BC Supreme Court Upholds Yet Another Decision Of The BC Environmental Assessment Office

In a recent case where a decision of the BC Environmental Assessment Office ("EAO") was challenged, the BC Supreme Court has found in favour of the EAO and granted it considerable discretion in carrying out its functions under the BC Environmental Assessment Act (the "Act") and regulations. In David Suzuki Foundation v British Columbia (Ministry of Environment), 2013 BCSC 874, the BC Supreme Court dismissed the judicial review petition of two environmental groups, which sought, among other things, a declaration that an environmental assessment was required for a number of hydroelectric projects. 

This case involved a proposal to construct 10 run-of-river hydroelectric power plants on tributary creeks to the Holmes River over an approximately 40 km distance. Each plant would have a generating capacity of less than 15 megawatts and would thus fall well below the 50 megawatt threshold at which an environmental assessment is required for hydroelectric projects under the