TOR Guideline - Rehabilitation

EIS information guideline — Rehabilitation

Describe the means of decommissioning the project by removing or reusing plant, equipment, structures, buildings, concrete footings and foundations, hardstand areas, storage tanks and wharfage. Describe the proposed methods for stabilising the affected sites. Discuss options and methods for the disposal of wastes from the demolition of plant and buildings in sufficient detail for their feasibility and suitability to be assessed.

Where dams and regulated structures are to be constructed, describe proposals for the management of these structures after the completion of the project. Also, describe the final drainage and seepage control systems and long-term monitoring plans. Describe and illustrate where final voids and uncompacted overburden and workings at the end of mining would lie in relation to flood levels up to and including the ‘probable maximum flood level’ based on the Bureau of Meteorology’s ‘probable maximum precipitation’ forecast for the locality.

Activities at the site should follow this hierarchy in decreasing order of desirability:

· avoid disturbance that will require rehabilitation to prevent or minimise future environmental harm

· reinstate the original “natural” ecosystem

· develop an alternative outcome with a higher economic value than the previous land use

· reinstate the previous land use (e.g. grazing or crops)

· develop a lower value land use (if this is acceptable to relevant stakeholders.)

· leaving the site in an unusable condition or with a potential to generate pollution or adversely affect environmental values would be unacceptable.

Rehabilitation proposals in the EIS

Describe the options, strategic approaches and methods for progressive and final rehabilitation of the environment disturbed by the project. Develop a preferred rehabilitation strategy that would minimise the amount of land disturbed at any one time, and minimise the residual loss of land with ecological or productive value. Show the final topography of any excavations, waste areas and dam sites on suitably scaled maps.

Erosion

The description of possible erosion rates and erosion management and rehabilitation techniques for all permanent and temporary landforms associated with the project, should address the erosion potential (wind and water) for each waste rock and soil type identified. The erosion management technique should involve mitigation strategies that would achieve acceptable soil loss rates, acceptable levels of sediment in rainfall run-off and acceptable wind-generated dust concentrations. It should include an erosion-monitoring program,

The focus should be on likely erosion and stability effects for all project disturbed areas including:

· areas cleared of vegetation

· waste dumps

· stockpiles

· dams, banks and creek crossings

· the plant site, including buildings

· access roads or other transport corridors

· water supply pipeline and electricity transmission corridors.

Methods proposed to prevent or control erosion should be described with regard to (a) the long-term stability of waste dumps and voids; (b) preventing soil loss in order to maintain land capability/suitability, and (c) preventing significant degradation of local waterways by suspended solids.

The mitigation measures should address the selective handling of waste rock and capping material to maximise long-term stability of final landforms in regard to slumping and erosion both on and below the surface. Erosion control measures are best demonstrated when included in an erosion and sediment control plan.

Topsoiling

Where topsoiling is proposed as part of the rehabilitation, details of the source, quantity and storage of this material should be described. It should be demonstrated that sufficient topsoil, of appropriate quality, will be available for rehabilitation to achieve a sustainable final land use. The description of topsoil management should address minimising topsoil storage times (to reduce fertility degradation) and the transportation, storage and replacement of topsoil to disturbed areas.

Final land use

Any limitations to the final land use that would be needed to ensure sustainability of the final land use, for example restrictions on the intensity of grazing, should be identified.

Waterways

Any proposals to disturb land that would impede or divert overland flow or waterways, and any subsequent reinstatement, during construction or operations should be broadly discussed in terms of land impacts management. Describe any proposals to divert creeks during operations and, if applicable, the reinstatement of the creeks after operations have ceased. Rehabilitation would involve the re-establishment of vegetation communities along watercourses similar to the pre-cleared regional ecosystems in those areas. The potential impacts of interfering with flow on the quantity and quality of water resources, the final drainage and seepage control systems, and any long-term monitoring plans should be assessed in the section on Water with a cross-reference to land management.

Mitigation

The proposed mitigation measures for land disturbance to be used on decommissioning the site should be described in sufficient detail to establish confidence in regard to the long-term stability of final voids and spoil dumps, safety of access to the site after surrender of the lease, and the residual risks that would be transferred to the subsequent landholder.

Success

Specific rehabilitation success criteria for land disturbance for proposed types of disturbance and final land use should be proposed. Where possible these successes criteria should be quantified.

Evaluate the compliance of the strategies and methods for progressive and final rehabilitation of disturbed areas with the objectives of the Technical Guidelines for the Environmental Management of Exploration and Mining in Queensland (DME, 1995) and EHP’s guideline Rehabilitation Requirements for Mining Projects http://www.ehp.qld.gov.au/era/mining/mining-rehabilitation-em1122.pdf. In particular, the strategies and methods are to have the following objectives:

· mining and rehabilitation should aim to create a landform with the same or similar land use capabilities and/or suitability it had prior to the disturbance, unless other beneficial land uses are pre-determined and agreed

· mine wastes and disturbed land should be rehabilitated so that it is self-sustaining or to a condition where the maintenance requirements are consistent with an agreed post-mining land use

· surface and ground waters that leave the lease should not be degraded compared to their condition prior to the commencement of mining operations. Current and future water quality should be maintained at levels that are acceptable for users downstream of the site.

Discuss the impacts of the preferred rehabilitation strategy, particularly with regard to issues such as final landform, rehabilitation of plants, and the long-term quality of water in any final voids. This would include appropriate post-mining surface and groundwater quality and quantity monitoring regimes. Implications for the long-term use and fate of the site should also be addressed, particularly with regard to the on-site disposal of waste and the site’s inclusion on the Environmental Management Register (EMR) or the Contaminated Land Register (CLR).

The strategy should assess the need for buffer zones and the retention, rehabilitation or planting of movement corridors. It should propose measures that would avoid the need for waterway barriers, or propose measures to mitigate the impacts of their construction and operation. Proposals for the rehabilitation of disturbed areas should incorporate, where appropriate, provision of nest hollows and ground litter.

Useful references and guidelines - rehabilitation

Mine Rehabilitation: http://www.industry.gov.au/resource/Documents/LPSDP/LPSDP-MineRehabilitationHandbook.pdf

Mine Closure: http://www.industry.gov.au/resource/Documents/LPSDP/LPSDP-MineClosureCompletionHandbook.pdf