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Review Board targets timeliness in environmental assessment
Audit finds "vast majority" applications processed in timely manner Thandie Vela Northern News Services Published Monday, Oct. 10, 2011
Among the recommendations from the audit is a need to clarify expectations for community engagement, including how to conduct consultation in a timely manner. Tlicho Government advisor John B. Zoe said community engagement is "probably the most important part of the whole process. "That shouldn't be compromised at all," he said. "The whole thing about the regulatory regime is obviously to make things easier for the government, but not at the cost of the environment and way of life and people." The audit, released last week and carried out by scientific environmental service provider SENES Consultants Ltd., evaluated the quality of the environment in the Mackenzie Valley by assessing the regulatory regime, the monitoring of cumulative impacts, and trends in the environment. The vast majority of Mackenzie Valley Resource Management Act applications are processed in a timely manner, the audit found. "The environmental audit that was just released is recognizing the work of the boards, what we've done and how we are developing a system that's becoming increasingly more co-ordinated, more integrated and easy to work within," said Zabey Nevitt, executive director of the Mackenzie Valley Land and Water Board. Other findings note: foundational elements of the system of land and water management are still missing, unsettled land claims lead to uncertainty about land tenure, and anecdotal reports indicate the community engagement and consultation process is "time consuming." The audit, conducted in 2010, is a requirement in the resource management act, which calls for an independent environment survey every five years. The Mackenzie Valley Environmental Impact Review Board has also taken steps to improve the regulatory environment in the Northwest Territories, with the commission of an external report on the environmental assessment process. The report, prepared by Stantec Consulting Ltd., focused on improving the timeliness of the process, in light of criticism over what industry and others say is an increasingly complex and lengthy regulatory regime. "The Chamber of Mines congratulates the Review Board for recognizing that there are problems, for then examining what is within its authority to change, and taking steps to make those changes," the chamber said in a news release. "Everybody in the North is highly dependant on resource development," executive director of the chamber Tom Hoefer recently told NewsNorth. "Taking action to make improvement is important." Recommendations within the Review Board's authority listed in the report include increased procedural guidance, improved preliminary screening, and rules prescribing timelines. The Review Board has also struck a strategic plan to clarify its mission "to conduct fair and timely environmental impact assessments in the Mackenzie Valley," chairperson Richard Edjericon said in a written statement.
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