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• IAIA’04 Abstracts Volume • APPLYING STRATEGIC ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT FROM A FIRST NATIONS ASSESSMENT TO LAND USE AND RESOURCE PERSPECTIVE: REVIEW OF A PROPOSED LNG MANAGEMENT PLANS IN SCOTLAND AND NEW FACILITY ZEALAND: A COMPARISON OF APPROACHES Wilkins, Susan Jackson, Tony Pottinger Gaherty Environmental Consultants Ltd. The Geddes Institute for Planning Research #1200 - 1185 West Georgia St. School of Town and Regional Planning Vancouver, BC V6E 4E6 Canada University of Dundee, Dundee DD1 4HT +1 604 895 7621 Fax: +1 604 3497 Scotland, UK [email protected] +44 1382 345239 Fax: +441382 204234 [email protected] Shum, Michael Pottinger Gaherty Environmental Consultants Ltd. Dixon, Jenny #1200 - 1185 West Georgia St. Department of Planning Vancouver, BC V6E 4E6 Canada University of Auckland + 1 604 895 7625 Fax: +1 604 682 3497 Private Bag 92019, Auckland, New Zealand [email protected] +64 9 373 7599 ext.5344 Fax: +64 9 373 7652 [email protected]. Lewis, Randall Squamish Nation, Squamish, BC The paper examines current and proposed strategic environmental assessment systems within two planning A Vancouver-based firm proposed to construct and operate regimes with very similar origins: one operating in a unitary a liquefied natural gas facility on the Sunshine Coast, BC. The state (New Zealand) that undertook radical changes in project was large enough to trigger a federal-provincial resource management at the start of the 1990s; the other environmental assessment, under the British Columbia (Scotland) striving to accommodate new European, British Environmental Assessment Act (BCEAA) and the Canadian and Scottish priorities for resource management following Environmental Assessment Act (CEAA). The project location legislative devolution and direct adoption of the statutory is within the traditional territory of the Squamish Nation obligations of European Union (EU) Directives. Various (SN), and the SN was represented on the joint Project models for transposing strategic environmental assessment Review Committee. (SEA) into planning frameworks are posited, using the Glasson-Gosling taxonomy. The New Zealand Resource Pottinger Gaherty Environmental Consultants Ltd (PGL), a Management Act (RMA) can be viewed as incremental; the Vancouver-based environmental consulting firm, was retained Scottish application of sustainability appraisal (SA) regarded by the SN to conduct an independent review of the as concurrent; whereas the application of SEA to Scottish EU proponent=s impact assessment reports, on their behalf. The Structural Funds regional programmes is clearly stapled. The SN interests could have been represented with a submission paper draws on practical experience of operating SEA prepared by consultants from their technical perspective. procedures under each regime to demonstrate the strengths However, a technique was developed which briefed SN and weaknesses of these alternative approaches, viewed representatives, and allowed their First Nations viewpoint to from the perspectives of the planner, the public and the be used in the actual assessment of impacts and mitigation developer. It then evaluates the implications of recent measures. changes to New Zealand’s RMA, and modifications to SA in Scotland, the latter to implement the EU SEA Directive. The PGL prepared a briefing package for the SN, which extent to which statutory emphasis on assessment of summarized the available baseline information by Valued environmental effects may weaken efforts to deliver holistic Ecosystem Component (VEC) from the proponent reports. SEA that embraces socio-economic factors is considered. A simplified impact assessment methodology, based on the The arguments for and against applying a parallel SEA CEAA guide, was prepared. The proponent's assessment of evaluation process to strategic land use and resource significance of impacts was deliberately not included in the management plans are examined, in the light of alternative briefing package. arguments for the principles of sustainable development to be fully embodied in the planning processes used for creating The results of the workshop were interesting and in some spatial development frameworks. The case is made for better cases unexpected. Some VECs were found to have impacts integration of SEA into the planning process, to facilitate not considered significant by the SN, while others were effective operational of spatial planning principles and to considered to be mitigable. There were a also a number of enhance transparency for business and the public. VECs where the impacts were judged to be significant, and the SN could not readily identify mitigation measures. PGL=s Key words: strategic environmental assessment, sustainable