Attachment 7A - Impact Assessment Report

                                                                                       Native Foresters



Table 1: Summary of MNES in Noosa LRRC expansion area
 MNES                   DESCRIPTION                     TOTAL KOALA HABITAT           TOTAL KHA in Impact
 GROUP                                                      AREA (KHA)                       Area
                                                       Lot 77 SP298776 (322.13 ha)   Impact Area (1.02 ha)
 Nationally         Koala located adjacent to
 threatened species the impact area (11 records
 and ecological     on WildNET), and Habitat
 communities –      Area- Core (SEQ) and
                    Locally Refined (SEQ)              ≈235ha Core (SEQ)             0.21ha Core
 Koala (Endangered) present                            ≈31ha Locally refined         0.81ha Locally refined


                        TOTAL                          ≈266ha Koala habitat          1.02ha Koala habitat


3.2       MNES Significant Impact (SI) Criteria and Assessment

As defined in the Matters of National Environmental Significance Significant impact guidelines
1.1, EPBC ACT 1999 (Commonwealth of Australia, 2013):

An action is likely to have a significant impact on an endangered species if there is a real
chance or possibility that it will:

      •   lead to a long-term decrease in the size of an important population of a species,
      •   reduce the area of occupancy of an important population,
      •   fragment an existing important population into two or more populations,
      •   adversely affect habitat critical to the survival of a species,
      •   disrupt the breeding cycle of an important population,
      •   modify, destroy, remove or isolate or decrease the availability or quality of habitat to
          the extent that the species is likely to decline,
      •   result in invasive species that are harmful to a vulnerable species becoming
          established in the vulnerable species’ habitat,
      •   introduce disease that may cause the species to decline, or
      •   interfere substantially with the recovery of the species.

The relevant MNES that are likely to be impacted by the expansion of the landfill are discussed
below.


3.2.1     Threatened Species – Koala (Phascolarctos cinereus)

A review of the Significant Impact (SI) Assessment for MNES- Threatened Species is shown
below in Table 2.

The EPBC Act Referral Guidelines for the Vulnerable koala (combined populations of
Queensland, New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory) (Commonwealth of
Australia, 2014) which ran concurrent to EPBC Act Guidelines was previously used in
determining the sensitivity, value, and quality of the impact area and, therefore, whether it
contains habitat critical to the survival of the koala.



Noosa Landfill & RRC Expansion – MNES & MSES Significant Impact Assessment                                    7