Good evening Mr. Chair and members of the committee.
I am pleased to be here to speak to you about the role of the Impact Assessment Agency in the life cycle management of nuclear projects.
The Impact Assessment Agency of Canada is a federal body accountable to the Minister of Environment and Climate Change and is responsible for implementing the Impact Assessment Act.
Impact assessments help project proponents, the public, indigenous groups and decision-makers understand the possible impacts of proposed projects before they are allowed to proceed. Assessments identify the best ways to avoid or reduce a project's potential negative impacts while increasing the potential positive effects.
The Impact Assessment Act and its regulations both establish the legislative basis for impact assessments and serve as a planning tool that takes into consideration the environmental, health, social and economic effects of major projects. The goal of the impact assessment process is to inform decision-makers about the project impacts and to ensure the protection of people and the environment.
Under the Impact Assessment Act, the Impact Assessment Agency leads and manages the impact assessment process for all federally designated major projects. The physical activities regulations identify the major projects with the greatest potential for adverse effects in areas of federal jurisdiction related to the environment so that they can enter into our impact assessment process.
With respect to nuclear projects, the regulations capture proposed new facilities for storing irradiated nuclear fuel or nuclear waste outside of the boundaries of an existing nuclear facility. These regulations also capture projects proposed for the long-term management and disposal of nuclear fuel or nuclear waste. As well, the regulations capture projects relating to the construction, operation and decommissioning of certain nuclear fission and fusion reactors that meet a specific threshold. Since the coming into force of the Impact Assessment Act in 2019, no designated nuclear projects have yet entered the impact assessment process.
Under the Impact Assessment Act, any assessment of a designated project that includes the physical activities regulated by the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission must be referred to an independent review panel. The Impact Assessment Agency and the CNSC have signed a memorandum of understanding that outlines how these assessments, referred to as “integrated assessments”, will be conducted.
The intent of this MOU is to facilitate one single, comprehensive and coordinated process that meets the requirements of both the Impact Assessment Act and the Nuclear Safety and Control Act. In this way, the principle of one project, one assessment is respected, as the assessment process will integrate the licensing requirements of the CNSC into the impact assessment.
A review panel is a group of independent experts who are responsible for conducting an impact assessment. Members must have knowledge or experience relative to the project's anticipated effects, or regarding the interests and concerns of the indigenous peoples of Canada that are relevant to the assessment. Members of this review panel must also be unbiased and free of conflict.