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Under section 31.1 of the Clean Environment Act, the Lieutenant-Governor in Council makes the following Regulation:

1This Regulation may be cited as the Environmental Impact Assessment Regulation - Clean Environment Act.

2The following definitions apply in this Regulation.

“Act” means the Clean Environment Act. (Loi)

“landscaping” means the alteration of existing ground conditions or the construction of ground features and includes the construction of minor structures. (aménagement de paysage)

“residence” means a building or part of a building used solely as a self-contained domestic establishment with the necessary facilities for sleeping and the preparation and serving of meals and includes a cottage, a cabin and a camp but does not include an apartment building or a building where all or part of the building is intended for rent or lease. (résidence)

“review committee” means an environmental impact assessment review committee. (comité de révision)

2005-12

3(1)The enterprises, activities, projects, structures, works or programs specified in Schedule A are designated by this Regulation as enterprises, activities, projects, structures, works or programs that may, in the opinion of the Lieutenant-Governor in Council, result in a significant environmental impact.

3(2)The enterprises, activities, projects, structures, works or programs specified in Schedule A, and any modification, extension, abandonment, demolition or rehabilitation of them are undertakings for the purposes of this Regulation.

3(3)The undertakings with respect to which this Regulation applies include any undertaking which is a modification, an extension, an abandonment, a demolition or a rehabilitation of an undertaking commenced before the coming into force of section 31.1 of the Act.

2005-12

4No proponent shall carry on an undertaking unless

(a) the Minister has made a determination that the undertaking may be carried on without the completion of an environmental impact assessment, or

(b) the Lieutenant-Governor in Council, following the completion of a required environmental impact assessment, has given an approval for the carrying on of the undertaking.

5(1)Every undertaking must be registered with the Minister before it is commenced in order for the Minister to determine whether or not the completion of an environmental impact assessment is required in relation to the undertaking.

5(2)A proponent of an undertaking shall register the undertaking with the Minister by completing a form provided by the Minister for that purpose and delivering to the Minister the completed form and, subject to section 5.2, the prescribed fee.

5(3)An undertaking registered with the Minister under subsection (2) is categorized as falling within one or more of the following categories:

(a) Category 1, if the undertaking is an undertaking referred to in paragraph (a), (b), (c), (d), (f), (g), (j), (k), (m), (m.1) or (w) of Schedule A;

(b) Category 2, if the undertaking is an undertaking referred to in paragraph (e), (h), (i), (n), (o) or (q) of Schedule A; and

(c) Category 3, if the undertaking is an undertaking referred to in paragraph (l), (p), (r), (s), (t), (u) or (v) of Schedule A.

2005-12

5.1(1)The fee payable for the registration of an undertaking is,

(a) if the undertaking falls within Category 1 or within Category 1 and any other category or categories, $5,500,

(b) if the undertaking falls within Category 2 or within Category 2 and Category 3, $2,750, and

(c) if the undertaking falls exclusively within Category 3, $1,100.

5.1(2)Subject to subsection (3), the fees prescribed in subsection (1) are non-refundable.

5.1(3)Where an undertaking is registered as an undertaking belonging to a category with a fee payable for registration that is greater than the fee payable for the registration of the category to which the Minister determines the undertaking belongs, the Minister shall reimburse the proponent the difference between the two fees.

5.1(4)The Minister may make a determination under subsection 6(3) before reimbursing the proponent under subsection (3).

5.1(5)Where a question arises as to the proper categorization of an undertaking for the purposes of this Regulation, the Minister shall determine the question and the Minister’s determination is final.

2005-12; 2012-25

5.2The following proponents who register an undertaking with the Minister under subsection 5(2) are exempt from paying the fee for registration under subsection 5.1(1):

(a) a local government;

(b) a band or a council of a band as defined in the Indian Act (Canada);

(c) a Canadian charitable organization registered under the Income Tax Act (Canada); and

(d) an individual who proposes to carry out an undertaking for the purposes of

(i) constructing a residence,

(ii) maintaining, renovating or making additions to a residence, or

(iii) carrying out landscaping or the construction of garages, swimming pools, ponds or other major structures for domestic use on the parcel of land upon which a residence is or will be located.

