POLICY REPORT
ENVIRONMENT
Date: October 18, 1995
TO: Vancouver City Council
FROM: Special Office for the Environment
SUBJECT: The New British Columbia Environment
Assessment Act - Bill 29
INFORMATION
The General Manager of Community Services and General Manager of
Engineering Services submit this report for Council s INFORMATION.
COUNCIL POLICY
Council has a long standing policy of reviewing and commenting on senior
governments legislation.
Council at its meeting of March 3, 1994 mandated the Special Office for
the Environment to respond to senior governments environmental
initiatives which have an overall impact on the City.
PURPOSE
This report has been written to inform Council of the implications and
details of the new British Columbia Environmental Assessment Act (Bill
29). The Act was proclaimed on June 30, 1995.
BACKGROUND
Prior to the approval of the new British Columbia Environmental
Assessment Act, on June 30, 1995, there were three environmental
assessment systems. Major projects would be evaluated through either
the Mine Development Assessment Process, the Energy Project Review
Process or the Major Project Review Process. The impetus for creating
the new Act was to consolidate all environmental assessments into a
single process, and to make the reviews more comprehensive, recognizing
that there is an importantneed for responsible environmental management.
The Environmental Assessment Act seeks to deal with potential future
environmental impacts of proposed development as opposed to contaminated
sites legislation which deals with historical land uses.
DISCUSSION
Improvements over the past system:
There are a number of benefits to the new, more comprehensive, single
review process which include: consistent application of the Act for all
projects; one-stop shopping for applicants and the public as all reviews
will be processed through a newly created Environmental Assessment
Office; a more thorough process which looks at economic, social,
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health, cultural and heritage effects in addition to environmental
implications; greater clarity of the rules and regulations; better
defined time lines; and greater opportunity for public input.
The new Environmental Assessment Process:
The new environmental assessment process consists of three stages:
Stage One - Application Submission and Review:
Anyone proposing a reviewable project is required to submit a
formal application, to the Environmental Assessment Office, for a
project approval certificate. Once the application is complete,
there is a two to six months application review period. A project
can be approved at the application stage but it is anticipated the
majority of projects will be required to proceed to Stage two of
the review process.
Stage Two - Project Report Preparation and Review:
The second stage requires the applicant to prepare a project report
detailing the implications of the proposed initiative. Depending
on the complexity of the project, it is anticipated the applicant
could take approximately three to 18 months to develop a thorough
project report. When the completed report is submitted to the
Environmental Assessment Office, a decision is rendered to either
reject the project, grant an approval certificate or recommend the
applicant proceed to stage three.
Stage Three - Environmental Assessment Board Hearings:
Stage three is a public hearing process conducted by the
Environmental Assessment Board. The Board then submits a final
report and recommendations to Cabinet for their consideration. It
is estimated that a project reaching the third stage will have
taken anywhere from 18 to 42 months, to proceed from the
application date to the end of stage three.
One important consideration, when preparing the British Columbia
Environmental Assessment Act, was avoiding overlap and duplication with
Federal environmental legislation. A British Columbia/Canada agreement
approach has been adopted to ensure that only one assessment is required
per project.
Implications for the City and Greater Vancouver Regional District:
There are two basic implications for Municipal and Regional governments.
- Before proceeding with a reviewable project, a Municipality or
Regional government must apply for, and obtain, a Provincial
environmental assessment approval certificate, in order to
avoid sanctions, including heavy financial penalties.
- A Municipality or Regional government must not grant
development permit approval to a private sector, non-certified
reviewable project.
The relevant sections of the legislation pertaining to approvals are
Section Five and Section Six of Bill 29. Section Five basically states
despite any other enactment, a person must not undertake or carry on
any activity that is a reviewable project unless the person first
obtains a project approval certificate . Section Six then states
despite any other enactment, a minister, employee or agent of the
Crown, or an employee or agent of a Municipality or Regional District
must not issue an approval under another enactment, for a person to
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undertake or carry on an activity that is a reviewable project, unless
satisfied that the person has a valid project approval certificate .
These aspects of the Act imply that City staff must have a thorough
working knowledge of the Provincial Environmental Assessment Criteria in
order to make determinations regarding whether a project is reviewable
or non-reviewable.
Reviewable Project Definition and Examples of Reviewable Projects:
A reviewable project can be defined as a project which exceeds a
specified size (threshold) within a particular category group as set
forth by the Province. For example, one category group is Local
Government Solid Waste Management Facilities. Within that category,
waste disposal facilities which exceed the threshold of 550 tonnes of
waste per day, and incinerators exceeding 225 tonnes of waste per day,
are defined as requiring an assessment.
