Statement of environmental objectives for geophysical operations in the Otway Basin, South Australia Allan T Kane Petroleum Geophysics June 2007 Report Book 2006/18. Statement of environmental objectives for geophysical operations in the Otway Basin, South Australia Allan T Kane Petroleum Geophysics June 2007 Report Book 2006/18 Petroleum and Geothermal Group Division of Minerals and Energy Resources Primary Industries and Resources South Australia Level 6, 101 Grenfell Street GPO Box 1671 ADELAIDE SA 5001 Phone +61 8 8463 3204 Fax +61 8 8463 3229 Email [email protected] Website www.petroleum.pir.sa.gov.au/ © Government of South Australia 2007 This work is copyright. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968 (Cwlth), no part may be reproduced by any process without prior written permission from Primary Industries and Resources South Australia. Requests and inquiries concerning reproduction and rights should be addressed to the Director, Petroleum and Geothermal Group, PIRSA, GPO Box 1671, Adelaide SA 5001. Disclaimer Primary Industries and Resources South Australia has tried to make the information in this publication as accurate as possible, however, it is intended as a guide only. The agency will not accept any liability in any way arising from information or advice that is contained in this publication. Preferred way to cite this publication Kane, A.T., 2007. Statement of environmental objectives for geophysical operations in the Otway Basin, South Australia. South Australia. Department of Primary Industries and Resources. Report Book 2006/18. ABBREVIATIONS General AARD Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation Division (Department of Premier and Cabinet) APPEA Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association DEH Department for Environment and Heritage (SA) EIR environmental impact report GAS goal attainment scaling GIS geographic information system PIRSA Primary Industries and Resources South Australia SEO statement of environmental objectives Measurement Units of measurement used in this document are those of the International System of Units (SI) as well as units outside the SI that have been authorised for use within Australia’s metric system. km kilometre (length; 103 m) L litre (volume; 10-3 m3) m metre (length) Minerals and Energy Division iii Report Book 2006/18 CONTENTS ABBREVIATIONS.................................................................................................................................................................iii EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ......................................................................................................................................................1 INTRODUCTION....................................................................................................................................................................1 Scope ..................................................................................................................................................................................1 Definition............................................................................................................................................................................3 ENVIRONMENTAL OBJECTIVES .......................................................................................................................................3 ASSESSMENT METHODS ....................................................................................................................................................4 Defined Conditions.............................................................................................................................................................4 Goal Attainment Scaling.....................................................................................................................................................5 Scientific Surveys-Studies ..................................................................................................................................................5 Photomonitoring .................................................................................................................................................................5 Other Techniques as Appropriate .......................................................................................................................................5 ASSESSMENT CRITERIA .....................................................................................................................................................5 AUDITING AND REPORTING..............................................................................................................................................5 Operator Internal Reports ...................................................................................................................................................5 PIRSA Audits .....................................................................................................................................................................5 Third Party Audits ..............................................................................................................................................................6 Incidents..............................................................................................................................................................................6 DOCUMENT REVISION........................................................................................................................................................6 APPENDIXES..........................................................................................................................................................................7 1. Parks and reserves listing ..............................................................................................................................................7 2. Relevant legislation.......................................................................................................................................................9 3. Environmental objectives and assessment criteria ......................................................................................................10 4. Goal attainment scaling (GAS) criteria for assessing seismic lines in the Otway Basin, South Australia..................15 5. Summary of threatened plants.....................................................................................................................................17 6. Preliminary stakeholder comments and responses ......................................................................................................18 7. Final stakeholder comments and responses.................................................................................................................23 REFERENCES.......................................................................................................................................................................25 FIGURES Figure 1 Proclaimed parks and reserves of the onshore South Australian sector of the Otway Basin (Created 25th October, 2006)......................................................................................................................................................... 2 Figure 2 Heritage agreement areas and native forest reserves within the onshore South Australian sector of the Otway Basin (Created 26th March, 2007)............................................................................................................... 3 Minerals and Energy Division iv Report Book 2006/18 STATEMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL OBJECTIVES FOR GEOPHYSICAL OPERATIONS IN THE OTWAY BASIN, SOUTH AUSTRALIA Allan T Kane EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This Statement of Environmental Objectives (SEO) has been prepared in accordance with section 99 of the Petroleum Act 2000. The objectives contained in this document are based on the information identified in the ‘Environmental impact report for seismic operations in the Otway Basin, South Australia’ (Roberts 2001) and are also a revision of those prescribed previously in the ‘Statement of environmental objectives for seismic operations in the Otway Basin, South Australia’ (Cockshell & Langley 2001). Typical seismic and other geophysical operations within the Otway Basin, which use current field techniques as identified in the environmental impact report (Roberts 2001), have been previously assessed to be of a low environmental significance. This SEO has been developed in accordance with the document revision period of five (5) years as stated in the previous SEO (Cockshell & Langley 2001), and has been subject to an appropriate public consultation process. It contains a list of environmental objectives to be achieved and adhered to when undertaking geophysical operations in the Otway Basin, as well as a description of the of the methodology and assessment criteria that may be used to appraise and evaluate the level to which the prescribed objectives are achieved. INTRODUCTION This SEO details the environmental objectives for onshore geophysical exploration operations within the South Australian sector of the Otway Basin. Its location is indicated in Figure 1. It is required that any licensee operating within the Otway Basin (South Australian sector) adheres to and achieves these objectives. The SEO states the methodologies by which the licensee and the Government may