Licence conditions for pollution studies and reduction program


  

Licence conditions for pollution studies and reduction programs

Summary
 
Licence number: 20209
Title: Closure Plan
Start date: 01 Apr 2014
 
Licence Condition
Work outside standard construction hours - community consultation and agreement The licensee may work outside standard construction hours (as defined in L5.1) in circumstances other than those permitted  under conditions L5.3, L5.4, or any other condition of this licence if the Licensee: a) undertakes community consultation and agreement as described in condition E1.2; b) submits to the EPA a written request to work outside the standard construction hours attaching information set out in E1.3; and c) obtains approval by the EPA to work outside standard construction hours. The EPA may, in exercising its discretion to approve the works outside standard construction hours, review whether the licensee has obtained community agreement. Specifically, whether a substantial majority of the individual Noise Sensitive Receivers who, together comprise the Community Affected Catchments and were contacted, has consented to the planned works out of standard hours.
Requirements for community consultation and agreement Any community consultation and agreement undertaken with respect to the proposed out of hours works (OOHW) must: a) be prepared and implemented in accordance with the Interim Construction Noise Guidelines (DEC 2009), the Noise Policy for Industry (EPA, 2017) and AS2436-2010: Guide to noise and vibration control on construction, demolition and maintenance sites; b) include consultation of all noise sensitive receivers within the Community Affected Catchments. This includes Noise Sensitive Receivers that have declined to participate in previous agreements unless a community member has explicitly requested not to be involved in any future consultation about future OOHW; c) ensure that the noise sensitive receivers understand the nature of the works and any predicted impacts, including that consideration is made of additional requirements relevant to the needs of culturally linguistically diverse Noise Sensitive Receivers, and include details for interpreting services for languages other than English were required. d) include in the community consultations with Noise Sensitive Receivers the following information: i. the actual works proposed; ii. any expected impacts in clear, plain English based on noise modelling; iii. the expected duration of the works; iv. any expected benefits for receivers; v. any other known concurrent OOHW that will be occurring; and vi. any other OOHW that will be occurring on the nights preceding and following the proposed works or, if the proposed works precedes or follows a weekend period, any other OOHW that will be occurring on the weekend. e) request consent from the Noise Sensitive Receiver for their responses to be provided to the EPA; f) ensure that a record is kept when the licensee is unable to contact a noise sensitive receiver after three attempts; and g) demonstrate, where the OOHW is predicted to go on for longer than 28 calendar days, that the licensee has consulted the community in relation to re-engagement periods for the purpose of determining agreement from the community is maintained and continuing. Detailed records are to be maintained by the licensee of all community consultations, including attempts to contact Noise Sensitive Receivers, and must be maintained for the duration of the licence. Any Noise Sensitive Receiver who requests a copy of the record of conversations must be supplied with one.
The licensee must report to the EPA the community consultation and agreement process that was undertaken with the Community Affected Catchments. This report to the EPA must be: a) prepared in writing; b) detail the steps taken to fulfill the requirements of condition E1.2; c) demonstrate that the Noise Sensitive Receivers understood the nature of the works and any predicted impacts, including that consideration was made of additional requirements relevant to the needs of culturally and linguistically diverse Noise Sensitive Receivers; d) provide the script used during the community consultation with Noise Sensitive Receivers; e) report community response and consent rates (including where no contact could be made) against the total community affected catchments, and must be broken down into response and consent rates based on sub-catchments that are delineated by affectation levels; f) include a noise validation monitoring plan as required by E1.4; and g) be submitted to the EPA at least 15 business days prior to any works that are the subject of the agreement being undertaken unless prior arrangements have been made with the EPA. A copy of the report must be: a) kept by the licensee for the duration of this licence including on the premises, and made available to an EPA authorised officer on request; and b) be made available on the licensee's project website or another website approved in writing by the EPA for the duration of the OOHWs permitted under Condition E1.1 (Personal details of Noise Sensitive Receivers must be omitted).   
Noise Validation Monitoring A noise validation monitoring plan must be submitted to the EPA for approval as part of the community agreement documentation prior to any OOHW occurring.
Validation monitoring must be undertaken for any OOHW that are the approved under condition E1.1 and must: a) be undertaken in accordance with the monitoring plan prepared under condition E1.4; b) be performed by a Competent Person; c) be performed on at least the first 2 occasions (day, evening, nights) where OOHW will be undertaken and are likely to impact Noise Sensitive Receivers; d) be performed on any other occasion (day, evening, night) where the nature of the works is likely to cause greater noise impacts than the first 2 occasions; e) be representative of the impacts in terms of monitoring locations, time and duration of measurements; and f) be recorded and provided to an EPA officer upon request. 
If validation monitoring undertaken under Condition E1.5 shows that noise levels are higher than those predicted by any noise modelling undertaken as part of the community agreement, work practices must be modified immediately so that measured noise levels do not exceed predicted levels. Where it has been determined that works cannot be modified to achieve the predicted noise levels: a) the licensee must report immediately to the EPA; and b)after considering the circumstances EPA may withdraw its permission under E1.1.
Ongoing community engagement and agreement a) For any approval of OOHW under E1.1 predicted to take longer than 28 calendar days to remain valid, the licensee must be able to demonstrate agreement from the community is maintained and continuing. b) To demonstrate agreement from the community is maintained and continuing the licensee must: i. engage the community to determine if a substantial majority of Noise Sensitive Receivers continue to consent to the OOHW pursuant to the re-engagement period determined under condition E1.2(d); ii. provide the EPA with a report within 7 calendar days of the end of each re-engagement period summarising the community response including ongoing consent rates of the Noise Sensitive Receiver; and c) Where the licensee is unable to demonstrate a substantial majority of agreement from Community Affected Catchment is maintained and continuing: i. the licensee must report immediately to the EPA; and ii. after considering the circumstances EPA may withdraw its permission under E1.1.