The list, developed in support of new environmental laws adopted along with hundreds of pages of legislation to support the Harper government’s 2012 budget, would require automatic reviews into impacts of projects in a variety of new categories, including diamond mines, international or interprovincial bridges and tunnels, some offshore exploratory wells and oilsands mines expansion projects.
But heavy oil or oilsands processing facilities, deep underground oilsands drilling operations, such as one that has recently experienced a blowout in northern Alberta that was ongoing for months, could proceed without any federal review, in the absence of a special request from the environment minister.
When asked whether it would have an automatic screening system for projects excluded from the list, which was proposed for consultations in April, agency spokeswoman Isabelle Perrault explained that decisions to conduct reviews would depend on information provided by sources such as the public, proponents, and the provinces. She said the minister could also rely on information from the agency’s regional offices, but didn’t say whether screenings would be automatic.
The new environmental laws cancelled close to 3,000 reviews the day after they were adopted in July 2012 to reduce what the government described as red tape and remove duplication with provincial reviews. Internal records, previously released to Postmedia News from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, have warned the government that the underground drilling oilsands projects, excluded from the list, could disturb water sources and harm fish habitat, which are within areas of federal jurisdiction.
But the agency said this new list was in support of government efforts to focus resources on projects with the greatest potential impacts. It said that the previous rules didn’t adequately focus on those types of projects in federal jurisdiction.
“Some types of major projects that are considered to have a high potential for such effects were not covered by the (previous) regulations,” said the agency in a newly released analysis of its proposed changes. “Conversely, some projects that were covered by the regulations are considered to have a low potential for significant adverse environmental effects in areas of federal jurisdiction.”
The analysis noted that environmental groups and First Nations expressed concerns about the proposed changes, but that the provinces and territories were generally in favour, with the exception of Ontario, which “raised concerns about the removal of some types of projects, such as industrial facilities, and the potential for regulatory gaps where no federal environmental assessment will be required in that province.”
The agency also said that some industry groups expressed concerns about new projects being added to the list that were not previously covered, while provinces urged the agency to focus on areas of federal jurisdiction.
According to the analysis, environmental groups also raised concerns about adding new thresholds to cover projects of a certain size, warning that some companies might deliberately split projects to avoid environmental assessments.
Original Article
Source: canada.com
Author: Mike De Souza
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