2005-12; 2017, c.20, s.21

6(1)The Minister may require from the proponent of an undertaking registered under section 5 any information the Minister considers necessary for the purposes of his determination of whether or not the completion of an environmental impact assessment is required in relation to the undertaking.

6(2)The Minister may stipulate a time by which any information required by him under subsection (1) must be received.

6(3)When the Minister has received all the information he considers necessary for the purposes of his determination of whether or not the completion of an environmental impact assessment is required in relation to an undertaking, he shall within thirty days determine the question and notify the proponent who registered the undertaking of his determination.

6(4)The Minister shall determine that the completion of an environmental impact assessment is required in relation to any undertaking which, whether viewed in isolation or together with any enterprise, activity, project, structure, work or program that the Minister considers likely to be carried on if the undertaking is carried on, may in the Minister’s opinion result in a significant environmental impact.

6(5)Where the Minister determines that the completion of an environmental impact assessment is required, he shall give public notice of his determination

(a) by publishing a notice thereof in The Royal Gazette, and

(b) by such further means as he considers appropriate.

6(6)Where the Minister determines that an undertaking may be carried on without the completion of an environmental impact assessment, he may make that determination subject to such terms and conditions as he may impose for the undertaking.

6(7)In determining for the purposes of subsection (4) whether an undertaking may result in a significant environmental impact the Minister may take into consideration any terms or conditions which he intends to impose under subsection (6).

7(1)The Minister shall maintain a record of registrations and determinations, which record shall show, in relation to each undertaking registered under section 5,

(a) the name of the proponent,

(b) the name of the undertaking,

(c) a description of the undertaking,

(d) the date of registration,

(e) the Minister’s determination of whether or not the completion of an environmental impact assessment was required in relation to the undertaking, and

(f) the date the proponent was notified of the Minister’s determination.

7(2)The record maintained under subsection (1) shall be open for inspection at the office of the Department of Environment and Local Government, Fredericton, during normal office hours.

93-13; 2000, c.26, s.40; 2006, c.16, s.27; 2012, c.39, s.36

8(1)The Minister, where he has determined that the completion of an environmental impact assessment is required in relation to an undertaking, shall establish a review committee for that undertaking and shall appoint to that committee

(a) to chair the committee, a person employed under the provisions of the Civil Service Act and the regulations made thereunder, and

(b) such other persons as, given the nature of the undertaking and the requirements of the environmental impact assessment, the Minister from time to time considers appropriate.

8(2)Subject to this Regulation, the duties of a review committee shall be assigned to it by the Minister.

9(1)The Minister, where he has determined that the completion of an environmental impact assessment is required in relation to an undertaking, shall, within sixty days after the date on which that determination was made,

(a) in consultation with the review committee, prepare draft guidelines relating to the substance, scope and conduct of the environmental impact assessment,

(b) when the draft guidelines are prepared, give public notice of that fact

(i) by publishing a notice in The Royal Gazette, and

(ii) by such further means as he considers appropriate,

(c) make copies of those draft guidelines available to the proponent and to the public on request, and

(d) in the notice referred to in subparagraph (b)(i), and by such other means as he considers appropriate, invite representations concerning the draft guidelines, such representations to be received by the Minister no more than thirty days after the date on which notice is published in The Royal Gazette.

9(2)The Minister, in consultation with the review committee, shall consider any representations made to him concerning the draft guidelines, and shall, no more than sixty days after the date on which notice under subparagraph (1)(b)(i) was published in The Royal Gazette, issue to the proponent final guidelines relating to the substance, scope and conduct of the environmental impact assessment.

9(3)The Minister shall

(a) send copies of the final guidelines to all those who made representations to him pursuant to paragraph (1)(b),

(b) give public notice that the final guidelines have been issued

(i) by publishing a notice in The Royal Gazette, and

(ii) by such further means as he considers appropriate, and

(c) make copies of the final guidelines available to the public on request.

10(1)When final guidelines have been issued under subsection 9(2), a proponent shall, if he wishes to proceed, prepare terms of reference for an environmental impact assessment, setting out his proposals for the carrying out of an assessment in accordance with the final guidelines.

10(2)Without limiting the generality of subsection (1), a proponent’s terms of reference shall include

(a) a statement of the methods that the proponent proposes to adopt in assessing the respective environmental impacts of the undertaking, and

(b) a statement of the means by which the proponent will provide opportunities for public consultation in the course of the environmental impact assessment.

