Policy & Positions Manual
Policy Priority Area - Competitive Taxation and Regulation
Unified Environmental Assessment Process (2009)
Environmental assessment reviews are essential and must be done thoroughly and carefully. Currently, separate, parallel federal and provincial processes are done with an agreement to harmonize those processes. A truly unified single process would reduce duplication, reduce costs for all concerned, and reduce the period of uncertainty associated with decisions that are pending. Further, such a unified system could help prevent considerations from falling between jurisdictional cracks.
A number of “shovel ready” projects that already have Provincial Environmental Assessment Certificates are still caught up in the Federal Environmental Assessment process:
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The Terrane Metals (Mount Milligan) project received Provincial Environmental Assessment Certification in March 2009 but now must wait for Federal Environmental Assessment approval. It took over 2½ years to prepare for the 6 months (180 days) of detailed review by First Nations, Local, Provincial and Federal governments and cost millions of dollars.
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Additional examples of mines that have received Provincial Certificates and are awaiting Federal approvals include Adanac (the Ruby Creek project) and Imperial Metals Red Chris development.
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Taseko Mines Ltd has invested $90 million and spent 15 years working towards opening Prosperity Mine. The mine would employ 700 people and at an $800million capital investment this would be one of the largest private sector investments in BC in this decade. The mine is currently undergoing a provincial assessment review and harmonization of the federal and provincial process would speed approval and get people working sooner.
Mining projects are presented here as focused examples of large infrastructure projects, including energy and transportation projects, caught in this sequence of Environmental Assessment Reviews.
BC, Canada, and the world are struggling to find ways to weather the economic storm including stimulus packages to restart the economy. These projects and several others are “shovel ready”; with approvals in place they could proceed without costing taxpayers extra money for incentive packages, they would provide jobs and hope for a more stable future and would contribute millions of tax dollars to government coffers.
Both levels of government have their own coordination offices:
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the British Columbia Environmental Assessment Office (BCEAO) (www.eao.gov.bc.ca), and
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the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency Office (CEAAO) (www.ceaa.gc.ca).
They committed to harmonizing their processes with an agreement Canada-British Columbia Agreement on Environmental Assessment Cooperation (2004). In practice, this harmonization is aspirational but not operational. We are aware of a few specific issues:
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insufficient resources applied to management of the process at the Federal level;
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basic incompatibility between processes (CEAA is more of a self-assessment process; BCEAO is much more structured) makes harmonization especially challenging; and
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the Federal Government set up a parallel group, the Major Projects Management Office, in a separate ministry (Natural Resources Canada) rather than resolve the problems with CEAA.
The harmonization problem is sufficiently recognized that the Canadian Council of Ministers of Environment (CCME) has struck a task group to deal specifically with environmental assessment.
BCEAO gets widespread praise for their project management and process - the CEAA does not. Among the most helpful features of the BCEAO process are clarity respecting which projects are included (and what aspects of them) early in the process, clarity respecting study and consultation scope (and particularly, a very clear designation of aboriginal consultation scope), and timelines prescribed by the legislation.
If Federal resources are sufficient for technical review only, and they have yet to develop efficient processes, it would seem logical to follow a single environmental assessment process managed by the BCEAO with technical participation by Federal regulators in areas of Federal jurisdiction and interest. However, court cases relating to aboriginal consultation appear to have caused the federal government to feel they must be directing the process. Although additional resources in the form of the Major Projects Management Office are dedicated to improving the process, the Federal approach to aboriginal consultation still requires coordination and clear roles and responsibilities to make them efficient and effective.
The Chamber understands that CEAA is undergoing a mandated 5 year process review, but early rumours suggest that consultation with stakeholders and those who have been through the process will not be part of this review.
Present efforts to improve the process, (e.g. Major Projects Management Office) ultimately aim to duplicate work efficiently. Even efficient and timely duplication is still duplication.
The Chamber believes that the situation could be improved and decrease costs for all parties.
THE CHAMBER RECOMMENDS
That the Provincial Government work with the Federal Government to:
- urgently examine how to expedite provincially-certified projects through the Federal environmental assessment process, whether covered by the Major Projects Management Office or not;
- federal officials responsible for the CEAA 5-year review should engage in open consultation with stakeholders to support elimination of duplicative review;
- when they become available, review the recommendations of the CCME Environmental Assessment Task Group with critical stakeholders to identify promising approaches; and
- use information from the above to inform a redraft of the legislation and regulation in both jurisdictions to permit a unified process led by the Province with technical participation by Federal regulators in areas of Federal jurisdiction and interest by 2010.
