Environmental Assessment in Ontario: A Comparative Analysis with Federal EA Process

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Introduction
The term ‘environmental assessment’ is referred to the process of development and
decision-making that assesses the probable ‘environmental effects’ of a proposed assignment or
plan. This procedure is obligatory under the Environmental Assessment Act chiefly for public
sectors projects as well as strategies. The purpose of the Act is to institute a procedure that
further recognizes and determines impending environmental issues prior to the occurrence of
actual environmental damage for the welfare of the Ontarians (Kirchhoff et al.). The processes of
Environment Assessment are further aimed to recognize the ways to alleviate the negative
impacts of environmental plans and further locate substitutes and take in consideration public
reviews and concerns prior to any project implementation (White and Noble).. The Canadian
Environmental Assessment Agency controls the federal EA procedures in Canada. The CEAA
2012, further known as Canadian Environmental Act, 2012 facilitates collaboration between the
federal government and other authorities in the supply and delivery of improved quality
environmental assessments (White and Noble). The Ontario EA is referred as the sole Canadian
jurisdiction whereby environmental assessments are generally not obligatory for employment of
private-sector plans and projects. The Ontario Ministry of the Environment (MOE) that governs
the regional as well as provincial ES processes (Goulson et al.). The Environmental Assessment
Act has been employed to develop several ecological as well as environmental strategy
procedures, discourse obligations along with documentary necessities which are purposed to be
adequate with the environmental impact of the undertaking that is being projected (Mulvihill et
al.). The report will aim to evaluate the use of certain strategies implemented by the Ontario EA
process along with providing a brief background and general idea of the EA process in Ontario.
Following this, the paper will further explore the substitution of the Federal EA process under
CEAA 2102 further analysing the strengths and limitations of Federal and Ontario EA process.
Discussion
Overview of Ontario Environmental Assessment
The EA Act that is considered to have come into to effect in the1970s administers the
environmental assessment procedures in Ontario. The EAA has been employed in order to
establish several environmental strategy procedures along with environmental evaluation
processes which are further purposed to assess the probable positive and destructive
environmental impacts of the anticipated project prior to the commencement of the projects
(Bond et al). It is important to note that the Act has immense relevance to public sector projects
especially those of regional ministries, institutes and municipalities. The proponents who are not
subjugated to the EA act must evaluate the environmental benefits and limitations of their
projects in a transparent and expedient manner (Land et al.). Furthermore, the EA program of
Ontario is purposed to be anticipatory and defensive in nature, as the exponents are unable to
proceed with their proposals without performing comparative evaluation of diversified choices
and can further exhibit that their chosen substitutes has been regarded as environmentally
advantageous and thus required to concentrate on the started issue or opportunity that has been
highlighted in the EA documentation (Odparlik, Lisa and Köppel). At this juncture, the two wide
forms of environmental reviews namely comprehensive and streamlined must be taken into
consideration. However, these assessments vary in the extent of both the strategy and public

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discussion activities that the proponents must adhere to along with the participation of the
Ministry at the assessment period (Kelly et al.).
Evolution of Ontario Environmental Assessment Process
The Ontario Environmental Assessment Act since its formation has undergone several
transformations to its environmental evaluation procedures. The major modifications and
amendments to the Act must be taken into consideration which was purposed for implementing
environmental evaluation as less expensive and highly effectual (Lee and George). These
modifications imposed time durations for the evaluation of environmental review documentation
and formed public review as an authorized requirement further providing the Minister the
authority to determine the section of environmental assessment would be subjected to public
consideration (Gibson et al.). The regulations conceded during the era of 2000 in regards to
administrative obligations and initiatives in particular to the 2001 directive that expanded the
scope of the EA Act in order to incorporate private sector power generation as well as
transmission assignments administrative obligations and commitments posed in the 1990s to
make all power generators and transmitters authorized to similar systems (Jackson et al.). It must
further be noted that the 2007 bylaw further lengthened the Act to the capitalist sector waste
management proposals and further initiated an effective assessment process for few waste
management proposals in particular that achieve certain thresholds. Following this, the directive
introduced in 2008, focused on an improved and more efficient environmental assessment
process for every public aided transportation projects regarding to the initiative introduced by
government related to MoveOntario 2020 proposal (Kirchhoff and Tsuji). The MoveOntario
initiative has been introduced to in order to aid over 50 rapid-transit projects catering the Greater
Toronto and Hamilton region by the next 3 years (White and Noble)..
Federal Environmental Assessment Analysis
Certain project proposals such as power supply and generation and transit projects need
not only provincial but also federal environmental assessments. The Federal EA are supposedly
administered by the Canadian EA Act 2012 (Vosko, Leah and Thomas). It is further noted that
both local and federal EA processes dependent on similar key standards. However, the federal
environmental assessment is needed for project plans which are particularly identified in a
directive under the CEAA 2012 that incorporated pipelines, large collieries that achieve certain
generative capacity thresholds, nuclear waste disposal competences along with offshore
lubricants and gas services (Turcotte et al.). At this juncture, it is important to consider that the
federal act reflects no disparity between public and private segment projects in contradiction to
Ontario’s EA Act that further requires a provincial environmental evaluation for administrative
projects and two forms of private sector projects such as electricity production and waste
management (Richardson et al.). In the federal and central environmental assessment, project
proponents review the environmental impact dependent on the entities of environmental
conditions that are situated within the central legislative authority such as fish and fish
habitation, migrant birds along with federal lands and the impact of Indigenous communities.
During the process of provincial environmental assessment, project proprietors are required to
examine economic, social along with cultural aspects that influence the community further to
affect on the natural environment.