Groups fighting federal bill
Time is getting short for public input on the federal legislative change that would give petroleum boards a say in the environmental assessment process.
Bill C-69, an Act to enact the Impact Assessment Act and the Canadian Energy Regulator Act, and to amend the Navigation Protection Act and to make consequential amendments to other acts, was expected to pass second reading in the House of Commons on March 19.
“This bill, in its present form, intends to give substantial additional regulatory authority to the unelected Canada Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Board (CNSOPB) over environmental impact assessments. This is wrong-headed and dangerous,” said John Davis, director of the Clean Ocean Action Committee (COAC) . “The appointed members of the CNSOPB do not have the knowledge or capacity to assess what is a reasonable risk for you, or for our communities, or for our fishing industry. We must demand independent, unbiased, scientifically based impact assessments that take fully into account the potential socioeconomic impacts of all offshore resource development.”
The public is invited to submit written public briefs to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development. The committee will also be extending invitations to selected individuals and groups to appear in the near future.
“There is limited time to respond,” said Davis. “COAC and the members of the Offshore Alliance will be fighting hard to see that this section of Bill C-69 is altered to state that an independent body be formed with members who are actually capable to fully and completely assess and weigh the risks of all offshore development.”
Davis said COAC and the Offshore Alliance, a consortium of more than 20 Atlantic Canadian and Quebec community, environmental, Indigenous, fishery and non- governmental organizations, will be asking the committee specifically for “no involvement of the petroleum boards (or any life cycle regulator) in environmental impact assessment that could be construed as having influence over the process or decision.
“This means: no members of the petroleum boards on review panels (current plan under amended Impact Assessment Act (IAA); no delegation of Impact Assessment process to the boards (This could happen under the existing wording of the IAA); no joint reviews with boards (this could happen under the IAA); no substitution to boards (right now this cannot happen under IAA - but that could change); and petroleum boards remain as federal authorities with their role limited to providing expert information on the regulatory process within their jurisdiction,” said Davis. “In addition, we have very specific asks around the regulations, key to that is ensuring that everything currently on the regulation list remains with the addition of seismic surveys.”
Davis said the Accords Acts of 1985 created the legal framework for the petroleum boards.
“The core purpose of the Accord Acts is to ‘Provide a stable and fair offshore management regime for the oil and gas industry.’ This is the petroleum board’s primary purpose. Through their lease auctions, their numerous supportive activities for lease holding companies the petroleum boards promote the development of offshore hydrocarbon resources and by proxy they act as advocates for the oil and gas industry. The boards are completely unsuited for the assessment of environmental impacts,” he said.