Bylong Coal Project SSD 6367 Statement of Reasons for Decision
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Statement of reasons for decision 18 September 2019 Bylong Coal Project (SSD 6367) 1 INTRODUCTION On 4 October 2018, the NSW Independent Planning Commission (Commission) received from the NSW Department of Planning and Environment (Department) a State significant development application (SSD) 6367 from KEPCO Bylong Australia Pty Ltd (Applicant) to develop and operate an open cut and underground coal mine to recover approximately 124 million tonnes (Mt) of run-of-mine (ROM) coal at a combined rate of up to 6.5 million tonnes per annum (Mtpa) of ROM coal for a period of 25 years (Project). The Commission is the consent authority in respect of the Applicant’s development application under section 4.5(a) of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 (EP&A Act) and clause 8A of State Environmental Planning Policy (State and Regional Development) 2011 (SEPP SRD). This is because: • the Project is SSD under section 4.36 of the EP&A Act as the Project constitutes development for the purposes of coal mining, consistent with Schedule 1, clause 5 of the SEPP SRD; and • the Department received more than 25 submissions from the public objecting to the Project. Professor Mary O’Kane AC, Chair of the Commission, nominated Gordon Kirkby (Panel Chair), Wendy Lewin, and Steve O’Connor to constitute the Commission determining the Bylong Coal Project. 1.1 Site and locality According to the Applicant’s Bylong Coal Project Environmental Impact Statement, dated September 2015 (EIS), the Project is a proposed open cut and underground thermal coal mine for a greenfield site in the Bylong Valley. It is located in the Mid-Western Regional Local Government Area (Figure 1), approximately 55 kilometres (km) northeast of Mudgee. It covers an area of approximately 6,958 hectares (ha) of land. Of this, approximately 1,160 ha would be subject to surface disturbance and up to 1,714 ha would be impacted by subsidence (the Project Site). There are no currently approved or active coal mines within 20 km of the Project Site. The Bylong Valley has had a long history of agricultural land use, including grazing, cropping (dryland and irrigation) and horse breeding. The Project Site and surrounding land supports agricultural activities and are comprised of cleared cultivated lands, cleared grasslands, lower slope grazing, hill grazing and heavy timber, as shown in Figure 9 of the EIS. The majority of the Project Site contains cleared agricultural land with native vegetation prevalent within the remaining area. Bylong Valley is a rural landscape comprised of cleared agricultural land surrounded by vegetated slopes and ridgelines, which has historically been used for cropping, grazing and horse studs. There are a number of remnant historical buildings and structures located within the Bylong Valley, including several historical locally significant items and complexes such as Tarwyn Park Homestead, which is located within the Project Site (Figure 4). The whole of the Project Site is located within the Bylong Landscape Conservation Area, which is listed on the non-statutory National Trust (NSW) Register (see Figure 10) and includes the historical items and associated views. 1 Figure 1: Regional Context Source: Bylong Coal Project EIS, September 2015 2 Figure 2: Site Location Source: Bylong Coal Project EIS, September 2015 3 The main watercourse within the Bylong Valley is the Bylong River, which is ephemeral in nature. The Bylong State Forest is located within the eastern portion of the Project boundary and the Goulburn River National Park and Wollemi National Park bound the Project Site to its north-east and south-east, respectively (see Figure 2). The Bylong Valley is adjacent to the National Parks and Blue Mountains World Heritage Area. These places and features, including the mountains of the Great Dividing Range, provide a backdrop for the area’s recognised aesthetic beauty. The Applicant owns approximately 7,547 hectares of land within and surrounding the Project Site. Within the Project Site, approximately 5,425 ha of freehold land or approximately 78% of the Project Site is owned by the Applicant and the remaining 21% is either Crown land, State forest or freehold land under private ownership. Since the EIS was prepared, the Applicant has completed further acquisitions of properties surrounding the Project (see section 1.5, p.9 of the Department’s Final Assessment Report, dated October 2018 (Final Assessment Report). 