Canadian Environmental Assessment Act (S.C. 1992, c. 37)
Full Document:
Act current to 2012-05-02 and last amended on 2010-07-12. Previous Versions
Marginal note:Confidences of Queen’s Privy Council for Canada
6. Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, no confidence of the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada in respect of which subsection 39(1) of the Canada Evidence Act applies shall be disclosed or made available to any person.
Excluded Projects
Marginal note:Exclusions
7. (1) An assessment of a project is not required under section 5 or sections 8 to 10.1, where
(a) the project is described in an exclusion list;
(b) the project is to be carried out in response to a national emergency for which special temporary measures are being taken under the Emergencies Act; or
(c) the project is to be carried out in response to an emergency and carrying out the project forthwith is in the interest of preventing damage to property or the environment or is in the interest of public health or safety.
Marginal note:Exclusions
(2) For greater certainty, an assessment is not required under any of the provisions referred to in this subsection where a federal authority exercises a power or performs a duty or function referred to in paragraph 5(1)(b) or 10.1(2)(b) — or a person or body exercises a power or performs a duty or function referred to in paragraph 5(1)(b), 9(2)(b), 9.1(2)(b) or 10(1)(b) — in relation to a project and the essential details of the project are not specified before or at the time the power is exercised or the duty or function is performed.
- 1992, c. 37, s. 7;
- 1994, c. 26, s. 23(F);
- 2003, c. 9, s. 3.
Marginal note:Definitions
7.1 (1) The following definitions apply in this section and in the schedule.
“building”
« bâtiment »
“building” means a roofed physical work.
“environmentally sensitive area”
« région écosensible »
“environmentally sensitive area” means an area protected for environmental reasons in regional or local land use plans, or by a local, regional, provincial or federal government body.
“expansion”
« agrandissement »
“expansion” means an increase in the exterior dimensions or the production capacity of a physical work.
“historic canal”
« canal historique »
“historic canal” has the same meaning as in section 2 of the Historic Canals Regulations and includes any federal lands appertaining or incident to a historic canal.
“intelligent transportation system”
« système de transport intelligent »
“intelligent transportation system” means a system that uses technologies to improve the efficiency, safety and reliability of a transportation network.
“modification”
« modification »
“modification” means an alteration to a physical work that does not alter the purpose or function of the work. It does not include an expansion or a relocation.
“national historic site”
« lieu historique national »
“national historic site” means a place that is marked or otherwise commemorated under paragraph 3(a) of the Historic Sites and Monuments Act and is under the administration of the Parks Canada Agency.
“national park”
« parc national »
“national park” means a park named and described in Schedule 1 to the Canada National Parks Act, or a park established under a federal-provincial agreement that is under the responsibility of the Minister.
“park reserve”
« réserve »
“park reserve” means a national park reserve of Canada named and described in Schedule 2 to the Canada National Parks Act or a reserve established under a federal-provincial agreement that is under the responsibility of the Minister.
“water body”
« plan d’eau »
“water body” includes a lake, a canal, a reservoir, an ocean, a river and its tributaries and a wetland, up to the annual high-water mark, but does not include a sewage or waste treatment lagoon, a mine tailings pond, an artificial irrigation pond, a dugout or a ditch that does not contain fish habitat as defined in subsection 34(1) of the Fisheries Act.
Marginal note:Projects set out in schedule
(2) An environmental assessment is not required under section 5 or sections 8 to 10.1 for the projects and classes of projects that are set out in the schedule and that are to be carried out in places other than a national park, park reserve, national historic site or historic canal and that are funded under any of the following plans, funds or initiatives:
(a) the plan referred to in Building Canada: Modern Infrastructure for a Strong Canada published under ISBN 978-0-662-05130-5;
(c) the funds referred to in sections 300 and 303 of the Budget Implementation Act, 2009 or the initiatives referred to in sections 309 to 315 of that Act;
(d) the Recreational Infrastructure Canada, Helping Municipalities Build Stronger Communities or Investments in First Nations Infrastructure initiatives announced in Chapter 3 of Canada’s Economic Action Plan (Budget 2009) tabled in the House of Commons on January 27, 2009 and published under ISBN 978-0-660-19853-8;
(e) the Border Infrastructure Fund referred to in the Infrastructure Canada Departmental Performance Report for the 2007–2008 period tabled in the House of Commons on February 5, 2009 and published under ISBN 978-0-660-63741-9;
(f) the initiative administered by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation to provide funding for the renovation and energy retrofits of off-reserve federally funded and administered social housing units that are subject to an operating agreement under a National Housing Act social housing program; or
(g) the Municipal Rural Infrastructure Fund announced in Budget 2003 and administered by Infrastructure Canada to provide funding for smaller-scale municipal infrastructure projects that support sustainable development, improved quality of life and economic opportunities and increased connectivity for smaller and rural communities.
Marginal note:Non-application
(3) The Minister may decide that subsection (2) does not apply in respect of a project that is referred to in that subsection if the Minister is of the opinion that it may cause significant adverse environmental effects.
Marginal note:Notice
(4) If the Minister decides that subsection (2) does not apply in respect of a project, the Minister shall, without delay, provide notice of the decision to the proponent of the project and any federal authority that is likely to exercise a power or perform a duty or function referred to in section 5 in respect of the project.
- 2010, c. 12, s. 2153.