Petition requesting that the Minister of Environment and Climate Change and the President of the Treasury Board review and amend an eligibility rule governing the Environmental Damages Fund

Petition: 479

Issue(s): Biological diversity; Climate change; Environmental assessment; Natural resources; Water

Petitioner(s): Canadian organizations

Petitioner location(s): Fernie, British Columbia

Date received: 14 February 2023

Status: Completed—Response(s) to petition received

Summary: The petition raises concerns about the rule governing the eligibility requirements for project applications made to the Environmental Damages Fund.

Environment and Climate Change Canada administers the fund to support priority projects that support the restoration of the natural environment. The petition specifically refers to the distribution of the $58‑million “Teck Fine” made up of proceeds from a fine levied on Teck Coal Ltd.

The petition indicates that the fund must apply the fine to projects meant to rehabilitate and restore the aquatic and riparian environment of the Elk River and its tributaries. But it also indicates that the fund must exclude from eligibility capital projects to acquire lands because this does not abide by the fund’s current application rule. The petition maintains that because of this rule, the project sought by the Elk Valley Regional Land Trust to acquire and rehabilitate deforested lands within the Elk River Watershed would not be considered eligible for funding.

The petition questions the rule and argues that considering land acquisition costs as ineligible project expenditures does not serve the interest of the fund or the fine. Furthermore, the petition maintains that risks to the aquatic environment and to the Elk Valley can be addressed only once clearcutting operations in the Elk Valley are brought under control and that the most effective way to do this is to acquire the lands, restrict logging operations, and begin rehabilitation and restoration works.

The petition seeks to have the ineligibility rule reviewed and amended to permit applications for funds to acquire lands for conservation and restoration. According to the petition, these should be assessed like all other applications for funding and should be approved if the other program criteria are met. The petition maintains that amending the ineligibility rule to allow the fund to consider applications for funding to acquire conservation and rehabilitation land in the Elk Valley is an opportunity for Environment and Climate Change Canada to save one of the most threatened and valuable watersheds in British Columbia.

Federal departments/organizations responsible for reply: Environment and Climate Change Canada; Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat