Managing the environment
Aim
Protect and enhance the environment, including heritage, and social values in all our activities, products, and services.
Approach
- Recognise the importance of environmental, social and heritage values and the broader benefits of these for the community
- Foster strategic relationships with community and other stakeholders to contribute to the management of environmental values
- Have strong environmental governance of our activities and deliver broad community benefit through including environmental requirements in planning, programming, constructing, and maintaining practices
- Communicate our environmental policy and environmental performance publicly
Target 100%
Audits of compliance with state-wide clearing permit completed
Target 90%
Manage all environmental incidents within required timeframes
Target 90%
Community perception of our performance in environmental management
Looking ahead
The following projects and activities, some of which have already commenced, are planned for the next financial year:
- obtaining environmental and heritage approvals for projects in accordance with time frames and ensuring compliance with approval conditions
- improving compliance with our environmental and heritage obligations
- developing a response to changing state and Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (Cth) offset requirements
- developing and rolling out specifications, drawings and associated guidance material for use of metham sodium to treat dieback-infested gravel
- continuing to deliver the Wheatbelt Revegetation Bank
- deploying Net Zero 2050 Transition Statement
Noongar Boodja rangers in the Wheatbelt
- Working with Wheatbelt Natural Resources Management
- Local Noongar Boodja youth rangers helping improve revegetation
- Creation of more than 650 ranger jobs since 2017
- Further $83 million allocated to support the program
Aboriginal rangers are working to manage rehabilitation activities in the Wheatbelt Region. A 2023 initiative has enabled the Wheatbelt Natural Resource Management Group (NRM) to employ a team of local Noongar Boodja youth rangers for revegetating sites in the area. The Ranger program was established in 2014 to employ Noongar youth on a casual basis to Care for Country, build natural resource management skills and to gain work experience. The scheme is part of a broader program employing unskilled young people and boosting skills, confidence and a sense of self-worth. Rangers learn conservation skills and values while being mentored in a culturally friendly environment alongside knowledgeable Elders and community leaders.
Colleen Fulford, Main Roads’ Vegetation Manager in the region, said the team’s dedication and enthusiasm was exemplary – helping regain management of revegetation sites and to make them visually appealing. This sentiment was backed up by Aboriginal Stakeholder Engagement Advisor Sammy Wyborn who said, “the positive impacts extended well beyond Main Roads contracts and into other areas of young people’s lives.”
The Aboriginal Ranger Program has created more than 650 ranger jobs on Country since 2017. It has also supported management of nearly 500 significant cultural sites, 2,000 kilometres of tracks and weed management across 2,000 hectares of land. The program has been so successful that following an initial $20 million investment, a further $83 million has been allocated to support development, expansion and innovation of Aboriginal ranger groups across Western Australia, with a focus on remote and regional locations.
We continue to focus on increasing the proportion of Aboriginal businesses we work with and procure goods and services from. We are also looking to expand the revegetation ranger program given the sustainability it has provided in this important area.
To hear direct from the people involved in this great initiative visit our YouTube page.
Sustainability assessment in projects and operations
Recognising the importance and potential for the greatest impact and value from our major projects we have adopted the Infrastructure Sustainability (IS) rating tool, Australia’s only comprehensive rating system for evaluating sustainability of infrastructure.
