OP 4. 01: Environmental Assessment This Policy requires Environmental Assessment (EA) of projects proposed for Bank financing to help ensure that they are environmentally sound and sustainable, and thus to improve decision making. EA is a process whose breadth, depth and type of analysis depend on the nature, scale and potential environmental impact of the proposed investment. The EA process takes into account the natural environment (air, water, and land); human health and safety; social aspects (involuntary resettlement, indigenous peoples, and cultural property) and trans-boundary and global environmental aspects. Operational Policy 4.01 further requires that the EA report must be disclosed as a separate and stand-alone document by the Government of Kenya and the World Bank. The disclosure should be both in Kenya where it can be accessed by the general public and local communities and at the Info Shop of the World Bank and the date for disclosure must precede the date for appraisal of the project. Like the Kfw Sustainability Guidelines, the World Bank also classifies projects into three categories, namely: • Category A Projects: Impacts from these projects are expected to be ‘adverse, sensitive, irreversible and diverse with attributes such as pollutant discharges large enough to cause degradation of air, water, or soil; large- scale physical disturbance of the site or surroundings; extraction, consumption or conversion of substantial amounts of forests and other natural resources; measurable modification of hydrological cycles; use of hazardous materials in more than incidental quantities; and involuntary displacement of people and other significant social disturbances. • Category B Projects: Category B projects have impacts that are ‘less significant, not as sensitive, numerous, major or diverse. Few, if any, impacts are irreversible, and remedial measures can be more easily designed. • Category C Projects: Category C projects result in negligible or minimal direct disturbance of the physical environment. Based on the above categorisation, this Project is classified under Category B Projects – most of the environmental and social impacts are local in nature and scope, and reversible, and the Jacaranda area is already owned by the Project Proponent and the distribution and supply pipes will be laid within the road reserve. Where needed, only limited sections of affected persons’ lands will be required for infrastructure siting. More so, this project is aimed...
