Thank you.
Since the inception of the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, the world, the economy, society, and environmental legislation and policy have changed considerably. Provincial governments have refined their laws and regulations not only to address emerging issues but also to make the review processes more nimble.
The federal government has added the Species at Risk Act and numerous policies, including wetland policy. At the staff professional level, the government has developed appropriate tools such as a risk management framework, an ecosystem approach, and many best practices and standards to manage day-to-day work. However, until Bill C-38 was introduced, federal law had not kept pace. Duplication of process and unnecessarily long timeframes introduce costs, delay, and uncertainty, with limited additional environmental benefit.
In some cases, regulatory approval processes, combined with construction periods, have totalled more than 10 years from project initiation to grid connection. Of those 10 years, approximately four years are spent in the federal EA process. Delays often take place before a review has even begun. Under the current system, it can take a surprisingly long amount of time to mobilize federal officials from the various agencies and departments that are required to be involved, and for them to decide whether they're going to participate at all, and if so, to provide early input such as terms of reference for an assessment.
The changes in part 3 of Bill C-38 represent a major step in the direction of having the right process evaluating the right project. The term “fit for purpose” comes to mind. Clarity of who leads the major environmental assessments has been achieved, and consistency among the process leaders—the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency, the NEB, and the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission—has been improved. Subject to defined criteria, review under provincial process is also possible under certain circumstances, and where it makes sense. And the new focus on larger project EAs within the federal jurisdiction will focus resources more appropriately and on projects of national interest. Existing acts can be used for many of the more straightforward projects, for example, the Fisheries Act.
The efficiencies realized by the changes in Bill C-38 will in no way diminish the efforts and actions of the Canadian Electricity Association's member companies in protecting the environment throughout project design, construction, and operation. In addition, public consultation is essential and an ongoing exercise for electricity companies, and it is an important element of the project approval process. Our companies already engage the public on potential projects before any federal or provincial reviews have even been initiated. The very nature of our business has created a culture of consultation. Almost everything that an electric utility does requires some element of public consultation, from rate applications, to integrated resource planning, to simple day-to-day consultation and interactions with constituencies and our customers. We want to make sure that we are getting things right.
The CEA, in concert with the Canadian Hydropower Association, has identified a few areas where the process can be further optimized, either within the bill or in subsequent regulations. Two examples would be better alignment between the EA conditions and those of downstream authorizations, and the ability for the minister to amend conditions in a decision statement to reflect new information that might come to light.
With regard to Bill C-38's changes to the Fisheries Act, the CEA believes that the changes are positive in that they do the following things: they retain a strong focus on protection of fish and fish habitat; they focus DFO efforts more toward commercial, recreational, and aboriginal fisheries, the original intention of the act; they provide mechanisms to take full advantage of best practices and standards; they place an emphasis on more holistic management, looking at permanent harm and an ecosystem approach and overarching fisheries management objectives; they also introduce the concept of ecologically sensitive areas, a positive step toward protecting those areas that are in the most need; and they encourage partnership and innovative thinking.
We look forward to the opportunity to engage in the development of regulations that will implement these changes. CEA members are in unanimous agreement that the proposed changes in part 3 of Bill C-38 to the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, the Fisheries Act, and the Species at Risk Act, have the potential to greatly improve regulatory processes for existing electricity operations and to improve approval timelines for projects in development.