B.C.’s Environmental Assessment Office (EAO) needs to change its ways if it’s to live up to its mandate to protect the environment, according to a recent report from Auditor General John Doyle.
The report found that the conditions in EAO certificates are so vague that they’re basically unenforceable, and that the provincial body does not get out into B.C.’s hinterland enough to make sure major projects are meeting government regulations.
“We can’t offer any assurance to citizens that the adverse effects that could flow from projects are being managed properly,” Doyle told Business in Vancouver.
The EAO was set up in 1995 to examine major projects such as mines and power plants for potentially adverse environmental, economic, social and health effects the projects could have during their lifetime.
Since the organization was set up, only one project has been refused certification, prompting environmentalists to call the organization a “rubber stamp” for business interests.
Environment Minister Terry Lake said that’s not the case.
Lake said Doyle’s report focused only on what happens after a certificate is used, noting that the assessment process itself often mitigates environmental effects before a certificate is issued.
Still, the EAO has accepted Doyle’s recommendations, and Lake wants to better coordinate compliance and enforcement of environmental regulations across all ministries so that members of the public can easily track if a single project is living up to government standards.
“I think that’s something we should be doing, it’s a way to strengthen the process for sure,” said Lake.
Check out this week’s edition of BIV for more about Doyle’s report.
Joel McKay
Twitter:jmckaybiv