final report to the regulators recommended that the latter development, land use planning, resource management, group of VECs required further discussions between the Scotland, New Zealand proponent and SN. 5 • IAIA’04 Abstracts Volume • The lesson from this case study is that a melding of technical STRATEGIC ASSESSMENT OF BIODIESEL GROWTH expertise in impact assessment combined with First Nations IN EUROPE traditional knowledge can produce powerful and meaningful results. Johnson, Eric Atlantic Consulting Key words: impact assessment methodology; First Nations Obstgartenstrasse 14, 8136 Gattikon, Switzerland perspective, LNG facility +41 1 772 1079 [email protected] COMPLIANCE WITH FISHERIES ACT SECTION 35(2) In 2001 the EC announced an “action plan” to increase AUTHORISATIONS: A FIELD AUDIT OF HABITAT biodiesel production and consumption dramatically, from less COMPENSATION PROJECTS IN CANADA than 1 million tonnes in 2000 to something like 7 million tonnes in 2010. This report profiles the market development, Quigley, Jason the process costs for making biodiesel and the major Fisheries and Oceans Canada associated impacts. These are four main areas: agricultural Suite 200 - 401 Burrard Street land use, emissions and energy consumption, rapeseed and Vancouver, BC V6C 3S4 Canada glycerine markets and tax revenues. Our findings are that: +1 604 666 7918 Fax: +1 604 666 0292 [email protected] · Costs and tax revenues: Biodiesel costs significantly more to produce than petroleum diesel, so its Harper, David market development will depend primarily on Fisheries and Oceans Canada government subsidies. By 2010, EU governments +1 604 666 3512 Fax: +1 604 666 0292 could offer as much as 2.5 billion per year in tax [email protected] breaks to biodiesel. · Land use: The land required to grow rapeseed for Loss of fish habitat in North America has occurred at an biodiesel has already outstripped production from unprecedented rate through the last century. In response, EU >set-aside= land. To satisfy biodiesel demand in Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) enacted the habitat 2010, all current EU oilseed land (plus another 15% provisions of the Fisheries Act. A Aharmful alteration, of acreage in addition) would need to be devoted disruption, or destruction to fish habitat@ (HADD) cannot to biodiesel markets. occur unless authorised with legally binding compensatory · Environment and energy: Eight comparison studies habitat to off-set the HADD. Canada=s conservation goal is conducted the US, Europe and Australia show that no net loss of the productive capacity of fish habitats (NNL). biodiesel is clearly lower than petroleum diesel in DFO=s performance in achieving its conservation policies has greenhouse gas emissions and non-renewable never been evaluated on a national scale. We investigated 52 energy consumption. It is higher in NOx emissions. habitat compensation projects across Canada to determine The verdict on particulate emissions is mixed - biological, physical, and chemical compliance with some say biodiesel is lower, some say petroleum authorisation specifications. Biological requirements had the diesel is lower. lowest compliance (58%) and chemical requirements the · Market impacts: biodiesel will come to dominate highest (100%). Approximately 86% of authorisations had global rapeseed markets, with market share larger HADD and/or smaller compensation areas than climbing from 5% in 2000 to 40-60% by 2010. authorised. These were not small differences. On average, Glycerine markets will be swamped by byproduct HADDs in riverine habitat were 389% larger than authorised. output, which will more than double worldwide Consequently, 45% of in-channel compensation projects and production potential. 72% of riparian projects resulted in net losses in habitat area. Potential Fisheries Act violations were prevalent at 50% of Key words: energy assessment, strategic environmental the projects. Multiple regression analyses indicated violations assessment, biodiesel, alternative fuels were negatively associated with the occurrence of a DFO field inspection, providing empirical support for increased monitoring. Habitat compensation, as currently implemented PROPOSITION OF AN ANALYSIS GRID FOR SEA in Canada, is at best slowing the rate of habitat loss. PROCESSES Increasing the amount of authorised compensatory habitat in the absence of institutional changes will not reverse this Risse, Nathalie trend. Improvements in monitoring and enforcement are Service de Mathématiques de la Gestion necessary to move towards achieving Canada=s conservation Université Libre de Bruxelles goals. CP 210/01 Boulevard du Triomphe Brussels B-1050 Belgium Key words: compliance, habitat compensation, no net loss, + 32 2 650 5505 Fax: + 32 2 650 5970 field audit, Fisheries