Terms of Reference Finalised for The Range EIS
The Queensland Department of Environment and Resource
Management (DERM) has finalised and published the Terms of
Reference (TOR) for The Range Project Environmental Impact
Statement (EIS). The publishing of the TOR is an important
step in the approvals process for the project which commenced
12 months ago, with the lodgement of the Mining Lease
application (ML55001) and accompanying Environmental
Authority application.
The final TOR has been prepared by DERM following public
submissions on the draft. The requirements of the TOR are in
line with expectations and these are being addressed in the
EIS. Baseline studies in the project area commenced in early
2011 and are continuing including:
• Ecology;
• Noise;
• Transport;
• Air Emissions;
• Soils and Land Use;
• Flood;
• Visual;
• Hazard and Risk;
• Social and Economic;
• Surface water;
• Groundwater; and
• Waste.
Studies to date have enabled the identification of baseline
conditions, which allow the assessment of potential impacts
of the project. Results so far indicate that the baseline
conditions are essentially as expected for the rural, western
Darling Downs location of the project. No issues have been
identified in the current investigations that would
potentially delay the completion of the EIS.
The EIS is forecast for completion and submission to DERM in
Q1 2012. Based on this submission date, the finalising of the
Environmental Authority application and granting of the
Mining Lease should take place by
Q1 2013. This time frame is in line with the company's plan
to achieve first coal shipments in 2015.
Stanmore Coal has recently released the results of a Pre