I believe we'll begin.
Good morning, Mr. Chair and honourable members. I would like to thank the committee for inviting Infrastructure Canada to present its views on the proposals that have been tabled to modernize the Navigable Waters Protection Act, the NWPA.
With me today, as mentioned, is Keith Grady, our senior adviser on environmental review and approvals at Infrastructure Canada.
We are here today to talk specifically about the implications of this initiative for infrastructure funding programs administered by Infrastructure Canada. I want to emphasize that modernization of the NWPA is an important initiative for us. Infrastructure Canada is in full support of the proposed changes to the Navigable Waters Protection Act as these changes will help the department to provide Canadians with modern, sustainable, and efficient public infrastructure in a timely way.
In my opening remarks, I will talk briefly to programs for which my department is responsible and how the NWPA can affect the delivery of these programs—in particular, how the NWPA can sometimes delay the approval and implementation of both community and major infrastructure projects.
I will also speak to the specific amendments that Transport Canada has tabled for consideration by the committee that will, in our view, improve the efficiency and timeliness of federal funding for public infrastructure projects under these programs. Our two departments work together closely in response to provincial and municipal requests for funding for major transportation infrastructure.
Through Building Canada, the Government of Canada has committed $33 billion in funding over seven years—2007-08 to 2013-14—for public infrastructure projects that promote a growing economy, a cleaner environment, and stronger and safer communities. Building Canada includes base funding for municipalities and provinces, as well as program funding initiatives, including the Building Canada Fund.
A broad range of projects and activities that are eligible for support under Building Canada have implications for navigable waters and thus would require consideration under the Navigable Waters Protection Act. To illustrate, under the Building Canada Fund, projects in the following categories are especially likely to be subject to the NWPA: water and waste water infrastructure, such as water intake pipes and waste water effluent pipes; public transit, the national highway system, local roads, short rail line, and short sea shipping; green energy, such as hydro-electric dams; and disaster mitigation, such as flood control.
The Building Canada Fund is in the process of being implemented across the country. It will generate a large number of community and major infrastructure projects across the country in a broader range of project categories than have been supported under previous federal infrastructure funding programs. Consequently, we anticipate an overall increase in the number of funded projects with NWPA implications in future. It is therefore important to amend the NWPA to reduce and avoid issues that have been encountered in respect of Infrastructure Canada's existing programs.
For example, under the Municipal Rural Infrastructure Fund for 2004-11, approximately 20% of the 1,760 projects approved to date have involved implications for navigation. Similarly, the NWPA has been a consideration for about 25% of non-transport-related projects approved to date under the Canada Strategic Infrastructure Fund. As you can imagine, given Canada's geography, a large percentage of major highway projects in Canada also require NWPA approval due to minor water crossings.
I will now describe some of the challenges the NWPA poses for the approval and implementation of these types of infrastructure projects.
Our experience today indicates that NWPA-related considerations can result in both regulatory uncertainty and delays in the approval and implementation of public infrastructure projects. It is important that amendments to the NWPA proceed expeditiously so that these same issues do no adversely affect the efficient and timely provision of funding to projects under Building Canada.
A number of specific problems have been encountered to date. The first is that proponents cannot determine whether their projects are subject to the Navigable Waters Protection Act until NWPA officials visit the site and confirm that the impacted water body is navigable. Depending on the season, site access, and availability of NWPA staff, this can take considerable time.
Detailed project and site plans necessary to confirm application of the act are often unavailable in the early stages of project planning, so the status of Transport Canada, as a responsible authority in the review of the project under the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, can be unclear until late in the assessment.
There are also delays in getting input from NWPA officials during the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act review and in issuing an NWPA authorization following the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act review and approval.
In turn, this regulatory uncertainty and process delays can add to project costs if construction cannot proceed as scheduled. As well, there can be added pressure for Infrastructure Canada to work with the parties to resolve issues and ensure that project approvals are timely.
Transport Canada has identified seven key concepts relating to potential changes to the NWPA. Of the seven, three will be particularly important in addressing the above-noted problems: amending the definition of “navigable waters” to allow for the exclusion of minor waters from application of the NWPA; amending the definition of “work” to allow for the exclusion of minor works from application of the NWPA; and removing the reference to the four named works—bridge, dam, causeway, and boom—in the act to allow for exemption of those works from the requirement to obtain approval pursuant to the NWPA.
Specifically, the proposal to exempt minor waterways and minor works will benefit infrastructure projects such as pipelines (water and sewers) and overhead power lines as they will no longer be required to apply for approval if they meet specified criteria. This will speed up the project approval process.
In addition, the proposal to remove the named works from the NWPA would also allow for quicker approval of those named works that are not a significant interference to navigation, such as small bridges, causeways, and micro-hydroelectric projects. The approval process would be quicker, because the projects would not be subject to the requirements of the full approval process as defined in the act.
The time required to complete federal environmental assessments of these projects would also be shortened in some circumstances. This would be especially beneficial for infrastructure projects that are subject to the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act only as a result of the Navigable Waters Protection Act.
Infrastructure Canada would also suggest that the committee consider another amendment to the NWPA that would benefit the timely review and approval of public infrastructure projects. This additional amendment would be to remove the current requirements in the NWPA to deposit plans in a land titles office and to advertise in the Canada Gazette. We are in agreement with Transport Canada that these are antiquated provisions that no longer serve to provide adequate notification of a proposed project. A more flexible notification scheme is required.
To conclude, modernization of the NWPA is long overdue, and Infrastructure Canada fully supports the proposed amendments in the legislation. It is our department's belief that these changes will allow Infrastructure Canada and our public and private funding partners to implement both the small-scale community projects and the major infrastructure projects in a timelier manner without negatively affecting navigation in Canada or significantly impacting the environment.
Finally, it is our hope that these legislative changes will be accomplished expeditiously so that Building Canada can realize the benefits of a modernized NWPA as soon as possible.
We look forward to your questions and comments.
Merci.