I was working at FPAC and I was working for a forest company prior to the 2012 changes. Much of what I spoke about today, a lot of what we call our BMPs, our best management practices or standing operating procedures, were developed during a previous modernization process of the Fisheries Act around 2009. Those are the operational statements I was talking about. The majority of the activities the forest sector engages in are watercourse crossings, primarily culverts or bridges, so it's either maintaining those culverts for fish passage or replacing bridges that require repair or maintenance. It was rare that we would go through an authorization process.
In the past, we would follow an operational statement or we would have a code of practice, similar to what I was referring to, where the province would require us to go through an authorization process, rather than DFO. In instances where we would require authorizations, they were for larger projects or activities. Sometimes on the coast we would do dryland sorts, where we may need to establish an area for wood or logs to get dropped off before they go into the ocean. It's those types of things. To answer your question, we didn't see a difference in authorizations pre- and post-2012. Essentially, the practices we engage in are practices we've developed with DFO staff in past decades, and we continue to do so.
The current system that DFO operates under is a self-assessment process online. I was speaking to the biologists before I prepared our submission, and they will, for a larger bridge where they have to replace a bridge and it means they would have to do work in the stream bed, provide what's called a request for review to DFO. More than 80% of those return back to the proponents saying that no additional approvals are necessary and to go and conduct the work as indicated. In the remaining small amount, they've just come back to ask for more information.
I hope that answers your question.