Ministerial decisions on designation requests made pursuant to the Impact Assessment Act and the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, 2012

Petition: 441

Issue(s): Compliance and enforcement; Environmental assessment; Governance; Indigenous matters

Petitioner(s): A Canadian organization

Petitioner Location(s): Lac La Biche, Alberta

Date Received: 14 April 2020

Status: Completed—Response(s) to petition received

Summary: This petition seeks to gather information on all designation requests made by the public since 6 July 2012 pursuant to the designation provisions in section 14(2) of the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, 2012, and in section 9(1) of the Impact Assessment Act, which replaced the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, 2012, section 14(2). The designation provisions in these acts allow the Minister of Environment and Climate Change to designate a physical activity that is not prescribed by the regulations for an environmental assessment if the activity may cause adverse effects within areas of federal jurisdiction or if public concerns relating to those effects warrant the designation.

In addition to requesting the list of all designation requests made since 6 July 2012, the petition asks for information about the minister’s decisions on such applications, including which requests were granted and which were declined. It also seeks information on how many projects were not in the list of the Regulations Designating Physical Activities and need environmental assessments as a result of the minister using the designation provisions. Finally, the petition seeks information on recommendations to the minister from the Impact Assessment Agency or its predecessor, the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency, regarding the designation of projects not in the Regulations Designating Physical Activities.

Federal Departments Responsible for Reply: Environment and Climate Change Canada