Canadian Environmental Assessment Act (S.C. 1992, c. 37)
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Act current to 2012-05-02 and last amended on 2010-07-12. Previous Versions
Canadian Environmental Assessment Act
S.C. 1992, c. 37
Assented to 1992-06-23
An Act to establish a federal environmental assessment process
Preamble
WHEREAS the Government of Canada seeks to achieve sustainable development by conserving and enhancing environmental quality and by encouraging and promoting economic development that conserves and enhances environmental quality;
WHEREAS environmental assessment provides an effective means of integrating environmental factors into planning and decision-making processes in a manner that promotes sustainable development;
WHEREAS the Government of Canada is committed to exercising leadership within Canada and internationally in anticipating and preventing the degradation of environmental quality and at the same time ensuring that economic development is compatible with the high value Canadians place on environmental quality;
AND WHEREAS the Government of Canada is committed to facilitating public participation in the environmental assessment of projects to be carried out by or with the approval or assistance of the Government of Canada and providing access to the information on which those environmental assessments are based;
NOW, THEREFORE, Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate and House of Commons of Canada, enacts as follows:
SHORT TITLE
Marginal note:Short title
1. This Act may be cited as the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act.
INTERPRETATION
Marginal note:Definitions
2. (1) In this Act,
“Agency”
« Agence »
“Agency” means the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency established by section 61;
“assessment by a review panel”
« examen par une commission »
“assessment by a review panel” means an environmental assessment that is conducted by a review panel established pursuant to section 33 and that includes a consideration of the factors required to be considered under subsections 16(1) and (2);
“comprehensive study”
« étude approfondie »
“comprehensive study” means an environmental assessment that is conducted under section 21, and that includes a consideration of the factors required to be considered under subsections 16(1) and (2);
“comprehensive study list”
« liste d’étude approfondie »
“comprehensive study list” means a list of all projects or classes of projects that have been prescribed by regulations made under paragraph 58(1)(i);
“environment”
« environnement »
“environment” means the components of the Earth, and includes
(a) land, water and air, including all layers of the atmosphere,
(b) all organic and inorganic matter and living organisms, and
(c) the interacting natural systems that include components referred to in paragraphs (a) and (b);
“environmental assessment”
« évaluation environnementale »
“environmental assessment” means, in respect of a project, an assessment of the environmental effects of the project that is conducted in accordance with this Act and the regulations;
“environmental effect”
« effets environnementaux »
“environmental effect” means, in respect of a project,
(a) any change that the project may cause in the environment, including any change it may cause to a listed wildlife species, its critical habitat or the residences of individuals of that species, as those terms are defined in subsection 2(1) of the Species at Risk Act,
(b) any effect of any change referred to in paragraph (a) on
(i) health and socio-economic conditions,
(ii) physical and cultural heritage,
(iii) the current use of lands and resources for traditional purposes by aboriginal persons, or
(iv) any structure, site or thing that is of historical, archaeological, paleontological or architectural significance, or
(c) any change to the project that may be caused by the environment,
whether any such change or effect occurs within or outside Canada;
“exclusion list”
« liste d’exclusion »
“exclusion list”means a list of projects or classes of projects that have been exempted from the requirement to conduct an assessment by regulations made under paragraph 59(c) or (c.1);
“federal authority”
« autorité fédérale »
“federal authority” means
(a) a Minister of the Crown in right of Canada,
(b) an agency of the Government of Canada, a parent Crown corporation, as defined in subsection 83(1) of the Financial Administration Act, or any other body established by or pursuant to an Act of Parliament that is ultimately accountable through a Minister of the Crown in right of Canada to Parliament for the conduct of its affairs,
(c) any department or departmental corporation set out in Schedule I or II to the Financial Administration Act, and
(d) any other body that is prescribed pursuant to regulations made under paragraph 59(e),
