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International Boundary Waters Treaty Act proposed to be made a trigger for a Federal Environmental AssessmentThe Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency (the Agency) and Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada, propose to add the International Boundary Waters Treaty Act (IBWTA) to the Inclusion List Regulations and the Law List Regulations of the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act (CEA Act). These two regulations help to put the CEA Act's procedures into effect by, respectively, prescribing certain activities as projects and prescribing certain regulatory authorizations as triggers for an environmental assessment. The IBWTA requires that a licence be issued by the Minister of Foreign Affairs for any activity in Canada involving boundary or transboundary waters that would alter the natural level or flow of waters on the U.S. side of the border. It is proposed that the need to issue such a license trigger the need to conduct an environmental assessment, through the addition of section 16 of the IBWTA to these two regulations under the CEA Act. Adding the IBWTA to these regulations would transform it into a trigger for an environmental assessment under the CEA Act. It would ensure that environmental effects of projects are carefully considered, do not cause significant adverse environmental effects in the United States or Canada, and capture projects with potential environmental effects that otherwise may not be assessed through other regulatory triggers such as the Fisheries Act and Navigable Waters Protection Act. The public is now invited to submit its comments on any aspect of this proposed initiative by consulting a discussion paper which is available on the Agency’s Web Site. The deadline to send feedback is May 1st, 2007. Please send your written comments in the official language of your choice to: Julie Harris |
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