Ramboll - Scoping Report APPENDIX 3 PRELIMINARY BIODIVERSITY ASSESSMENT REPORT (ECOLOGICAL AUSTRALIA) Valley of the Winds Wind Farm - Biodiversity Scoping Report UPC\AC Renewables Australia Pty Ltd © ECO LOGICAL AUSTRALIA PTY LTD 1 Valley of the Winds Wind Farm - Biodiversity Scoping Report | UPC Renewables Australia Pty Ltd DOCUMENT TRACKING Project Name Valley of the Winds Wind Farm - Biodiversity Scoping Report Project Number 19NEW12456 Project Manager Alex Pursche Prepared by Alex Pursche Reviewed by Tom Schmidt, Martin Sullivan, Naiomi Finlayson Approved by Martin Sullivan Status Final Version Number v1 Last saved on 30 April 2020 This report should be cited as ‘Eco Logical Australia 2019. Valley of the Winds Wind Farm - Biodiversity Scoping Report. Prepared for UPC\AC Renewables Australia Pty Ltd.’ Disclaimer This document may only be used for the purpose for which it was commissioned and in accordance with the contract between Eco Logical Australia Pty Ltd and UPC\AC Renewables Australia Pty Ltd. The scope of services was defined in consultation with UPC\AC Renewables Australia Pty Ltd, by time and budgetary constraints imposed by the client, and the availability of reports and other data on the subject area. Changes to available information, legislation and schedules are made on an ongoing basis and readers should obtain up to date information. Eco Logical Australia Pty Ltd accepts no liability or responsibility whatsoever for or in respect of any use of or reliance upon this report and its supporting material by any third party. Information provided is not intended to be a substitute for site specific assessment or legal advice in relation to any matter. Unauthorised use of this report in any form is prohibited. Template 2.8.1 © ECO LOGICAL AUSTRALIA PTY LTD i Valley of the Winds Wind Farm - Biodiversity Scoping Report | UPC Renewables Australia Pty Ltd Contents 1. Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Background ........................................................................................................................................... 1 1.2 NSW assessment................................................................................................................................... 2 1.3 Commonwealth assessment ................................................................................................................. 2 1.3.1 Commonwealth Biodiversity Offsets ................................................................................................................ 3 2. Methods .................................................................................................................................... 6 2.1 Database review ................................................................................................................................... 6 2.2 Field study ............................................................................................................................................ 6 2.3 Threatened species, populations, and ecological communities likelihood assessment........................ 7 3. Results ....................................................................................................................................... 8 3.1 Database review ................................................................................................................................... 8 3.2 Site reconnaissance results ................................................................................................................. 25 3.3 Consideration of burnt areas .............................................................................................................. 31 3.4 Preliminary impact assessment .......................................................................................................... 31 3.5 Cumulative impacts ............................................................................................................................ 32 4. Discussion ................................................................................................................................. 33 5. Conclusion and recommendations ............................................................................................. 35 Appendix A Likelihood of occurrence assessment ........................................................................... 38 List of Figures Figure 1 Location Map ................................................................................................................................ 4 Figure 2 Wind Farm Site Map ..................................................................................................................... 5 Figure 3 Bioregions ................................................................................................................................... 13 Figure 4 Subregions .................................................................................................................................. 14 Figure 5 NSW landscapes ......................................................................................................................... 15 Figure 6 Mapped native vegetation ......................................................................................................... 16 Figure 7 Threatened species .................................................................................................................... 17 Figure 8 Drainage ..................................................................................................................................... 18 Figure 9 Key Fish Habitat .......................................................................................................................... 19 Figure 10 Land tenure and conservation Areas ....................................................................................... 20 Figure 11 Land zoning .............................................................................................................................. 21 Figure 12 Landuse .................................................................................................................................... 22 Figure 13 Burnt Areas in 2019/2020 summer period .............................................................................. 23 Figure 14 Regent Honeyeater Important Areas ....................................................................................... 24 Figure 15 Survey effort ............................................................................................................................. 26 © ECO LOGICAL AUSTRALIA PTY LTD ii Valley of the Winds Wind Farm - Biodiversity Scoping Report | UPC Renewables Australia Pty Ltd List of Tables Table 1 Database review sources ............................................................................................................... 6 Table 2 Database review results ................................................................................................................ 8 Table 3 Vegetation types identified ......................................................................................................... 27 Table 4 Preliminary impact calculations .................................................................................................. 31 Table 5 Preliminary likelihood of occurrence - Flora ............................................................................... 38 Table 6 Preliminary likelihood of occurrence - Fauna .............................................................................. 52 Table 7 Native vegetation regulatory map Landuse mapping (2017) ...................................................... 76 Abbreviations Abbreviation Description BAM Biodiversity Assessment Method BC Act NSW Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016 CEEC Critically Endangered Ecological Community DNG Derived Native Grassland DoEE Commonwealth Department of Environment and Energy DPIE NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment EEC Endangered Ecological Community ELA Eco Logical Australia Pty Ltd EP&A Act NSW Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 EPBC Act Commonwealth Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 FM Act NSW Fisheries Management Act 1994 GIS Geographic Information System GPS Global Positioning System IBRA Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Australia LGA Local Government Area LLS Local Land Service NSW New South Wales PCT Plant Community Type SSD State Significant Development TEC Threatened Ecological Community VIS Vegetation Information System © ECO LOGICAL AUSTRALIA PTY LTD iii Valley of the Winds Wind Farm - Biodiversity Scoping Report | UPC Renewables Australia Pty Ltd Executive Summary Eco Logical Australia (ELA) were engaged by UPC\AC Renewables Australia Pty Ltd (UPC) to undertake a Biodiversity Scoping Report for the proposed Valley of the Winds Wind Farm (the project) approximately 5 km south west of Coolah, NSW (the study area; Figure 1). This report represents the findings of the first stage of investigations into the biodiversity values present within the study area. The project is to gain approval for, and then construct approximately 175 wind turbines and supporting infrastructure including a high voltage transmission line which would run approximately 65 kilometres to the existing Bayswater to Mt Piper 500 kV transmission line. The wind farm would be located