EIA EXPERIENCE IN KYRGYZSTAN: CHALLENGES AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Regional Seminar European Union - Central Asia on Environmental Governance and Climate change EIA EXPERIENCE IN KYRGYZSTAN: CHALLENGES AND RECOMMENDATIONS Korotenko V. Chairman BIOM Ecological Movement

EIA DEFINITION (Law “On Environmental Protection") • The process of identifying, analyzing, evaluating and incorporating in the project solutions the expected impact of the proposed activity and the resulting (impact) changes in the environment; Basic Elements of EIA Documentation Baseline environmental assessment by environment media (ambient air, surface and underground watercourses, land resources, flora and fauna); it also includes historic and cultural heritage assessment and of its social and economic development assessment

MAIN LAWS MANDATING EIA IN KR • Law of KR «On Environmental Protection» • Law of KR «On Environmental Review» • Law of KR «On Production And Consumer Waste» • Law of KR «General Technical SOP for Environmental Safety in KR» • Law of KR «General Technical SOP for «Safety of Buildings and Structures» • Law of KR“On Accession to the UNECE Convention on Environmental Impact Assessment in Transboundary Context”

Law of KR «On Environmental Review» Art. 10. Inclusion of EIA in all the types and stages of design documentation development is mandatory to serve as a basis for decision-making by the designated environmental review governmental authority;

Basic EIA Regulatory Documents • Guidelines for Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) of a Proposed Activity in Kyrgyz Republic(1997 ) • A new EAI Guidelines version has been prepared pending adoption shortly. • EIA Guide for CIS member countries

Basic EIA Regulatory Documents • For transboundary EIA: • Guidelines for Public Participation in Environmental Impact Assessment in Transboundary Context • Guide for Practical Application of the Espoo Convention • Guide for Subregional Cooperation • Guide for Practical Application of Environmental Impact Assessment in Transboundary Context in Central Asia

BILATERAL ENVIRONMENTAL COOPERATION AGREEMENTS Between the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Government of the Kyrgyz Republic Between the Government of the Republic of Uzbekistan and the Government of the Kyrgyz Republic Cooperation in joint environmental assessments of facilities with potential transboundary impacts:

Laws and Technical Guidelines to be Taken into Account in the Preparation of Documents for EIA • Land, Forest, and Water Codes • All the laws of the Kyrgyz Republic on Environmental Governance • State Standards, Specifications, Sanitary Norms and Rules, Technical Safety Rules, etc.

REGULATIONS Standards for individual specialized reviews of draft laws in the Parliament of the Kyrgyz Republic dated January 18, 2008 No 75 –IV; Guidelines for legal, human rights, gender, environmental, anti-corruption draft regulations of the Kyrgyz Republic dated December 8, 2010 No 319;

Sustainable Development Policy and EIA in Kyrgyzstan - EIA PPUR towards 2014 – 2017; In the section on the development of mining industry: Development and adoption of a regulation on the procedure for EIA in the mining industry governing the rights of the population and public participation in EIA; In the Environment Protection Section: In the priority “Environmental Risk Reduction and Minimization of Negative Effects of Economic Activities” to approve the EIA Procedural Guidelines in accordance with the international obligations: to approve the State Environmental Reviews Guidelines: to strengthen the responsibility for compliance with the State Environmental Review.

EIA shall be organized and carried out in the preparation of feasibility studies for the following activities: concepts, programs and plans for the national, territorial, sectoral socio-economic development, of regulations for the organization and management of activities related to the use of natural resources; planning documentation; EIA SCOPE (Law of the Kyrgyz Republic “On Environmental Impact Assessment”)

EIA SCOPE (Law of the Kyrgyz Republic “On Environmental Impact Assessment”) Construction, retrofit, expansion, and modernization of existing business and other facilities that have or may have an impact on the environment; EIA related activities are listed in the Annex to the Law “General Technical SOP on Environmental Safety in the Kyrgyz Republic." EIA for the first two items of the above documents is strategic environmental assessment and as such are not fully implemented in this country.

PUBLIC PARTICIPATION FORMATS • Provided by A. Karpov, ECOM Environmental Review Centre

Refinery Construction in Kara-Balta (1) • In the autumn of 2009, Zhongdu and Petrol China Company launched the project for the construction of an oil refinery in the Kyrgyz Republic, Kara- Balta, Eastern Industrial Zone. The Project Initiator is Dade Shen-Sin Corporation. EIA was carried out for only some facilities in 2010 without public participation. • Lack of information angered local communities. • The response to requests from residents and members of the Jaiyl District Council to the authorities stated serious violations of the Kyrgyz Republic legislation by the proponents of the refinery project. • In 2010, the project area was fenced, and construction of the refinery foundation was launched, with the former Selkhozkhimia building refitted for the oil storage.

Refinery Construction in Kara-Balta(2) • The State Agency of Architecture and Construction decreed that the current refinery construction is illegal without permits and filed the court proceedings in the Chu Inter-district Court (dated 27.05.2010); • Junda (the company) received Warrant No 000918 dated 16.06.2010 to suspend construction until all the permits have been obtained (Administrative Code (Article 162. Evasion of or Failure to Comply with the State Environmental Review) but it did not affect the construction process – it still went on; • On 17. 06. 2010, the State Inspectorate for Industrial Safety identified violations in the course of its inspection - construction works were carried out without a Positive Industrial Safety Review Conclusion. Still construction activities went on.

