The New Brunswick Lung Association has lead a small committee* to review the New Brunswick Environmental Impact Assessment Regulation under the Clean Environment Act. We have identified the need for change, the benefits that could arise from stronger legislation, current weaknesses and areas where the Regulation is very out of date, and have made recommendations that will modernize the process.
We are now welcoming your review of our recommendations and your sign-on if you would like to support our campaign. Please see the attached full document here. The summary is below.
We have an excellent window of opportunity now for the Province of New Brunswick to modernize legislation that assesses and mitigates impacts from proposed industrial activities. During the Covid-19 Pandemic, New Brunswickers have become more aware of the importance of health protection and have been proud of the actions the multi-party government committee has taken. We want to see our government continue to be a national leader. Given that the New Brunswick Environmental Impact Assessment process is very out-of-date, now is an excellent time to develop new legislation that will be supported by New Brunswickers.
The current EIA process has inconsistencies that cause uncertainties and inefficiencies experienced by the proponent. These could discourage potential developers from choosing NB for their project. Developers need to be confident in a consistent and transparent assessment process.
The New Brunswick government has committed to responsible resource development and sound legislation is imperative to managing our natural resources on which all of us rely.
New Brunswick struggles with a declining economic situation. The cost of health care in the province is steadily increasing. Full cost-accounting of new enterprises is essential. Our government must take into account the health and social costs of new enterprises when going through the approval process for new initiatives. A strong modernized Impact Assessment Act can help to greatly reduce the negative health and social costs of new projects.
It is critically important that New Brunswick has a robust and modern Impact Assessment process especially as we grow forward into a new post-Covid world where New Brunswickers want to ensure that new developments will not compromise their health, their environment or the social fabric of their lives that make New Brunswick such a great place to live and raise a family. New Brunswickers now expect that their health will be protected, that Impact Assessments are undertaken with proactive consultation with First Nations and community stakeholders and that the process is transparent.
We can take action to join other Canadian leading jurisdictions that have modernized their Impact Assessment legislation to better protect the health of New Brunswickers and protect all aspects of our environment.
We are asking that the province create a new Impact Assessment Act that is modelled after updated Acts in the leading jurisdictions in Canada, notably the Federal Impact Assessment Act (2019) and the British Columbia Environmental Assessment Act (2018). Modern Impact Assessment processes include consideration of human health, community and social impacts and compounded impacts. Thus Impacts Assessment now go beyond environmental impacts, and responsibility will involve more than one government department. The new Impact Assessment legislation should therefore be a stand-alone Act.
Below are the recommendations developed by the Committee. The full Report provides the rationale and details.
- The NB Impact Assessment Act should be consistent with current and common IA methodology.
- The NB Impact Assessment Act requires a formal statement of guiding principles.
- The NB Impact Assessment Act needs to expand analysis of anticipated impacts.
- The NB Impact Assessment Act must include a stand-alone, transparent health impact assessment process that proactively engages stakeholders. The full cost of negative health and other social outcomes must be calculated and balanced with the financial benefits of the project.
- Schedule A needs to be either expanded or changed to show clear parameters without listing specific activities.
- The NB Impact Assessment Act needs more oversight and rigor for engagement with First Nations and the public (on reviews committees, through notification of standing lists of interested parties) and for any consultation.
- The NB Impact Assessment Act needs to more effectively and transparently incorporate scientific evidence into decision-making.
- Decision-making associated with The NB Impact Assessment Act needs to be transparent.
- Approved projects need regular standardized and publicly transparent monitoring, using best practices.
- Cases of non-compliance must be identified, made public and quickly remedied.
- A system to measure and report on the effectiveness of the The NB Impact Assessment Act needs to be developed and implemented.
- Regular reviews of the Act are needed.
*Committee Members:
- William Anderson, PhD.
- Chris Buse, PhD. University of British Columbia Postdoctoral Fellow and Affiliated Researcher with the Centre for Environmental Assessment Research
- Gordon Dalzell, Saint John Citizen’s Coalition for Clean Air
- Barbara MacKinnon, PhD. President and CEO New Brunswick Lung Association
Contact: barb.mackinnon@nb.lung.ca
