potential Environmental ImpaCT: Will the Project cause ..

• encroachment on historical/cultural areas, disfiguration of landscape and increased waste generation?

x The transmission towers will be up to 30-50 m tall and the first 4.9 km section is located within an existing RoW. The last 7.5 km section will be located within a new RoW. The RoW is on level land and only the last section will create any adverse aesthetic impact on the landscape. The impact considering the nature of the developed landscape will be minor.

Cau Bong Duc Hoa 220kV Transmission Line (13.4 km)

SEEN

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Screening Questions Yes No Remarks

• encroachment on precious ecosystem (e.g. sensitive or protected areas)?

x No access roads nor the transmission RoW will increase access to any precious ecosystems.

• alteration of surface water hydrology of waterways crossed by roads and resulting in increased sediment in streams affected by increased soil erosion at the construction site?

x The area is very low lying and is crossed by several canals. No rivers will be affected. Construction at each tower is expected to be completed within 10 -20 days and will need to be carried out during the dry season. There will be limited impact on construction materials increasing turbidity.

• damage to sensitive coastal/marine habitats by construction of submarine cables?

x Not applicable.

• deterioration of surface water quality due to silt runoff, sanitary wastes from worker-based camps and chemicals used in construction?

x Work will be undertaken along the whole route in 2 construction groups. Each group has about 40 workers and due to the proximity of residential areas the workers will be housed within established facilities. The overall impact on water quality is assessed to be minor and of short duration.

increased local air pollution due to rock crushing, cutting and filling?

x Impacts to air environment are caused mainly by the excavation of the tower foundations and by transportation along haul roads. Mitigation measures include spraying water for dust control and covering materials with tarpaulins that can be released into the air during transportation. Impact is of short duration.

risks and vulnerabilities related to occupational health and safety due to physical, chemical, biological, and radiological hazards during project construction and operation?

x There are limited risks during construction. These particularly apply to the construction of towers and stringing and lifting the conductors. The construction companies are experienced in these procedures and construction will not present any unknown risks.

chemical pollution resulting from chemical clearing of vegetation for construction site?

x The project will not use chemicals in site clearance process.

noise and vibration due to blasting and other civil works?

x Tower foundations will be excavated by hand in residential areas or by machines in rural locations. Blasting will not be required as all areas are covered by deep depositional soils.

• dislocation or involuntary resettlement of people?

x Very few houses are intended to be removed from the RoW unless these exceed the transmission line safety clearance criteria. Resettlement is addressed by a Resettlement Plan.

• disproportionate impacts on the poor, women and children, Indigenous Peoples or other vulnerable groups?

x The area is intensively settled and no minority groups are affected in this homogenous society.

• social conflicts relating to inconveniences in living conditions where construction interferes with pre-existing roads?

x While the conductors will need to be strung across existing roads there are several alternative possible accesses. Conductor will be carried across roads on specially built gantries that will prevent the conductor sag obstructing traffic flow. There will be limited interference with traffic flow.

• hazardous driving conditions where construction interferes with pre-existing roads?

x The roads in the area are already heavily used and increased construction access will be minimal and of short duration.

• creation of temporary breeding habitats for vectors of disease such as mosquitoes and rodents?

x Construction will occur during the dry season and this is not considered to be an issue.

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Screening Questions Yes No Remarks • dislocation and compulsory resettlement of

people living in right-of-way of the power transmission lines?

x Vietnamese regulation for high voltage network safety, requires all houses and structural works within the 22m wide RoW for 220 kV T/L to have a minimum clearance of 5m. Most houses and structures can remain.

• environmental disturbances associated with the maintenance of lines (e.g. routine control of vegetative height under the lines)?

x The RoW will require removal of all vegetation to provide a 5 m clearance. Vegetation will be periodically removed by hand labour recruited from surrounding communities. Herbicides will not be used.