All infrastructure projects exceeding $20 million utilise the IS framework as part of project development and evaluation. Projects valued at more than $100 million are registered with the Infrastructure Sustainability Council (ISC) for assessment. We currently have 15 projects registered. We have a corporate commitment that our planning projects must achieve at least a bronze rating, while our construction projects must achieve a silver rating for both the design and as-built phases. These 2023-24 projects achieving IS Ratings included:
- Manuwarra Red Dog Highway (Karratha to Tom Price Road Stage 4) – Silver Planning Rating
- EastLink WA Package 2: Roe Highway to Clackline – Silver Planning Rating
- EastLink WA Package 3: Clackline to Northam – Silver Planning Rating
- Tonkin Grade Separations Interchanges – Bronze Planning Rating
Stand-alone public reports are produced for our projects with sustainability obligations. This year, reports have been submitted and are accessible online for the following projects:
- Causeway Pedestrian and Cyclist Bridges
- Mandurah Estuary Bridge Duplication
- Smart Freeways Mitchell Southbound Hester to Warwick
- Smart Freeways Mitchell Southbound Reid to Vincent
- Tonkin Gap Project
Environment and heritage management
Using the precautionary principle in our approach to environmental and heritage management, we avoid and minimise impacts wherever possible. To achieve this all our activities are screened for potential environmental and heritage impacts.
Those activities that potentially risk adverse impacts are subject to further investigations while projects that have a low environmental or heritage risk are managed using our standard environmental and heritage practices.
Last year, we screened 990 activities with almost 27% of these activities requiring further investigations, such as field inspections, biological surveys, archaeological or ethnographical investigations or consultation with stakeholders and regulators, to ensure appropriate environmental management was applied.
When all our investigations and assessments have been completed, we consult with our road planners, designers and engineers to identify opportunities to avoid and then minimise potential adverse environmental and heritage impacts. This is often achieved through one or more activities including analysis of scope and design options; road realignment; relocating signs, crossovers or parking bays to areas with lower environmental values; or modifications to road design.
Where environmental and heritage impacts are unavoidable, we comply with state and Commonwealth environmental and heritage legislation. Following is a summary of where we have referred activities with potentially significant impacts to the relevant regulatory authorities for assessment and approval over the past three years.
| APPLICATIONS FOR APPROVAL in calendar year | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aboriginal heritage approval sought 1 | 28 | 25 | 28 |
| Aboriginal heritage approval granted1 | 27 | 24 | 33 |
| Historic heritage approval granted2 | 5 | 5 | 1 |
| Project specific clearing permit applications | 7 | 5 | 6 |
| Project specific clearing permits granted | 5 | 2 | 6 |
| Projects assessed using Main Roads state-wide clearing permit (CPS 818) | 98 | 107 | 65 |
| Projects referred to the WA Environmental Protection Authority under Part IV of the Environmental Protection Act 1986 (EP Act) | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Projects approved by the WA Minister for the Environment under Part IV of the EP Act | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| No. of projects referred to the Commonwealth Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act) | 1 | 3 | 0 |
| No. of projects approved under the EPBC Act | 7 | 1 | 1 |
- This includes Regulation 10 and Section 18 applications under the WA Aboriginal Heritage Regulations 1974 or WA Aboriginal Heritage Act 1972 (respectively) submitted or granted between 1st January to 31st December 2022.
- This includes Government Heritage Property Disposal Process approvals and any other type of formal approval from the Heritage Council of WA.
In the 2023 calendar year, we applied for 28 Aboriginal heritage approvals and six project-specific clearing permits. A total of 65 projects were assessed under Main Roads state-wide clearing permit CPS 818, with nine projects submitted to Department of Water and Environmental Regulation (DWER) for approval in accordance with the conditions of the permit.
No projects were considered to have potentially significant impacts requiring referral to the WA Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) for assessment. No projects were considered to have potentially significant impacts to matters of national environmental significance (matters of NES) requiring referral to the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW) for assessment under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act).
Three projects referred to the EPA were still under assessment at the close of 2023. One project was approved by the WA Minister for the Environment in 2023. Three projects referred to the DCCEEW were still under assessment at the close of 2023. One project was approved under the EPBC Act in 2023.
Clearing native vegetation
We strive to find a balance between achieving road safety objectives and the environment. However, it’s not always possible to avoid clearing native vegetation. When this is unavoidable and significant, we offset the impacts of clearing. This may be through revegetating by seeding or planting, purchasing land to add to the conservation estate or providing a monetary contribution to the Western Australian Environmental Offset Fund.
The tables below summarise our clearing, revegetation and offset activities over the past three years. This includes clearing authorised under Main Roads state-wide clearing permit CPS 818, projectspecific clearing permits, clearing undertaken under approval from the WA Minister for the Environment under Part IV of the Environmental Protection Act 1938, as well as clearing of non-native vegetation authorised under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999.
Clearing of native vegetation undertaken in 2022 under our State-wide clearing permit CPS 818 is available on our website .
| CLEARING IN CALENDAR YEAR | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total area cleared (ha) | 631 | 419 | 333 |
| OFFSETS IN CALENDAR YEAR | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revegetation (ha) | (a) | 0 | 27 | 38 |
| Land acquisition (ha) | (b) | 108 | 536 | 270 |
| Value of land acquired ($) | 1.2m | 1.6m | 1.4m | |
| Financial contribution ($) | 71,519 | 790,569 | 55,414 | |
| Area of land to be acquired using the financial contribution (ha) | (c) | (32) | (166) | (2) |
| Total area offset (ha) | (a+b+c) | 140 | 729 | 310 |
| REVEGETATION UNDERTAKEN BY MAIN ROADS NOT REQUIRED AS A CONDITION OF APPROVAL (OFFSET) IN CALENDAR YEAR | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total revegetation* (ha) | 96 | 146 | 47 |
Last year we cleared 333 hectares of vegetation for the delivery of 81 projects. We provided offsets in the form of land acquisition and monetary contributions to the Western Australian Environmental Offsets Fund for the purchase and management of a total of 272 hectares of native vegetation. We also undertook 85 hectares of revegetation works, of which 47 hectares was not required under a legislative approval and was initiated by us.
Wheatbelt revegetation bank
The Wheatbelt Revegetation Bank is one initiative offering a sustainable solution to the often-conflicting needs of improving road safety and conserving roadside vegetation. Several upgrades are planned over coming years to improve road safety across the Wheatbelt road network. Environmental offsets typically involve the purchase and protection of remnant vegetation on freehold land which is becoming challenging as the availability of land with quality remnant vegetation is limited and declining. In addition, purchasing and protecting existing vegetation does not necessarily replace the vegetation that is removed for road upgrades.
The Wheatbelt Revegetation Bank offers a sustainable approach to providing environmental offsets as well as addressing incremental loss of native vegetation.
It involves purchase and revegetation of cleared farmland abutting road reserves or existing areas of high-value remnant vegetation. The program aims to establish, within a period of 10 years, native vegetation that meets the criteria for the Eucalypt Woodlands of the Western Australian Wheatbelt, listed as a threatened ecological community. Once established, these revegetated areas will form an offsets ‘bank’ that will simplify and expedite environmental approvals for future road upgrade programs across the Wheatbelt.
The area undergoing revegetation during 2023 was small, approximately 50 hectares, a result of a lack of suitable new sites and limited availability of native seed collected in proximity to the revegetation site. In 2024, 27 hectares of direct seeding was undertaken at the Wheatbelt Revegetation Bank site at Kuender, Kulin Shire while 87 hectares of direct seeding was undertaken at the Wheatbelt Revegetation Bank site at Kokeby, Beverley Shire. Weed management was undertaken across all six sites. Monitoring undertaken in autumn 2024 identified success from direct seeding and planting, and species diversity across all sites. Work is progressing to identify and purchase land for addition to the Wheatbelt Revegetation Bank. As of the end of 2023, no portion of the Wheatbelt Revegetation Bank has been utilised as an offset for our projects.
