ORICA RICHMOND VALE BIODIVERSITY OFFSET AREA MONITORING REPORT – 2019 FINAL October 2019 ORICA RICHMOND VALE BIODIVERSITY OFFSET AREA MONITORING REPORT – 2019 FINAL Prepared by Umwelt (Australia) Pty Limited on behalf of Orica Mining Services Project Director: Shaun Corry Project Manager: James Garnham Report No. 4661/R01/V2 Date: October 2019 Newcastle 75 York Street Teralba NSW 2284 Ph. 02 4950 5322 www.umwelt.com.au This report was prepared using Umwelt’s ISO 9001 certified Quality Management System. Table of Contents 1.0 Introduction 1 1.1 Background 1 2.0 Methods 4 2.1 Flora Methods 6 2.1.1 Floristic Surveys 6 2.1.2 Plant Identification and Taxonomic Review 7 2.1.3 Condition Assessment 7 2.1.4 Photo Monitoring 7 2.2 Fauna Methods 7 2.2.1 Diurnal Herpetofauna Survey 7 2.2.2 Diurnal Avifauna Survey 8 2.2.3 Call Playback 8 2.2.4 Nocturnal Survey 8 2.2.5 Micro-bat Echolocation Survey 9 2.3 Ecosystem Function Assessment 9 3.0 Monitoring Results 10 3.1 Flora 10 3.1.1 MP1 11 3.1.2 MP2 13 3.1.3 MP3 15 3.1.4 MP4 17 3.2 Fauna 19 3.2.1 MP1 19 3.2.2 MP4 22 3.3 Ecosystem Function Assessment 23 3.3.1 Native Vegetation Condition Assessment 23 3.3.2 Water Bodies Condition Assessment 23 4.0 Management Issues 24 4.1 Weeds 24 4.2 Pest Species 26 4.3 Unauthorised Access 26 4.4 Erosion 27 4.4.1 Waterways 27 4.4.2 Access Tracks 28 4.5 Bushfire Management 29 ORICA RICHMOND VALEBIODIVERSITY OFFSET AREA MONITORING REPORT – 2019 4661_R01_V2.docx 5.0 Summary 31 5.1 Flora 31 5.2 Fauna 31 6.0 Conclusions and Recommendations 33 7.0 References 35 Figures Figure 1.1 Locality Plan 2 Figure 2.1 Monitoring Point Locations 5 Figure 3.1 Threatened Fauna Records 21 Figure 4.1 Biodiversity Management Issues 25 Plates Plate 3.1 MP1 Photo North 11 Plate 3.2 MP1 Photo East 11 Plate 3.3 MP1 Photo South 11 Plate 3.4 MP1 Photo West 11 Plate 3.5 MP2 Photo North 13 Plate 3.6 MP2 Photo East 13 Plate 3.7 MP2 Photo South 13 Plate 3.8 MP2 Photo West 13 Plate 3.9 MP3 Photo North 15 Plate 3.10 MP3 Photo East 15 Plate 3.11 MP3 Photo South 15 Plate 3.12 MP3 Photo West 15 Plate 3.13 MP4 Photo North 17 Plate 3.14 MP4 Photo East 17 Plate 3.15 MP4 Photo South 17 Plate 3.16 MP4 Photo West 17 Plate 4.1 Dog track identified in Surveyors Creek during the 2019 monitoring survey 26 Plate 4.2 Motorbike tracks observed during the 2019 monitoring survey 27 Plate 4.3 Severe stream bank erosion near along Surveyors Creek 28 Plate 4.4 Severe track erosion near MP3 from vehicles 29 Plate 4.5 Bush fire fuel load accumulation at MP1 30 ORICA RICHMOND VALEBIODIVERSITY OFFSET AREA MONITORING REPORT – 2019 4661_R01_V2.docx Tables Table 2.1 Coordinates of Biodiversity Offset Area Monitoring Points 4 Table 3.1 Summary of Flora Data Collected during Monitoring Surveys at Site MP1 12 Table 3.2 Summary of Flora Data Collected during Monitoring Surveys at Site MP2 14 Table 3.3 Summary of Flora Data Collected during Monitoring Surveys at Site MP3 16 Table 3.4 Summary of Flora Data Collected during Monitoring Surveys at Site MP4 18 Table 3.5 Summary of Fauna Data Collected during Monitoring Surveys at Site MP1 20 Table 3.6 Summary of Fauna Data Collected during Monitoring Surveys at Site MP4 22 Appendices Appendix 1 Flora List Appendix 2 Fauna List Appendix 3 OEH Data Sheets ORICA RICHMOND VALEBIODIVERSITY OFFSET AREA MONITORING REPORT – 2019 4661_R01_V2.docx 1.0 Introduction 1.1 Background The Orica Technology Centre (the site) is situated on the southern side of George Booth Drive, Richmond Vale, NSW (Figure 1.1). The Technology Centre commenced operation in 1991 as an explosives research and production facility. It comprises 292 hectares of predominantly open forest vegetation, of which 8 hectares is currently occupied by the existing Technology Centre operations. On 26 July 2010, development approval under Part 3A of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 (EP&A Act) was granted for the continuation of the existing operations at the Technology Centre as well as the construction and operation of a proposed Ammonium Nitrate Emulsion (ANE) Production Facility. As a result of the potential impacts associated with the Project, a Biodiversity Offset Area has been developed to offset the impacts of the project on threatened species, endangered ecological communities (EECs) and their habitats. The Biodiversity Offset Area was increased from approximately 17 hectares to 31.7 hectares following consultation with the Office of Environment and Heritage (OEH) as part of the Response to Submissions process. A Vegetation Management Plan (Umwelt 2012a) was developed in consultation with the OEH – Conservation Partnerships Delivery Unit, which outlined the need to undertake annual ecological monitoring of the Biodiversity Offset Area. The Vegetation Management Plan (VMP) was revised twice; once in 2015 (Umwelt 2015a) and again in 2018 (Umwelt 2018a). The current VMP outlined the need to incorporate the annual ecological monitoring with the required annual reporting for the OEH Conservation Agreement to streamline the process and negate the need for multiple surveys. This combined annual ecological monitoring report and OEH Conservation Agreement report will satisfy the regulatory requirements of both the Department of Planning and Environment (DPE) and OEH. In 2012, four permanent ecological monitoring points (MP) were established within the Biodiversity Offset Area. All four points were assessed for their flora characteristics and ecosystem function and two of the monitoring points were also assessed for their fauna assemblages. The data collected in 2012 provided baseline data for future monitoring to be compared against and enables targeted and adaptive management procedures to be implemented to ensure the biological integrity of the Biodiversity Offset Area is maintained or improved and conserved into the future. ORICA RICHMOND VALEBIODIVERSITY OFFSET AREA MONITORING REPORT – 2019 Introduction 4661_R01_V2.docx 1 Based on the results of the 2018 ecological surveys and the Biodiversity Offset Area Land Management Action Plan (LMAP) 2018-2019 (HLM 2019), a number of management issues were identified that, if left un- managed would likely represent a threat to the biodiversity values of the Biodiversity Offset Area. These issues included: • low to moderate density of weed species along the creek lines and vehicle tracks • vertebrate pests • unauthorised access • severe creek bank erosion, and • accumulation of bush fire fuel loads. This biodiversity monitoring report presents the methods and results of the 2019 biodiversity monitoring program at the Orica Biodiversity Offset Area, including a discussion of the findings and comparisons with the results of the baseline data and subsequent monitoring surveys conducted between 2013 and 2018. Management recommendations that relate to the current monitoring phases are documented in Section 4.0. ORICA RICHMOND VALEBIODIVERSITY OFFSET AREA MONITORING REPORT – 2019 Introduction 4661_R01_V2.docx 3 2.0 Methods The following sections detail the methods employed for the 2019 Biodiversity Offset Area monitoring program. The methods employed as part of this monitoring program are consistent with those outlined in the VMP (Umwelt 2018a) as well as those employed in the 2013 to 2018 Biodiversity Offset Area monitoring programs. The locations of the monitoring points surveyed as part of the 2019 monitoring are provided in Figure 2.1, and the coordinates for each MP are provided in Table 2.1. Table 2.1 Coordinates of Biodiversity Offset Area Monitoring Points Monitoring Point Name Coordinates (MGA) Easting Northing MP1 362234.0 6362341.9 MP2 362087.5 6362271.3 MP3 361928.5 6362306.8 MP4 361936.4 6362395.8 The flora and fauna survey for the 2019 ecological monitoring of the Orica Biodiversity Offset Area was undertaken on 23 and 24 July 2019. The temperature during this period ranged from approximately 0.2°C to 23.2°C, there was minimal rainfall of 0.6 mm and the wind speed ranged from 33 – 50 km/h from the northwest (BoM, 2019a). ORICA RICHMOND VALEBIODIVERSITY OFFSET AREA MONITORING REPORT – 2019 Methods 4661_R01_V2.docx 4 2.1 Flora Methods 2.1.1 Floristic Surveys Flora surveys were undertaken at all four monitoring points. The methods used were in accordance with the BioMetric field methodologies for measuring condition variables for site value and at reference sites documented in Appendix 4 of the Operational Manual for BioMetric 3.1 (DECCW 2011). A 20 metre by 50 metre permanent quadrat was re-established at each of the four monitoring points. Schematic 1 illustrates the manner in which each 20 metre by 50 metre plot was re-established. 20 m 20x20 m plot 50 m line transect 20 m 20 m Schematic 1 Vegetation Monitoring Plot Design The flora surveys, using the methods as outlined in the BioMetric field methodologies, (DECCW 2011) provide information on: • floristic composition (including cover and abundance of species) and structure • general health of vegetation (including weed density and dieback) • evidence of natural recruitment • presence of important habitat features such as tree hollows and nests • evidence of feral animal usage • signs of disturbance • erosion and need for repair • fire management • success of any management programs implemented and • other management issues. ORICA RICHMOND VALEBIODIVERSITY OFFSET AREA MONITORING REPORT – 2019 Methods 4661_R01_V2.docx 6 2.1.2 Plant Identification and Taxonomic Review The flora specimens that were recorded or collected on-site were identified using the nomenclature and keys as described in Harden (1992, 1993, 2000 and 2002) and Wheeler et al.