• facilitation of access to protected areas in case corridors traverse protected areas?

x The project doesn’t cross any protected areas.

disturbances (e.g. noise and chemical pollutants) if herbicides are used to control vegetative height?

x Vegetative control will be controlled by cutting by local worker groups. Herbicides are not intended to be used.

large population influx during project construction and operation that cause increased burden on social infrastructure and services (such as water supply and sanitation systems)?

x Work will be undertaken along the whole route in 2 construction groups. Each group has about 40 workers and construction at each tower is expected be completed within 10-20 days. Workers will be housed in the surrounding communities and there will be limited impact on social infrastructure.

social conflicts if workers from other regions or countries are hired?

x The project will hire both skilled and unskilled labour. Unskilled labour will be hired from surrounding communities for work on clearing the RoW and foundation excavation.

poor sanitation and solid waste disposal in construction camps and work sites, and possible transmission of communicable diseases from workers to local populations?

x Construction camps will not be needed. Similarly with workers returning to their villages at night there are limited opportunities for sexually transmitted diseases.

risks to community safety associated with maintenance of lines and related facilities?

x PTC4 will undertake maintenance of the transmission lines. These companies are well experienced and skilled in line and RoW maintenance. Herbicides will not be used in vegetation control

community health hazards due to electromagnetic fields, land subsidence, lowered groundwater table, and salinization?

x During operation the conductors will produce a corona noise but as this will be 30-50m above ground the disturbance effect is minimised. The tower height has been designed to provide a minimum height that will minimise the EMF effects. Decree 106/2005/ND-CP establishes minimum safety distances for high voltage lines and prescribes the signage to be placed around high voltage grids. EMF effects on health is assessed as being within prescribed safety limits. The T/L will not cause subsidence, lower groundwater or cause salinization.

risks to community health and safety due to the transport, storage, and use and/or disposal of materials such as explosives, fuel and other chemicals during construction and operation?

x There is a slight risk that accidents could happen but it is not expected to be significant.

community safety risks due to both accidental and natural hazards, especially where the structural elements or components of the project (e.g., high voltage wires, and transmission towers and lines ) are accessible to members of the affected community or where their failure could result in injury to the community throughout project construction, operation and decommissioning?

x The project is designed to withstand natural hazards and regular maintenance will reduce the risk of major avoidable issues. While houses will be allowed within the RoW, PTC4 will be required to increase its level of safety inspection of the conductors and their insulators to reduce the risk. The local communities are already well aware of the dangers of electricity. Towers will also be fitted with anti-climbing devices. Decommissioning will not present any unusual hazards.

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Climate Change and Disaster Risk Questions The following questions are not for environmental categorization. They are included in this checklist to help identify potential climate and disaster risks.

Yes No Remarks

Is the Project area subject to hazards such as earthquakes, floods, landslides, tropical cyclone winds, storm surges, tsunami or volcanic eruptions and climate changes (see Appendix I)?

x The transmission line is located on flat, deep depositional materials with limited risks associated with earthquakes. The area is subject to flooding but while the base of the tower may flood the conductors will not be affected. HCM City is outside the normal range of cyclones. Climate change is not considered to increase risks to the project.

Could changes in precipitation, temperature, salinity, or extreme events over the Project lifespan affect its sustainability or cost?

x No changes have been identified with regard to these climate or soil variables.

Are there any demographic or socio-economic aspects of the Project area that are already vulnerable (e.g. high incidence of marginalized populations, rural-urban migrants, illegal settlements, ethnic minorities, women or children)?

x The project will not result in any significant changes to marginalized groups. Access to and use of the RoW will continue as before.

Could the Project potentially increase the climate or disaster vulnerability of the surrounding area (e.g., increasing traffic or housing in areas that will be more prone to flooding, by encouraging settlement in earthquake zones)?

x The transmission line will not increase the perceived risk from any of these parameters.