Citizens' appeals resulted in the establishment of a Parliamentary Commission which identified an infringement of the citizens' rights and environmental legislation in the construction of the refinery in Kara-Balta

Refinery Construction Project in Kara-Balta • Order of the Government of the Kyrgyz Republic, Bishkek, May 6, 2013 N167- p SAEPF, the State Inspectorate for Environmental And Technical Safety, the State Inspectorate for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Safety with the Government of the Kyrgyz Republic are hereby to undertake the following: • To identify preferences, determine all aspects of the potential impacts of these activities on the environment, as well as to obtain the most objective information and to incorporate public opinion in the assessment process it is hereby decided to assist the Company in the public consultation process within 15 days; • To provide advice to the Company in the environmental impact assessment (EIA) ; • To ensure the organization and carrying out of the state environmental review and EIA documentation as part of the project documentation; • A new process of the EIA and Public consultations started

The ADB Sustainable Development of Issyk-Kul Project • The goal of the project is to improve the urban infrastructure, including rehabilitation, replacement, improvement and extension of sewerage and sanitation, solid waste processing, urban water supply in the cities of Balykchy, Cholpon-Ata and Karakol. • The implementing agency is the Issyk-Kul Oblast Administration and the executing agency is the Ministry of Finance of the Kyrgyz Republic; • The project budget is USD 30.0 million including a grant of US$ 13.5 million and a soft loan of US$ 16.5 million.

The ADB Sustainable Development of Issyk-Kul Project (2) • According to the requirements of the national legislation, in particular of the laws “On Environmental Protection” and “On Environmental Review”, no economic activity is allowed without a positive conclusion of the state environmental review. Each of all the project facilities (landfills and sewage treatment plants) require state environmental review Влад Ушаков www.photo.kg

The ADB Sustainable Development of Issyk-Kul Project (3) • Omitted EIA elements: According to SanPiN 2.2.1/2.1.1.006-03. “Design, Construction, Refurbishment And Operation Of Enterprises, Planning And Construction Of Settlements” all the project facilities require SPZ Construction Projects including compliance with the minimum SPZ area requirements: • Care shall be taken to landscape the areas around landfills, roads and sewage treatment plants, by using communities and species of native plants capable of cleaning soil and water bodies from pollutants, as well as contributing to the conservation of local biodiversity; • Conclusion: the applicable laws of the Kyrgyz Republic were not met

The ADB Sustainable Development of Issyk-Kul Project (4) • Plan shall be developed for the reclamation of the existing landfills, by identifying alternative approaches and modern technologies; • The EIA mainly addressed structural and topological alternatives, but it failed to propose technological alternatives for different facilities (e.g. landfill site selection - for example in Karakol, the project proposed dump is located 100m from the river); • An extract from the EIA materials: “In Kyrgyzstan Public Participation is through Independent Environmental Review NGO (NGO IER), which is a channel for the participation of civil society in the SER.” Here, this NGO was not consulted with regard to this project. • One positive factor is that international projects pursue EIA, but the EIA requirements of the international bank differ from those of the national legislation

CONCLUSIONS/RECOMMENDATIONS • Lack of standards, clearly regulating the EIA procedures and its individual stages, in particular timeframes for specific activities, makes it impossible to fully assess the effectiveness of its implementation; • The issues associated with definitions and terminology that would help interpret concepts, situations, problems, images, events are left to the discretion of the customer or the government, i.e. “ecosystem”, “environmental management”, “best available technologies". • In practice, the strategies are to ensure the end result, i.e. preparation of the EIA materials rather than to comply with the procedures for the preparation of these materials. • Despite the applicable legislation, the environmental requirements (EIA, SER) are often ignored and do not work

CONCLUSIONS/RECOMMENDATIONS In connection with the Law on Regulations (NPA) and the Law On Technical Regulation, regulations such as SanPiNs, EIA Directive, Instruction on Environmental Assessment, etc. are no longer in force. It is necessary to make these regulations effective. In EIA, consideration of alternative options is often no more than a formality, with no viable alternatives considered (neither in terms of technology, no in terms of project siting options). Where Banks use their own EIA procedures, they often ignore requirements of the national legislation.

CONCLUSIONS/RECOMMENDATIONS • There is no differentiation between strategic initiatives and project levels (there is a common environmental assessment procedure). National legislation is just limited to the statement that strategies must go through environmental assessment. • The national legislation has no clear and actionable recommendations or guidelines on transboundary EIA and SEA. • It is necessary to: • Establish a SEA legal and methodological framework; • Raise SEA awareness; • Train and/or develop national experts in the SEA methodology within the existing framework;

CONCLUSIONS/RECOMMENDATIONS • Though there are legislative requirements for the environmental assessment of plans, programs, drafted and adopted by the governmental authorities, KR has no regulations for the environmental assessment of such documents (procedures). Therefore it is necessary to introduce mechanisms for the implementation of the laws. It is necessary to train and/or develop national experts in the SEA methodology within the existing framework. • Development of international SEA cooperation;

CONCLUSIONS/RECOMMENDATIONS • Public participation is limited to formalities. Timeframes are not met, with hearings are held after the main decisions have been made, etc. • Often, the public is forced to resort to protest actions to defend their environmental rights; • It is important for the government to encourage positive practices of public participation in the environmental decision-making, to facilitate accumulation and sharing of experience. • It is necessary to develop an early warning system of environmental risks for the population, especially in the context of the mining industry.

CONCLUSIONS/RECOMMENDATIONS • It is important to ensure public participation in the decision making process in the development of mineral deposits; • It is necessary to improve public awareness and participation in the environmental review and procedures of environmental impact assessment (EIA). • It is necessary to strengthen enforcement of the regulations for the use of water bodies (sanitary, water protection zones, etc.). • It is necessary to strengthen supervision over toxic materials polluters, by taking regular emission measurements (including dust), as well as supervision over the collection and disposal of waste; • It is necessary to make sure that agriculture and industry comply with the requirements of environmental protection.

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EIA EXPERIENCE IN KYRGYZSTAN: CHALLENGES AND RECOMMENDATIONS