Biodiversity Development Assessment Report (BDAR)

What is a Biodiversity Development Assessment Report (BDAR)?

A BDAR is an official document that identifies how you (as the developer or their delegate) will propose to avoid, minimize and offset impacts from your proposed development upon native vegetation or biodiversity listed under the New South Wales Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016 and the Biodiversity Regulation 2017.

Biodiversity Development assessment reports (BDAR)

When a proponent is undertaking a development application (DA) (e.g.  dwelling, subdivision, shed, driveway, granny flat) or state significant development (SSD) (e.g. residential village, school, hospital, warehouse, shops, factory) under Part 4 of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979, they may be required to engage an Accredited Biodiversity Assessor, such as an Ecologist from Narla Environmental, to prepare a Biodiversity Development Assessment Report (BDAR). This is an official document that identifies how you (as the developer or their delegate) will propose to avoid, minimize and offset impacts from your proposed development upon native vegetation or biodiversity listed under the New South Wales Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016 and the Biodiversity Regulation 2017.

The Biodiversity Offsets Scheme (BOS) Entry Test (BOSET) is a test used to determine when it is necessary to engage an Accredited Assessor Ecologist Consultant to apply the Biodiversity Assessment Method (the BAM) to assess the impacts of a proposal.

It is used for local developments (development applications submitted to councils) and clearing that does not require development consent in urban areas and areas zoned for environmental conservation (under the State Environmental Planning Policy (Vegetation in Non-Rural Areas) 2017).

Developments

To assess impacts on threatened species, populations and ecological communities under ‘developments’ and SSDs assessed under Part 4 of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979, the Biodiversity Conservation Regulation 2017 sets out threshold levels for when the Biodiversity Offsets Scheme will be triggered. This threshold has two main elements:

1. Whether the amount of native vegetation being impacted exceeds a threshold area set out below; or

2. Whether the impacts occur on an area mapped by the Biodiversity Values Map published by the Minister for the Environment.

   Contact Narla Environmental to find out if your property is included on the Biodiversity Value Map

activities

To assess impacts on threatened species, populations and ecological communities under ‘activities’ and SSDs assessed under Part 5 of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979, the Biodiversity Conservation Regulation 2017 sets out threshold levels for when the Biodiversity Offsets Scheme will be triggered. This threshold has two main elements:

1. Whether the amount of native vegetation being impacted exceeds a threshold area set out below; or

2. Whether there is expected to be any significant impact upon threatened species, populations or ecological communities listed under the BC Act (as determined by a test of significance).

Area Clearing Threshold to determine if you need a Biodiversity Development Assessment Reports (BDAR)

The area threshold varies depending on the minimum lot size (shown in the Lot Size Maps made under the relevant Local Environmental Plan (LEP), or actual lot size (where there is no minimum lot size provided for the relevant land under the LEP).

If clearing and other impacts exceeds either trigger, the Biodiversity Offset Scheme applies to the proposed development including biodiversity impacts prescribed by clause 6.1 of the Biodiversity Regulation 2017, and the proponent will be required to prepare a Biodiversity Development Assessment Report (BDAR).

As the proponent, you must provide a BDAR to the approval authority (e.g. your Local Council for local DA, or the NSW Department of Planning for Major Project/SSD) as part of your development application (DA), major project SSD proposal, or tree clearing application. A BDAR will be placed on public exhibition with the relevant application.

biodiversity development assessment report - streamlined assessment

When the BOS is triggered, but impacts to native vegetation or biodiversity may be low, the BAM provides an option to prepare a BDAR using a Streamlined Assessment. Streamlined Assessments only assess impacts on threatened species that are at risk of Serious and Irreversible Impact (SAII). There are three Streamlined Assessment types that assess impacts on biodiversity values associated with a proposal:

1. When there are impacts to scattered trees

2. When the impacts are to a small area

3. When the impacts are to planted native vegetation

Scattered trees

The Streamlined Assessment for scattered trees can be applied where:

• the impacts of clearing or development proposals are for vegetation that meets the definition of scattered trees, and

• the scattered tree is not a threatened species itself nor does it have any record of candidate species credit species (flora or fauna) incidentally using it, and

• the impact is unlikely to be serious or irreversible.

The number of credits required to offset impacts to scattered trees under this assessment is determined based on the size of the tree and whether it contains any hollows. If the trees being assessed are small (< 20cm DBH) and do not contain hollows, no further assessment or offset is required.

small areas

The Streamlined Assessment for small areas only applies to developments that meet the area clearing threshold shown below. A new update under BAM 2020 (formerly BAM 2017) allows the Streamlined Assessment module for small areas to be used to assess the biodiversity values of land that is located within an area on the Biodiversity Values Map. However, if your property is on the Biodiversity Values Map because it is core koala habitat, then the Streamlined Assessment cannot be applied.

