A year and a half into BC's New Era, the impact of the government's legislative agenda is starting to be felt in communities across the province. Rollbacks in environmental laws governing forestry, mining, and oil and gas mean that our resources will be exploited with less and less regard for environmental quality. Less discussed, but just as important, are changes to these environmental laws that have another lasting and divisive impact: they reduce the opportunity for residents and communities to participate in decisions that will affect them, their health and the quality of their environment.
Take for example, environmental assessment. Bill 38, BC's new Environmental Assessment Act will be proclaimed into force before the end of this year. The new law significantly diminishes opportunities for the public to participate in environmental assessments in BC. An essential component of meaningful environmental assessment is public participation, whereby local residents and affected communities have a say in how decisions about power plants, pipelines, mines, or ski resorts may affect them.
Meaningful consultation makes residents in the community aware of proposed projects and includes them in shaping how and whether the project is constructed in a way that is consistent with community values. After all, it is the community that will have to live alongside the project once it becomes operational. It also provides a forum for discussion of how a project can be constructed and operated in a manner that does not adversely impact local residents and the local environment. Indeed, many project proponents agree that public consultation results in a better project proposal, and can actually improve the final design of a project, because it will be in keeping with the wishes of the community.
The old Environmental Assessment Act guaranteed local government a meaningful role through a Project Committee, which oversaw the EA review. It clearly stated the opportunities for public comment, setting clear standards for public consultation. The new Act eliminates these standards and leaves virtually all decisions about the scope and extent of public consultation to the Executive Director of the Environmental Assessment Office. The certainty afforded by the old law has been replaced by discretion to be exercised by government staff. And while we are assured that consultation will be guaranteed through a yet-to-be-developed regulation, the fact remains that that this new approach is a dramatic step backward from the openness found in the old Act.
A similar scenario is unfolding with respect to BC's Waste Management Act. In September, the government announced a sweeping review of our primary environmental protection law. Currently, when a pollution permit is granted, local residents can ask the Environmental Appeal Board to review the terms or approval of the permit, where a person is concerned that the pollution will adversely affect their health or the environment.
Changes being considered may well mean that citizens concerned about local air and water quality will no longer be able to go to the Environmental Appeal Board to appeal permits that the government decides are of low or medium risk. Proposed changes could also mean that local residents may no longer receive notice when a local industry applies for a pollution permit, or wants to change the terms of its authorization. Whatever the results of this review are, it seems clear that residents and communities will have less ability to deal with local concerns such as pollution near residential areas or sensitive environments.
Our natural environment and quality of life will suffer from these proposed changes. But so too will our sense of community. Meaningful dialogue amongst residents, industry, and local governments helps build and maintain a sense of shared values and interests at the community level. If opportunities for consultation and dialogue are removed, the government will help create problems and divisions in communities that otherwise could have been resolved through measured, cooperative, transparent and accountable processes. Impoverishing our communities as well as our environment is no way to govern.
Karen Campbell is a staff lawyer with West Coast Environmental Law in Vancouver, and a research associate with the BC Office of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.