The wharf project falls within the scope of the Environment Quality Act and must therefore be submitted to the environmental assessment process. This process is required by the provincial authorities, given the works to be conducted in a hydrous environment, and by the federal authorities, given the likely effects of the works on fish habitat.

Québec’s Environmental Assessment Process

Québec’s environmental assessment process for projects includes six phases leading to the issuance of a certificate of authorization.

Notification

Notification of the project is made to the Minister of Sustainable Development, Environment and Parks (MDDEP). The project notification is analyzed by the Ministry within a period of 30 days.

Guidelines

The Ministry (MDDEP) issues guidelines for the social and environmental impact assessment (several standard guidelines for different specific project categories are available on the MDDEP’s website).

Preparation of the impact assessment

The impact assessment process consists of the following steps: establishment of background context; description of receiving environment; description of project and its alternatives; analysis of the selected alternative, including mitigation and compensation measures; definition of emergency response, surveillance and follow-up measures.

Audit

For the government department authorities, the audit consists of ensuring the thoroughness of the assessment. Additional information may also be requested from the proponent before the impact assessment is made public.

A 45-day information period is provided, during which the Bureau d’audiences publiques sur l’environnement (BAPE) makes public the impact assessment and holds public briefings with a view to explaining the project, its impacts and the mitigation measures put forward by the proponent for its implementation.

Should the Ministry fail to receive a formal request for holding public consultations, it will proceed directly with the decisional phase.

Public consultations

All persons with interests or concerns regarding the environmental aspect of the project can request that the Ministry establish a commission of inquiry and consultation on the project. The likelihood of the Ministry rejecting such a request is limited.

The BAPE establishes the commission of inquiry that holds public consultations. The commission’s report is submitted to the Minister (MDDEP) following a statutory time period of four (4) months. The Minister renders a decision a month later.

Additional information on the participation process can be found on the BAPE’s website.

Review

The Ministry’s experts review the project in collaboration with other interested parties. A recommendation, sometimes joined with requirements, is presented to the Minister. This analysis is conducted at the same time as the public participation phase.

Decision

The Ministry of Sustainable Development, Environment and Parks (MDDEP) issues a recommendation to the Council of Ministers, based on the recommendation of the Minister and the BAPE report.

The decision of the Council of Ministers is rendered by order-in-council. Excluding the site investigations and the proponent’s preparation of the impact assessment, the whole process can take up to two (2) years.

Harmonization

A project is sometimes submitted to an environmental assessment by both the federal and provincial governments. The two levels of government have harmonized their respective environmental assessment processes. Thus, the proponent will receive the harmonized guidelines for the preparation of the social and environmental impact assessment. Also, the proponent can prepare one sole document meeting the requirements of both entities. However, the project assessments and reviews are conducted separately by the federal and provincial government agencies on the basis of their respective criteria.

Source: Ministry of Sustainable Development, Environment and Parks (MDDEP).