Main Roads Western Australia South Western Highway Passing Lane Yarloop SLK 96.6 to 97.9 Environmental Impact Assessment and Environmental Management Plan
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Main Roads Western Australia South Western Highway Passing Lane Yarloop SLK 96.6 to 97.9 Environmental Impact Assessment and Environmental Management Plan May 2007 Contents Executive Summary i 1. Introduction 1 2. Project Description and Justification 3 3. Environmental Impacts and Management 4 3.1 Natural Environment 4 3.2 Social Environment 23 3.3 Construction Phase 24 3.4 Environmental Compliance and Monitoring 27 4. Consultation 28 4.1 Department of Environment and Conservation 28 5. Environmental Approvals 29 5.1 Commonwealth Government 29 5.2 Government of Western Australia 29 6. References 30 Table Index Table 1 Key Characteristics of the South Western Highway Upgrade Project Yarloop 3 Table 2 Reserve land within the project area. 5 Table 3 Bush Forever Condition Rating (Government of Western Australia, 2000b) 6 Table 4 Declared Rare and Priority Flora Species known to exist, or likely to occur within the vicinity of the South Western Highway upgrade project Yarloop 7 Table 5 TEC’s occurring within project area identified on DEC’s database 11 Table 6 Assessment of Project against Ten Clearing Principles 12 Table 7 Significance Levels for Fauna species – EPBC Act, DEC 17 Table 8 Significant Fauna occurring, or likely to occur within the vicinity of the project area. 19 61/18082/9794 South Western Highway Passing Lane Yarloop Environmental Impact Assessment and Environmental Management Plan Appendices A Location and Constraints Plan B Project Environmental Aspects Table C Environmental Management Responsibilities and Actions Table (EMP) D Photos of Project Area E Description of DEC’s Flora Conservation Codes F Vegetation and Rare Flora Survey 61/18082/9794 South Western Highway Passing Lane Yarloop Environmental Impact Assessment and Environmental Management Plan Executive Summary GHD Pty Ltd (GHD) were commissioned by Main Roads Western Australia South West Region (Main Roads) to prepare an Environmental Impact Assessment and Environmental Management Plan (EIA and EMP) for the proposed upgrade of South Western Highway project near Yarloop immediately south of Johnston Road (SLK 96.6 • 97.9). The upgrade works include widening of the road and construction of overtaking lanes. There are two Environmental Protection Policy (EPP) wetlands within the vicinity of the project area. The wetlands are multiple use wetlands and are located over 100m from the project area. Multiple use wetlands have few ecological attributes and it is unlikely that they will be impacted by the roadworks (Environmental Protection Authority, 2004). According to the Western Australian Planning Commission (WAPC) Bulletin No. 64 (WAPC, 2003), the likelihood of encountering acid sulphate soils (ASS) in the project area is for the most part ‘moderate to low risk of actual acid sulphate soils (AASS) and potential acid sulphate soils (PASS) occurring generally at depths of > 3 m’. It was not necessary to conduct ASS testing in the area as only the topsoil will be removed during construction. Landuse within the project area is predominantly agriculture. Two ‘A’ class reserves and two ‘C’ class reserves also exist within the project area. It is necessary for Main Roads to acquire a small area of private property for completion of the project. The original vegetation of the Yarloop region consisted of the Forrestfield complex (Department of Conservation and Environment, 1980). The percentage of this vegetation complex remaining (1997/1998) in the System 6/part System 1 area is 17.5%. The total clearing of vegetation for this project (0.3 ha) is 0.009% of the remaining Forrestfield complex (Environmental Protection Authority (EPA), 2006). An assessment of the project area conducted on the 25th September 2006 identified that the vegetation on the eastern side of the highway north of Burney Road as Excellent to Very Good, the vegetation south of Burney Road as Degraded to Severely Degraded and the vegetation on the western side of the highway as Very Good to Good. Searches of the Department of Environment and Conservation (DEC) flora database and the Western Australian Herbarium (WAHERB) records indicate that three Declared Rare Flora (DRF) species and 21 Priority Flora are known to exist or are likely to occur within the vicinity of the South Western Highway Yarloop. None of these species were found in the project area during the Spring 2006 flora survey. One TEC was identified under the EPBC Act, Corymbia calophylla – Xanthorrhoea preissii woodlands and shrublands of the Swan Coastal Plain, and its current status as of 16th July 2000 is endangered. A search of the DEC’s database indicated that four TEC’s occur within the vicinity of the project