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Annex 3: ORGANIZATION CHART FOR SPMB

DIRECTOR

Administration

Planning

Materials

Finance-Accounting

Technical

VICE-DIRECTOR

Bidding

Resettlement

Appraisal

VICE-DIRECTOR VICE-DIRECTOR OMR

D I V I S I O N S O F

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Annex 4: TERMS OF REFERENCE FOR ENVIRONMENTAL SAFEGUARD POSITIONS17

1. INTERNATIONAL SUPPORT STAFF 1.1 International Environmental Specialist - IES - Part-time, 12 person-months Objective/ purpose of assignment Ensure that environmental safeguard policies of the ADB that are identified in the Safeguard Policy Statement (June 2009) are applied. The reference base for these will be the documents that have been prepared for the project during the PPTA which include the: the IEE, EMP, the EARF and the Resettlement Plan. Scope of work: One position of International Environmental Specialist (IES) will be appointed who will assist and train the NPT Environmental Officer. The IES will have capacity and experience in the following:

(i) Be an experienced environmental specialist with sufficient experience in conducting environment studies and preparing IEEs and EMPs to comply with the ADB Safeguard Policy Statement, 2009.

(ii) Have sufficient knowledge of the following: (a) ADB Bid and Contract documentation and procedures, and (b) monitoring contractors’ compliance with environmental provisions of the contract.

(iii) Ability to train NPT staff in environmental safeguards. The IES will assist the EO in undertaking the following activities during detailed design:

(i) Ensure that the recommendations contained in the IEE EMP are incorporated into the detailed design;

(ii) Update the EMP as necessary to revise or incorporate revised or additional environmental mitigation and monitoring measures, budget, institutional arrangements, etc, that may be required based on the detailed design;

(iii) If required, prepare a new or supplementary environment assessment report for additional components or changes in the project during detailed design (for example if there is a substantial change in the project’s location which would affect the alignment) that would result in adverse environmental impacts not within the scope of the IEE;

(iv) Assist in the review of IEEs for other transmission lines etc as required to meet the timelines for delivery of the tranches. IEEs will be prepared according to the requirements of the EARF that was prepared during the PPTA.

(v) Ensure that any EMP has been revised as required to reflect changes in project design that may have affected the environmental parameters;

17 The Terms of Reference for these positions are suggested only and are provided to the ADB for their consideration with regards to framing any scope of work for subsequent consultancy services.

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(vi) Ensure that the requirements of the construction EMP are carried as specifications into the Bid document;

(vii) Ensure that the bidding documents and civil works contracts contain provisions requiring contractors to comply with the mitigation measures in the EMP and that relevant sections of the project EMP (or updated EMP, if prepared) are incorporated in the bidding and contract documents;

(viii) Arrange for the approval of IEEs by the ADB; (ix) Arrange for distribution of IEEs to MONRE for their information; (x) Assist the Bid Evaluation Committee in evaluating and ranking the bids for compliance

with the environmental specifications; 2. CONTRACTOR’S STAFF The contractor is to appoint two staff as fulltime positions. These staff will be located at the construction site. 2.1 Environmental and Health and Safety Officer (EHS) The EHS Officer will be responsible for the contractor and his staff complying with (i) the CEMP and (ii) health and safety requirements. The EHSO will have suitable qualifications and be experienced in both of these areas. The EHSO reports to the Contractor’s Site Engineer (CSE) and will be responsible for the following: (i) Preparation of the CEMP (ii) Ensuring the contractor and sub-contractors comply with the CEMP requirements. (iii) Preparation of a Fuel Handling and Accidental Spill Reaction Procedure. (iv) Training of personnel in these procedures. (v) Monitoring the CEMP and taking correction action as required to address issues arising

from the monitoring. (vi) Preparation of Emergency Response Procedure (ERP) - to be submitted to the SE before

one week before work begins on site. (vii) Preparation of Work Statements to the SE one week before a new activity commences. (viii) Arranges for the following:

a. Display of Work Statements (WS) at the construction site b. Issuing of safety equipment c. Induction of workers and visitors to site d. Liaising with the EO on all environmental and health and safety issues. e. Preparing the monthly Environmental and Health and Safety Report and sending this

to the EO. 2.2 Community Liaison Officer (CLO) The CLO will be appointed by the contractor and will be responsible for ensuring that good community relationships are developed between the contractor and the affected communities. The CLO reports to the SE and will be responsible for the following: (i) Preparation of a community liaison program that encapsulates the requirements of the IEE

and the GoVN. (ii) Before the contractor commences work the CLO will arrange meetings with the affected

communities and explain the work program to them including its hazards and benefits in terms of recruiting workers.