Incidents
We aim to undertake all our activities in accordance with our procedures. We have systems and processes ready to respond to environmental incidents where this does not occur. An environmental incident is any activity that may have an adverse environmental impact. The activity can include those undertaken by us or our contractors, or a third party not employed by or working on behalf of our organisation. This table outlines incidents with a moderate, major or catastrophic consequence that have occurred over the past three years.
| SIGNIFICANT INCIDENTS (MODERATE, MAJOR AND CATASTROPHIC) IN CALENDAR YEAR | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Incidents caused by Main Roads | 12 | 20 | 10 |
| Incidents caused by third parties | 11 | 9 | 6 |
There were no catastrophic or major incidents caused by us or third parties in 2023. However, there were 16 moderate incidents, with 10 caused by our activities and 6 caused by third party activities. These 16 incidents related to:
- six incidents of unauthorised clearing of native vegetation (three by Main Roads, three by a third party) and one impact to threatened plant or ecological communities (third party)
- four incidents of non-compliance with approval conditions with no environmental impact (Main Roads) and one incident of not following internal processes with no environmental impact (Main Roads)
- two spills, both by a third party
- one impact to Aboriginal heritage (Main Roads)
- one fire (Main Roads)
Of the total of seven incidents with unauthorised clearing of native vegetation or impact to a threatened plant or ecological community, three related to Main Roads incidents resulting in a total of 14.1 hectares of unauthorised clearing of native vegetation and four were third Party incidents resulting in a total of 0.9 hectares of unauthorised clearing of native vegetation, which included impact to threatened flora.
Incidents were reported to the relevant authorities and there were no penalties or financial sanctions related to any of the incidents. Main Roads has addressed these procedural failures through training, changes in processes and increased compliance audits to ensure they are not repeated.
Urban air quality
Air quality in Perth is generally high when compared to other urban centres. It is largely considered air quality will improve as renewable energy and electric vehicles become more commonplace. However particulates are likely to remain an adverse impact from use of the road network. The State Electric Vehicle Strategy is pivotal to reducing emissions from transport. We are committed to increasing the uptake of electric vehicles within our own light and heavy vehicles fleet and supporting the state government target of 50 per cent, of all new light and small passenger, and small and medium SUV government fleet vehicles, to be electric by 2026. We have introduced a quota for electric vehicles within our Major Projects. Additionally, we are assisting Synergy and Horizon to find suitable locations for the Western Australian electric vehicle charging network in remote locations. Using the Australian Transport Assessment and Planning Guidelines 2016 and network data a breakdown of emissions by the six main air pollutants type is available in the Additional Environmental and Sustainability Disclosures section.
Net Zero transition
Following the release of the Western Australian Climate Policy we have developed a net zero transition roadmap. This drives our efforts to achieve 2030 and 2050 emission reduction targets, meet legislative obligations and provide an overall framework to decarbonise our operations and support the government’s climate action and emissions reduction goals. The roadmap is centred around four key actions and five outcomes outlined in the Net Zero Transition Framework with a vision to support the Whole of Government 2030 emissions target and reach Net Zero by 2050. The key actions provide targeted and differentiated interventions, addressing the largest sources of emissions within our operations.
Our strategic direction Keeping WA Moving has identified net zero emissions and decarbonisation as strategic initiatives meaning it is a priority area helping to shape our future direction. There are a range of whole of government activities that are planned which will provide value for all agencies and our approach to carbon offsetting, procurement of renewable energy and emissions reporting will be guided by these. We are working closely with agencies to explore and influence these opportunities. We are also actively driving electrification of our fleet making our operations net zero ready including exploring opportunities on possible renewable energy policies.
Total emissions across our facilities over the past year were 24,752 t CO2-e, which is significantly below our target of 29,933 t CO2-e. The table below shows our greenhouse gas emissions (scope 1 and 2) over the past three years. Detailed information with data from the past three years by scope, source and intensity are available in the Additional Environmental and Sustainability Disclosures section of this report. An increase in emissions from 2023 to 2024 is expected due to our plant and maintenance coming in-house, this previously was not reported under our scope 1 emissions.
| SCOPE 1 & 2 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Greenhouse gas type (t CO2) | 25,934 | 22,491 | 24,752 |
Climate change adaptation
Our infrastructure is directly exposed to the risks of existing climate hazards. When considering the risks to the road network, we consider two main aspects with the first being the road infrastructure itself including pavements and structures impacted by flooding or cyclones, leading to possible severe damage, loss of function or accelerated deterioration. The second area impacts on road use including aspects such as temporary loss of, or reduced quality of access, increased journey times on preferred routes with operating conditions likely to be less safe.
