OTTAWA — The Harper government's proposed time limit on environmental reviews of industrial projects would fail to guarantee project approvals within two years if regulators are waiting for companies to submit information, says the head of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission.
"The government's proposed two-year timeline for reviews applies only to government time," wrote the commission's president Michael Binder — who also indicated that he supported the two-year time limit and believed the commission could manage it — in a weekend statement sent to Postmedia News.
By "government time," he was referring to time spent by a panel to review an industry project. But this would not include time spent waiting for a company to provide requested information.
He also explained that the commission would be exempt from the timelines set out in the government's budget implementation legislation
"When you account for non-government time, in what we call 'clock stoppages,' CNSC has been able to complete its reviews within two years for 80 per cent of nuclear projects," he said.
Binder wrote the comments after Postmedia News reported he had released numbers showing that 44 out of 66 projects reviewed by the commission over the past decade were not completed within two years.
Environmental groups and opposition parties have argued the government's legislation is flawed since delays in project reviews are sometimes caused by companies failing to provide timely information to review panels.
Liberal natural resources critic David McGuinty, who requested the numbers, involving the commission, during parliamentary hearings on developments in Canada's north, said the exemption for nuclear projects from the proposed two year limit suggests that the government is specifically tailoring its legislation to speed up oil, gas and mining projects.
"If it proves to be true that certain sectors are going to be excluded from this timeline, it tells me that the government is definitely meddling in the marketplace and is not leveling the playing field and (instead) picking winners and losers," McGuinty said in an interview on Sunday.
McGuinty has suggested the time limit has been arbitrarily set by the government without any analysis of potential impacts.
Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver confirmed Sunday that the budget legislation did not apply to the commission, but indicated that it could still meet its own commitment to review projects within two years, "excluding proponents' time."
"Based on the past performance, I am confident it will meet its commitments without any impact on its ability to conduct the necessary scientific and technical reviews," Oliver said in a statement emailed to Postmedia News.
Oliver's office also confirmed that all timelines in the legislation would "only apply to government time."
Binder was not immediately available for an interview to clarify his comments.
Original Article
Source: ottawa citizen
Author: Mike De Souza
"The government's proposed two-year timeline for reviews applies only to government time," wrote the commission's president Michael Binder — who also indicated that he supported the two-year time limit and believed the commission could manage it — in a weekend statement sent to Postmedia News.
By "government time," he was referring to time spent by a panel to review an industry project. But this would not include time spent waiting for a company to provide requested information.
He also explained that the commission would be exempt from the timelines set out in the government's budget implementation legislation
"When you account for non-government time, in what we call 'clock stoppages,' CNSC has been able to complete its reviews within two years for 80 per cent of nuclear projects," he said.
Binder wrote the comments after Postmedia News reported he had released numbers showing that 44 out of 66 projects reviewed by the commission over the past decade were not completed within two years.
Environmental groups and opposition parties have argued the government's legislation is flawed since delays in project reviews are sometimes caused by companies failing to provide timely information to review panels.
Liberal natural resources critic David McGuinty, who requested the numbers, involving the commission, during parliamentary hearings on developments in Canada's north, said the exemption for nuclear projects from the proposed two year limit suggests that the government is specifically tailoring its legislation to speed up oil, gas and mining projects.
"If it proves to be true that certain sectors are going to be excluded from this timeline, it tells me that the government is definitely meddling in the marketplace and is not leveling the playing field and (instead) picking winners and losers," McGuinty said in an interview on Sunday.
McGuinty has suggested the time limit has been arbitrarily set by the government without any analysis of potential impacts.
Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver confirmed Sunday that the budget legislation did not apply to the commission, but indicated that it could still meet its own commitment to review projects within two years, "excluding proponents' time."
"Based on the past performance, I am confident it will meet its commitments without any impact on its ability to conduct the necessary scientific and technical reviews," Oliver said in a statement emailed to Postmedia News.
Oliver's office also confirmed that all timelines in the legislation would "only apply to government time."
Binder was not immediately available for an interview to clarify his comments.
Original Article
Source: ottawa citizen
Author: Mike De Souza
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