Vol 18:8
Feb 17, 1995
February 15, 1995
The Honourable Moe Sihota
Minister of Environment, Lands and Parks
Parliament Buildings
Victoria, B.C.
Dear Mr. Sihota:
I am writing regarding finalization of the regulations governing the application of the soon-to-be-proclaimed Environmental Assessment Act. As you know, I have participated in the Key Stakeholders' Group and made a number of recommendations regarding the types of projects and activities that should be subject to review under the Act and the proposed thresholds for those projects and activities. Since these regulations will be finalized shortly, I am writing to bring to your attention two areas of particular concern in this regard.
The first is fish farming and, in particular, salmon farming. The thresholds considered to date have been extremely high and would result in few, if any, new salmon farms being assessed under the Act. For example, in the draft version of an Action Plan for Government and Salmon Farming Industry, reference is made to a threshold for fish farming. It states that "all applications for fish farming involving annual feed usage in excess of 1100 (dry) tonnes feed will be reviewable projects under the Environmental Assessment Act." While I understand that this document is in draft form, the threshold referred to is indicative of the range that has been suggested to date. This threshold is unacceptably high.
Concerns relating to salmon farming include escapement, the possibility of disease transmission to wild stock, impacts on marine mammals and birds from the use of acoustic harassment devices, waste management problems, and effects on other marine uses. As you know, the need to protect wild salmon stocks has never been greater.
Given the serious nature of the concerns associated with existing salmon farming and the possibility of proposals for several new salmon farms in the near future, we strongly recommend that all new fish farms and all significant expansions of existing fish farms be reviewed under the Environmental Assessment Act. There has been some discussion about the category assessment procedure in the Act being used to review certain aspects of fish farming. If this were done, it would still be necessary to review individual applications to take into account site-specific requirements and concerns, such as cumulative impacts.
The second area of concern in connection with the finalization of the application regulation relates to forest product facilities such as medium density fibreboard (MDF) plants and oriented strandboard (OSB) plants. A number of these facilities are proposed for B.C., offering an opportunity to divert wood residue, currently burned as waste, into the manufacture of marketable products.
However, it is essential that as this sector develops we employ technology that places the minimum burden on the environment. MDF and OSB operations use resins containing urea-formaldehyde, resulting in formaldehyde emissions from the plants. Particulate emissions are also a concern. This is precisely the type of facility that this Act is designed to review. Therefore, we strongly recommend that the environmental assessment process be applied to all new MDF and OSB facilities to ensure implementation of technology producing the least environmental impact and to ensure that any site-specific considerations are thoroughly reviewed.
We appreciate your attention to our concerns and look forward to hearing from you. Best wishes in your continued efforts to protect the environment.
Yours very truly,
WEST COAST ENVIRONMENTAL LAW ASSOCIATION
Ann Hillyer, Barrister & Solicitor
Federal deputy minister Bill Rowat told WCELA in late January that project assessment and enforcement by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans will not be discontinued, "but that fewer resources will likely be required for these aspects of a habitat management program as a result of effective planning before project development."
Rowat was responding to a December letter from WCELA expressing opposition "to any move to take the regulatory 'teeth' out of enforcement of the Fisheries Act regarding habitat protection." A DFO summary of its September 1994 Strategic Action Plan stated that "This program [habitat protection] will be reviewed, and initiatives developed to change the program's emphasis from enforcement of regulations to cooperative planning processes."
Rowat stated, "Effective habitat management can only be achieved through a program which is proactive and involves all stakeholders. It has been DFO's view for some time that a preferred approach to fish habitat management is to ensure that habitat concerns are taken into account wherever regional planning initiatives, integrated resource managment plans and other such planning processes are undertaken. These planning initiatives are normally initiated at the provincial level and involve all relevant stakeholders in the planning area. In pursuing this approach, it is often possible to develop guidelines or codes of practice, also in cooperation with stakeholders, which establish standards for environmental protection in project development. A significant advantage of this approach is that the consideration of cumulative effects associated with development projects can only be effectively dealt with at the planning stages. In addition, compliance with environmental requirements can be encouraged while reducing the reliance on individual project assessment and enforcement."
He continued, "Of course, these planning opportunities are not available in all parts of the country, and even where they do exist, project assessment and enforcement are still necessary to encourage a proper level of habitat protection, particularly with respect to projects which were not contemplated as part of the planning process or where there is non-compliance with environmental requirements."
The Strategic Action Plan deals expressly with downsizing DFO: "finding ways to do less than we are doing now." The Plan states that "It is about concentrating on the important things,...and reducing or eliminating the less important." It calls for a "change in attitudes," stating, "[the Plan] is about becoming less paternalistic and more collegial; less regulatory and more facilitative; less control-oriented and more service-oriented; less bureaucratic and more business-like."
Public access to the electronic information highway is the goal of a coalition being organized by the B.C. Library Association's Information Policy Committee. West Coast Environmental Law Association has joined a growing number of groups calling on the federal Information Highway Advisory Committee (IHAC) to advise the government to guarantee a public 'right of way' on the electronic highway. The coalition is also calling on IHAC to recommend an intensive process of public education and consultation following the release of the IHAC report.
