Assessment Report - Department of Planning

ASSESSMENT REPORT
PROPOSED MODIFICATION TO THE
DARTBROOK UNDERGROUND COAL MINE
DEVELOPMENT CONSENT
File Number: S02/02195
1. SUMMARY
Anglo Coal (Dartbrook) Management Pty Ltd (the Applicant) is seeking to modify the
Dartbrook underground coal mine development consent (DA No. 231-07-2000) under
Section 96(2) of the Environmental Planning & Assessment (EP&A) Act 1979.
The proposed modification would:
• Provide for the continued use of Dartbrook Road (rather than Kayuga Mine
Access Road) to provide access to the Kayuga Mine surface facilities;
• Allow employees, contractors and suppliers who live in the vicinity of the mine to
use local roads to access mine satellite surface facilities.
The Department has assessed the proposal, and recommends that the Minister approve
the proposed modification.
Figure 1: Regional Context

2. CURRENT SITUATION
The Dartbrook underground coal mine is located 4 km west of Aberdeen (see Figure 1),
and straddles the Muswellbrook and Scone local government areas.
The Minister for Planning approved the mine on 2 December 1991 and the extension of
the mine on 28 August 2001. The Applicant is currently completing its mining operations
in the Wynn Seam (under the first consent), and preparing for operations in the Kayuga
Seam (under the second consent).
Under these approvals, the Applicant may produce up to 6 million tonnes of coal a year.
The Applicant is currently undertaking mine construction/development activities.
Access to Kayuga Mine using Dartbrook Road
The Applicant completed the construction of the Kayuga Mine Access Road in October
2002.
Access to Kayuga Mine facilities is controlled under Condition 7.2(f) of the Dartbrook
Underground Coal Mine consent:
The Applicant shall ensure that the designated mine access route as described in
the EIS is the only route used by employees and contractors travelling to and
from the mine site. This access road shall be the route of coal haulage trucks to
the CHPP for the eighteen month period of coal haulage permitted by this
consent.
The Kayuga Mine Access Road is currently used by highway trucks for coal haulage
between the Kayuga Mine surface facilities and the Dartbrook Coal Handling and
Processing Plant (CHPP). The road is also used by underground mine vehicles
travelling between the Kayuga Mine and Kayuga Mine surface facilities, and to and from
the Dartbrook Mine surface facilities.
Underground mine vehicles are not designed for travelling on public roads, as they do
not provide adequate driver vision, and would represent a safety risk to other road users.
Underground mine vehicles are only considered suitable for travelling on mine roads
when the drivers of other vehicles have undertaken appropriate mine safety training, and
have been made aware of mine road safety hazards.
Surface haulage vehicles present an additional hazard to private vehicles on the Kayuga
Mine Access Road, particularly during wet periods, or immediately following dust
suppression watering, where the road surface may become slippery.
Statutory requirements under the Mining Lease require users of the Kayuga Mine Access
Road to have been inducted, appointed, use vehicles that are suitable for use on the
mine site, and familiarised with the Mine Manager’s rules and procedures.
The Applicant has prohibited access to the road by private vehicles due to the safety risk
of private vehicles using Kayuga Mine Access Road at the same time as either
underground mine vehicles or coal haulage trucks

Figure 2: Existing mine access arrangements allowed under Condition 7.2(f).

All vehicles, other than underground mine vehicles and coal haulage trucks, currently
access the Kayuga Mine surface facilities via Dartbrook Road. This is contrary to the EIS
description of the operations phase mine access route and Condition 7.2(f) of the
consent.
Use of public roads by Kayuga and Dartbrook Mine Traffic
Under the existing provisions of Condition 7.2(f), all Kayuga and Dartbrook Mine
employees, contractors and suppliers are required to access the Kayuga Mine by the
Western Access Road, as described in the Dartbrook EIS (refer to Figure 2).
In practice, contrary to Condition 7.2(f), local employees, suppliers and contractors who
live in areas most directly accessed by local roads, use roads other than the Western
Access Road.
In addition, mine vehicles require access to roads other than the Western Access Road
for works on areas of the mine outside the surface facilities, including:
• Exploration sites;
• Concrete drop holes;
• Ventilation shafts;
• Power and water management;
• Gas drainage; and
• Air monitoring.
3. PROPOSED DEVELOPMENT
The Applicant is seeking to modify Condition 7.2(f) of the Minister’s development consent
under Section 96(2) of the EP&A Act. The Applicant proposes the following changes to
the consent.
Access to Kayuga Mine using Dartbrook Road
The Applicant seeks to provide for the continued use of Dartbrook Road (rather than
Kayuga Mine Access Road) to provide access to the Kayuga Mine surface facilities.
Use of public roads by Kayuga and Dartbrook Mine Traffic
The Applicant seeks to allow:
• Local employees, suppliers and contractors who live in areas most directly
accessed by local roads, to use roads other than the Western Access Road to
access the Kayuga and Dartbrook Mine surface facilities.
• Additionally, the Applicant seeks to allow employees, suppliers and contractors
to use roads other than the Western Access Road to access mine satellite
surface facilities.
• The Applicant seeks to allow employees, contractors and suppliers to access
Kayuga Road, Dartbrook Road, Dorset Road and Stair Street, as illustrated in
Figure 3.

