Urannah Project - draft terms of reference for an environmental impact statement

Overview

Queensland's Coordinator-General invites you to have your say on the draft terms of reference (TOR) for an environmental impact statement (EIS) for the Urannah Project.

Prepared by the Coordinator-General, the draft TOR sets out the matters to be studied within the EIS. You are invited to comment on whether the draft TOR adequately covers all the matters Bowen River Utilities Pty Ltd must address when preparing the EIS.

About the project

The proponent, Bowen River Utilities Pty Ltd, proposes to develop the Urannah Project in the upper Broken River Valley within the Burdekin catchment. The site is located 86 kilometres (km) south east of Collinsville and 80 km west of Mackay in Central Queensland. 

The proposal is to develop a dam on the Broken River with a water distribution network, an irrigation precinct and a pumped hydro-electric power scheme.

Key features of the project include:

• gravity-fed dam on the Broken River with water storage capacity of up to 1,500,000 megalitres
• a water distribution network including water pipelines and instream distribution and water storage
• an irrigated agricultural development area of up to 25,000 hectares
• a pumped hydro-electric power storage and power generation infrastructure producing 1.5 gigawatts (GW)+ electricity supply and 7 GWhr+ pumped storage capacity
• ancillary works and infrastructure – for example, quarries and borrows, road and access development and upgrades, site establishment areas, laydowns, site amenities and accommodation, services and utilities (including electricity, telecommunications).

The draft TOR is available online from 28 November 2020.

How to comment

There are different options available to provide comments on this draft TOR. You only need to provide comments using one of these methods. Replicated responses received through different methods will only be counted as one comment.  

1. Click the ‘Make a comment’ link below
2. Email your comments to Urannah@coordinatorgeneral.qld.gov.au
3. Post your comments to:
   Attention: Coordinator-General
   c/- EIS Project Manager, Urannah Project
   Office of the Coordinator-General
   PO Box 15517
   City East Qld 4002 Australia

Note: If you wish to attach anything (e.g. maps, images or supporting documents), please use the email option instead of the online form.

The draft TOR is available online from 28 November 2020. Comments on the draft TOR will be accepted between Monday 30 November 2020 and Friday 29 January 2021.

Your comment, including any personal information you provide in connection with your comment, may be disclosed by the Coordinator-General to the project proponent and to other local, State and Commonwealth government agencies. Your personal information will otherwise be dealt with in accordance with the Information Privacy Act 2009 (Qld).

What happens next

The Coordinator-General will consider all comments on the draft TOR, before releasing the final TOR.

The proponent will prepare a draft EIS for the project addressing the requirements outlined in the final TOR.