P.R.China
Specialist Consulting Firm Hunting for social impact assessment (CS-3 Technical Support- National Consultancy) under Municipal Solid Waste Management Project-Project Preparation Grant
GEF PPG Grant number TF012035 Expressions of interest
Background
1.China signed the Stockholm Convention on POPs in 2001 and the People’s Congress ratified the Convention in 2004. The National Implementation Plan (NIP) was completed in 2007. The proposed project will catalyze and expedite the phase-in of Best Available Techniques (BAT)/ Best Environmental Practices (BEP) in the MSW disposal sector that the NIP identified as a major source of PCDD/F release. The NIP identified MSW incineration as one of the key sources of PCDD/F release.
2.MSW management is a growing concern for China’s cities. With China’s rapid economic development, urbanization, and rising standards of living, the quantity of municipal solid wastes collected and transported has increased more than five-fold nationwide from about 31 million tons in 1980 to about 157 million tons in 2009 and is projected to reach 585 million tons in 2030. No country has ever experienced as large and rapid an increase in waste generation.
3.The role of incineration in MSW management has been increasing and will continue to increase due to a shortage of available land for landfills and the incinerators’ potential ability to generate heat or electricity (“waste to energy”). A series of incentive policies are in place to encourage investment in MSW incinerators, including value added tax refunding, prioritized commercial bank loans, state subsidy (2%) for loan interest, and favorable feed-in prices for the electricity sale into the grid. Consequently, the number of MSW incinerators is expected to rise from 66 in 2009 to 200 in 2015, increasing the incineration capacity from 55.4 thousand tons to 140 thousand tons per day over the same time period.
4.China has a long road ahead in adopting the modern MSW management hierarchy, which most favors prevention, followed by -- in order or preference -- minimization (reduction), reuse, recycling, energy recovery, and least favors disposal. In China, present MSW management generally focuses narrowly on the traditional pattern of collection and disposal. Household waste is not separated at the source. Recyclable material collection and recycling is generally pursued by the for-profit private sector, which focuses on paper products, metals, plastics, and glass. However, residential waste collected and transported by municipal sanitation units for disposal at incineration or landfills still contains a considerable proportion of plastic bags, packaging materials, kitchen waste, and some metals. The high moisture content of the waste delivered to incinerators inhibits the combustion process, while plastics lead to dioxin precursors, both causing PCDD/F generation and release.
5.The project will implement selected NIP actions that should be completed by 2015 and fulfill the associated objectives. GEF supported activities will integrate PCDD/F reduction from MSW into China’s efforts to modernize its MSW management system, by strengthening the policy and regulatory framework and the institutional capacity, demonstrating BAT/BEP applications, preparing a replication strategy and raising public awareness, and monitoring and evaluation of project results.
6.The project’s development objective is to enhance the regulatory framework for compliance with new dioxin emissions standards for incineration facilities, demonstrate best available techniques (BAT) and best environmental practices (BEP) in MSW management to lower dioxins and furans emissions from such facilities, and establish favorable conditions for replicating project results more widely across China. As such, the Project would support China in meeting its obligations under the Stockholm Convention.
7.The Consultant may refer to the following documents to familiarize themselves more with the project, the Chinese regulatory framework and World bank safeguards policies:
•The GEF Project Identification Form for background information on waste management in China and the role of incineration;
•the World Bank Project Information Document for an updated description of planned project activities;
•Relevant SA and environmental impact assessment laws, regulations, guidelines of China and Safeguards Policies of the World Bank;
•The Stockholm Convention and its relevant documents, including Guideline on BAT and provisional guidance on BEP for waste incineration;
•World Bank mission aide memoires.
Social Issues
8.Land acquisition. Land acquisition for three incinerators has been completed and no new land acquisition will be needed for any of the incinerators. In fulfillment of the World Bank’s Operational Policy on involuntary Resettlement a retroactive review of the land acquisition process needs to be carried out. Documentation on the process is being requested from the three enterprises, including (i) The location of land used or to be used for the incinerators (including a description of the distance from the nearest communities); (ii) The size of the land acquired for the incinerators; (iii) time of land acquisition; (iv) a list of people affected; (v) compensation standards of land and other assets affected; (vi) a list of people who were provided compensation provided. The enterprises are also requested to provide documentation on the process and results of the consultations carried out with affected people. However, as is standard practice, the process’s impact on affected people’s livelihood and sources of income and need to be independently verified. Furthermore, the people’s satisfaction with the compensation and income restoration need to be carried out need to be independently assessed.
