South West Metropolitan Railway Perth to Mandurah Commissioner of Railways Report and recommendations of the Environmental Protection Authority Environmental Protection Authority Perth, Western Australia Bulletin 1102 July 2003 ISBN. 0 7307 6738 8 ISSN. 1030 - 0120 Assessment No. 1395 Summary and recommendations This report provides the Environmental Protection Authority’s (EPA’s) advice and recommendations to the Minister for the Environment and Heritage on the environmental factors relevant to the proposal to construct and operate the South West Metropolitan Railway from Perth to Mandurah. The proponent is the Commissioner of Railways. Section 44 of the Environmental Protection Act 1986 requires the EPA to report to the Minister for the Environment and Heritage on the environmental factors relevant to the proposal and on the conditions and procedures to which the proposal should be subject, if implemented. In addition, the EPA may make recommendations as it sees fit. Relevant environmental factors The EPA decided that the following environmental factors relevant to the proposal required detailed evaluation in the report: (a) Terrestrial flora; (b) Fauna; (c) Wetlands; (d) Noise and vibration – operations phase; (e) Surface water and groundwater quality; and (f) Visual amenity. There were a number of other factors which were very relevant to the proposal, but the EPA is of the view that the information set out in Appendix 3 provides sufficient evaluation. Conclusion The EPA has considered the proposal by the Commissioner of Railways to construct and operate the South West Metropolitan Railway from Perth to Mandurah. The EPA notes that portions of the roads and railways reserves that accommodate the proposal have been the subject of previous environmental assessments. Environmental factors previously considered by the EPA for portions of the route are not reassessed in this report. This report addresses: • Impacts on terrestrial flora, fauna, wetlands, and surface water and groundwater quality, other than those associated with the gazetted railways reserve for the South West Metropolitan Railway in the Metropolitan Region Scheme area; and • The operational and post-construction factors, noise and vibration, and visual amenity, along the entire alignment. i The EPA notes the proposed route through the Leda Nature Reserve and the northern Lake Cooloongup bushland, that utilises the Garden Island Highway Reserve, involves considerably less clearing and fragmentation of regionally significant bushland, compared with the gazetted railways reserve. The proposed route brings a number of potential future transportation routes into the one corridor, and is therefore preferred by the EPA to the gazetted railways reserve that it replaces. Significant impacts on terrestrial flora and wetlands considered in this report include impacts to: • Conservation category wetland at Pickle Swamp in the Leda Nature Reserve; • Threatened ecological communities in the northern Lake Cooloongup bushland and at the Waikiki Station site; and • Declared Rare Flora at the South Street Station site. This report addresses the issue of mitigation for the loss of part of the buffer to Paganoni Swamp and Black Swan Lake, and loss of significant vegetation in the road reserve that accommodates the South West Metropolitan Railway in the Peel Region Scheme area, and notes that the reserves accommodating the railway in these areas are an agreed outcome of the Peel Region Scheme Environmental Review process. The EPA considers that its objectives can be met for the factors terrestrial flora, fauna, wetlands, and surface water and groundwater quality, provided that there is satisfactory implementation by the proponent of its commitments. The commitments include the preparation and implementation of the following environmental management plans for the entire alignment: • Construction Management Plans; • Biodiversity and Wetland Mitigation Plan; • Fauna Management Plan; • Wetlands, Hydrology and Drainage Management Plan; • Stakeholder Consultation Strategy; • Visual Amenity, Rehabilitation and Landscape Management Plan; and • Access Management Plan (bushland). The EPA notes that the proponent has agreed to manage operational noise and vibration in accordance with management plans based on compliance with specified criteria developed in consultation with the Department of Environment, and the objective of keeping noise and vibration as low as reasonably practicable. With respect to the issue of the protection of visual amenity, the EPA notes that station sites and portions of the route will be subject to development applications, and considers that land-use planning and Swan River Trust processes are the appropriate arena for addressing this issue. However, to ensure that visual amenity is addressed for all parts of the rail alignment, the proponent has committed to prepare and implement a Visual Amenity, Rehabilitation and Landscape Management Plan. ii The EPA has therefore concluded that it is unlikely that the EPA’s objectives would be compromised provided there is satisfactory implementation by the proponent of the proponent’s commitments and the recommended conditions set out in Appendix 4 and summarised in Section 4. Recommendations The EPA submits the following recommendations to the Minister for the Environment and Heritage: 1. That the Minister notes that the proposal being assessed is for the construction and operation of the South West Metropolitan Railway from Perth to Mandurah; 2. That the Minister considers the report on the relevant environmental factors as set out in Section 3; 3. That the Minister notes that the EPA has concluded that it is unlikely that the EPA’s objectives would be compromised, provided there is satisfactory implementation by the proponent of the recommended conditions set out in Appendix 4, including the proponent’s commitments; and 4. That the Minister imposes the conditions and procedures recommended in Appendix 4 of this report. Conditions Having considered the proponent’s commitments and information provided in this report, the EPA has developed a set of conditions that the EPA recommends be imposed if the proposal by the Commissioner of Railways to construct and operate the South West Metropolitan Railway from Perth to Mandurah is approved for implementation. These conditions are presented in Appendix 4. The conditions require the implementation of the proponent’s commitments in the Consolidated Commitments statement set out as an attachment to the recommended conditions in Appendix 4. iii Contents Page Summary and recommendations.................................................................................i 1. Introduction and background.............................................................................1 2. The proposal.........................................................................................................9 3. Relevant environmental factors........................................................................12 3.1 Terrestrial flora..................................................................................................12 3.1.1 Bush Forever sites, vegetation complexes and floristic communities .14 3.1.2 Threatened ecological communities ....................................................21 3.1.3 Significant flora ...................................................................................26 3.1.4 Mitigation Plan.....................................................................................28 3.2 Fauna...................................................................................................................30 3.3 Wetlands .............................................................................................................33 3.4 Noise and vibration – operations phase ...........................................................40 3.5 Surface water and groundwater quality..........................................................45 3.6 Visual amenity....................................................................................................48 4. Conditions and commitments ...........................................................................50 5. Other advice .......................................................................................................51 6. Conclusions.........................................................................................................52 7. Recommendations..............................................................................................54 Tables Table 1: Summary of key proposal characteristics .......................................................9 Table 2: Proposed areas of vegetation complexes to be removed ..............................15 Figures Figure 1: Overview of South West Metropolitan Railway alignment ..........................3 Figure 2: Environmental assessments for the South West Metropolitan Railway.....4-8 Figure 3: Areas of TEC 19b in Lake Cooloongup and Lake Walyungup reserves ....22 Figure 4: Concept for Waikiki Station........................................................................24 Figure 5: Clearing proposed at Pickle Swamp............................................................36 Figure 6: Paganoni Swamp and Black Swan Lake .....................................................37 Figure 7: Floristic Community 24 near Mandurah .....................................................38 Appendices 1. List of submitters 2. References 3. Identification of relevant