Preliminary impact assessments and early findings

Learn about our early findings and how they've informed our new EPBC Act referral

Early findings informing the new EPBC Act referral

We have carefully considered the concerns raised by the Commonwealth Government in their Statement of Reasons following the 2023 EPBC Act referral decision.
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In response, we’ve undertaken extensive scientific assessments, technical studies, and engineering work to substantially modify the project and prepare a new evidence-based referral.

The project will affect a small portion of the Western Port Ramsar Wetland. The reclamation area for the proposed Terminal will be less than 0.03% of the approximately 60,000-hectare area designated as the Ramsar wetland.

Environmental assessments to date show that potential impacts to mudflats, sedimentation, seagrass, marine life, coastal processes and waterbirds will be highly localised and manageable, with no unacceptable impact on the ecological character of the Western Port Ramsar Wetland.

Image: Aerial photo of the Old Tyabb Reclamation Area (OTRA) site.

Findings to date are demonstrating:

The ecological character of the Western Port Ramsar Wetland can be maintained
While there are impacts, they are small, localised and manageable

Seagrass and intertidal mudflat loss is minimal and not expected to affect ecosystem function

The site is not primary foraging or roosting habitat for migratory waterbirds and habitat impacts are expected to be minor.

Marine invertebrate habitats may experience temporary disruption, but no unacceptable impacts are predicted.

Modelling confirms no significant changes to tidal flows, sedimentation or coastal geomorphology.

Mitigation and offset measures are being developed to manage or balance any unavoidable impacts.

Contaminant levels are generally in line with concentrations found throughout Western Port and do not pose a significant environmental risk.

What we looked at

The Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act 1999 is Australia’s primary environmental legislation, providing the legal framework for the protection and conservation of nationally and internationally significant environmental matters.

The EPBC Act protects nine Matters of National Environmental Significance (MNES). The Victorian Renewable Energy Terminal must consider the following three MNES as they relate to the Western Port Ramsar Wetland:

Wetland of international importance

Nationally threatened species and ecological communities

Migratory species

Existing conditions

The environment assessments are considering the existing conditions and ecological character of Western Port.

Preliminary impact assessments

The Port of Hastings Corporation has commissioned and prepared five Preliminary Impact Assessments.

These documents are intended to identify the impacts based on current information to assist in better informing the Commonwealth Government when reviewing our new referral.

The Preliminary Impact Assessments cover Waterbirds, Marine Ecology, Coastal Processes, Onshore Ecology and Ecological Character and have all demonstrated that the project, as referred, is unlikely to have unacceptable impacts to the Western Port Ramsar Wetland.

Below are summaries of the findings for reference.

Onshore ecology (Preliminary impact assessment)

Ecosystems and ecological processes occurring on land, including interactions between living organisms and their terrestrial environment.

This report assesses ecological values on land above the high tide water mark.

Key findings

The Old Tyabb Reclamation Area (OTRA) site is highly modified, and therefore local and regional impacts are expected to be minor with mitigation measures in place.
The Swamp Skink habitat can be offset through our Offset strategy

Coastal processes (Preliminary impact assessment)

Coastal processes are the natural forces that shape the coastline and adjacent areas. Driven by factors such as tidal currents, wind and wave climate and catchment runoff. Coastal processes influence sediment transport patterns and over time, the evolution of landforms.

This report describes the existing coastal processes around Western Port, including modelling outputs and assess the potential impacts to coastal processes, geomorphology and sedimentation.

Key findings

Studies indicate the Project is likely to have a negligible impact water levels and tidal exchange.
Model results indicate that changes to tidal currents and wave climate will be negligible and localised to the Project vicinity.
Some localised geomorphological changes may occur within the Port precinct.
Sedimentation impacts are predicted to be localised and confined to the western shoreline (North Arm).

Marine ecology (Preliminary impact assessment)

Marine ecology focuses on interactions among marine organisms and their relationships with the surrounding oceanic environment. It examines how these relationships influence biodiversity, ecosystem health, and ocean dynamics.

This report assesses the potential for significant impacts on MNES relevant to marine ecology.

Key findings

Unlikely impacts on migratory, endangered and vulnerable EPBC-listed marine species.
Reclamation is not expected to have any significant impact on any of the marine listed species for the Western Port Ramsar site and it is unlikely that the localised loss of intertidal habitat will have a broader impact on the Ramsar site.
Mitigation measures (light thresholds and adaptive management) during dredging will minimise potential adverse impacts to seagrass.
Sedimentation impacts from dredging are localised, and results indicate sedimentation impacts in Western Port are unlikely to exceed what occurs naturally.

Waterbirds (Preliminary impact assessment)

For the purposes of the Terminal Project, the term “waterbirds” refers to all bird species that are wholly or substantially dependent on the waters of Western Port at some stage of their lifecycle.

The assessment summarises known knowledge relating to waterbirds in Western Port, describes current conditions and evaluates potential impacts to waterbirds as a result of the construction and operation of the Terminal.

Key findings

Due to the highly modified nature of the Terminal Project Area, adverse impacts to waterbirds at a local and regional scale are expected to be minor.
The Terminal Project Area is not regularly utilised by shorebirds.
It is unlikely the Project will result in direct mortality or disturbance that would lead to a reduction in shorebird numbers in the Western Port Ramsar wetland.
While the Project has the potential to reduce the area of occupancy of species, and/or affect habitat, it is considered unlikely that this will result in a significant impact on threatened waterbirds.

Ecological character (Preliminary impact assessment)

Ecological character is the combination of an ecosystem’s components, processes, and services (CPS) that define its integrity and function. It is formally described in the Western Port Ramsar Site Management Plan.

Key findings

Due to reclamation there will be localised losses of mudflat and seagrass habitats.
Impacts associated with this modification of the seabed will be localised and largely restricted to the existing port precinct (in the Lower North Arm).
Broader impacts to the Ramsar site are not expected.
The ecological character of the Ramsar site, can be maintained, and as a result is consistent with the principle of ‘wise use’ as defined in the Ramsar convention.

Learn more

Learn more about our new EPBC Act referral

New EBPC Act referral

Learn more about our assessment process, and how the EPBC Act referral relates to our ongoing EES process.

Assessment process

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