INTEGRATED SAFEGUARDS DATA SHEET CONCEPT STAGE Public Disclosure Copy Report No.: ISDSC8373 Date ISDS Prepared/Updated: 19-Sep-2014 Date ISDS Approved/Disclosed: 29-Sep-2014 I. BASIC INFORMATION A. Basic Project Data Country: Haiti Project ID: P148259 Project Name: HT Strengthening Hydro-Met Services (P148259) Task Team Gaetano Vivo Leader: Estimated 02-Feb-2015 Estimated 28-May-2015 Appraisal Date: Board Date: Managing Unit: GSURR Lending Investment Project Financing Instrument: Sector(s): Flood protection (60%), Irrigation and drainage (40%) Theme(s): Natural disaster management (60%), Other rural development (20%), Urban planning and housing policy (20%) Financing (In USD Million) Total Project Cost: 5.50 Total Bank Financing: 0.00 Public Disclosure Copy Financing Gap: 0.00 Financing Source Amount Borrower 0.00 Strategic Climate Fund Grant 5.50 Total 5.50 Environmental B - Partial Assessment Category: Is this a No Repeater project? B. Project Objectives The proposed PDO is to strengthen the Government of Haiti’s institutional capacity to provide weather, water and climate services customized to the needs of civil protection and agriculture sectors. The PDO will be achieved through: (i) integrating existing hydro-met networks into a national data platform; and (ii) understanding weather, water, and climate services’ requirements for select end users (including agriculture and civil protection). C. Project Description Public Disclosure Copy The project will support the Government of Haiti's capacity to increase its resilience today and build its future adaptive capacity by providing access to water, weather, and climate information to end users. By strengthening the collaboration between relevant institutions and end-users, the focus will be on enhancing accessibility and customization of hydro-met information that is critical for decision making in emergency management and agriculture. In these two sectors, the project will leverage synergies with existing World Bank-IDA operations (e.g. the Re-launching Agriculture 2 and the Disaster Risk Management and Reconstruction projects) which aim to increase resilience to exogenous shocks, including hydro-meteorological hazards. The project will comprise three components: (i) Capacity building for sustainable weather, water and climate services; (ii) Understanding requirements of select end users (agriculture and civil protection) and support to decision making; and (iii) Support to project implementation, monitoring and evaluation, and SPCR coordination. Component 1. Strengthening capacity of the Government of Haiti to collect, validate, archive, analyze data and provide adequate sustainable weather, water and climate services. (US$3 million) Main focus areas for the component would be: i) Support to Institutional strengthening, capacity building, and partnership development; ii) Improving inter-institutional data sharing and coordination. Component 2. Understanding weather, water and climate services’ requirements for select end users Public Disclosure Copy (including agriculture and civil protection); (US$1.8 million) Component 3. Support to project implementation, monitoring and evaluation, and support to SPCR coordination (US$ 0.7 million) D. Project location and salient physical characteristics relevant to the safeguard analysis (if known) The project will maintain and replace hydro-meteorological equipment and provide services and capacity building around the country. It will focus on areas where there is already hydro- meteorological equipment in place. No new areas will be covered. In the areas where new equipment will be installed awareness raising and communication activities will be carried out to ensure engagement and support of local communities. E. Borrowers Institutional Capacity for Safeguard Policies Borrower capacity for managing environmental risk is generally weak, due to low capacity. Most Bank projects in Haiti have therefore recruited environmental specialists to the Project Implementation Unit (PIUs) to cover this function. In this project, the environmental and social risk is low, given that there will be no construction, no acquisition of land, no resettlement and all activities on the ground will focus on replacing equipment. There is some risk associated with the safe disposal of old equipment, but this can be managed by the Government (Ministry of Environment) or using an environmental specialist from another Bank project without the recruitment of a new environmental specialist. F. Environmental and Social Safeguards Specialists on the Team Public Disclosure Copy Nyaneba E. Nkrumah (GENDR) Peter F. B. A. Lafere (GSURR) II. SAFEGUARD POLICIES THAT MIGHT APPLY Safeguard Policies Triggered? Explanation (Optional) Environmental Assessment OP/ Yes Hydromet projects usually provide BP 4.01 environmental benefits, given that they support lower risks associated with floods, drought and fire, winds, extreme weather events, and even industrial accidents. Project activities are usually implemented within available hydromet sites and involve a minor installation of observation equipment with no or minimal environmental disturbance. This project, likewise, has a very low environmental and social risk and is rated a low risk Category B project. The main environment impacts are focused on three aspects of the equipment repair (Component 1): (a) the safe disposal/storage of old equipment, in particular, of mercury