Environmental And Social Impact Assessment (esia)

ISOKO Y’UBUZIMA PROJECT 2022

TERMS OF REFERENCE

CONTEXT AND BACKGROUND

 Isoko y’Ubuzima is a five-year Rwanda Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) project funded by the US Agency for International Development (USAID), awarded in July of 2021. The project is implemented by a consortium led by Water For People. Other consortium members include IRC, CARE International, and VEI. The project is taking place in ten districts: Rwamagana, Kayonza, Ngoma, Kirehe, Nyagatare, Nyanza, Ruhango, Nyamagabe, Ngororero and Nyabihu. 

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Isoko y’Ubuzima has three interrelated and mutually reinforcing strategic objectives: 1) Improving decentralized WASH Governance; 2) Improving Rural Drinking Water Services, and 3) Improving Rural Sanitation and Hygiene Services and Products.

Isoko y’Ubuzima supports the targeted districts with WASH-related activities including:

1. Development of district-wide water supply plans, including detailed engineering studies as tools for planning and resource mobilization to reach universal water access.
2. Pilot District Metered Area (DMA) approach as a means of reducing non-revenue water on a water supply system in each of the ten districts.
3. Rehabilitation of existing public buildings to be used as District Sanitation Centers in 4 districts: Nyamagabe, Ngororero, Kirehe and Nyagatare.

As per USAID requirements, and in accordance with the Rwanda Government Law N°48/2018 of 13/08/2018, and the Ministerial Order No 001/ 2019 of 15/04/2019 that establish the list of works, activities, and projects that must undertake an ESIA, Isoko y’Ubuzima Project is hiring a qualified individual consultant to carry out an ESIA for three activities detailed below.

OBJECTIVE OF THE CONSULTANCY 

The overall objective of the consultancy is to ensure compliance with the national environmental legislation as well as USAID’s environmental protection regulations. The consultant will identify potential social and environmental impacts (positive and negative) and design measures to prevent, reduce, and/or mitigate negative impacts of the proposed activities.

The specific objectives include, but are not limited, to the following:

• To determine the potential environmental and social impact of the planned works (construction/rehabilitation) and propose mitigation measures that will effectively address the any identified negative impacts.
• To prepare an ESIA and Environmentand Social Management and Monitoring Plan (ESMMP) according to the national and USAID guidelines and regulations.
• To provide an ESIA certificate issued by RDB for the construction/rehabilitation works

An exhaustive list of the activities to be assessed will be provided to the successful consultant.

• SCOPE OF WORK

The ESIA will be carried out on 3 activities:

1. Rehabilitation of selected water supply systems in Nyamagabe and Ngororero Districts
2. Installation of District Metered Areas (DMA) on one water supply system in each of the 10 Isoko y’Ubuzima districts. A DMA is a hydraulically isolated and completely metered section of an entire water piped network which will help private operators reduce non-revenue water
3. Rehabilitation of public buildings to be used as District Sanitation Centers in Nyamagabe, Ngororero, Kirehe, and Nyagatare Districts

MAIN ACTIVITIES TO BE CARRIED OUT

Preparation of the ESIA will include the following elements and activities:

1. Literature review

• Identify data availability and gaps for conducting the assessment.
• Determine the extent of additional data collection required to ensure the qualitative depth of this study and the steps required (site visits, interviews, literature review, etc.)
• Review USAID and GoR ESIA/ESMMP formats that must be used when submitting the deliverables.

2. Description of the project

• A detailed description of the project, which will clearly identify the specific environmental and social issues related to it, including all risks and health and safety aspects.
• Analysis of alternatives considered to reduce or eliminate negative environmental and social impacts, including the “no action” alternative.

Factors will include project site location, timing, scales, partners, intensities, technologies/processes, facility designs, construction, operation and maintenance, organizational and management setups, ways of dealing with impacts, and capacity to adequately address risks/impacts.

• Description of the project location and sensitive environmental and social features. This includes a map with sufficient detail indicating the project site and the area that may be affected by the project’s direct, indirect, and cumulative impacts. (i.e., area of influence)
• Components and sub-components, which consider the main elements or units, support facilities, equipment or technologies to be used, raw materials, labor (construction, operation and maintenance stages), and work schedule. This includes any offsite activities that may be required (e.g., dedicated pipelines, access roads, power supply, water supply, housing, and raw material and product storage facilities), as well as the project’s primary supply chain.
• Indicate how the principles of green building such as energy efficiency and the use of renewable resources, the environmental impact of the works, resource conservation, internal air quality, and community aspects, such as access to public transportation will be incorporated
• Provide a brief description of mechanisms and instruments for community participation (to be expanded in a separate section), including procedures for consultation and participation of groups affected by the project, and mechanisms for complaints from the population directly using the services.
• Include a non-technical summary that can be understood by different stakeholders to facilitate and encourage engagement and comments.