Committee Chair Jacqueline van Dyk said that "the current policy debate on the electronic highway has been insulated from public participation by channeling it through the CRTC and IHAC. The CRTC has shown no interest in encouraging broad public participation and IHAC does not consider that it has a mandate to do so." She said that the current information highway policy debate focuses overwhelmingly on "competing private sector interests," and that it must "begin to focus on the public interest."
The coalition is preparing to make a presentation to IHAC at a Vancouver meeting in late February. For more information, please contact Jacqueline van Dyk (phone 604-430-9633, email: owen@unixg.ubc.ca) or Bill Andrews (phone 604-689-3235, email wcelrf@unixg.ubc.ca.
The Vancouver Foundation's Environmental Grants Committee recently released a list of almost 30 grants it has made in the last four years. The purpose of the committee is to assist in the resolution of broad environmental issues arising in B.C. Its goals are:
John Binsted, Program Director for the Vancouver Foundation, says that the Committee is very open to receiving new proposal ideas. For more information, contact Mr. Binstead at 604-688-2204.
One limitation to be aware of: The Vancouver Foundation can make grants only to registered charities. However, it is willing to consider supporting projects where a logically-related registered charity applies on behalf of the community group to carry out the project.
Please note that the dial-up number for the Vancouver Regional FreeNet by which you can access ELIB on the World Wide Web has changed. The new number is 604-257-8778 and will support three times as many modems and offer more reliable connections. Please change over to the new number soon as the old number will be phased out shortly.
The federal government will delegate major environmental assessments to British Columbia if a recently negotiated draft agreement is approved. Bruce Morgan, Manager of Policy and Legislation for the B.C. Ministry of Environment, Lands and Parks told a February 14 Vancouver training session on the new federal Canadian Environmental Assessment Act (CEAA) that the draft agreement is now being circulated within the federal and provincial governments and will be distributed to stakeholders for comments shortly.
"One project, one assessment" is the goal of the draft agreement, he told the meeting. The agreement provides that for all projects covered by both the CEAA and the B.C. Environmental Assessment Act federal screening or comprehensive study will be delegated to the B.C. Environmental Assessment Office. Federal authorities would be expected to participate fully within the provincial assessment of these projects, including -- and this may be a contentious point -- the time limits for the provincial EA process.
For its part, B.C. would agree to incorporate federal requirements and "interests" into delegated EAs. Likewise, the federal government would agree to address provincial interests in whatever EAs are done federally and not delegated to the province. For more information, please contact Paul Scott, Regional Director, Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency (phone 604-666-2431) or Bruce Morgan (phone: 604-356-6304).
Dear Members and Donors: You may have noticed an increase in the amount of requests for money that we sent you last year. In addition to our Annual General Meeting mailout in the Summer, and our year-end mailout in November, we contacted you in July about the passing of Chris Lundberg, and the dedication of the Lundberg Library. We are grateful for all the contributions that came in for new books for the Lundberg Library. Finally, we undertook to clean up our mailing list and get all our members up to date in the early Fall. Our memberships are not based on the calendar year; we organize them by our fiscal year (May to April). In the future, the mailout that you receive inviting you to the Annual General Meeting will include a request for you to renew your membership. Our mailout at year-end that reviews highlights of the year, and includes an invitation to our year-end celebration, will also include a request for a donation to the Research Foundation. Donations are tax-creditable; memberships are not. We apologize to any members and donors who felt last year's mailings were excessive. Thank you for your continuing support of our work!
The 13th annual Public Interest Environmental Law Conference, held in Eugene, Oregon, is scheduled for March 2 to 5, 1995. This conference unites students, lawyers, activists and others to share their experience and expertise. With over one hundred panels, workshops, speakers and activities, the conference has become an event full of energy, innovation and inspiration for all who participate in the evolving environmental movement. The theme of this year's conference is: IDEAS INTO ACTION.
For a copy of the brochure and registration information, contact Land, Air, Water at the Eugene School of Law: phone 503-346-3828; fax 503-346-3985.
WCELRF, 1001 - 207 West Hastings, Vancouver, B.C., V6B 1H7, Canada. Phone (604) 684-7378; fax (604) 684-1312; email wcelrf@unixg.ubc.ca. Printed on 100% recycled paper (not secondarily bleached or de-inked).
WCELRF Newsletter (ISSN #0715-4275), copyright 1995, is published by the West Coast Environmental Law Research Foundation. This issue was produced by Bill Andrews, Morgan Ashbridge, Chris Heald, Ann Hillyer, Patricia Houlihan, Matt Jackson, Catherine Ludgate, Linda Nowlan, Denice Regnier, and Kim Stanton. Subscription information is above. West Coast Environmental Law Research Foundation does research and education and maintains an environmental law library. West Coast Environmental Law Association provides legal representation and promotes law reform. The mission of West Coast Environmental Law Research Foundation and West Coast Environmental Law Association is to provide legal services to protect the environment and to foster public participation in environmental decision-making. We are grateful to the Law Foundation of British Columbia for core funding of West Coast Environmental Law Association and West Coast Environmental Law Research Foundation. Donations to West Coast Environmental Law Research Foundation are tax creditable.