9.Information disclosure. Public reactions against dioxin emissions from MSW incinerators have become more common in China’s large cities in recent years. There is also significant lack of confidence in the information shared with the public on these emissions. In western countries, where MSW incineration is common, information on dioxin and other pollutant emissions is available to the public. In fact information disclosure is one of Stockholm Convention’s recommended BEP. Therefore, the project will aim to institute locally appropriate methods of information disclosure. It is also important to educate the public about the likely health consequences of elevated emissions levels and how reduction to internationally accepted levels will alleviate such impacts.
Objective
10.The objective of this consultancy assignment is to assess the social impacts of the proposed activities and make recommendations for project design.
Scope of the Consultancy
11.The consultancy will (i) contribute to the retroactive review of land acquisition in three incinerator sites; (ii) raise awareness and conduct consultations about the planned project; (iii) assess stakeholder information disclosure needs on emissions from the pilot MSW incinerators; (iv) make recommendations on the design of the public information disclosure component; and (v) public consultations on the advanced project design prior to project appraisal.
i.Retroactive review of land acquisition. The Consultant will (a) review the impact of the completed land acquisition on the affected people’s livelihood and sources of income; (b) assess the process and results of the consultations carried out with the affected people; and (c) assess people’s satisfaction with the compensation and income restoration measures carried out by the incinerators. The Consultant may including these issues in an overall household survey in the districts where the incinerators are located and or interview a random subset of the affected people.
ii.Awareness raising and consultation with stakeholders on project design. The Consultant will raise awareness about the project, its objectives and proposed activities. Emphasis will be placed on the fact that the project, through its investments in BAT/BEP, help the pilot incinerators reduce and or retain their dioxin emissions at internationally accepted low levels. The Consultant will identify key stakeholders of the project and elicit their views on the project’s possible impact on health, the environment, gender relations, and vulnerable social groups. Finally, the Consultant will elicit information on households’ existing practices in solid waste segregation and kitchen waste management.
iii.Assessment of the public’s information needs on MSW incinerator emissions. The Consultant will elicit information from the residents of the districts where the pilot incinerators are located about the following aspects:
•The type, content, and format of information that residents wish to be provided by the MSW incinerators, with a particular focus on information on health impacts. Additionally, do residents wish to be provided with information on how the emissions in their district’s MSW incinerator compare with those from comparable enterprises in other countries?
•The residents’ perception of and satisfaction with the current level of information disclosure.
•The perceived reliability of the information disclosed.
•Consistency of the current information disclosure practices with China’s regulation on information disclosure.
iv.Recommendations for the design of the project’s information disclosure sub-component. Based on the information collected from the districts’ residents the Consultant will make specific recommendations on the design of the project’s information disclosure sub-component. This will have two parts (a) Information disclosure about the incinerators emissions, and (b) overall information dissemination about the project, its progress and its outcomes. The Consultant will advise on the content, format, frequency, and channels of information disclosure. Specifically, recommendations will take into account effectiveness in reaching as many stakeholders as possible and the cost of the proposed activities. The Consultant will also advise whether the involvement of non-governmental organizations in the processing or distribution of information would be advisable and if so specifically define their roles and functions. Finally, the Consultant will estimate the cost of the recommended activities.
v.Public consultations on the advanced project design prior to project appraisal. The Consultant will present the advanced project design to local residents. The draft full Environmental Assessment will also have been shared with the public. The Consultant will elicit and duly document the stakeholders’ views on the project activities and their potential environmental and other impacts. These views will be duly documented and conveyed to FECO, the candidate pilot cities, and the World Bank team.
12.The Consultant will work closely with FECO and candidate pilot cities in implementing the social assessment and consult with the World Bank team on applicable World Bank requirements, as needed. The Consultant will share information collected with the other consultants assisting FECO and the candidate cities in designing the project, including environmental assessment (EA), BAT/BEP assessment for the pilot MSW incinerators, 3R program design, and regulatory review. The Consultant will also review draft reports of these studies and provide comments if any to ensure that the findings of the SA are duly incorporated in these studies and vice versa. In particular, the close link between the SA and the EA and therefore the need for the SA Consultant to closely work with the EA Consultant is stressed.