10(3)The proponent shall submit a copy of the terms of reference referred to in subsection (1) to the Minister before commencing the environmental impact assessment.

11(1)When terms of reference have been submitted in accordance with section 10, a proponent shall, if he wishes to proceed, carry out an environmental impact assessment and prepare an environmental impact assessment report, and shall submit thirty copies of the report to the Minister.

11(2)The Minister, in consultation with the review committee, shall review the proponent’s environmental impact assessment report, and if that report is not, in the opinion of the Minister, satisfactory as a report in accordance with the final guidelines issued under subsection 9(2), the Minister shall identify to the proponent the deficiencies which must be remedied.

11(3)The Minister may specify a time by which any deficiencies identified by him under subsection (2) must be remedied.

11(4)When the Minister, in consultation with the review committee, is satisfied that the proponent’s environmental impact assessment report, any deficiencies identified therein having been remedied, is in all respects satisfactory as a report in accordance with the final guidelines issued under subsection 9(2), the Minister shall accept the report, and shall notify the proponent and the review committee that the report is accepted.

12(1)Where notification of the acceptance of an environmental impact assessment report is given, the proponent shall, if he wished to proceed, prepare and submit to the Minister, in both official languages, thirty copies of the report.

12(2)No later than thirty days after receiving from the proponent the copies referred to in subsection (1),

(a) the Minister shall prepare a summary of the report in both official languages, and

(b) the review committee shall prepare and submit to the Minister, in both official languages, a review statement setting out any comments upon the report that the committee considers should be brought to the attention of the Minister and the public.

13No later than thirty days after receiving from the proponent the copies referred to in subsection 12(1), the Minister shall

(a) make copies of the environmental impact assessment report, the Minister’s summary and the review statement available to the public

(i) during normal office hours, at the Department of Environment and Local Government, Fredericton, and

(ii) during reasonable hours, at such other place or places as he considers appropriate,

(b) announce by a notice in The Royal Gazette and by such other means as he considers appropriate the times and places at which the documents referred to in paragraph (a) are available to the public,

(c) take such further steps, if any, as he considers appropriate for the purpose of bringing the contents of the documents referred to in paragraph (a) to the attention of the public, and

(d) in the announcement referred to in paragraph (b),

(i) state the time and place at which a public meeting or public meetings will be held concerning the undertaking, no such meeting to be held sooner than thirty days after the date of publication in The Royal Gazette, and

(ii) invite the public to submit written briefs concerning the undertaking.

93-13; 2000, c.26, s.40; 2006, c.16, s.27; 2012, c.39, s.36

14A public meeting held pursuant to section 13 shall be chaired by a person or persons selected by the Minister, and the proceedings of the meeting shall be documented by means of a verbatim transcript.

2000-6

15(1)After the holding of the public meeting, or the last public meeting if more than one, the Minister shall allow a period of fifteen days during which further representations may be made to him concerning the undertaking.

15(2)When the period referred to in subsection (1) has elapsed, the Minister shall prepare a summary of public participation, being a summary of

(a) the written briefs submitted to the Minister,

(b) the transcript of the public meeting, or of each public meeting if more than one, and

(c) the representations received by the Minister pursuant to subsection (1).

15(3)The Minister shall make the transcript or transcripts and the summary of public participation available to the public during normal office hours at the Department of Environment and Local Government, Fredericton, and shall, by a notice in The Royal Gazette and by such other means as he considers appropriate, announce that the transcript or transcripts and the summary of public participation are so available.

15(4)The Minister shall send a copy of the transcript or transcripts and of the summary of public participation to

(a) every person who submitted a written brief to him in connection with a public meeting,

(b) every person who spoke at a public meeting, and

(c) every person who made written representations under subsection (2).

93-13; 2000, c.26, s.40; 2006, c.16, s.27; 2012, c.39, s.36

16(1)The Minister, no earlier than the end of the period referred to in subsection 15(1), shall submit for the consideration of the Lieutenant-Governor in Council a report and a recommendation concerning the undertaking and concerning terms and conditions to be imposed for the undertaking.

