Several weeks ago, Nova Scotia’s Department of Environment and Climate Change offered Nova Scotians the opportunity to weigh in on their commitment to modernize the environmental assessment (EA) process as defined in the Environmental Goals and Climate Change Reduction Act. Some of Dalhousie’s leading experts in the area, including Dr. Alana Westwood, Ali MacKellar, Ben Collison, and Dr. Ian Stewart authored a letter with recommendations for modernizing EA regulations in Nova Scotia. This letter was signed by a further 10 Dal-affiliated experts with experience in EA policy and practice.
Given that the last major update of existing regulations was in 2008, and we now have several years’ experience with the federal Impact Assessment Act (2019), it is an opportune time to align Nova Scotia’s EA regulations with global and national best practice.
Some key recommendations made by the authors in brief include:
1. The Office of the Auditor General of Nova Scotia should investigate the history of the decision process for Class 1 EAs to ensure the timelines of the law are being appropriately interpreted by the Department of Environment and Climate Change and the Minister.
2. Mandating GBA+ as a lens through which to assess impacts must be a mandatory part of all new assessments.
3. A commitment on the part of the Province to uphold scientific integrity in reviews should be added, explicitly, to the EA Regulations.
4. An overhaul of the online EA Registry to improve searchability and make all relevant documentation available to the public.
5. Make use of S. 47 of the Environment Act to support joint assessments between the Province and Mi’kmaw communities.
6. Develop a participant funding program in which Mi’kmaw communities and the public can apply for funds to support their participation in, and independent study of, EA processes for proposed projects.
7. Initiate a province-wide process of collaborative regional land and water-use planning between governments, Mi’kmaw Nations, and communities at the level of watersheds or ecodistricts.
8. Include cumulative effects as a lens for impact predictions for all Valued Components in project documents, rather than additional section at the end of documentation.
9. Climate change should be a mandatory prediction component in all project documentation (including EA Reports, Focus Studies, etc.) and projects should not be approved without providing estimates of both climate change on the project and the project’s impact on climate change.
Westwood Lab 