About the EIS

As a Critical State Significant Infrastructure (CSSI) project, HumeLink is following a comprehensive Commonwealth and State environmental planning approvals process. This acknowledges that CSSI projects are large and complex, and can have major economic, environmental, and social impacts.

As part of the environmental planning approvals process, HumeLink was required to prepare an EIS. An EIS identifies and assesses the potential environmental, economic and social impacts of the project to help government agencies, relevant authorities, community and stakeholders to make an informed decision or provide an informed submission on the merits of the project. 

The EIS is assessed by the NSW and Commonwealth governments before a determination on the project is made.

On 30 August 2023, the HumeLink EIS was lodged with the Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure (DPHI) – formerly known as the Department of Planning and Environment (DPE) – and placed on public exhibition until Tuesday 10 October 2023.

The public exhibition enabled the community to read the EIS document, seek clarification and provide DPHI with direct feedback via a formal submission.

The main body of the EIS and the associated specialist studies were available online through the NSW Major Project Planning Portal. Printed copies of the main body of the EIS were also available during the exhibition period at select community libraries across the project footprint and available to be posted to landowners upon request.

An interactive digital EIS also presented key information to support better understanding of the project’s EIS.

The HumeLink project team held 22 community information sessions across the project footprint and three webinars during the exhibition period. We also visited landowners with our Remote Access Community Hub (RACH), held additional sessions for Community Consultative Group members and promoted our activities extensively across local media, in our newsletters and updates.

More than 150 submissions were received during the public exhibition and have been responded to in the Submissions Report and addressed where required in the Amendment Report.  These reports will be used to guide the project’s final determination and any conditions of approval. All submissions received are available on DPHI's website and have been shared with Transgrid.

The charts below show the issues and sub-issues raised in the submission.

HumeLink’s EIS was developed to satisfy the requirements from both the State and Commonwealth governments assessment under a bilateral agreement. This agreement is established between the Commonwealth and NSW governments to strengthen co-operation and reduce duplication during certain environmental impact assessment processes. The approach is standard practice for Critical State Significant Infrastructure (CSSI) projects. Under this agreement, some planning stages will be carried out in parallel.

As a Critical State Significant Infrastructure (CSSI) project, HumeLink is required to develop an EIS. An EIS describes in detail the environmental, social and economic impacts that can arise from the project and proposes measures to effectively mitigate those impacts. 

As part of the planning approval process for HumeLink, an EIS was prepared in accordance with the Planning Secretary’s environmental assessment requirements (SEARs). The SEARs identify matters which must be addressed in the EIS and essentially form its terms of reference. 

The Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure (DPHI) issued the Secretary's Environmental Assessment Requirements (SEARs) for the HumeLink project in March 2022. In April 2022, the supplementary SEARs, which include Commonwealth Government requirements, were issued.

The DPHI included input from relevant government agencies to consider their requirements for the project before issuing SEARs. The SEARs identify and specify matters which must be investigated as part of the EIS and essentially form its terms of reference. It includes the requirements for both the NSW and Commonwealth governments.

The key issues outlined in the SEARs and supplementary SEARs include biodiversity (threatened species and communities and migratory species), heritage (National Heritage places), water and soils, land, transport, amenity, air, hazards, waste, social and economic.

Transgrid received and responded to 158 submissions from government agencies, local councils, organisations and individual community members on the EIS.

The Submissions Report responds to the submissions made during the public exhibition period. It explains who made submissions, what issues they raised and directs the submitter to additional information, where relevant.

After considering issues raised in the submissions, as well as stakeholder feedback before and during the public exhibition, and design and construction methodology development, Transgrid is proposing several amendments and refinements to the project. These changes are detailed in a separate Amendment Report, which describes any different or new impacts arising out of the proposed amendments and refinements and how those impacts would be managed and mitigated. 

To find out more about HumeLink’s Submissions Report and Amendment Report, access and view the Submissions Report and Amendment Report tab in the Regulatory and Environmental Approvals section of the website.

Adhering to the EIS engagement process for proponents of major infrastructure projects, Transgrid consulted with the relevant local, State and Commonwealth Government authorities, service providers, community groups, affected landowners, Native Title holders and Aboriginal land claimants, exploration licence holders, quarry operators and mineral title holders.

Transgrid has a dedicated team of place managers and land access officers who have built direct relationships with impacted landowners throughout the project footprint. The place managers and land access officers have one-on-one and ongoing engagement with landowners about their properties. During the development of the EIS, our team members directly engaged with landowners to discuss the key aspects of the EIS, opportunities for feedback and the next steps in the environmental approvals process.

Transgrid undertook a range of engagement activities during the public exhibition period to inform landowners, the community and other stakeholders about the project, discuss concerns and questions, and provide information on how to make a formal submission on the EIS.

The HumeLink team held 22 community information sessions across the project footprint and three webinars. The team also visited landowners with the Remote Access Community Hub (RACH), held additional sessions for Community Consultative Group (CCG) members, and promoted our activities extensively across local media, in our newsletters and updates. The HumeLink July 2023 Newsletter was emailed to more than 800 project subscribers, easement-affected landowners and near neighbours, local information distributors, CCG members and letterbox dropped to more than 11,000 recipients within a 10-kilometre radius of the EIS project footprint.

Printed copies of the main body of the EIS were also available at select community libraries across the project footprint and posted to landowners on request. A digital EIS (DEIS) was developed to support a better understanding of the HumeLink EIS. The user-friendly and interactive platform presented key outcomes of the EIS, delivering interactive mapping, multimedia displays and links to the full EIS on the NSW Major Projects Planning Portal. During the EIS public exhibition, the DEIS received 18,270 views with 1,500 active users visiting the HumeLink Digital EIS portal.