We have obligations to the community to maintain a level of service by minimising road closure duration when the network is impacted by disruptive weather events. The Western Australian Climate Policy requires us to act – both adapting to and mitigating the risk of climate change. In response, we are revisiting our assessments of the vulnerability of the state road network to the broader impacts of climate change.
We have identified 52 kilometers of state roads that have been assessed to warrant evaluation for the impacts of sea level rise. The indicative replacement value of this at-risk infrastructure is approximately $569 million. An assessment method to help facilitate a complete network-wide vulnerability assessment has been piloted which will build capacity for routine vulnerability assessments within our organisation. To supplement this, we are establishing a baseline identification of vulnerability within each of our regions as we work towards a full assessment of the road network, which will inform our further network investments. We are also working to minimise theeffect of natural hazards and climate change on existing assets and minimise disruptions for road users and the community. Current work includes:
- undertaking climate change risk assessments during project planning
- reviewing incident management procedures
- ongoing review of current standards against impacts of climate change
- collaborating with stakeholder agencies to address shared climate change risks
- educating on the impacts of climate change and ways to adapt the assets over time
- developing tools to undertake first-pass vulnerability assessments for roads and networks
- undertaking a whole-of-network review for vulnerability to climate change
Materials for road infrastructure
Our projects and activities use extensive amounts of raw materials and products to deliver our road infrastructure services. Government policy is influencing our approach to supporting the circular economy in Western Australia and our intent to decarbonise our delivered infrastructure. The Infrastructure Policy Statement from Infrastructure Australia highlights that recycled construction materials should be incorporated into the procurement practices of infrastructure projects. Construction and demolition waste makes up 50% of the state’s waste stream but can be processed into a road building material; crushed recycled concrete (CRC). In the future the lithium processing industry is expected to generate 5 million tonnes per annum of waste. There is potential to use this material as a by-product in infrastructure construction.
Under the Waste Avoidance and Resource Recovery Strategy 2030, we have focused on developing pavement designs enabling use of CRC and crumb rubber. In support of the Waste Authority’s Roads to Reuse (RtR) program we have continued our commitment to use CRC as sub-base under fulldepth asphalt on our major projects. We aim to facilitate broader use of CRC by local governments and are collaborating with WALGA to achieve this. A total of 28,371 tonnes of CRC was used over the past 12 months which takes our cumulative total to 220,953 tonnes. We remain committed to increasing our total use of RtR CRC and facilitating local government use of RtR CRC.
Waste tyres are another significant environmental challenge for Western Australia. To maintain a local tyre recycling industry, we mandate the use of Tyre Stewardship Australia endorsed crumbed rubber in resealing works to incentivise local sources using recycled tyres. We also continue to develop and implement alternative crumbed scrap rubber bituminous binders, including binders that may be attractive for local governments to use. During the past year, we successfully used 2,853 tonnes of crumbed rubber bituminous binders on our projects and maintenance works which is above our target of 1,200 tonnes per year.
Other materials that we are seeking to use more of include Fly Ash within concrete mixes, recycled plastic and delithiated beta spodume (DBS) a by-product of lithium processing. During the year we successfully used approx. 35,000m2, or 10 lane kilometers of geofabric reinforced seal with recycled plastic content. The Bunbury Outer Ring Road project has continued investigations into incorporating fly-ash from the Collie Power Station used within concrete mixes and 3,000 t of FOGO material was also used on this project.
Detailed information and data from the past three years is available in the ‘Additional environmental and sustainability disclosures’ section. This covers:
- imported road construction material by type
- imported recycled construction material by type
- waste material to landfill by type
- materials recycled by type