Figure 3: Local roads the Applicant is seeking permission to access.

4. STATUTORY PLANNING FRAMEWORK
Consent authority
The Minister was the consent authority for the original DA, and is consequently the
consent authority for this application.
Section 96(2)
Under Section 96(2) of the EP&A Act, a consent authority may modify a
development consent if it is satisfied that the:
(a) …development to which the consent as modified relates is substantially
the same development as the development for which consent was
originally granted and before that consent as originally granted was
modified (if at all).
The Department is satisfied that the proposed modification is substantially the same
development for which consent was originally granted.
5. CONSULTATION
On 10 April 2003, the Applicant submitted a Section 96(1A) application requesting
approval for an emergency mine tailings storage cell and changes to vehicular access to
the mine.
The Department is not required to notify, publicly advertise, or exhibit applications that
are submitted under Section 96(1A) of the EP&A Act.
Notwithstanding this, the Department sought comments for response by 2 May 2003,
from Muswellbrook Shire Council, Scone Shire Council, the members of the Dartbrook
Community Consultative Committee, and John Lonergan – the nearest resident to the
mine.
During the initial consultation period, the Department received 6 submissions on the
proposal, including submissions from Muswellbrook Shire Council and Scone Shire
Council.
During this period, most of the submissions received raised significant concerns
regarding the proposed modification to Condition 7.2(f), but only minor concerns about
the proposed emergency tailings cell.
The following issues were raised in submissions regarding the proposed changes to
Condition 7.2(f):
• Lack of a public exhibition of the modification;
• Breach of trust on behalf of the Applicant;
• Road safety impacts;
• Road maintenance and Section 94 Plan contributions;
• Assessment of road traffic noise impacts; and
• Traffic assessment methodology.
After reviewing these submissions, the Applicant decided to split the application in to two
components, the first for the mine tailings storage cell component, and the second for the
proposed modification to Condition 7.2(f).

Following this decision, the Department assessed the revised Section 96(1A)
modification for the mine emergency tailings storage cell, which was approved by the
Minister on 16 June 2003.
The Applicant subsequently lodged a Section 96(2) modification seeking changes to
vehicular access arrangements to the mine.
The Department advertised the Section 96(2) modification between 30 May 2003 and 16
June 2003. During this period the Department received 1 additional submission.
6. CONSIDERATION
During the assessment of the Section 96(2) modification, the Department considered the
following key issues raised in submissions.
Lack of a public exhibition of the modification
Submissions raised concerns that the original application for the Section 96(1A)
modification was not publicly exhibited.
Although the Department is not required to consult, advertise or exhibit applications for
Section 96(1A) applications, Scone Shire Council, Muswellbrook Shire Council and an
adjacent neighbour were consulted.
Following several submissions, the Applicant revised its application, separating the
emergency tailings storage component from the Condition 7.2(f) mine access
component.
The subsequent Section 96(2) application for changes to Condition 7.2(f) was advertised
in the Muswellbrook Chronicle and the Hunter Valley News, and exhibited at
Muswellbrook Shire Council, Scone Shire Council, Dartbrook Coal Mine and the
Department between 30 May 2003 and 16 June 2003.
Breach of trust on behalf of the Applicant
In submissions, concerns were raised regarding the Applicant’s breach of prior
commitments to the sole use of mine access routes for access to the mine, as described
in the Dartbrook EIS (refer to Figure 2), with the commitment being incorporated in
Condition 7.2(f) of the consent.
Submissions suggest that the Applicant should have foreseen the need for access to the
mine by local employees, suppliers and contractors, and should have addressed this in
the EIS.
The Department understands some issues may be overlooked during the EIS process.
In this instance, the Department is of the opinion that it is appropriate to seek
modification to Condition 7.2(f) for the permissible use of local roads to access mine
Surface Facilities and mine satellite surface facilities.
Road safety impacts
Submissions questioned the decision by the Applicant to prohibit access to the mine by
the designated Mine Access Routes by mine employees, contractors and suppliers that
live in the vicinity of the mine. Submitters were of the opinion that the shared use of Mine