1.2 Summary of the Project before the Commission Bylong Coal Project The Project, as originally proposed in the EIS, comprises the following components (see Figure 3): Mines • the development of two open cut mines and associated out-of-pit emplacement areas. One open cut mine is situated on the historic Tarwyn Park property; • underground mining by longwall mining methods (15 longwalls); • extraction of 124 million tonnes of ROM coal to produce approximately 90 million tonnes of product coal, comprising 33 million tonnes of ROM coal by open cut methods and 91 million tonnes of ROM coal by longwall mining methods; Construction • construction and operation of a range of infrastructure to support the mine including a coal handling and preparation plant, mine access roads, workforce accommodation facility (WAF), ventilation shafts, water supply and water management, electricity supply, communications, and administration infrastructure; • realigning and upgrading of local road infrastructure; Operations • transportation of coal to the Port of Newcastle for export via a new rail loop and rail loading facility; • 24 hours a day, seven days a week operation during construction and operation; • Project life of 25 years, including: o an initial two-year construction-only period o a 23-year active mining period comprised of: . open cut mining for 8 years; . underground mining for 19 years; and . concurrent operations of both methods for 4 years; and Rehabilitation • progressive mine site rehabilitation with the aim of achieving the equivalent agricultural land quality as the existing Biophysical Strategic Agricultural Land (‘BSAL’) (‘BSAL-equivalent’ land), resulting in a final landform that is agriculturally productive and with no final void. 4 Revised Mine Plan Following review of the Project by the former Planning Assessment Commission (PAC) in July 2017 (the PAC Review Report), and a letter from the Department to the Applicant dated 28 May 2018, the Applicant submitted a Bylong Coal Project – Supplementary Information Report (Supplementary Information Report) to the Department in July 2018, which provided details of a Revised Mine Plan. The 28 May 2018 letter stated that the Department “considers that revisions to the proposed mine plan are required to adequately avoid and minimise the potential impacts on the heritage values of Tarwyn Park and surrounding landscape” and that “no open cut mining or overburden emplacement should be permitted on the Tarwyn Park property; and overburden emplacement areas should be redesigned to minimise the visual impacts and maximise the integration of the proposed final landform with the surrounding topography”. The Revised Mine Plan submitted by the Applicant includes the following changes, and is illustrated in Figure 4: • removal of open cut mining and overburden emplacement from the Tarwyn Park landholding, avoiding impacts on the former Upper Bylong Catholic Church and cemetery; • reducing the volume of overburden being handled by around 24%; • reducing the footprint of the western open cut by 22.5 ha to maintain a wooded ridgeline and retain the existing views from the Tarwyn Park homestead; • modifying the north-western overburden emplacement area to incorporate a valley/ drainage line, to minimise visual impacts on Tarwyn Park homestead; • reducing the height and slope of the south-western overburden emplacement area to integrate with the existing topography; • re-establishing the connection between the Upper Bylong Road and Lee Creek Road at mine closure, subject to consultation and agreement with Mid-Western Regional Council (the MWRC); • incorporating macro relief into the conceptual final landform, consistent with existing landscape elements in the Upper Bylong Valley; and • removal of the on-site WAF to accommodate the construction workforce. The Revised Mine Plan would result in approximately 1,047 ha of surface disturbance, compared to the Project’s surface disturbance of approximately 1,160 ha. Further to the Revised Mine Plan, the Department recommended a set of conditions (Final Proposed Conditions) in its Final Assessment Report to amend the Project in line with the Revised Mine Plan and prohibit the construction of the WAF and the open cut mine on the historic Tarwyn Park property (see section 2.5 for a summary of the Final Assessment Report). The Revised Mine Plan and the Final Proposed Conditions are collectively referred to as the Recommended Revised Project. The Commission notes that despite providing an assessment of the Revised Mine Plan, the Applicant has not formally amended its development application (see paragraph 54). The Commission has therefore assessed the Project on the basis that approval is being sought for the Project as originally proposed in the EIS submitted with the development application, as described in paragraph 11. The Commission has also considered the merits of the Recommended Revised Project, as put forward by the Department in its Final Assessment Report, as a potential modification to the Project under section 4.38(1)(a) of the EP&A Act. 5 Figure 3: Project