Today, CELL filed written submissions on behalf of the Federation of British Columbia Naturalists (BC Nature) to the federal Expert Panel on the Review of Environmental Assessment Processes. The Canadian public has lost faith in the credibility and legitimacy of the federal EA process in promoting sustainable development. BC Nature proposes eleven reforms aimed to reclaim public trust and legitimacy in the federal EA regime:
- Vest the jurisdiction to conduct EAs into a single, independent agency
- Move away from a proponent-driven, professional reliance model to a proponent-funded, government-led model
- Reinstitute screenings and comprehensive studies
- Provide the Chief Science Advisor with a role in federal EAs
- Mandate cross-examinations for comprehensive studies and review panels
- Ensure that EA public registries are adequate and accessible
- Enforce rigorous rules for responses to information requests
- Move towards a focus on sustainability
- Implement effective strategic, regional, and cumulative effects assessments
- Increase the transparency in reporting and justifications decisions
- Clarify the need for worst-case scenario analyses
CELL will appear before the Panel on December 12, 2016 to provide oral submissions. You can read BC Nature’s written submissions here: Science, the Law, & the EA Process – Reclaiming Legitimacy in Federal EAs.
Posted December 9, 2016