SECTION 1 INTRODUCTION CONTENTS 1 INTRODUCTION 1-1 1.1 PROJECT OVERVIEW 1-1 1.1.1 Purpose of this Report 1-1 1.1.2 Background 1-2 1.1.3 Project Summary 1-2 1.1.4 Site Location and Tenure 1-9 1.1.5 Interaction with Other Operations and Projects in the Vicinity of the Site 1-9 1.1.6 Proponent 1-13 1.2 SECRETARY’S ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT REQUIREMENTS 1-13 1.3 PROJECT CONSULTANTS 1-16 1.4 DOCUMENT STRUCTURE 1-16 LIST OF TABLES Table 1-1 Project Summary Table 1-2 Secretary’s Environmental Assessment Requirements – Reference Summary Table 1-3 Content Requirements of an EIS – Clause 7 of Schedule 2 of the EP&A Regulation Table 1-4 EPBC Act Controlling Provisions – Reference Summary LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1-1 Regional Location Figure 1-2 Project Location Figure 1-3 Aerial Photograph of the Wilpinjong Coal Mine and Surrounds Figure 1-4 Project General Arrangement Figure 1-5a Relevant Land Ownership Plan Figure 1-5b Relevant Land Ownership Plan Wollar Inset Figure 1-5c Relevant Landholder List LIST OF PLATES Plate 1-1 Wilpinjong Coal Mine Plate 1-2 Front End Loader Handling Coal Wilpinjong Extension Project Environmental Impact Statement Section 1 - Introduction Document Number: 00659084 Version: A 1-i 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 PROJECT OVERVIEW This document is an Environmental Impact 1.1.1 Purpose of this Report Statement (EIS) for the Wilpinjong Extension Project (the Project). The Project would involve the This EIS has been prepared to accompany a continuation and extension of open cut mining Development Application made for the Project, in operations at the Wilpinjong Coal Mine (Plate 1-1). accordance with Part 4 of the NSW Environmental Planning and Assessment Act, 1979 (EP&A Act). The Wilpinjong Coal Mine is located approximately 40 kilometres (km) north-east of Mudgee, near the This EIS considers the potential environmental Village of Wollar, within the Mid-Western Regional impacts of the Project in accordance with the Local Government Area (LGA), in central New Secretary’s Environmental Assessment South Wales (NSW). Requirements (SEARs) issued by the NSW Department of Planning and Environment (DP&E) The Wilpinjong Coal Mine is owned and operated by on 9 December 2014 (Attachment 1), the Wilpinjong Coal Pty Ltd (WCPL), a wholly owned supplementary SEARs issued by the DP&E on subsidiary of Peabody Energy Australia Pty Limited 22 June 2015 (Attachment 1) and clauses 6 and 7 (Peabody Energy). of Schedule 2 of the NSW Environmental Planning and Assessment Regulation, 2000 (EP&A Regulation). The SEARs were issued in accordance with the requirements of clause 3 of Schedule 2 of the EP&A Regulation. A summary of the SEARs is provided in Section 1.2. Plate 1-1: Wilpinjong Coal Mine Wilpinjong Extension Project Environmental Impact Statement Section 1 - Introduction Document Number: 00659084 Version: A 1-1 1.1.2 Background A summary indicating where the supplementary SEARs have been addressed in the EIS is provided The Wilpinjong Coal Mine extracts run-of-mine in Attachment 2. (ROM) coal that is either processed on site at the Coal Handling and Preparation Plant (CHPP) or 1.1.3 Project Summary bypassed directly to product stockpiles. The proposed life of the Project is approximately Coal products are transported by rail on the existing 17 years and would extend the life of the approved Sandy Hollow Gulgong Railway to local energy Wilpinjong Coal Mine by approximately seven years generators and to the Port of Newcastle for export. (i.e. from approximately 2026 to 2033). The location of the existing Wilpinjong Coal Mine is The main activities associated with the Project shown on Figures 1-1 and 1-2, and Figure 1-3 would include: provides an aerial photograph of the existing mine. A description of the existing mining operations and • open cut mining of ROM coal from the Ulan history of approvals is provided in Sections 2.1 and Coal Seam and Moolarben Coal Member in 2.2, respectively. Mining Lease (ML) 1573 and in new Mining Lease Application (MLA) areas in Exploration WCPL is seeking approval from the NSW Minister Licence (EL) 6169 and EL 7091; for Planning for Development Consent under Division 4.1 of Part 4 of the EP&A Act for the • approximately 800 hectares (ha) of open cut Project, which would replace the existing Wilpinjong extensions, including (Figure 1-4): Coal Mine Project Approval (Project - approximately 500 ha of incremental Approval 05-0021). extensions to the existing open cut pits in areas of ML 1573 and EL 6169; and The approved Wilpinjong Coal Project was referred to the Department of the Environment and Heritage - development of a new open cut pit of in 2005, and was determined as not a controlled approximately 300 ha in EL 7091 (Pit 8); action (EPBC 2005/2309). The