(iii) Implement the Grievance Redress Mechanism within the contractor’s organisation. (iv) Establishment of the HIV/AIDS program with the Ministry of Health.

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Annex 5: LIST OF MACHINERY THAT MAY BE REQUIRED DURING CONSTRUCTION - all construction sites

Equipment Name 5-12 ton truck Mobile crane Bulldozer Excavator Concrete mixer Soil compactor Concrete needle vibrator Concrete platform vibrator Pulling, braking, sag measuring tools Welding machine 5-10 kVA generator Powered and hand operated winch Pole erector Earth resistance meter Hydraulic pressing machine Optical Fusion Splicer Optical Testing machine COLE pump (pumping water out of foundation)

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Annex 6: Official letter of Military Headquarter of Ho Chi Minh City regarding the need for unexplored ordnance clearance

unexplored ordnance clearance unexplored ordnance clearance Ref: determined status and need of unexplored ordnance clearance remaining of war in the region where is expected to build 220kV transmission line Cau Bong- Hoc Mon, 220kV transmission line Cau Bong - Cu Chi, 200kV transmission line Cau Bong-Duc Hoa

To: Power Engineering Consulting Joint Stock Company 2 Pursuant to Document No: 3330/TV2-P20 dated 27th November, 2009 of the Power

Engineering Consulting Joint Stock Company 2 requested for opinion about the situation of un-exploded bombs, mines remaining of war in the region where the construction of the 220kV transmission line Cau Bong - Hoc Mon, 220kV transmission line Cau Bong - Cu Chi, 200 kV transmission line Cau Bong - Duc Hoa is proposed.

Through the monitoring area and unexploded ordnance clearance practice in the district of Hoc Mon, Cu Chi for many years, Military Headquarter of Ho Chi Minh City has the following comments:

The construction of the transmission lines is located in the city outskirt areas as of Hoc Mon, Cu Chi Districts. This area is a gateway to Ho Chi Minh City, where during the war the battle often happed between us and the enemy, especially on roads where the enemy constructed many military posts and used explosive obstacles for protection.

Therefore, the unexploded ordnance clearance to ensure the construction and exploitation of the works is necessary.

The Power Engineering Consulting Joint Stock Company 2 is requested to contact the authorities to carry out the unexploded ordnance clearance in accordance with regulations. Agencies assigned for unexploded ordnance clearance must contact the city relevant authorities to get the permission from the Military Headquarter of Ho Chi Minh City for unexploded ordnance clearance before the clearance work starts. After completion, the drawings and records should be submitted to Military Headquarter of Ho Chi Minh City (to the Engineer Board) for inspection and management.

SINGNED ON BEHALF OF CHIEF OF STAFF

MILITARY HEADQUARTER IN HO CHI MINH CITY

No.753/BCH-CB

STAFF

VIETNAM SOCIALIST PUBLIC

Ho Chi Minh City, 04 December 2009 Independence-Freedom-Happiness

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DEPUTY OF CHIEF OF STAFF

senior lieutenant-colonel LE PHU NHAN

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Annex 7: PUBLIC CONSULTATION List of Attendees at Public Consultation for Cau Bong Duc Hoa Transmission Line Route

No Name Position/Address

Phuoc Thanh Commune- Cu Chi District Local officials

1 Ngo Thi Hoa Binh Vice President of CPC 2 Ngo Thi Tien Chairman of the commune Women

3 Vo Van Kho President of commune Fatherland Front Committee

4 Nguyen Che Toan Commune land officer 5 Nguyen Van Sau Commune land officer 6 Vo Van Phong Chairman of the Veteran organization 7 Tran Van Dung Standing mass transport 8 Tran Van Hen Office of the CPC

9 Nguyen Van Dung Chairman of the commune farmers’s Association

10 Le Quang Vinh Vice President of commune veteran Association

11 Tran Van Nhung Party secretary PCCE2

12 Le Van Tuu Environmental officers 13 Ngo Quang Thai Environmental officers 14 Le Anh Tuan Project manager 15 Phan Van Tranh Environmental officers 16 Tran Thi Thanh Tuyen Social Consultant 17 Nguyen Thi Loan Environmental Consultant

