Federal Committee Releases Report On Proposed Changes To Canadian Environmental Assessment Act

The Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development has issued its report on the statutory review of the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act (CEAA), titled Statutory Review of the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act: Protecting the Environment, Managing our Resources. The report summarizes the observations made by the Standing Committee during its mandated review of CEAA during which the Committee received both written submissions and oral testimony. The Committee highlighted that key to their deliberations was whether the current federal process for environmental assessments realised the stated goal of CEAA, namely, to provide an effective means of integrating environmental factors into planning and decision-making processes in a manner that promotes sustainable development.