M4 East Environmental Impact Statement Appendix H Volume 2B September 2015 Volume 2B Appendix H ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� Air quality impact assessment Appendix H Air quality impact assessment WestConnex Delivery Authority WestConnex M4 East Air Quality Assessment Report 4 September 2015 Prepared for WestConnex Delivery Authority Prepared by Paul Boulter, Francine Manansala, Jane Barnett Pacific Environment © WestConnex Delivery Authority The concepts and information contained in this document are the property of WestConnex Delivery Authority. You must not reproduce any part of this document without the prior written approval of WestConnex Delivery Authority. Document controls Title Project title Document type WestConnex M4 WestConnex M4 East East Air Quality Technical report to support Environmental Impact Statement Assessment Report Approval and authorisation Prepared by: Paul Boulter, Francine Manansala, Jane Barnett (Pacific Environment) Accepted on behalf Jay Stricker of the Roads and Industry Director - Transport Maritime Services by: Signed: Date 4 September 2015 Location File name AECOM Project Folders M4E - AQ V5.0 - MAIN.docx Document status Date Final report for Exhibition 4 September 2015 Contents Glossary of terms and abbreviations .................................................................................................... viii Executive summary ................................................................................................................................ xi The project ................................................................................................................................ xi The purpose of this report ........................................................................................................ xii Scenarios ................................................................................................................................. xii Methods and conclusions......................................................................................................... xiii Management of impacts .......................................................................................................... xiv 1 Introduction ................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Overview of the project ................................................................................................. 1 1.2 Project location .............................................................................................................. 1 1.3 Purpose of this report .................................................................................................... 4 1.4 Structure of the Report .................................................................................................. 5 2 Proposed project ......................................................................................................... 13 2.1 Overview of Chapter ................................................................................................... 13 2.2 Project features ........................................................................................................... 13 2.3 Construction activities ................................................................................................. 14 2.4 Specific aspects of design relating to in-tunnel and ambient air quality ..................... 18 3 Key air quality issues for the M4 East project ............................................................. 25 3.1 Overview of Chapter ................................................................................................... 25 3.2 Roads, tunnels and air quality ..................................................................................... 25 3.3 Sydney tunnels and air quality .................................................................................... 27 3.4 Advisory Committee on Tunnel Air Quality ................................................................. 28 3.5 WestConnex Strategic Environmental Review ........................................................... 28 3.6 Community Feedback Report ..................................................................................... 29 3.7 Summary of key air quality issues .............................................................................. 29 4 Regulation of emissions, air pollution and exposure .................................................. 30 4.1 Overview of Chapter ................................................................................................... 30 4.2 Policies and regulations for road vehicle emissions ................................................... 30 4.3 Fuel quality regulations ............................................................................................... 32 4.4 In-tunnel pollution limits .............................................................................................. 32 4.5 Tunnel portal emission restrictions ............................................................................. 35 4.6 Ambient air quality standards and criteria ................................................................... 35 5 Overview of assessment methodology ....................................................................... 40 5.1 Overview ..................................................................................................................... 40 5.2 Key documents, guidelines and policies ..................................................................... 40 5.3 Consultation with government agencies and ACTAQ ................................................. 41 5.4 Previous road and tunnel project assessments .......................................................... 41 5.5 General approach ....................................................................................................... 42 5.6 Treatment of uncertainty ............................................................................................. 52 6 Existing environment ................................................................................................... 54 6.1 Overview ..................................................................................................................... 54 6.2 Terrain and land use ................................................................................................... 54 6.3 Climate ........................................................................................................................ 55 6.4 Meteorology ................................................................................................................ 56 WestConnex M4 East v Roads and Maritime Services Air Quality Assessment Report 6.5 Emissions .................................................................................................................... 59 6.6 In-tunnel air quality ...................................................................................................... 65 6.7 Ambient air quality....................................................................................................... 65 7 Assessment of construction impacts ........................................................................... 68 7.1 Overview ..................................................................................................................... 68 7.2 Construction footprint .................................................................................................. 68 7.3 Construction activities for the project .......................................................................... 69 7.4 Assessment procedure ............................................................................................... 70 7.5 Step 1: Screening........................................................................................................ 72 7.6 Step 2: Risk assessment ............................................................................................ 72 7.7 Step 3: Mitigation ........................................................................................................ 77 7.8 Step 4: Significance of risks ........................................................................................ 77 8 Assessment of operational impacts ............................................................................ 79 8.1 Overview ..................................................................................................................... 79 8.2 Emissions .................................................................................................................... 79 8.3 In-tunnel air quality ...................................................................................................... 97 8.4 Dispersion modelling ................................................................................................... 99 8.5 Results for expected traffic scenarios ....................................................................... 126 8.6 Results for regulatory worst case scenarios ............................................................. 172 8.7 Summary of key assumptions ................................................................................... 173 8.8 Sensitivity tests ......................................................................................................... 179 9 Assessment of cumulative impacts