RELATIONSHIP
between WB and
NATIONAL
REQUIREMENTS
ENVIRONMENTAL
ASSESSMENT
Esra ARIKAN
Environmental Specialist
ECA Safeguard Training for PIUs,
Ankara 2011
Overview of the Presentation
 SUMMARY OF TURKISH EIA REGULATION
 OVERVIEW OF ENVIRONMENTAL SAFEGUARDS APPLIED
TO WB FINANCED PROJECTS IN TURKEY
 GAPS BETWEEN THE NATIONAL AND WB REQUIREMENTS
 RECOMMENDATIONS
Turkish EIA Regulation
 Turkey has an EIA Regulation since 1993 and the last amended version is
July 17, 2008 EIA Regulation (with minor revision in Dec. 2009).
The responsible authority is MoEF through DG of EIA and Planning (for
Annex I projects) and 81 Provincial Directorates of MoEF (for Annex II
projects)
EIA Regulation has two lists for screening (Annex I and Annex II) and
some projects are ‘No Annex’
The screening lists are totally dependent on the type and capacity of the
project – Project location and site sensitivity is addressed in the EA
document not during the screening process –
ANNEX I
ANNEX II
Pulp and paper industry
with capacity>40.000
tons/year
Pulp and paper industry
with capacity<40.000
tons/year
NO ANNEX
Printing facilities
Turkish EIA Regulation
For Annex I Projects full EIA report has to be prepared and the clearance
document is ‘EIA Positive’
For Annex II Projects PIF is prepared and the decision can be either ‘EIA
Necessary’ and ‘EIA Not Necessary’.
In case of the former one, the PIF is sent to central authority (DG EIA and
Planning) and Annex I procedure starts.The later one serves as the
clearance document.
Turkish EIA Regulation
 For Annex I and Annex II Project the environmental consultancy company
who has a valid accreditaion can prepare the report.
For Annex I Projects a Project Application Dossier is submitted to MoEF
and the procedure starts. Firstly, a date for public participation meeting was
determined by MoEF and announcements are done.
Then a scoping committee is formed including relevant stakeholders and
the scope of EIA is determined and shared with the project owner and the
EIA consultant.
Then the EIA according to that scope is submitted to MoEF and an
Evaluation Committee is established for reviweing the EIA.
After the committee decides that the EIA can be finalized the final draft
report is made publicly available at the site and provincial directorates for 30
days then the ‘EIA Positive or Negative’ Decision is given.
Public Participation
Meeting
Scoping Meeting
Evaluation Committee
Meeting
Decision
Turkish EIA Regulation
 For Annex II Projects a PIF is prepared by the environmental consultant
according to the table of contents defined in the EIA Regulation.
In the PIF general characteristics of the project location and site
sensitivities are defined. Anticipated environmental impacts of the project
and suggested mitigation measures are defined.
Then the PIF is submitted to Provincial Directorate of MoEF. There are no
scoping or evaluation committees and no public consultation is required for
Annex II Projects.
If the projects environmental impacts defined in the PIF are not significant
and the mitigation measures are found to be adequate, mostly the ‘EIA Not
Necessary’ decision is obtained.
However, the quality of the PIFs vary regarding the scope and the quality
and also the capacity of the provincial diractorates are not the same among
the provinces. Therefore, the PIF should be checked regarding the scope
and level of details.
Implementation of Environmental Safeguards
in Turkish Portfolio
Category A – Full Assessment (EIA)
Gas Sector Development
Category B – Partial Assessment and/or EMP
Seismic Risk Mitigation EMP
ECSEE APL 6
Electricity Distribution Rehabilitation
Railways Restructuring
Land Registration and Cadastre Modernization
Category C – No Assessment
Secondary Education
Category FI – Environmental Management Framework (EMF)
Municipal Services and Istanbul Municipal Infrastructure
Private Sector Renewable Energy and EE
SME Credit Lines and EFILs…
Gaps Between National Systems and
WB Requirements
National laws/regulations generally have environmental screening
lists focusing on the sector/size of the project but the project
location/site sensitivity is only dealt under some headings of the EA
document
Screening for WB 4.01
The Bank classifies the proposed project
into one of four categories, depending on
the type, location, sensitivity, and scale of
the project and the nature and magnitude
of its potential environmental impacts.
1.
2.
3.
4.
Category
Category
Category
Category
A
B
C
FI
Screening for Turkish EIA
The categorization of the projects based
mainly on type and scale of the
projects.
There are 2 categories:
Annex I: EIA mandatory
Annex II: EIA preliminary study
(project introduction file)
Gaps Between National Systems and
WB Requirements
This is very important for the ‘PROPER’ categorization of subprojects of FI type projects by the PIU/PFI.
PIUs should be guided (through trainings by WB, OMs, etc.)
regarding the WB environmental categorization and they have
to be encouraged to consult the environmental specialist of
the WB team when necessary.
Gaps Between National Systems and
WB Requirements
EMP for WB 4.01
 The EMP is an integral part of
Category A EAs (irrespective of
other instruments used).
 For Category B projects there
can be either a partial EA or a
separate EMP, covering mitigation
measures, monitoring, and
institutional strengthening;
 The format is provided in Annex
C of the OP 4.01.
