Cumulative Effects Referral Criteria Report for the Nunavut Planning Commission
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Cumulative Effects Referral Criteria Report for the Nunavut Planning Commission FINAL REPORT Prepared for: Nunavut Planning Commission Cambridge Bay, NU Prepared by: Nunami Jacques Whitford Limited Rankin Inlet, NU In association with: EDI Environmental Dynamics Inc. May 2009 1036729 Cumulative Effects Referral Criteria Report Executive Summary Executive Summary The Nunavut Planning Commission (NPC) was established through the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement (NLCA) as an Institution of Public Government (IPG), responsible for the preparation of land use plans to guide and direct resource use and development in the Nunavut Settlement Area. Once a land use plan is approved, all federal and territorial departments and agencies are required to conduct their activities and operations in accordance with the land use plan. Project proposals are reviewed for conformity with approved land use plans by the NPC. Compliant proposals are advanced to the Nunavut Impact Review Board (NIRB) for screening or, where the proposal is exempt from screening (Schedule 12-1 of the NLCA), directly to territorial or federal agencies. Where the NPC has concerns respecting the cumulative impact of a project proposal in relation to other development activities in a planning region, Articles 12.3.3 and 13.4.4 of the NLCA provide the NPC with authority to refer proposals on Schedule 12-1 to the NIRB for screening. The NPC proposes to develop a process for the referral of projects on Schedule 12-1 when it has concerns with respect to cumulative effects. The NPC retained Nunami Jacques Whitford Limited (Nunami) to prepare a discussion paper to inform the planning process and contribute to the development of a cumulative impact referral process in the land use planning process. Considerable attention has been given to investigating how to assess and manage cumulative effects in Canada, and the north in particular. During the literature review for this paper, Nunami reviewed 59 references related to cumulative effects assessment and management, many of which had a northern focus. In addition to the literature review, interviews were conducted with a variety of officials throughout Nunavut. The results of the literature review, interviews, dialogue with the NPC and the author’s professional experience were applied to develop criteria to assist the NPC in the development of a referral process to determine when potential cumulative effects from project proposals falling on Schedule 12-1 may present a concern warranting further attention through screening by the NIRB. The criteria presented are based on consideration of spatial analysis and activity type. A number of considerations for addressing cumulative effects were presented and evaluated with reference to applicability to the NPC’s requirements. To advance the development of the referral criteria, the following recommendations are offered: • NPC and government continue to work towards the establishment of thresholds. This is a long term solution based on considerable research and analysis and should be pursued in consideration of the Nunavut General Monitoring Plan. • The NPC and its planning partners, consider the applicability, practicality and potential implications of implementing the proposed referral criteria. Such review should consider the simulated application of the criteria to a range of previously completed Schedule 12-1 projects which were exempt from screening. • The NPC and its planning partners review the preliminary list of Schedule 12-1project proposals that are considered to raise cumulative effects concerns. • The appropriate parties in Nunavut address the approach to systematically assessing and managing cumulative effects in Nunavut. This report presents a set of referral criteria for consideration during the development of the NLUP. It must be acknowledged that the authors consider the criteria presented to be an interim measure to be applied in the absence of thresholds. Additionally, the criteria proposed were developed to address NPC’s cumulative effects referral responsibility under the NLCA and should not be considered as a cumulative effects assessment and management system, but could be part of a larger management system that may be developed by other parties. Page i May 2009 Cumulative Effects Referral Criteria Report Executive Summary May 2009 Page ii Cumulative Effects Referral Criteria Report Table of Contents Table of Contents 1 Introduction ................................................................................................................ 1-1 1.1 Background ................................................................................................................. 1-1 1.2 Study Approach and Outline ........................................................................................ 1-2 2 Addressing Cumulative Effects ................................................................................ 2-1 2.1 The NPC Referral ........................................................................................................ 2-1 2.1.1 Basis of Referral............................................................................................... 2-1 2.1.2 The Referral Challenge .................................................................................... 2-2 2.2 Cumulative Effects Solutions ....................................................................................... 2-4 2.2.1 Summary of Options ........................................................................................ 2-4 2.2.2 Project and Regional Assessment Partnership ................................................. 2-5 2.3 Decision Making .......................................................................................................... 2-7 2.3.1 Information Needs ............................................................................................ 2-8 2.3.2 Thresholds ....................................................................................................... 2-8 2.3.3 Scenario Forecasting ....................................................................................... 2-8 2.4 Nunavut Land Use Plans ............................................................................................. 2-8 2.4.1 Strategic Considerations .................................................................................. 2-9 2.4.2 Specific Conditions ......................................................................................... 2-10 2.4.3 Valued Components and Indicators................................................................ 2-11 3 Review of Cumulative Effects Approaches .............................................................. 3-1 3.1 Approach ..................................................................................................................... 3-1 3.2 Findings ....................................................................................................................... 3-7 4 Referral Criteria ......................................................................................................... 4-1 4.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................. 4-1 4.2 Project Proposals......................................................................................................... 4-1 4.2.1 Projects Exempt from Screening ...................................................................... 4-1 4.2.2 Exclusions to Definition of Project Proposal ..................................................... 4-3 4.3 The Criteria .................................................................................................................. 4-4 4.3.1 Spatial Overlap with Designated Areas ............................................................ 4-5 4.3.2 Implications for Other Projects ......................................................................... 4-5 5 Conclusions and Recommendations ....................................................................... 5-1 6 Bibliography ............................................................................................................... 6-1 Appendix A Literature Review Summary .................................................................. 1 Appendix B Draft Referral Criteria Summary ................ Error! Bookmark not defined. Page iii May 2009 Cumulative Effects Referral Criteria Report Table of Contents List of Tables Table 3.1 References by Region and Type ....................................................................... 3-2 Table 3.2 List of References by Geographic Region ......................................................... 3-3 Table 3.3 Application of Approaches ................................................................................ 3-8 List of Figures Figure 1.1 A Cumulative Effects Problem .......................................................................... 2-3 May 2009 Page iv Cumulative Effects Referral Criteria Report Abbreviations Abbreviations CEAA ...................................................................... Canadian Environmental Assessment Act CEAMF .................................. Cumulative Effects Assessment and Management Framework CGS ..................................................................... Community and Government Services (GN) GMP.................................................................................................... General Monitoring Plan GN .....................................................................................................