The categories range from those which would affect local governments
such as Water Management, Containment and Diversion Projects and
Transportation Projects to others directed toward private business such
as Food Processing and Industrial projects. The Province also holds the
power to designate a project as reviewable, if it is believed it will
have a significant environmental impact, even though it does not
constitute a reviewable project as defined in the regulations. Attached
as Appendix A is the table of contents pertaining to reviewable
projects which provides a flavour for the types of initiatives targeted
in the Act. More detailed guidelines regarding what projects are
reviewable are forthcoming from the Province.
Based on the information from the Province to date, the implications on
the City of Vancouver will primarily relate to large scale projects
which come in contact with waterbodies. Therefore, it is likely that
planning for the south shore of False Creek will be affected. If a
project is found to be reviewable, there is the potential for
significant delays with the Environmental Assessment Act review period
estimated to take 18 to 42 months. It should also be noted that we do
not know at this time whether major projects recently approved at Public
Hearing are reviewable (i.e. Coal Harbour). We are awaiting a ruling
from the Province.
Another potential reviewable City of Vancouver site is the Vancouver
Landfill in Delta which has been listed as a reviewable sized landfill.
There could be an environmental assessment required if the landfill
operation is modified significantly (i.e. the daily capacity increased
by >10%).
At the regional level, a number of existing and proposed projects have
been identified by the Province as examples of the types of operations
which would require an Environmental Assessment. With respect to the
existing projects, they are merely examples. It is not the intent of
the Act to apply to existing, lawfully approved operations unless they
are being modified significantly. Some regional project examples are:
- With respect to transportation projects, both the Northeast
Sector and Richmond Connector, light rapid transit options
have been identified as reviewable projects as well as the
Lions Gate Bridge upgrade.
- Under water containment and diversion projects, the Cleveland
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dam (Capilano Reservoir) is listed as an example of a
reviewable sized project. With respect to the next lower
mainland water supply source, it will likely trigger an
environmental assessment.
- Finally, with respect to liquid waste management facilities,
such as Iona and Lulu Island, they are a reviewable size but
have been exempted from this Act because of the Liquid Waste
Management Plan process. Solid waste management projects are
not afforded the same exemption despite a similar Solid Waste
Management Plan process.
City Process Implications:
The Planning Department and Permits and Licenses are responsible for
approving permit applications. The permit applications will be reviewed
by existing Permits and Licenses staff to determine if they are
reviewable under this Act. These responsibilities will be added to the
current process used to identify contaminated sites. If staff determine
that a project is reviewable under the Act, then permit approvals by the
City will be withheld until the Province issues an environmental
assessment approval certificate.
The focus of the Provincial legislation is not on land use but rather
the impacts of development. Therefore the Act restricts only the
Development Permits and not Municipal rezoning or subdivision approvals.
However, for projects affecting shorelines, it is often the case that
approvals are also needed under either the Water Act or the Land Act,
which could affect the physical changes implied by a subdivision or
rezoning.
Although the Provincial assessment would not be triggered until the
development application stage, an application which proceeds into
detailed zoning or subdivision approvals prior to a Provincial
assessment could subsequently face major changes in site area or
configuration resulting from an environmental review, particularly when
shoreline changes are involved. Previous zoning and subdivision
approvals could then be redundant, as may prove to be the case in the
Bamberton project on Vancouver Island, which achieved third reading
prior to the new Provincial environmental assessment process.
Therefore, although no Provincial review is required prior to the
Development Permit stage, an applicant should be advised to consult with
Provincial staff as early as the enquiry stage. It appears to be left
to the project proponent to find this out, or to City staff to suggest
that prospective applicants acquaint themselves with the Provincial
requirements.
A comprehensive Guide to the British Columbia Environmental Assessment
Process, has been published. We have obtained a copy and are routing it
to the appropriate staff.
CONCLUSION
The new British Columbia Environmental Assessment Act is a positive
piece of legislation which will provide a more comprehensive and
consistent approach, to reviewing large scale projects. There will be
some impact on local government initiatives primarily at the regional
level but also some implications for individual municipalities.
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It is the responsibility of the municipality to determine whether any of
its projects are reviewable and if they are, apply for and obtain the
necessary approval certificate. If the municipality proceeds with the
project without an approval certificate, they can be subject to
sanctions including heavy financial penalties. Further, it is also
important to note that local government officials are prohibited from
granting approval to non-certified, reviewable projects. This means
staff must be alert and informed with respect to the Environmental
Assessment Act criteria, so as to not grant a permit to a developer,
that is proposing a reviewable project, but has not obtained Provincial
approval.
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Appendix A
Reviewable Projects
Table of Contents