No Name Position/Address Nhuan Duc Commune - Cu Chi District

Local officials

1 Nguyen Minh Tri Vice President of People's Committee Nhuan Duc Commune

2 Nguyen Van Dan Chairman of the people Nhuan Duc Commune

3 Le Thi Ngoc Han Vice President of commune Women's Union, Nhuan Duc Commune

4 Pham Huu Phach Deputy Secretary of the Social Union 5 Vo Van Tam Chairman veteran social 6 Ngo Van Tap Former president of the commune (the elderly) 7 Vo Van Du Farmer 8 Phan Huu Nghi Commune Police

PECC2 9 Le Van Tuu Environmental officers

10 Le Anh Tuan Technical Staff Households

11 Nguyen Thanh Liem

Bau Tron Village – Nhuan Duc Commune – Cu Chi District

12 Nguyen Van Thay Chief Bau Tron Village

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Households 18 Pham Van Do Bau Dieu Village, Phuoc Thanh Commune 19 Tran Van Re As above 20 Le Van Dung As above 21 Pham Thi Thủy As above 22 Nguyen Hong Dan Phuoc Hung Village 23 Lai Van Ut (Nguyen Thi

Di) As above

24 Pham Van Thanh Bau Dieu Village, Phuoc Thanh Commune

No Name Position/Address Trung Lap Ha Commune – Cu Chi District

Local officials 1 Nguyen Thoi Loan Vice Chairman 2 Nguyen Van Cuong CPC Chairman 3 Huynh Thi Kieu Ngan CPC 4 Nguyen Hoang Nam Comnune Land officer 5 Le Van Mien Agricultural staff 6 Thai Thi Tuyet Office of the CPC 7 Ho Thi Tre As above 8 Huynh Van Son Chairman of the Veterans 9 Phan Trung Truc Cultural and social officer

PECC2 10 Le Van Tuu Environmental officers 11 Ngo Quang Thai As above 12 Le Anh Tuan Project manager 13 Phan Van Tranh Environmental officers 14 Tran Thi Thanh Tuyen Social Consultant

Households 15 Pham Thi Anh Bau Sim Village- Tan Hoi Commune- Group 5 16 Pham Viet Phuong Don Village, Trung Lap Ha Commune 17 Thai Minh Thien Village Lao Tao Trung - Trung Lap Ha

Commune 18 Huynh Van Rung 19 Hua Quoc Huy Gia Be, Trung Lap Ha 20 Vo Van Say Lao Tao Trung Village – Trung Lap Ha 21 Trinh Van Thon As above 22 Nguyen Van Nhu Don Village, Trung Lap Ha 23 Pham Tan Cong As above 24 Nguyen Van Bao As above 25 Nguyen Thi Ngoc Suong As above 26 Tran Quoc Luan Lao Tao Trung Village – Trung Lap Ha 27 Nguyen Van Minh As above 28 Trinh Van Cu As above 29 Cao Van Tuan As above 30 Cao Van Tam Lao Tao Trung Village – Trung Lap Ha 31 Vo Thi Thu Hoa Gia Be – Trung Lap Ha

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No Name Position/Address

Tan My Commune – Duc Hoa District

Local officials

1 Tran Thi Ngoc Suong Chairman of commune People's Committee

2 Pham Van Long Invalids and Social Affairs Officer

3 Nguyen Thi Ngoc Huu Chairman the Women's Union

4 Le Thanh Sang Secretary of Youth Union

5 Le Huu Duc Officer

6 Tran Van Tu Deputy Chairman of Be Village

7 Huynh Van Khien Vice Chairman of Veterans Union

PECC2

8 Le Van Tuu Officer PECC2

9 Pham Van Hoan As above

Households

10 Huynh Van Bon Bau Cong (Ben Cu)

11 Tran Van Re As bove

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Annex 8: Site Photos

Site for Cau Bong sub-station with existing north-south 500kV transmission towers.

220kV transmission line within rural area RoW

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Anti climbing device fitted to 110kV transmission tower

108

Warning signs fitted to base of 110kV transmission tower

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110kV transmission line crossing urban area. Height restrictions have been applied in this area with regard to permissible roof and vegetation height.