Federal Coordination Regulations - Introduction

This reference guide provides guidance on the Federal Coordination Regulations (Regulations) pursuant to the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act ("the Act"). The Regulations came into force April 8, 1997, and apply to environmental assessments (EAs) under the Act of projects that take place inside of Canada.

Under the Act, each federal authority (federal department or agency) is responsible for determining the environmental implications of certain projects by ensuring an EA is conducted. The Act, as amended, includes in its purpose to ensure that responsible authorities carry out their responsibilities in a coordinated manner with a view to eliminating unnecessary duplication in the environmental assessment process. The Regulations are intended to coordinate federal authorities' activities regarding an EA.

The goals of the Regulations are to ensure that the federal EA process is timely and predictable, and to ensure as far as possible that there is only one federal EA carried out for a project.

The key elements of the Regulations are:

• identification and notification of federal authorities that may be involved in a project as responsible authorities (RAs) or as expert federal authorities according to timelines;
• consultation among federal authorities regarding the scope of the EA for the project;
• coordination of the time schedule for the EA determinations of RAs;
• coordination of all RAs' interests and involvement in comprehensive study recommendations.
  

The Regulations will support efforts to harmonize the federal EA process with provincial EA processes by ensuring that federal EA requirements are clear soon after a project description is received by the federal government.

Part I The reference guide is organized in two parts provides guidance on proponents' role in ensuring effective coordination of federal EA requirements.

Part II provides guidance for EA practitioners in the federal government who are responsible for implementing the Regulations. Each section of the Regulations is explained which provides an excerpt of the Regulations, describes the application of that part of the Regulations, and outlines the procedure required.

This reference guide focuses exclusively on the aspects of the federal EA process that relate to the Regulations. Figure 1 is a general flowchart of the Regulations. For a complete guide to the federal EA process, please consult The Responsible Authority's Guide and its associated reference guides, available from:

Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency
14th Floor, Fontaine Building
200 Sacre-Coeur Boulevard
Hull, Quebec K1A 0H3

If, after consulting this guide, you need further advice or information on the Regulations, please contact the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency's office in your region. A list of the regional offices is provided in Appendix 1.

Abbreviations used in this Guide

Figure 1