3. Diagnosis of the Project’s Area of Influence and Beneficiaries

Environmental scoping must be conducted with newly collected data as well as existing documentation to describe the existing environmental and social conditions, including the biophysical, socio-economic, and cultural context in which the activities will be implemented. This information, whenever possible, should be based on qualitative and quantitative data. The analysis must include:

• Environmental aspect: land use, meteorology, air quality, noise, geology, soil, natural disaster risks, water resources, flora and fauna, protected areas, environmental legacies from previous projects, pollution levels, (hazardous and non-hazardous) waste generation.
• Socio-economic aspect: population, social composition, levels of urbanization, income indicators, levels of health and education, social organization systems, sanitation infrastructure (water, sewage, solid waste), energy and transport, the potential for an influx of workers from other parts of the country and negative social impacts, indigenous peoples and communities, gender patterns, vulnerability assessment.

4. Institutional and legal framework
   • Description of the regulations, system, and requirements for environmental licensing and land ownership, and other authorizations necessary for the implementation of the project components and works; and identification of the need to complement the rules governing project implementation.
   • State applicable international obligations and agreements (e.g., Multilateral Environmental Agreements) that must be complied with.
   • Identify any gaps between national legislation and USAID guidelines, while acknowledging that higher standards must be used.
   • Identify any additional environmental/social studies required according to the level of socio-environmental risk, to comply with both national and local environmental legislation.
   • State and describe relevant USAID regulations and the actions required to be compliant.
   • Describe the environmental management instruments for use by the project to ensure the incorporation of environmental and social variables throughout the project cycle.
   • Identification of the institutions responsible for the execution and environmental and social management of the program, at each level of government, and the roles and functions of each institution, identifying the needs for institutional strengthening.
5. Main Environmental and Social Impact
   • Develop a methodology/grading system for impacts to record severity in a matrix (long vs. short-term, reversible vs. irreversible, etc.);
   • Identification, analysis and rating of the environmental and social impacts of the project and for each of the proposed activities during the different phases of the project cycle (preparation, operation, maintenance etc.), including those impacts related to health and safety in the construction, operation, and maintenance stages;
   • Consideration of positive and negative, direct, indirect, cumulative impacts.

• Consideration of environmental viability of the program, by weighing the damages against the environmental and social benefits; evaluation of the effectiveness of the measures to control negative impacts; verification of compliance with environmental criteria and standards; and measures to prevent and mitigate environmental and social risks;
• Consideration of areas potentially impacted by cumulative impacts from the incremental adverse impacts of the project when added to other past, existing, planned or reasonably predictable future projects and developments (e.g., incremental contribution to pollutant emissions, forest depletion due to multiple logging concessions). Assessing potential cumulative impacts enlarges the scale and timeframe for assessing the combined effects of multiple activities and impacts.
• Consideration of areas potentially affected by impacts from unplanned but predictable developments (indirect and induced impacts) caused by the project that may occur later or at a different location (e.g., facilitation of settlements or illegal logging in intact forest areas through expansion of adjacent agricultural activities);
• Consideration of future anticipated or projected short-term impacts, e.g., increases in consumption, waste, pollution, capacity needs, and health problems resulting from the proposed project;
• Consideration of future anticipated or projected long-term impacts, e.g., indirect or secondary effects of induced unplanned development and changes in socio-economic conditions;
• Consideration of present or baseline pollution of the proposed project site or facilities, e.g., soil and groundwater pollution originating from past disposal of or contamination with hazardous substances or wastes.
• Indication of the organizational/management scope of potential impacts as well:
• The role and capacity of third-party organizations, e.g., governments, contractors (with whom the proposed project or implementing partner has a substantial involvement), or an operator of an associated facility (to the extent of the Project Developer’s control or influence over these organizations);
• Primary suppliers (where the resource utilized by the proposed project is ecologically sensitive, or where child labor, forced labor and/or unsafe working conditions may be involved).

