Alan Harvie Quoted in the Daily Oil Bulletin - Supreme Court Raises the Bar for Environmental 'Scoping'
In a potentially significant decision, the Supreme Court of Canada has raised the bar for federal government agencies charged with deciding what level of environmental review is needed for major industrial projects."The long and the short of it is that it's going to lead to further delays," Alan Harvie, a lawyer with Calgary firm Macleod Dixon LLP told the Bulletin. "It's a real push for the courts telling federal agencies to look broadly at potential environmental impacts. I think the federal government is going to have its work cut out."
"I believe it's going to drive responsible authorities -- like the DFO -- to more thoroughly canvass other federal departments and that isn't going to happen quickly."
Part of the problem, he said, is that the federal agencies, such as DFO, that will be responsible for doing the work, are not properly staffed or equipped for the job.
"They would have to bring in Environment Canada, Natural Resources Canada, and Transport Canada, for example. Other government agencies may have those skill sets, budgets and people. In this kind of situation, I predict that DFO would have to consult with many other departments and that doesn't happen quickly. It means more delay."
Perhaps equally important, the Supreme Court took issue with the way DFO decided what level of environmental review would be required, a process environmental lawyers like Harvie describe as "scoping."
"Scoping is everything," said Harvie. "If you scope a project for review narrowly, it's a much narrower piece of the project you're studying. The (Supreme) Court said, 'No, you study the whole project when it's on the comprehensive study list.'"
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