but does not include the Executive Council of — or a minister, department, agency or body of the government of — Yukon, the Northwest Territories or Nunavut, a council of the band within the meaning of the Indian Act, Export Development Canada, the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, a Crown corporation that is a wholly-owned subsidiary, as defined in subsection 83(1) of the Financial Administration Act, The Hamilton Harbour Commissioners as constituted pursuant to The Hamilton Harbour Commissioners’ Act, a harbour commission established pursuant to the Harbour Commissions Act, a not-for-profit corporation that enters into an agreement under subsection 80(5) of the Canada Marine Act or a port authority established under that Act;
“federal lands”
« territoire domanial »
“federal lands” means
(a) lands that belong to Her Majesty in right of Canada, or that Her Majesty in right of Canada has the power to dispose of, and all waters on and airspace above those lands, other than lands under the administration and control of the Commissioner of Yukon, the Northwest Territories or Nunavut,
(b) the following lands and areas, namely,
(i) the internal waters of Canada,
(ii) the territorial sea of Canada,
(iii) the exclusive economic zone of Canada, and
(iv) the continental shelf of Canada, and
(c) reserves, surrendered lands and any other lands that are set apart for the use and benefit of a band and are subject to the Indian Act, and all waters on and airspace above those reserves or lands;
“follow-up program”
« programme de suivi »
“follow-up program” means a program for
(a) verifying the accuracy of the environmental assessment of a project, and
(b) determining the effectiveness of any measures taken to mitigate the adverse environmental effects of the project;
“interested party”
« partie intéressée »
“interested party” means, in respect of an environmental assessment, any person or body having an interest in the outcome of the environmental assessment for a purpose that is neither frivolous nor vexatious;
“mediation”
« médiation »
“mediation” means an environmental assessment that is conducted with the assistance of a mediator appointed pursuant to section 30 and that includes a consideration of the factors required to be considered under subsections 16(1) and (2);
“Minister”
« ministre »
“Minister” means the Minister of the Environment;
“mitigation”
« mesures d’atténuation »
“mitigation” means, in respect of a project, the elimination, reduction or control of the adverse environmental effects of the project, and includes restitution for any damage to the environment caused by such effects through replacement, restoration, compensation or any other means;
“prescribed”
Version anglaise seulement“prescribed” means prescribed by the regulations;
“project”
« projet »
“project” means
(a) in relation to a physical work, any proposed construction, operation, modification, decommissioning, abandonment or other undertaking in relation to that physical work, or
(b) any proposed physical activity not relating to a physical work that is prescribed or is within a class of physical activities that is prescribed pursuant to regulations made under paragraph 59(b);
“proponent”
« promoteur »
“proponent”, in respect of a project, means the person, body, federal authority or government that proposes the project;
“record”
« document »
“record” includes any correspondence, memorandum, book, plan, map, drawing, diagram, pictorial or graphic work, photograph, film, microform, sound recording, videotape, machine readable record, and any other documentary material, regardless of physical form or characteristics, and any copy thereof;
“Registry”
« registre »
“Registry”means the Canadian Environmental Assessment Registry established under section 55;
“responsible authority”
« autorité responsable »
“responsible authority”, in relation to a project, means a federal authority that is required pursuant to subsection 11(1) to ensure that an environmental assessment of the project is conducted;
“screening”
« examen préalable »
“screening” means an environmental assessment that is conducted pursuant to section 18 and that includes a consideration of the factors set out in subsection 16(1);
“screening report”
« rapport d’examen préalable »
“screening report” means a report that summarizes the results of a screening;
“sustainable development”
« développement durable »
“sustainable development” means development that meets the needs of the present, without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
Extended meaning of“administration of federal lands”
(2) In so far as this Act applies to Crown corporations, the expression “administration of federal lands” includes the ownership or management of those lands.
Marginal note:For greater certainty
(3) For greater certainty, any construction, operation, modification, decommissioning, abandonment or other undertaking in relation to a physical work and any activity that is prescribed or is within a class of activities that is prescribed for the purposes of the definition “project” in subsection (1) is a project for at least so long as, in relation to it, a person or body referred to in subsection 5(1) or (2), 8(1), 9(2), 9.1(2), 10(1) or 10.1(2) is considering, but has not yet taken, an action referred to in those subsections.
- 1992, c. 37, s. 2;
- 1993, c. 28, s. 78, c. 34, s. 18(F);
- 1996, c. 31, s. 61;
- 1998, c. 10, s. 164, c. 15, s. 50;
- 2002, c. 7, s. 122, c. 29, s. 137;
- 2003, c. 9, s. 1;
- 2010, c. 12, s. 2152.