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Stewardship

Issue Summary | Industry Response | Issue Management |  Resource Library


ISSUE SUMMARY

The generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity can have an impact on species and habitat. Given the volume of power production, transmission and distribution across the country, many different species and their habitats come into contact with some dimension of the industry, and ensuring that this contact does not unduly harm the species and habitat in question is an on-going federal priority through several pieces of legislation. However, these impacts need to be seen in the context of the tremendous economic benefits afforded individual Canadians and our society as a whole by our affordable, reliable power supply. Striking a balance between protecting species and habitat and meeting Canadians’ electricity needs is an on-going challenge, and is being addressed through the efforts of CEA’s Stewardship Task Group.



Fisheries Act Renewal
The interpretation of the habitat provisions of the Fisheries Act (FA)and their application to the electricity industry has increasingly led to lengthy, expensive, duplicative project approval and environmental assessment processes, while the retroactive application of new policy goals to the operations of existing facilities has created unacceptably high levels of uncertainty for the industry. 

It has been concluded that the desired clarity and certainty for the FA cannot be achieved without legislative changes. Unfortunately, attempts to modernize the Act (Bill C-45 and Bill C-32, introduced in 2007) failed to address fundamental problems in applying the Act to the electricity industry. 

In 2010, the government stated its intention to table a renewed FA, a position that was reiterated in the 2010 Speech from the Throne.  Industry continues to anticipate this release.
 

The Species at Risk Act
CEA is actively engaged in the monitoring and advocacy on issues associated with the Species at Risk Act (SARA). Generally, impacts on SARA listed species or their critical habitat from industrial activities is what is referred to as “incidental”.  Incidental impacts are sometimes unavoidable in the electricity industry, where ceasing activities would endanger the social and economic well-being of Canada.  While SARA does allow for permitting of incidental impacts, the permitting provisions of SARA have proven to be challenging, which has impeded the issuing of permits to industry.  

The Five Year Legislative Review of SARA was initiated in spring 2009 and is currently ongoing. The House of Commons Standing Committee on the Environment and Sustainable Development (Standing Committee) is in the process of writing their review report on SARA. The report may be available by the end of Feb. 2011; at which point a motion will be passed requesting government response.

 

 

INDUSTRY RESPONSE

CEA and DFO have been formally collaborating through a comprehensive Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) since 2002, the focus of which has been encouraging a consistent approach in applying the FA and protecting fish and fish habitat impacted by electricity generation. In 2010, the MOU was expanded to include DFO’s Species at Risk (SAR) Directorate and issues pertaining to SARA. The MOU is a model for industry-government cooperation and organizes the work of CEA and DFO thematically under five headings: consultation, compliance, stewardship, education and training, research and monitoring.
 
Under the MOU, industry and government participate in regular national and regional consultation through meetings and national annual workshops. This process enables CEA to feed into DFO’s policy development for both the habitat protection provisions of the FA and policies aimed at enabling the implementation of SARA.

Fisheries Act Renewal

CEA and the Canadian Hydropower Association (CHA) finalized proposed legislative language aimed at resolving the shortcomings of the portions of the Act relevant to the electricity industry, without compromising the overall objective to protect Canada’s valuable fishery resources.  In 2010, this language, along with a supporting context piece was submitted to DFO for their consideration.  This context piece and proposed legislative language have also been used in a series of meetings with industry association members and legislative advisors. Although it is not clear when a new Act will be tabled, CEA is prepared for this development and continues to advance industry’s key messages in the interim.


The Species at Risk Act

CEA, jointly with CHA, has been engaging the DFO SAR Directorate and Environment Canada since the onset of the SARA Five Year Review, primarily through two Joint Workshops (2009, 2010) aimed at identifying policy solutions to implementing the Act. With the addition of SARA to the CEA-DFO MOU in 2010, it is hoped that the collaborative success the MOU framework has brought to the development of Fisheries habitat policies can be carried forward and applied to SARA. CEA continues to engage in this context and also awaits the release of the Standing Committee Report on SARA.


ISSUE MANAGEMENT

Stewardship at CEA is managed by the Generation Council.


Key Contact
Priya Patel
Manager, Environmental Stewardship
Tel:  613-288-0248
patel@electricity.ca


Resource Library

CEA Documents


Presentations from the Species at Risk Workshop
Ottawa May 31-June 1, 2005

Final Workshop Report


Issue 1: Reconciling the Habitat Protection Provisions of SARA, the Migratory Birds Convention Act and the Fisheries Act
 


Issue 2: Addressing Incidental Take/Harm through Permits and Licences under SARA, the Migratory Birds Convention Act and the Fisheries Act
 


Issue 3: Potential Impacts of the Application of SARA to Existing Facilities and Operations and to New Projects
 


Issue 4: Using Stewardship to Achieve Compliance under SARA
 


Issue 5: Incorporating Socio-economic Costs and Benefits of Species Listing and Recovery into Government Decision-making
 


Issue 6: Managing the Electricity Sector's Role in Developing and Implementing Recovery Strategies, Action Plans and Management Plans


Presentations from the CEA-DFO Stewardship Workshop
Niagara-on-the-Lake Session November 2004
 

CEA Stewardship Task Group St. John’s Session June 2004

SARA Deliberations:

Scientific Uncertainty Discussions: CEA Stewardship Task Group SARA Deliberations April  2003


Presentations from the CEA-DFO Stewardship Workshop "Drafting the Components of the In-stream Flow Interpretation Bulletin" Vancouver, April 2-3, 2003.
 


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