area, these are listed in Table 5. Discussions and a site visit with the DEC indicated that of these four TEC’s only two exist within the project area, SCP20b and SCP3b, neither of these were identified under theEPBC Act. Only one of these TEC’s will be affected by the proposed clearing for the project, SCP3b. A total proportion of 0.416% of this TEC is proposed to be cleared. Referral under theEPBC Act is not required for this TEC, however referral of the project to the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) may be required. Approximately 0.3 ha of vegetation is required to be cleared for completion of the project. On the basis of this assessment against the Ten Clearing Principles and that the project occurs within an Environmentally Sensitive Area (ESA), the proposed clearing is considered to be at variance to two principles. As part of Main Roads clearing permit process, consultation with key stakeholders will take place and the appropriate vegetation offset is to be determined for the project. No declared weeds were observed within the project area, however the field investigation identified a number of common weeds. 61/18082/9794 South Western Highway Upgrade Yarloop i Environmental Impact Assessment and Environmental Management Plan The project area has been considered as Phytophthora cinnamomi (dieback) “uninterpretable” as indicator plants are too few to determine the presence or absence of disease caused by Phytophthora cinnamomi. A desktop analysis of threatened fauna species believed to occur in the project area was conducted based on a search of the DEC’s Threatened Fauna database. The search identified six Schedule 1, and four priority species as prescribed under the Wildlife Conservation Act 1950 as occurring or potentially occurring within the project area. A further eight species as prescribed under the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act) were also identified (Commonwealth Government of Australia, 1999). During the field investigations both the Carnaby’s Black•Cockatoo (Calyptorhynchus latirostris) and the Forest Red•tailed Black•Cockatoo (Calyptorhynchus banksii naso) were sighted. No recorded European heritage sites were identified as occurring within or adjacent to the project site and as such none are expected to be directly impacted by roadworks. Aboriginal ethnographic and archaeological surveys of South Western Highway from Waroona to Bunbury were completed in 2000 and 2001 respectively. The surveys covered a 200m corridor centred on the road alignment. At the time of the survey, one registered Aboriginal heritage site was recorded in the project area. Clem Jones Artefact is located at SLK 97.45 and exists on both the eastern and western side of the South Western Highway. During the archaeological survey, in the area 100m east and 100m west of the highway at the site of Clem Jones Artefact Scatters, no artefacts were located. It is not expected that the roadworks will impact on the site. Current land use (agriculture) within the majority of the study area indicates that the likelihood of contaminated sites to occur in this area is low. However, there exists one site within the project area where there is the risk of a contaminated site, Reserve 31900 – Rubbish Disposal Site. This site is not expected to be disturbed by road construction due to its distance from the proposed roadworks. No action is necessary for this site as the project is not expected to impact on the reserve. Formal referral of this project to the Commonwealth Minister for the Environment is not considered warranted. However, due to the presence of a TEC in part of the projects proposed clearing area this project may warrant referral to the EPA. 61/18082/9794 South Western Highway Upgrade Yarloop ii Environmental Impact Assessment and Environmental Management Plan 1. Introduction GHD Pty Ltd (GHD) were commissioned by Main Roads South West Region (Main Roads) to prepare an Environmental Impact Assessment and Environmental Management Plan (EIA and EMP) for the proposed passing lane on South Western Highway immediately south of Johnston Road (SLK 96.6 to 97.9). The location of the project site can be seen in Appendix A. This EIA and EMP has been prepared congruent with Main Roads requirements for the project and: » Describes the significant aspects of the existing project environment; » Details the primary environmental and social impacts of the proposed works; and » Details actions to manage and minimise the identified impacts. This EIA and EMP has been prepared based on: » An inspection of the project site; » A review of relevant design documents prepared for the project; » Discussions with the Main Roads project manager; » Discussion with local officers of the Department of Environment and Conservation (DEC); » A search of DEC’s Declared Rare and Priority Flora database; » A search