Access Routes by underground mine vehicles, highway coal haulage vehicles, and
private vehicles constituted a road traffic hazard risk.
The Department is of the opinion that the action taken by mine management was
justifiable, due to the traffic hazards that underground mine vehicles represent, as:
• They are designed for underground operations, and are ill-equipped for surface
movements;
• Coal haulage trucks may pose a safety risk in wet conditions; and
• Under the Mining Lease, use of mine roads by private traffic is restricted to
approved drivers.
Concerns of traffic safety risks were raised in submissions regarding local roads affected
by the proposed modification of Condition 7.2(f). Submissions suggested that the
increased daily traffic volume would significantly increase the risk of vehicle accidents.
The assessment of the proposed increase in traffic volumes on the affected sections of
public roads and intersections are low in absolute terms, and are within RTA traffic
criteria.
Based on these considerations, the Department considers that adverse impacts on road
safety are unlikely.
Road maintenance
Concerns were raised in submissions relating to the impact of mine traffic on local roads,
and their maintenance. It was suggested that the Applicant should contribute to the
maintenance of local roads used by mine vehicles.
The Department agrees that the Applicant should contribute to maintenance of the
section of Kayuga Road between Stair Street and Dartbrook Road, and the section of
Dartbrook Road between Kayuga Road and the entrance to the Kayuga Mine surface
facilities. Condition 7.2(f)(v) of the modification introduces the requirement for road
maintenance in consultation with Council and to the satisfaction of the Director-General.
Assessment of road traffic noise impacts
The noise impacts of the proposed use of Dartbrook Road and other local roads for
access to mine surface facilities were raised in submissions, particularly in regards to the
noise monitoring methodology.
The Department has assessed the significance of traffic noise impacts, and notes the
following considerations:
• The current total Dartbrook Road traffic volume is low in absolute terms, with
current peak hourly traffic volumes on Dartbrook Road representing
approximately 30% of the environmental capacity of appropriate RTA criteria.
Traffic volumes are expected to decrease by 90% following the completion of
construction activities at the Kayuga Mine.
• The predicted maximum noise level from the current traffic volume on the
Standing residence is 40 LAeq, 1hr , well below the EPA environmental criteria for
night-time traffic noise of 55 LAeq, 1hr ; and
• Besides the Standing residence, the Applicant owns all other lands affected by
the proposed route to Kayuga Mine (shaded blue in Figures 2 & 3).

Given these considerations, the Department considers the expected impacts of traffic
noise of the proposal to be minimal.
Traffic assessment methodology
The traffic assessment methodology utilised was questioned in submissions.
The survey methodology involved manual counting and visual observation in order to
determine the source and destination of all traffic in the area. Automatic traffic counters
would not be able to provide these specific details.
The traffic surveys were conducted during the 12 hour day-time period, with the results
doubled, to estimate the total daily traffic volumes. Night-time volumes are likely to be
lower than day-time levels. The survey results are therefore likely to provide a
conservative estimate of traffic impacts.
Two separate surveys were conducted on randomly selected Mondays, giving a
representative estimate of daily week-day traffic. Given the low volumes of traffic
involved, additional surveys were not warranted.
Although similar methodologies were used, the survey conducted in May 2003 showed
higher traffic volumes than the earlier February 2003 survey.
The variation may be attributable to the longer survey period employed during the May
survey, the omission of mine vehicles travelling between Kayuga and Dartbrook Mine
surface facilities in the February survey (which were included in the May survey), the
second survey included an extra shift at the mine, and traffic diverted from the New
England Highway to survey roads due to a traffic accident.
Despite the large difference in survey results, both the February and May total daily
traffic volumes are low in absolute terms.
The Department considers the expected impacts of traffic on local roads of the proposal
to be low, and that the traffic survey methodology was adequate for the level of
assessment required.
Summary
The Department has assessed the proposal, and supports the proposed modification to:
• Provide for the continued use of Dartbrook Road (rather than Kayuga Mine
Access Road) to provide access to the Kayuga Mine surface facilities; and
• Allow employees, contractors and suppliers who live in the vicinity of the mine to
use local roads to access mine satellite surface facilities.
7. DRAFT CONDITIONS
The Department has prepared a draft notice of modification for the proposed
modification.
The Applicant and the Muswellbrook Shire Council are satisfied with the conditions in the
draft notice of modification.

8. RECOMMENDATION
It is RECOMMENDED that the Minister:
(1) Consider this report;
(2) Determine that the development consent, as modified, would relate to
substantially the same development to which consent was originally granted;
(3) Approve the proposed modification under Section 96(2) of the EP&A Act; and
(4) Sign the attached notice of modification.
David Kitto
Acting Manager
Mining & Extractive Industries
Major Development Assessment
Sam Haddad
Executive Director