Planted native vegetation

The Streamlined Assessment for planted native vegetation applied to developments when the impacts are to native vegetation that was planted for purposes such as street trees and other roadside plantings, windbreaks, landscaping in parks and gardens, and revegetation for environmental rehabilitation. The BAM provides a decision-making key that creates a framework for the assessment of planted native vegetation that is to be impacted as part of a development. The accredited assessor must assess the suitability of the planted native vegetation for use by threatened species. The accredited assessor must also record any incidental sightings or evidence of threatened species credit species that are using, inhabiting or form part of the planted native vegetation.

Contact Narla Environmental to find out if your development qualifies for a Streamlined Assessment BDAR

If your Development does not meet the Thresholds to require a BDAR, you may instead require a ‘Test of Significance’ for your Development

Proponents are required to carry out a ‘test of significance / 5 part test’ for all development proposals that do not exceed the Biodiversity Offset Scheme Threshold.

This 'Test of Significance’ is part of a Flora and Fauna Assessment Report (FFA).

Applying the Biodiversity Assessment Method (BAM)

The Biodiversity Assessment Method (BAM) is the assessment manual that outlines how an accredited person assesses impacts on biodiversity at development sites when preparing a BDAR.

In order to undertake the BAM, Accredited Biodiversity Assessors must enter field-collected data into the ‘Biodiversity Assessment Calculator’ and determine the number and class of ‘biodiversity credits’ the proposed development will need to ‘retire’ in order to meet their offset obligation and achieve approval by the regulatory authorities.

An Accredited Biodiversity Assessor must apply the BAM and prepare the BDAR for submission, no one else is legally permitted to do this.

The consent authority then assesses the application against the requirements of the legislation that the application is being assessed under. The consent authority will determine whether to approve or refuse the application, including by considering the impacts on biodiversity (if any) as outlined in the BDAR.

For the impacts on biodiversity, the consent authority will assess the BDAR against the legal and technical requirements of the Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016, Biodiversity Conservation Regulation 2017 and the BAM.

In order to find out if you need to apply the BAM and develop a Biodiversity Development Assessment Report (BDAR) for your project, get in contact with the planning department of your local council, or call Narla Environmental now on 02 9986 1295.

Councils often request a BDAR when the subject property is located within the ‘Terrestrial Biodiversity’ (or similarly named) mapping layer that forms part of a council’s  ‘Local Environmental Plan’ (LEP).

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If council requires you to submit a Biodiversity Development Assessment Reports (BDAR), it is best that you are well prepared before you prepare the final design of your proposed development. Without doing ‘your homework’ you might be inadvertently designing a construction that will impact a critical environmental constraint on your property and will hinder your development.

The best way to do this is to undertake an Ecological Constraints Assessment, also known as an Environmental Constraints Assessment, that details all of the ecological or other environmental constraints that may arise during the DA.  The sooner you know of these issues, the better prepared you, your Architect or Town Planner will be when submitting the DA.

not quite at the DA stage but are interested to know more about the feasibility of your property for a DA?

If you are contemplating purchasing a property or submitting a DA for property subdivision, dwelling alterations, demolition, or construction, we recommend you commission an Ecological Constraints Assessment Report.

A good Ecological Constraints Assessment Report will:

• Be low cost to implement;

• Save you extensive amounts of time and money down the track;

• Help you, your architect, or your planner design a development footprint that has the best chance of DA approval;

• Inform you if there are additional specialist reports you may need for your DA; and

• Allow you to most appropriately and efficiently design your development to best avoid difficult environmental constraints in the DA stage, rather than risking a possible Council knock-back after DA submission.

Narla Environmental’s Ecological Constraints Reports address all of the relevant environmental constraints you may encounter during the DA stage. They include maps that show the most constrained parts of the property through to the least constrained, along with detailed information on what the constraints entail and how they may be avoided, mitigated or offset in order to facilitate development.

Implementing an Ecological Constraints Report will maximize your development potential while maintaining a strong chance of obtaining DA approval.

Disclaimer: Some of the information presented on this page has been copied directly from the State of New South Wales and Office of Environment and Heritage [2017]. Narla accepts no responsibility for decisions made using information pasted on this website.  For more detailed and up to date information visit NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment DPIE online: http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au

Narla Environmental can also help you obtain the following reports for Development Applications (DA) and State Significant Developments (SSD):

Narla Environmental is one of the leading Environmental Consultancies in New South Wales. We have offices and staff in Sydney, Western Sydney, Newcastle and the South Coast of New South Wales. We service the whole of New South Wales, including Greater Sydney, Western Sydney, Central Coast, Newcastle, Blue Mountains, Hunter Valley, Wollongong and Illawarra, Southern Highlands, Eurobodalla, Shoalhaven, Port Macquarie, North Coast, Central West and the rest of regional New South Wales.

Narla Environmental’s strong team of Ecologist Consultants can help you obtain fast, affordable and effective Biodiversity Development Assessment Reports (BDAR) to assess biodiversity/flora and fauna/ecological impacts when undertaking Development Applications (DA) and Major Projects / State Significant Developments (SSD) in New South Wales.