Quarterly assessment performance report

Highlights

Some of the key highlights of decisions made during January 2021 to March 2021 quarter are listed below.

City to Commonwealth Park Light Rail 2A, ACT (EPBC 2019/8582)
On 2 February 2021, a delegate of the Minister approved a proposal by Major Projects Canberra to extend the existing light rail network from the City to Commonwealth Park, via London Circuit (West) and Commonwealth Avenue. The proposal was approved with 33 conditions to protect the critically endangered Golden Sun Moth (Synemon plana). The light rail is a key component of the ACT’s urban renewal agenda to make it a more liveable city. The conditions include requirements to compensate for the loss of habitat for the Golden Sun Moth; rehabilitate areas that will be temporarily impacted by the proposal and prepare and implement a Golden Sun Moth Construction Environment Management and Rehabilitation Plan (the plan). The plan will be approved by the Minister. In making the decision, public comments received, as well as expert advice was taken into consideration.

Industrial development, 489A Robinsons Road, Truganina, Victoria (EPBC 2020/8645)
On 22 January 2021, a Delegate of the Minister for the Environment approved a proposal by EMKC AU Industrial 2 Pty Ltd to undertake an industrial development within an industrial and logistics precinct at 489A Robinsons Road, Truganina, Victoria. The proposal involves the construction of industrial buildings, carparks and other infrastructure approximately 20 km west of Melbourne’s CBD. The development will impact on Natural Temperate Grassland of the Victorian Volcanic Plain ecological community and Striped Legless Lizard habitat. This loss will be compensated through a single offset site that will be secured and managed in perpetuity. Additionally, the department imposed conditions to minimise impacts to listed threatened species and ecological communities and prevent additional impacts beyond those considered in the assessment. The proposal will deliver social and economic benefits to the local area, including employment opportunities of 500 – 600 construction and related jobs during the construction phase and 380 – 400 on-site jobs of the completed development. The development will involve the upgrade of Middle Road that sits adjacent to the site, improving accessibility and connectivity of neighbouring services in the existing industrial precinct.

Warrawoona Gold Project, Pilbara Region, WA (EPBC 2019/8584)
On 12 February 2021, a delegate to the Minister for the Environment approved the Warrawoona Gold Project, a gold mining and processing operation in the Pilbara Region of Western Australia. The Project will produce gold bar and gold concentrate over at least six years and deliver significant employment opportunities during the construction and operational phases. It will also contribute to the economy through investment, royalties, and corporate taxation. Using modern industrial mining processes, the project will blast, excavate, mill, and treat around 2.5 tonnes of rock per year to extract gold from the Warrawoona Ranges, which are pockmarked with over 200 historic mines dating from the 1800s. Some of these historic mines have since become important bat roosts for large colonies of the EPBC listed threatened Ghost Bat (Macroderma gigas) and Pilbara Leaf-nosed Bat (Rhinonicteris aurantia (Pilbara form)). The mine proposal has been designed to avoid the most important roosts and remove only a few minor refuges used during night foraging. Care has also been taken to retain critical habitat for the Northern Quoll (Dasyurus hallucatus) and Olive Python (Pilbara subspecies) (Liasis olivaceus barroni) within the project’s clearing footprint. The Warrawoona Gold Project is one of the first approvals to condition contributions to the Pilbara Environmental Offset Fund to offset the residual significant impact to these threatened species. The department also worked closely with experts to develop novel contingency measures, such as an artificial roost, should nearby significant bat roosts be adversely impacted by mining activities. This collaboration has also led to the update of the department’s species guidance documents for the Pilbara Leaf-nosed Bat and Ghost Bat.

A complete list of all decisions can be found on the Public Notices website.