Environment and Conservation
December 19, 2007
Comment Invited on Draft Guidelines for
Preparation of Environmental Impact Statement
The
Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency (the Agency) and the
Newfoundland and Labrador Department of
Environment and Conservation (the Department) invite
public comment on the draft guidelines for the preparation of the
environmental impact statement (EIS) for the proposed Lower
Churchill Hydroelectric Generation Project.
The draft guidelines identify the
information that the proponent, Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro, will be
required to address in order to prepare the EIS.
Written comments on the draft guidelines received by
January 28, 2008, will be considered.
Please forward your comments, in the official language of your choice,
by mail or e-mail to:
Maryse Pineau
Panel Manager
Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency
160 Elgin Street, 22nd Floor
Ottawa ON K1A 0H3
Tel.: 613-948-1364
Fax: 613-957-0941
E-mail:
maryse.pineau@ceaa-acee.gc.ca
Paul Carter
Chairperson, Environmental Assessment Division
Department of Environment and Conservation
PO Box 8700, St. John�s NL A1B 4J6
Tel.: 709-729-0188
Fax: 709-729-5518
E-mail:
pcarter@gov.nl.ca
The draft EIS guidelines as well as
information on the proposed project are available on the agency�s
website at
www.ceaa-acee.gc.ca and the department�s website at
www.gov.nl.ca/env . Copies of the draft EIS guidelines can also be
obtained by contacting the above-mentioned persons.
The agency and the department are
developing an agreement to guide a joint environmental assessment of the
proposed project which would include
procedures for appointing an independent review panel to conduct public
hearings on the EIS, the proposed terms of reference for the joint
review panel, and procedures for conducting the review process. The
draft agreement will be made available for public comment at a later
date.
The
agency awarded $50,000 in August, under its Participant Funding Program,
to five recipients to take part in this phase of the environmental
assessment. More funds will be made available at a later date to
participate in the next steps of the environmental assessment.
The proposal is for the development
of two hydroelectric generating stations on the Lower Churchill River.
It includes two potential sites. One is a 2,000 megawatt project at
Gull Island, which is 225 kilometres downstream from the existing 5,428
megawatt facility at Churchill Falls, and the other is an 800 megawatt
project at Muskrat Falls, which is 60 kilometres downstream of Gull
Island.
The
Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency and Environmental Assessment
Division of the Newfoundland and Labrador
Department of Environment and Conservation,
administer the federal and provincial environmental assessment
processes, which identify the environmental effects of proposed projects
and measures to respectively address those effects, in support of
sustainable development.
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Media contact:
Nicholas
Girard
Senior
Communications Advisor
Canadian
Environmental Assessment Agency
613-957-0958
nicholas.girard@ceaa-acee.gc.ca |
Diane Hart
Director of Communications
Department of Environment and Conservation
709-729-2575, 685-4401
dianehart@gov.nl.ca |
2007 12 19 12:30
p.m.