containing parts such as thermometers, temperature gauges, etc; (b) the safety of workers involved in repair: it is Public Disclosure Copy important to ensure that their exposure to mercury is minimized through the use of appropriate protective gear and handling protocols; and (c) possible exposure to electromagnetic fields (EMFs) if the system for collection of the data from the equipment is sent by cell tower or other emitting frequency. While there is no clear proved risk to low levels of EMF, higher levels may cause a disturbance, particularly to those who are sensitive to EMFs. The environmental risks mentioned above are only associated with Component 1. This component focuses on strengthening the capacity of the GoH to collect, store and provide hydro-meteorological and climate data to end users. Under this component, the project may also fund the repair of equipment necessary to collect critical hydro-meteorological and climate data and will finance community awareness raising activities in places where Public Disclosure Copy repaired stations are located. A full scale ESMF would not be particularly useful given that, if the project will finance repair of stations, the location of the equipment is known and the environmental impacts will be limited to one or two specific known issues associated with hydro-met equipment. Therefore the team will develop an environmental management plan (EMP) that will cover all the equipment repairs. The EMP will focus largely on the type of equipment, waste disposal from the repair process and options for disposal or storage of mercury. The EMP will include recommendations to minimize and mitigate potentially adverse environmental, health and safety (EHS) impacts for equipment repairs. Consultations will occur as part of the EMP process. In Haiti, it is unlikely that mercury, like in the US and Europe, is recycled. It is also unlikely that there is any law related to the release of mercury into the air or water or ground. The EMP should therefore focus on assessing what Public Disclosure Copy is available in Haiti in terms of mercury storage and should assess other options for safe disposal such as shipping to Dominican Republic if they have such a facility. The EMP should also focus on safety issues for workers, including directives on protective gear, and standard operating procedures that need to be used when removing and storing (temporarily) parts containing mercury. Standard protocols are available in the literature which elaborate the steps necessary for the removal and storage of these parts prior to transport to a designated center or facility. Component 2 focuses on understanding hydro- met data requirements for end users and includes collection of information from end- users, workshops, etc. This component has no safeguard requirement. Component 3, support to project implementation, monitoring and evaluation Public Disclosure Copy focuses on recruitment of the project coordinator and team and project management. This component has no safeguard requirement. Natural Habitats OP/BP 4.04 No This policy is not triggered given that the project is not expected to have impacts on natural habitats. Forests OP/BP 4.36 No This policy is not triggered given that the project will not finance activities that affect forests. Pest Management OP 4.09 No This policy is not triggered given that the project will not finance the purchase or use of pesticides. Physical Cultural Resources OP/ No This policy is not triggered given that the BP 4.11 project will not impact the quality or management of physical cultural resources as defined under the policy. Indigenous Peoples OP/BP 4.10 No This policy is not triggered given that given that there are no indigenous peoples present in the project areas. Involuntary Resettlement OP/BP No No. There will be no resettlement since the 4.12 project will only work in areas where there are already hydromet equipments in place and no land acquisition will be required. Public Disclosure Copy Safety of Dams OP/BP 4.37 No This policy is not triggered given that the project will not support the construction or rehabilitation of dams nor will support other investments which rely on the services of existing dams. Projects on International No This policy is not triggered given that the Waterways OP/BP 7.50 project will not affect international waterways as defined under the policy. Projects in Disputed Areas OP/BP No This policy is not triggered given that the 7.60 project will not affect disputed areas as defined under the policy. III. SAFEGUARD PREPARATION PLAN A. Tentative target date for preparing the PAD Stage ISDS: 27-Oct-2014 B. Time frame for launching and completing the safeguard-related studies that may be needed. The specific studies and their timing1 should be specified in the PAD-stage ISDS: If needed, the specific studies and their timing will be specified in the PAD-stage ISDS. IV. APPROVALS 1 Reminder: The Bank's Disclosure Policy requires that safeguard-related documents be disclosed before appraisal (i) at the InfoShop and (ii) in country, at publicly accessible locations and in a form and language that are accessible to potentially affected persons. Task Team Leader: Name: Gaetano Vivo Approved By: Public Disclosure Copy Regional Safeguards Name: Maria Elena Garcia Mora (RSA) Date: 22-Sep-2014 Coordinator: Practice Manager/ Name: Anna Wellenstein (PMGR) Date: 29-Sep-2014 Manager: Public Disclosure Copy