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ARTICLE · 21 JANUARY 2016

Court Declares British Columbia Wrongfully Abdicated Environmental Decision-Making Authority Respecting Enbridge Northern Gateway

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On January 13, 2016, the BC Supreme Court released a decision with guidance respecting a common feature of environmental assessment, namely provincial/federal harmonization of reviews and corresponding decisions.

CanadaEnvironment
Wally Braul
Wally Braul
James Smellie
James Smellie
Maya Stano
Maya Stano
Mark Youden
Mark Youden
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Summary

On January 13, 2016, the BC Supreme Court released a decision with guidance respecting a common feature of environmental assessment, namely provincial/federal harmonization of reviews and corresponding decisions.  The case of Coastal First Nations v British Columbia (Environment), 2016 BCSC 34 involved a 2010 "Equivalency Agreement" between BC's Environmental Assessment Office and the federal National Energy Board respecting the Northern Gateway Project ("NGP"). Under this Agreement, the Province purported to remove the generic requirement that "reviewable projects", including NGP, must receive an environmental assessment Certificate to proceed; a Certificate is the ultimate approval document issued under BC's provincial environmental assessment legislation. 

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