The impacts from developing coal resources in the Central West subregion could extend beyond the subregion boundary, or might not extend as far as the subregion boundary due to its remoteness from development. The PAE is the geographic area associated with a bioregion or subregion in which the potential water-related impact of coal resource development on assets is assessed. It is the first step in identifying potentially impacted assets. Defining the PAE allows compilation of the asset information to occur in parallel with assessing the resource (see companion product 1.2 for the Central West subregion (Hodgkinson et al., 2014)).
Future coal mining in the subregion includes one new NSW state-owned development (Cobbora) and one expansion (Ulan). The NSW Government is in the process of selling their Cobbora interests. In light of the current low commodity prices it is unlikely that the Cobbora development will occur within the time frame of this BA. The Ulan lease straddles the Central West and Hunter subregions, and potential impacts from Ulan will be modelled with the Hunter subregion developments. There are currently neither existing nor proposed coal seam gas developments in the subregion.
As a consequence, there is no PAE for the Central West subregion and the subsequent descriptions will consider assets for the whole subregion to provide an initial resource should future developments occur (Figure 3).
