The World Bank's OD 4.01 "Environmental Assessment" of October 3, 1991 indicates the kind of projects which are categorized as "A" projects and for which a full environmental assessment (EA) is required. These projects include most of those having large population displacement impacts. Category B projects do not require a full EA but do require some environmental analysis. Category C projects do not requre environmental analysis.
A full EA is required if a project is likely to have significant adverse impacts that may be sensitive, irreversible, and diverse. The impacts are likely to be comprehensive, broad, sector-wide, or precedent-setting. Impacts generally result from a major component of the project and affect the area as a whole or an entire sector (quoted from OD 4.01). The following list is illustrative of Category A projects:
Category B Projects are ones in which the project may have adverse environmental impacts that are less significant than category A impacts. Few if any of these impacts are irreversible. The impacts are not as sensitive, numerous, major, or diverse as category A impacts; remedial measures can be more easily designed. Preparation of a mitigation plan suffices for many category B projects. Few category B projects would have a separate environmental report; most may be discussed in a separate chapter of the project preparation or feasibility study (quoted from OD 4.01). Examples of Category B projects are:
An EA or environmental analysis is normally not required for Category C projects because the project is unlikely to have adverse impacts. Professional judgment finds the project to have negligible, insignificant, or minimal environmental impacts (OD 4.01). Category C projects might be:
Social analysis is a part of the EA process, and resettlement is one of five topics that the OD 4.01 requires, where they are relevant, be explicitly addressed in an EA. The five topics are: involuntary resettlement, new land settlement, induced development, indigenous peoples, and cultural property (the World Bank's Environmental Sourcebook. Vol. 1, Chapter 3. 1991).
The foregoing is meant to be an indicative, not authoritative, discussion of the World Bank's environmental guidelines. For more information, visit the World Bank's Public Information Center or the Environmental Management for Power Development page supported by the World Bank and other sponsors.
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