"As such"

This is my newest peeve. (Am I unusually peevish these days?) Anyway, it's come in today from two different sources, so here goes on the Superfluous As Such.

"The only difference appears to be the project type, and as such when the project is built . . ."

Any idea what function "as such" serves in that sentence? I didn't think so. As such, removing it makes the sentence read shorter and better.

And the second example:

"Roads like this spur forest development . . . . As such, these roads are increasingly built by interest groups."