Airly Mine Extension Project Flora and Fauna Assessment Prepared by: Prepared for: RPS AUSTRALIA EAST PTY LTD CENTENNIAL AIRLY PTY LIMITED 241 Denison Street PO Box 92 Broadmeadow NSW 2303 Lithgow NSW 2790 T: +61 2 4940 4200 T: +61 2 6359 2107 F: +61 2 4961 6794 E: [email protected] E: [email protected] W: www.centennialcoal.com.au Client Manager: Paul Hillier Report Number: 113007 Version / Date: Final / August 2014 rpsgroup.com.au Airly Mine Extension Project Flora and Fauna Assessment Document Status Version Purpose of Document Orig Review Review Date V1 Draft review for client LV/JS/DT PH 09/08/2013 V2 Draft review for client LV/JS/DT PH 16/09/2013 V3 Draft review for client AB/JS PH 17/02/2014 V4 Draft review for client AB/LV PH 06/03/2014 V5 Final for adequacy assessment JS PH 10/04/2014 V6 Final Draft for Review PH PH 21/07/2014 V7 Final for submission PH PH 14/08/2014 Approval for Issue Name Signature Date Paul Hillier 14/08/2014 113007; August 2014 Page ii Airly Mine Extension Project Flora and Fauna Assessment Terms & Abbreviations Abbreviation Description AKF Australian Koala Foundation API Aerial Photograph Interpretation CEEC Critically Endangered Ecological Community DEC NSW Department of Environment and Conservation – now known as OEH DECC NSW Department of Environment and Climate Change – now known as OEH NSW Department of Environment, Climate Change and Water– now known as DECCW OEH Commonwealth Department of Environment, Water, Heritage and Arts - now DEWHA known as SEWPaC DGR Director General’s Requirements DLWC Former NSW Department of Land and Water Conservation DoE Department of Environment EEC Endangered Ecological Community EIS Environmental Impact Statement EP&A Act 1979 NSW Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 Commonwealth Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act EPBC Act 1999 1999 FM Act 1994 NSW Fisheries Management Act 1994 GDE Groundwater Dependant Ecosystem GIS Geographic Information System GPS Global Positioning System HBOC Hunter Bird Observers Club (Inc) KTP Key Threatening Process LGA Local Government Act MU Vegetation Map Unit NES National Environmental Significance NPWS NSW National Parks and Wildlife Services NSW Fisheries NSW Department of Industry & Investment - Fisheries OEH NSW Office of Environment and Heritage PFC Projected Foliage Cover ROTAP Rare or Threatened Australian Plants REA Reject Emplacement Area REF Review of Environmental Factors RPS RPS Australia East Pty Ltd SCA State Conservation Area SEPP State Environmental Planning Policy Commonwealth Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population SEWPaC and Communities – now known as Department of the Environment (DoE) TSC Act 1995 NSW Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995 113007; August 2014 Page iii Airly Mine Extension Project Flora and Fauna Assessment Executive Summary Introduction RPS Australia East Pty Ltd (RPS) has been engaged by Centennial Airly Pty Ltd (Centennial Airly) to undertake a Flora and Fauna Assessment as part of an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the proposed Airly Mine Extension Project (the Project). This assessment examines the likelihood of the Project having a significant effect on any threatened species, populations or ecological communities listed under the NSW Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995 (TSC Act). This report recognises the relevant requirements of the NSW Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 (EP&A Act) as amended by the NSW Environmental Planning and Assessment Amendment Act 1997. The Project is also being assessed as an 'Accredited Assessment' under the Commonwealth Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act). A Referral was submitted under the EPBC Act (Ref: EPBC 2013/7076) and the Commonwealth Department of the Environment (DoE), previously known as the Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities (SEWPaC) and the Action was determined as a ‘Controlled Action’ under the EPBC Act. Centennial Airly is seeking approval for the Project under Part 4 Division 4.1 of the NSW Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 (EP&A Act 1979). The Project is a State Significant Development in accordance with Clause 8 and Schedule 1 (item 5) of the State Environmental Planning Policy (State and Regional Development) 2011. The Project includes: underground mining operations using contemporary methods that include initial development and partial extraction, by either the part or full removal of some of the coal remaining after or during this development; continue coal extraction from an approved 1.8 million tonnes per annum (Mtpa) of run-of-mine (ROM) coal from within the current ML 1331 and A232 areas for up to 25 years; and