6. Preparation of the ESMMP

ESMMP consists of a set of mitigation, monitoring, and institutional measures, including policies, procedures, and practices – as well as the actions needed to implement these measures – to achieve the desired social and environmental sustainability outcomes. The ESMMP will be composed of:

• Measures to mitigate negative impacts during operations, and evaluation of their effectiveness. Mitigation measures must be identified for each impact/risk that was identified throughout the ESIA process;
• Flow chart of the project's actions, identifying the stages and times of execution of the environmental and social management actions;
• Description of the environmental monitoring plan in the construction and operation stages of the project, identifying the parameters to be measured, the places of measurement, the methods used and the periods/frequencies in which the measurements will be made, the costs, and the institutions responsible ;
• Identification of a set of sensible, readily measurable quantitative and qualitative indicators of the mitigation measures proposed for the main impacts and risks that accompany the implementation of the project ;
• Contingency and Emergency Response Plan, such as for accidents, fires, floods, earthquakes (among those that apply);
• Reporting template for the implementing partner (and/or responsible party) that include the set indicators and provide clear guidance on how to measure them.

7. Public Consultation and Disclosure Procedures

The ESMMP will be developed in close consultation with project stakeholders and disclosed in draft and final form. The ESMMP should include a section that outlines a Stakeholder Engagement Plan to promote meaningful, effective consultations during project implementation, including identification of milestones for consultations, information disclosure, and periodic reporting on progress of project implementation and issues of concern to project stakeholders.

REPORTS / DELIVERABLES

The following reports must be submitted to Water For People by the consultant:

• Inception report: The inception report should include a literature review of the works to be assessed, review of existing data, plan to collect missing data, methodology to be used, and work plan. The inception report should be submitted 2 weeks after signing the contract.
• Draft report: ESIA with its respective ESMMP that includes the results of the public consultation and disclosure process submitted 1 month after validation of the inception report
• ESIA final report to be submitted to RDB for review and approval 2 weeks after approval of the draft report
• ESIA certificate provided by RDB in the name of Nyamagabe and Ngororero districts for the construction of water supply systems, the DMA interventions for the 10 districts, and rehabilitation of existing buildings for the operation of district sanitation centers in Nyamagabe, Ngororero, Kirehe and Nyagatare
• All reports must be submitted in an electronic file. The report must include a cover page, main document, and all annexes. B. All reports must be submitted in the ESIA/ESMMP formats required by both USAID and the GoR.

Terms of management of the consultancy

 Consultancy Nature: Short-term, individual, organizational, or group contract

Consultancy Duration: Maximum 2 Months

Consultancy Oversight: The consultant will report to the Senior Water Supply Manager and will work closely with Water Supply Engineers, Sanitation Engineer, and the respective district officials.

CONSULTANCY EXPERT QUALIFICATIONS

The consultant should be an environmental expert with at least a master’s degree in either civil engineering, environmental management or any other related field with a professional background in water supply, sanitation and environmental management. He/she should have conducted at least four similar environmental studies with the same complexity as this assignment.

He/she should be certified and registered with the Rwanda Association of Professional Environmental Practitioners (RAPEP) and present a recent certificate of membership at least as an authorized Associate Expert in Rwanda for the year 2021.

The application file should contain the following documents:

• Up-to-date and detailed Curricula Vitae of the proposed team to carry out the work (if a team is envisaged, ensure the roles and responsibilities are clearly explained).
• A technical offer, a proposal with a clear timeframe and a description of the proposed methodology, an understanding of TORs, and detailed description of how the deliverables will be achieved.
• A financial offer detailing the costs (in Rwandan Francs) associated with the delivery of the above services, in PDF format and Excel for formula verification. The financial offer must be a separate document from the technical.
• Evidence of the consultant’s experience in a similar assignment: Copies of similar assignments (with evidence for satisfactory completion of these assignments).
• At least 3 references with their contacts and addresses
• RAPEP Certificate of membership in 2021, at least as Associate Expert in Rwanda; VAT registration certificate; RRA tax clearance certificate; RSSB tax clearance certificate (when applicable).

How to Apply:

Interested consultants must submit their application electronically to rwanda@waterforpeople.org  with the following subject: "ESIA for Isoko y’Ubuzima Project 2022".

by the 28^th of April 2022, no later than 5:00 p.m local time.

Done at Kigali, April 19^th, 2022

Perpetue Kamuyumbu

Country Director