Media Briefing March 13, 2009 

OTTAWA—The Conservative government’s proposed environmental assessment legislation would eliminate legal requirements to conduct assessments of the adverse environmental effects of development projects under its control say environmental groups. Key elements of the proposed bill are described in a confidential PowerPoint presentation (Attachment A) given to Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency officials on January 20-21. This briefing note and attachments are intended to describe the bill and explain why it is contrary to efforts to protect the environment and achieve sustainable development. According to the PowerPoint presentation:

• a new environmental assessment bill to replace CEAA would be introduced into the House of Commons in March or April;
• all four of the so-called triggers for environmental assessment (regulatory approval, property transfer, funding, federally managed projects) would be eliminated;
• a short list of categories of projects subject to federal environmental assessment would be set out in a schedule to the new bill;
• listed projects would be exempt from environmental assessment if one of several broad criteria are satisfied;
• non-listed projects falling within federal decision-making authority could be referred for environmental assessment at the discretion of the Environment Minister;
• only “federal” environmental effects (e.g., effects on fisheries, migratory birds) would be assessed;
• environmental assessments would be carried out by the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency, or by the National Energy Board or Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission; and
• Environment Canada, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, and other federal agencies would no longer have responsibility to ensure environmental assessments of projects within their bailiwicks.

The Canadian Environmental Assessment Act was enacted by the Conservative government of Brian Mulroney in 1992, and brought into force by the Liberal government of Jean Chrétien in 1995.

A table comparing the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act is included as Attachment B, and a detailed analysis prepared by West Coast Environmental Law is included as Attachment C.

The Conservative government contends that federal environmental assessment results in overlap and duplication with provincial processes. Duplication of effort has largely been eliminated due to the efforts of the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency as well as the Major Projects Management Office established by the Harper government a year ago. Overlap with provincial environmental assessment processes has also been dealt with by so-called harmonization agreements between the federal government and several provinces. However, a federal role remains important given that many provincial processes have limited coverage of even major development projects. For example:

• Ontario’s environmental assessment process does not apply to private sector projects, only to public sector projects. Even public sector projects such as nuclear power plants are so frequently exempted from environmental assessment that Ontario’s law has long been referred to as the Environmental Exemption Act;
• British Columbia’s environmental assessment process exempts: o new highways less than 20 km in length o power projects less than 50MW in electricity produced o electric transmissions lines less than 40 km in length o coal mines with production capacity less than 250,000 tonnes (formerly 100,000 tonnes) Proponents take advantage of these loopholes through project splitting (e.g., by proposing highway projects in 5 to 20 km sections, or by building multiple (up to 10) power plants of 49MW strung together in a grid).
• Newfoundland and Labrador’s environmental assessment process applies at the discretion of the Minister of Environment. Various categories of undertakings must be registered under the Environmental Protection Act, but the Minister has discretion to determine whether an environmental preview report or an environmental impact statement is required for any registered undertaking, or whether the undertaking may proceed without any environmental assessment.

Contacts: Stephen Hazell, Sierra Club Canada (613) 241-4611, (613) 724-1908 (cell), shazell@sierraclub.ca

Jamie Kneen, MiningWatch Canada (613) 569-3439, (613) 761-2273 (cell), jamie@miningwatch.ca Lara Tessaro, Ecojustice (604) 685-5618 ext 245, (604) 837-9951(cell), ltessaro@ecojustice.ca

Susan Rutherford, West Coast Environmental Law (604) 684-7378 ext 213, srutherford@wcel.org

Contact your MP to express your views.