13.The Consultant will prepare thematic reporting materials to brief FECO and the World Bank on progress and results, and participate in World Bank missions, and workshops, and responses to comments.
SA Methodologies
14.The social assessment Consultant’s initial task will be to elaborate a research plan, specifying methods to be employed.
15.The SA should make use of the secondary statistic data from existing bibliography and reports. Meanwhile, detailed information will be gathered by consulting key stakeholders using participatory approaches, such as focus group discussions (FGD), individual or household surveys, community meetings, to establish direct interaction with local people to elicit views, perceptions and preferences.
16.Most of the consultations require face-to-face qualitative individual interviews or focus groups discussion with informants and community member. It is important that the selection of the informants is random and representative of the community population (including men, women, elderly, and youth).
17.The household survey will require the drafting and pre-testing of a household questionnaire prior to the actual fielding. It is important that the questions accurately measure the intended concepts.
18.The research plan, including the draft outline of individual interview, FGDs, community meetings, and questionnaire of household survey, need to be submitted to FECO and the World Bank for review before the field work.
Outputs, Deliverables and Work Schedule
19.The assignment period will be from February 28 (the approximate date of contract signing) until October 31, 2013.
20.The Consultant’s outputs and related delivery times will be as follows:
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Output
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Delivery
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1
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Detailed research plan, including methodology, draft questionnaires, survey plan
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Within 2 weeks of contract signing
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2
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First draft SA report covering items (i), (ii), (iii) and (iv) under “Scope of the Assignment”
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Within 4 weeks of approval of the detailed work plan
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3
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Second draft SA report incorporating FECO, candidate city and World Bank comments on the first draft SA report and including item (v) under “Scope of the Assignment”
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Within 3 weeks of approval of the first draft SA report
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4
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Final SA report incorporating comments on the second draft SA report
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Within 2 weeks of approval of the second draft SA report
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21.All outputs will be provided in Chinese and in English. The Consultant will ensure high quality English translation. All outputs will be reviewed FECO and the World Bank; FECO will issue approvals.
Qualifications
22.The consultancy team must have:
a)Legal business and corporate legal qualification in China;
b)Experience with relevant project SA preparation with international projects;
c)Experience working on projects related to the Stockholm Convention, BAT/BEP guidelines on incineration of municipal solid waste, or environmental protection projects.
d)Academic background in sociology, social research methods or other related social sciences;
e)Experience designing public awareness campaigns;
f)Excellent working knowledge of Chinese.
23.It would be advantageous if the key members of the consultancy team had the following additional qualifications:
a)Academic background in environmental or a related field of science;
b)Over 3 years’ professional experience in SA on MSW management;
c)Good speaking and writing knowledge of English;
d)Knowledge of the requirements of the project SA and EA of the World Bank;
e)More than 5 years’ work experience working with the World Bank or other international organization in the field of SA;
f)Familiarity with domestic situation/system on public awareness and information disclosure of MSW disposal.
Procedures
24.A Specialist Consulting Firm will be selected based on the Consultants Qualifications (CQS) modality in accordance with the procedures set out in the World Bank Borrowers (current edition).
25.FECO now invite eligible firms to provide the interests in social impact assessment (CS-3 Technical Support- National Consultancy) under Municipal Solid Waste Management Project-Project Preparation Grant. The firms with interests shall provide expression letter of interest and appropriate qualifications and references. Interested firms may obtain further information at the address below during office hours from 09:00 to 17:00. The selected firm shall be asked to submit a combined technical-financial proposal.
Deadline
26.Further information can be obtained at the address below during office hours from 09:00 to 17:00.
Ren Yong(Mr.)
Tel: 86-10-82268953
Fax: 86-10-82200527
Add: No 5, Houyingfang Hutong, Beijing, China, 100035
E-mail: ren.yong@meofeco.org.cn
27.The qualifications and references of Firms must be delivered to the address below (in person, or by mail, or by fax, or by e-mail) by 17:00 (Beijing time), 1 Feb 2013.
Yan Wei (Ms.)
Tel: 86-10-82268848
Fax: 86-10-82200510
Add: No 5, Houyingfang Hutong, Beijing, China, 100035
E-mail: yan.wei@mepfeco.org.cn