16(2)The Lieutenant-Governor in Council, having considered the report and the recommendation of the Minister under subsection (1), may give approval for the carrying on of the undertaking or may refuse to give approval for the carrying on of the undertaking, and where he gives approval for the carrying on of the undertaking he may give that approval subject to such terms and conditions as he may impose for the undertaking.

17(1)The Lieutenant-Governor in Council may at any time suspend or revoke an approval given pursuant to subsection 16(2) if he is satisfied that the proponent has at any time

(a) failed to disclose any material fact, or

(b) submitted inaccurate information.

17(2)The Minister may issue an order directing the discontinuance of an undertaking carried on in violation of this Regulation or in violation of terms and conditions imposed for the undertaking, and may revoke that order where he is satisfied

(a) that the violation on account of which the order was issued has been or will be remedied, and will not recur, or

(b) that it is otherwise appropriate to do so.

18Notwithstanding any other provision of this Regulation, the Minister may, at any time prior to the holding of a public meeting pursuant to section 13, recommend to the Lieutenant-Governor in Council that approval should not be given for the carrying on of an undertaking, and where the Lieutenant-Governor in Council accepts this recommendation

(a) the environmental impact assessment shall not proceed, and

(b) the Minister shall notify the proponent that the undertaking is one for which no approval following the completion of a required environmental impact assessment has been given.

2000-6

19An inspector may at any reasonable time inspect undertakings, the sites of proposed undertakings, and plans, records or documents relating to undertakings or proposed undertakings.

20An inspector who presents an identification card purporting to be signed by the Minister, bearing a photograph of the inspector, his name and a statement that he has been designated as an inspector under section 23 of the Act, has power of entry upon or into any area or building not used primarily as a private dwelling for the purposes of the discharge of his functions under the Act or this Regulation.

21This Regulation comes into force on July 13, 1987.

SCHEDULE A

UNDERTAKINGS

87-108

(a) all commercial extraction or processing of a mineral as defined in the Mining Act;

(b) all electric power generating facilities with a production rating of three megawatts or more;

(c) all water reservoirs with a storage capacity of more than ten million cubic metres;

(d) all electric power transmission lines exceeding sixty-nine thousand volts in capacity or five kilometres in length;

(e) all linear communications transmission systems exceeding five kilometres in length;

(f) all commercial extraction or processing of combustible energy-yielding materials, except fuelwood;

(g) all offshore drilling for, or extraction of, oil, natural gas or minerals;

(h) all pipelines exceeding five kilometres in length, except

(i)water, steam or domestic wastewater pipelines, and

(ii)pipelines or pipe lines that are the subject of an application under the Gas Distribution Act or the Pipe Line Act;

(i) all causeways and multiple-span bridges;

(j) all major highway projects involving either a significant length of new highway alignment or a major upgrading or widening of an existing highway resulting in a change in its intended use or classification;

(k) all facilities for the commercial processing or treatment of timber resources other than fuelwood, except maple sugaries, shingle mills and sawmills producing less than one hundred thousand foot board measure annually;

(l) all programs or commercial ventures involving the introduction into New Brunswick of plant or animal species which are not indigenous to New Brunswick;

(m) all waste disposal facilities or systems;

(m.1) all disposal, destruction, recycling, reprocessing or storage of waste that originates outside New Brunswick and all facilities or systems for the disposal, destruction, recycling, reprocessing or storage of such waste;

(n) all sewage disposal or sewage treatment facilities, other than domestic, on-site facilities;

(o) all provincial or national parks;

(p) all major recreational or tourism developments, including developments which consist of changing the use of land so that it is used for recreational or tourism purposes;

(q) all ports, harbours, railroads or airports;

(r) all projects involving the transfer of water between drainage basins;

(s) all waterworks with a capacity greater than fifty cubic metres of water daily;

(t) all major residential developments outside incorporated areas;

(u) all enterprises, activities, projects, structures, works or programs affecting any unique, rare or endangered feature of the environment;

(v) all enterprises, activities, projects, structures, works or programs affecting two hectares or more of bog, marsh, swamp or other wetland;

(w) all facilities for the processing of radioactive materials.

93-13; 2000-6; 2013-69

N.B. This Regulation is consolidated to January 1, 2018.

87-83 - Environmental Impact Assessment

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