More information is available in the What We Heard Report (September/October 2023).

Yes. Transgrid lodged HumeLink’s Submissions Report, Amendment Report, the revised Biodiversity Development Assessment Report (BDAR), the NSW Biodiversity, Conservation and Sciences group (BCS) submission on the EIS and the Enabling Works Management Plan (EWMP) with the Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure (DPHI). All submitted reports will be read and assessed in conjunction with the EIS for final determination on the project.

The Submissions Report collates, categorises and provides a response to submissions received on the EIS. 

Submissions from government agencies, public authorities and local councils were considered separately to submissions from the community and organisations. The content of each government agency, public authority and local council submission was reviewed, and each issue raised has been included and responded to in the Submissions Report. 

The content of each community and organisation submission was reviewed and categorised according to the key issues raised (e.g. economic, environmental, and social impacts) and sub-issues (e.g. biodiversity). These issue-specific categories formed the basis for the structure of responses to the submissions. The key issue categories were generally developed to be consistent with the Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure (DPHI) State significant infrastructure guidelines - preparing a submissions report (DPE, 2022a). 

HumeLink’s Amendment Report  outlines project changes since publication of the EIS, and helps the community, government agencies and the Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure (DPHI) understand the implications of these changes. The HumeLink Amendment Report assesses several amendments and refinements in response to issues received on the EIS, ongoing design refinements and further construction planning. 

The amendments and refinements provide refinements to the design and construction methodology of the project. Several technical reports have also been prepared to support the assessment of the proposed amendments and refinements. These are provided in HumeLink’s Amendment Report. 

The proposed amendments in the Amendment Report include:  

• changes to the transmission line corridor including the realignment of the route through Green Hills State Forest to the west of Batlow  
• changes to the number and location of construction ancillary facilities including worker accommodation facilities and construction compounds  
• nomination of access tracks to support the construction and operation of the project  
• additional telecommunications connections to existing substations.  

The proposed refinements in the Amendment Report include:   

• transmission line and substation design refinements at Gregadoo  
• identification of areas where controlled blasting may be required 
• use of approved water sources  
• use of helicopters and drones.  

Find more information on the proposed amendments and refinements, along with the technical reports to support the assessment of the proposed amendments and refinements on the NSW Major Projects Planning Portal.

Certain components of these reports, including the revised Biodiversity Development Assessment Report (BDAR) and other information related to biodiversity (such as updated environmental mitigation measures and the response to the NSW Biodiversity, Conservation and Sciences group (BCS) submission on the EIS) were also lodged to the DPHI in June 2024.

Transgrid has engaged the community and stakeholders following the EIS public exhibition and during preparation of the Amendment Report by undertaking in-person and online engagement advertised through print, digital newspaper and social media advertisements, posters in local towns and email campaigns. 

In the lead-up to lodging the Amendment Report and Submissions Report, the project team held 15 in-person community information sessions and five webinars to discuss the project’s proposed amendments and refinements. The project team also completed 15 street meetings with the Remote Access Community Hub (RACH) at locations near the proposed combined worker accommodation facilities and construction compounds. The property and engagement teams – via our place managers and land access officers – have managed ongoing direct engagement with impacted landowners and near neighbours on the proposed amendments and refinements and their potential impacts. 

The project team has also continued to engage with Aboriginal stakeholders and Registered Aboriginal Parties (RAPs), Community Consultative Groups (CCGs), local councils, government agencies, mineral title holders and the general community. 

More information on our engagement can be found in the What We Heard Reports on the Community information sessions section of the website. Our engagement for the Amendment Report is also detailed in Chapter 5 of the Amendment Report and in Appendix D: Engagement Outcomes Report, available on the NSW Major Project Planning Portal.

The Submissions Report and Amendment Report have been lodged with the Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure (DPHI). Transgrid has further lodged the revised Biodiversity Development Assessment Report (BDAR) and the response to the NSW Biodiversity, Conservation and Sciences group (BCS) submission on the EIS. These documents complement the Amendment Report and Submissions Report. 

Additionally, the Enabling Works Management Plan (EWMP) has also been lodged with the DPHI in June 2024. The EWMP outlines the enabling works are required to prepare the work sites ahead of the start of main construction and involve establishment of construction compounds, accommodation facilities, road works for new or existing access tracks and utility relocations.

Following the lodgement of these documents, the project has entered into the assessment and determination stage. The DPHI will review all the information provided in the EIS, Submissions Report and Amendment Report and make a final determination on the project. DPHI will recommend to the Minister for Planning and Public Spaces and the Commonwealth Minister for the Environment to either approve the project along with any conditions or provide reasons for refusal.

DPHI will now recommend to the Minister for Planning and Public Spaces and the Commonwealth Minister for the Environment to either approve the project along with any conditions or provide reasons for refusal.

If planning approval from State and Commonwealth governments is granted in the second half of 2024, site establishment and early works for the project will begin in late 2024. Construction work on transmission lines and substations is set to begin in 2025 with construction completed in 2026. 

Should the project be approved, it would be subject to Ministers’ Conditions of Approval which outline how the potential impacts of the project and engagement with landowners and communities need to be managed during construction. The Ministers’ Conditions of Approval may also include operational requirements. 

To find out more about project progress, we invite you to register to receive email updates here.