installation and operation of additional surface facilities including underground ventilation and services, support buildings, electrical infrastructure, water treatment and management, rejects emplacement area, topsoil stockpiling, effluent management facility, communications and other services. Methods Flora, fauna and habitat surveys have been undertaken over the Project Application Area from May 2012 to April 2014. A variety of field survey techniques were employed over the course of fieldwork for this assessment to record a representative sample of flora species and fauna guilds across the Project Application Area. The surveys included flora quadrats and rapid data points to record vegetation communities. Various fauna survey methods were used, including Elliott trapping, harp traps, hair tubes, cameras, bat echolocation, spotlighting, call playback, diurnal bird and herpetological surveys, opportunistic surveys and habitat assessments. Targeted searches for threatened flora and fauna species were also undertaken. Surveys were undertaken in accordance with DEC (2004) Threatened Biodiversity Survey and Assessment: Guidelines for Developments and Activities, Working Draft. In addition to the ecological surveys undertaken by RPS, a review of surveys undertaken by the Centre for Mined land Rehabilitation, University of Queensland (CMLR) was undertaken. The methods, survey effort and results of CMLR works are considered throughout this report. Results Nineteen vegetation communities were recorded and mapped within the Project Application Area in line with the vegetation descriptions detailed in DEC (2006a). Two Endangered Ecological Communities (EECs) were 113007; August 2014 Page iv Airly Mine Extension Project Flora and Fauna Assessment recorded, namely: Genowlan Point Allocasuarina nana Heathland (TSC Act); and White Box – Yellow Box – Blakely’s Red Gum Woodland (TSC Act) and White Box –Yellow Box – Blakely's Red Gum Grassy Woodland and Derived Native Grassland (EPBC Act). These two listed communities are herewith collectively referred to as 'Box-Gum Woodland'. Consideration has been afforded to the potential for vegetation within the Project Application Area to constitute Groundwater Dependent Ecosystems (GDEs). Groundwater modelling undertaken by GHD (2014a) suggests that shallow alluvial aquifers are likely to be present. Therefore, facultative GDEs (partially groundwater dependant ecosystems) may occur within the Project Application Area. The vegetation communities which occur within the ‘shallow aquifer zones’ identified by GHD (2014a) include: Map Unit (MU) 3 Hillslope Talus Mountain Gum - Brown Stringybark - Grey Gum – Broad-leaved Hickory Moist Forest; MU 13 Tableland Gully Ribbon Gum - Blackwood - Apple Box Forest; MU 21 Capertee - Wolgan Slopes Red Box - Grey Gum - Stringybark Grassy Open Forest; and MU 40 Capertee Slopes Red Ironbark - Red Stringybark - Narrow-leaved Stringybark Shrubby Woodland. A total of 394 flora species were recorded within the Project Application Area during field surveys undertaken for this report. These include three threatened flora species, namely: Eucalyptus cannonii (Vulnerable under the TSC Act); Prostanthera stricta (Vulnerable under both the TSC Act and EPBC Act); and Pultenaea sp. Genowlan Point (Critically Endangered under both the TSC Act and EPBC Act). A total of 177 fauna species were detected within the Project Application Area, comprising 111 bird, 36 mammal, 20 reptile and 10 amphibian species. Of the 177 fauna species detected, 23 were listed under the TSC Act and or EPBC Act, namely: Rosenberg’s Goanna (Varanus rosenbergi) (Vulnerable under the TSC Act); Gang-gang Cockatoo (Callocephalon fimbriatum) (Vulnerable under the TSC Act); Glossy Black-Cockatoo (Calyptorhynchus lathami) (Vulnerable under the TSC Act); Little Lorikeet (Glossopsitta pusilla) (Vulnerable under the TSC Act); Powerful Owl (Ninox strenua) (Vulnerable under the TSC Act); Masked Owl (Tyto novaehollandiae) (Vulnerable under the TSC Act); Sooty Owl (Tyto tenebricosa) (Vulnerable under the TSC Act); Brown Treecreeper (eastern subspecies) (Climacteris picumnus victoriae) (Vulnerable under the TSC Act); Regent Honeyeater (Anthochaera phrygia) (Critically Endangered under the TSC Act and Endangered under the EPBC Act); Painted Honeyeater (Grantiella picta) (Vulnerable under the TSC Act); Black-chinned Honeyeater (eastern subspecies) (Melithreptus gularis gularis) (Vulnerable under the TSC Act); Grey-crowned Babbler (eastern subspecies) (Pomatostomus temporalis temporalis) (Vulnerable under the TSC Act); 113007; August 2014 Page v Airly Mine Extension Project Flora and Fauna Assessment Varied Sittella (Daphoenositta chrysoptera) (Vulnerable under the TSC Act); Gilbert's Whistler (Pachycephala