Indigenous Laws And Perspectives In Environmental Assessments

Provincial Environmental Assessment Process

• Legislative Overview
  
  
  • The Environmental Assessment Act (the "EAA")
• The Project
  
  
  • Reviewable Project Regulation

Review of the Environmental Assessment Act

• The History
  
  
  • The EAA provides a mechanism for reviewing major impacts to assess their potential impacts.
  • The assessment process also ensures that the issues and concerns of the public, First Nations, communities and government agencies are considered
  • The current version has been in force since 2010.
• Reviewable Projects Regulation 370/2002
  
  
  • A "reviewable project" means a project that is within a category of projects prescribed under section 5 or that is designated by the minister under section 6 or the executive director under section 7, and includes:
    
    
    1. the facilities at the main site of the project
    2. any off-site facilities related to the project that the executive director or the minister may designate, and
    3. any activities related to the project that the executive director or the minister must designate

Table 6 – Mine Projects

• S.6 Minister's Power to Designate if:
  
  
  • The minister is satisfied that the project may have a significant adverse environmental, economic, social, heritage or health effect and that the designation is in the public interest
  • The minister believes on reasonable grounds that the project is not substantially started at the time of designation
• Canadian Environmental Assessment Act
  
  
  • Federal Overlap

From Application to Project Approval

• Scope
  
  
  • "Project" means any
    
    
    1. activity that has or may have adverse effects, or
    2. construction, operation, modification, dismantling or abandonment of a physical work

• Section 10: Determining the need for assessment
  
  
  • The Executive Director by order may
    
    
    1. refer a reviewable project to the minister for a determination under s. 14,
    2. if the reviewable project will not have a significant adverse environmental, economic, social, heritage or health effect, may determine that an environmental assessment certificate is not required
    3. if the reviewable project may have a significant adverse environmental, economic, social, heritage or health effect, may determine that an environmental assessment is required

To view the full article, please click here

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.