proposed action to • continued production of up to 16 million tonnes extend open cut coal mining and processing per annum (Mtpa) of ROM coal (Plate 1-2); operations at the Wilpinjong Coal Mine was referred to the Commonwealth Minister in February 2015 • continued use of the approved Wilpinjong Coal (EPBC 2015/7431) (the proposed action). Mine CHPP and general coal handling and rail loading facilities and other existing and A delegate of the Commonwealth Minister approved supporting mine infrastructure; determined on 12 March 2015 that the proposed • rail transport of approximately 13 Mtpa of action is a ‘controlled action’ and therefore the thermal product coal to domestic and export action also requires approval under the customers (within existing maximum and Commonwealth Environment Protection and annual average daily rail limits); Biodiversity Conservation Act, 1999 (EPBC Act). • relocation of a section of the TransGrid Wollar The proposed action is to be assessed pursuant to to Wellington 330 kilovolt (kV) electricity the assessment bilateral agreement with the NSW transmission line (ETL) to facilitate mining in Government. Therefore, this EIS provides an Pit 8; assessment of potential impacts (in accordance with • the supplementary SEARs) to the following various local infrastructure relocations to controlling provisions considered by the facilitate the mining extensions Commonwealth Minster to be relevant to the action: (e.g. realignment of Ulan-Wollar Road and associated rail level crossing, relocation of local ETLs and services); • EPBC Act listed threatened species and communities; and • construction and operation of additional mine • water resources. access roads to service new mining facilities located in Pits 5 and 8; Wilpinjong Extension Project Environmental Impact Statement Section 1 - Introduction Document Number: 00659084 Version: A 1-2 Gunnedah ! ! Tamworth Coonabarabran ! GUNNEDAH BASIN ! Gilgandra GLOUCESTER Dunedoo BASIN ! Gloucester ! ! Muswellbrook ! Dubbo B Dungog ! Gulgong 4 ! Wilpinjong Mudgee Singleton Coal Mine ! ! Rylstone ! SYDNEY BASIN NEWCASTLE<= Western 4 Parkes Coalfield ! ! Orange ! Gosford Forbes ! Lithgow ! ! ! SYDNEY Cowra NEW SOUTH WALES ! Young ! WOLLONGONG<= ! Temora ! Cootamundra Goulburn ! Yass ! B 1 0 2 _ 1 n tio c e S _ IS E _ 0100 P ± E W ! _ CANBERRA 2 1 - Kilometres 2 1 - ACT MGA 94 ZONE 55 IL W LEGEND Highway Major Railway Coalfield Source: Geoscience Australia (2011) WILPINJONG EXTENSION PROJECT Regional Location Figure 1-1 ! # GOLDEN Durridgere ! HIGHWAY State Conservation Area GOLDEN WARRUMBUNGLE RIVER Black # SHIRE COUNCIL Hill Durridgere Turill State Conservation Area ! UPPER HUNTER HIGHWAY # Cockabutta Durridgere Hill Road State Conservation Area SHIRE COUNCIL #Summer Hill Ulan KRUI Comiala! Flat GOULBURN # Box Hill ! Ulan Mine RIVER The Hulks Complex B Goulburn River Creek Wilpinjong National Park Cope Cope State Forest Ulan ! State Forest Wilpinjong Goulburn River WALLERAWANG National Park Road Moolarben Coal Coal Mine Complex #Round Top Creek Cope B Ulan-Wollar Creek # Cope Mountain Wilpinjong Wollar Lees State Forest SANDY Pinch SANDY HOLLOW GULGONG RAILWAY Moolarben Road HOLLOW # RIVER GULGONG GOULBURN Dexter GULGONG Cooyal RAILWAY Mountain Wollar ! # # Meads Crossing Henry ! Road Magazine Mount Flirtation Lawson Wollar Hill GWABEGAR ! Creek # Hill Cooks Gap Creek Misery Drive Wollar Road HIGHWAY Home Rule # ! Munghorn Gap Mount# Way # Creek Betealween Barigan Cumbo Ulan Nature Reserve Penny Mountain BYLONG! RIVER Bylong #Magpie Road Creek Bylong State Forest Barigan # Hill ! Garrison Hill RAILWAY CASTLEREAGH B Cooyal SANDY HOLLOW GULGONG RAILWAY # Bylong Valley Box Hill Bylong Coal #Mount Project Galambine Drive # Creek # Wollar Road Tal Tal Lowes Stony Mountain Peak MID-WESTERN Bald# Botobolar GROWEE Hill Creek REGIONAL COUNCIL #Oaky # ! Road Red Hill Lawson Mountain Budgee Budgee # # Mudgee #Porcupine # #Big # Box Hill Mountain Mountain #Mount Red Hill Oakys #Round Stormy # Hill # Bald Hill Mount Henry #Mount # Buckaroo #Davids Bombira Hill Bara Lue Mountain MUDGEE Bowdens # Lawsons Flirtation Silver Project Wollemi Mount# Mount Hill # WALLERAWANG B National Park Misery # Frome Road #Jimmy Jimmy Colliers Creek # Growee # Hawkins Mountain # Avisford Hill Mountain Oz Mountain # Nature Reserve GWABEGAR Pinnacle CASTLEREAGH #Mount #Lion RIVER Cannibal Way Goat CUDGEGONG Knowles Mountain Hill ! # Mountain Lue Elephant # RAILWAY Mountain Avisford HIGHWAY Nature Reserve Lue Mount # # #Bald Graham RIVER Road Mountain Tongbong ± Sailors Peak 0 10 # Bylong Valley # #Mount Mountain # Margaret # Rumkers Oak Hill Peak # Kilometres # Monkey Taylors Lake Dungeree MGA 94 ZONE 55 Mt Echoe # Windamere # Spring Dairy WIL-12-12_WEP_EIS_Section 1_202B State Forest # ## #Hill Hill Mountain Mountain Coxs Crown # # #