EMP for Turkish EIA
 No separate EMP
 But, requirement for «followup/monitoring program»
during and after construction,
operation and
decommissioning.
Gaps Between National Systems and
WB Requirements
OP 4.01 does indicate that for Category B projects a “limited
EA” or in some cases a free-standing Environmental
Management Plan (EMP) may be prepared.
Under Turkish law a Project Introduction File (PIF): is required for
all Annex II projects as the basis for determining whether an EIA is
required.
 The quality of the PIF documents prepared for Annex II Projects vary among the
preparers.
 Some PIFs can serve as Category B Partial EA / EMPs but not all of them.
 It depends on the scope and level of detail in the PIF. Generally PIFs lack a detailed
impact assessment, detailed remedial measures, and monitoring requirements.
 The ‘EIA Not Necessary’ decision is not based on risk and complexity of impact (it
ignores cumulative impacts). As a consequence the WB would need to require that
borrowers follow its approach and fully assess the social and environmental impact of
each sub-project, even when this is an incremental task in addition to ensuring
compliance with national requirements.
Gaps Between National Systems and
WB Requirements
Preparation of an EMP rather than / in addition to an EIA since the EIA is usually required by country system
PIUs should be guided with sample EMPs and it should be
explained that when a nationally cleared EA is ready, the work
is just to summarize the key points in an EMP, which will act
as a handbook both for the contractor for implementing and
the PIU for monitoring.
MITIGATION PLAN
MONITORING PLAN
Gaps Between National Systems and
WB Requirements
When EIA is prepared according to the Turkish EIA Regulation
in many cases it does not encompass all the project activities
(example: EIA for HEPP but the access roads, material borrow sites
are not taken into consideration)
Alternative Analysis has a narrower scope in Turkish EIA
In Turkish EIAs mostly technology alternatives are provided (briefly)
and location alternatives are not detailed.
Gaps Between National Systems and
WB Requirements
Differences in the general outline or table of contents
Executive Summary for WB 4.01
An executive summary is
required which can be
categorized as a non-technical
summary as in EU
requirements.
Executive Summary for Turkish EIA
The EIA report requires a
conclusion to be made which
cannot be evaluated as an
executive summary.
Gaps Between National Systems and
WB Requirements
Conducting public participation meetings (generally 2 meetings
for Category A’s and 1 for Category B’s) - since the country
systems mostly have less public participation requirements
- The client should nominate a person in charge (in PIU) for
the environmental issues who will be familiarized (trained)
with the WB safeguards and the country EIA system.
- This person will guide the sub-project owner about the
scope of the public participation meeting and
announcement/disclosure necessities.
Example from Turkey on EMP Implementation
Public Consultation Outputs in a Natural Gas Storage Project In Turkey
- In most cases, the main issues raised in
PC meetings concern employment
opportunities and expropriation.
- But an important issue resulted from a PC
meeting of Salt Lake Natural Gas Storage
Project in Turkey.
- Although the pre-feasibility study and draft EIA was prepared with a plan of using local drills
to leach the salt to open the gas storage caverns, a group in the PC meeting mentioned that the
GW table in the area is very low and the GW amount is only sufficient for agricultural purposes.
- More detailed study was conducted and finally it was agreed that fresh water is
supplied from a reservoir located 115 km away from the project site via an
underground pipeline.
Gaps Between National Systems and
WB Requirements
Turkish disclosure requirements also differ from WB
operational policies.
 Under WB policy public disclosure is mandatory for category A
and B projects. Accordingly, the EA report is made available at an
appropriate public location accessible by project-affected people,
and their comments must be taken into account
 Under Turkish regulations the MoEF makes the draft EIA report
available to the public for comment prior to the MoEF decision.
There is no requirement for the disclosure of Project Information
Files prepared for the Annex II Projects under Turkish EIA
Regulation.
Gaps Between National Systems and
WB Requirements
Requirements for EIA Preparers
 The Turkish system requires that only authorized / certified
consultants prepare the PIF and conduct the EIA. However, the
requirements for certification may not be sufficient to ensure the
production of high quality EIAs.
 The WB policy does not specify certification of EIA consultants. On
the other hand, WB policy requires that EIAs for Category A projects be
carried out by an independent consultant while no such requirement
exists under Turkish EIA law.
Recommendations
 PIUs should first ask the national clearance and the
documents should be kept as part of the sub-project file.
Discharge
EIA Positive
Emission
 PIU should nominate/hire a person to follow up on environmental
issues
 PIU should check that the EIA preparer (for Cat. A’s) is not involved in
design/feasibility phases of the same project.
 PIU should guide the sub-contractor for better scoping of the EA
(inclusion of auxiliary components of the project), and to fill the gaps
such as cumulative impact assessment (when needed), better public
consultation activity planning and documentation
 PIUs should request regular reporting on implementation from the subborrowers and also PIUs should inform WB via regular reporting
 PIU should include in the Loan Agreement a condition that the Subproject sponsor agrees to implement the EMP and also it should be
advised that the sub-project sponsor make it as a part of the construction
contractor.
EIA Not Necessary
THANK YOU…
QUESTIONS ??
COMMENTS??