B.C.’s auditor general questions the worth of the province’s environmental assessment process in a report released July 7.
Auditor general John Doyle’s report examined what happens once projects get approval from the Environmental Assessment Office (EAO), which aims to lessen mining and other projects’ impact on the environment.
He found that the office does not adequately monitor projects to ensure that conditions are being met. Making matters worse, those conditions can sometimes be difficult to measure or enforce.
Doyle also criticized the EAO for not providing enough information to the public, making it difficult for anyone to evaluate whether the process is working.
The EAO responded to Doyle in the report. It largely agrees with the critiques and said it will either work to implement some of Doyle’s suggestions or that it is already in the process of doing so.
Doyle’s six main recommendations are to:
- ensure commitments are clearly written in a measurable and enforceable manner;
- continue to work with the Ministry of Environment to finalize a policy framework that will provide provincial guidance on environmental mitigation;
- clarify the post-certification monitoring responsibilities and compliance mechanisms for each commitment;
- develop and implement a comprehensive compliance and enforcement program that includes an integrated information management system to monitor project progress and ensure compliance;
- conduct post-certificate evaluations to determine whether environmental assessments are avoiding or mitigating the potential significant adverse effects of certified projects; and
- provide appropriate accountability information for projects through the environmental assessment process.
Glen Korstrom
Twitter: GlenKorstrom