Environment Minister Catherine McKenna agreed to the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency’s request (CEAA) for the extra three months, an agency statement said.
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Kitimat LNG RenderingCanadian regulators extended by three months Petroliam Nasional Bhd.’s application to build a liquefied natural gas terminal on the nation’s Pacific coast so the Malaysian company can provide more information about the project’s environmental impacts.
Once the company submits new information, the government is giving itself 15 days to decide if their questions are answered, and then up to 90 days to make a decision on the project, according to the letter and the minister’s statement.
In a statement, the agency said it had requested additional information from the project developers “in order to determine whether the project is likely to cause significant adverse environmental effects”, and said that its request “pauses the legislated timeline for environmental approval of the project”.
“This information must be reviewed, analyzed, and considered in the final Environmental Assessment Report”, the CEAA said.
“Furthermore, we recognize the overwhelming support shown by local governments, businesses and workers throughout British Columbia, Alberta and across Canada for the project to receive a timely decision by the Government of Canada”.
The environment minister says Woodfibre must abide by legally binding conditions, including mitigation measures and follow-up requirements for the life of the project.
The Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency issued a draft report last month that concluded the plant can be built without major environmental impacts, but it’s now reviewing 34,000 public comments and new information about greenhouse gas emissions provided by Pacific NorthWest LNG.
Alex Ferguson, vice-president of policy at the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, said the length of time Ottawa takes to issue a decision will partly hinge on Pacific NorthWest LNG’s response time.
Pacific NorthWest LNG is a C$36 billion ($28 billion) project being proposed by Petronas, as Petroliam Nasional is known, along with partners Indian Oil Corp.
“We would like to acknowledge the Tsimshian First Nations who have worked productively to ensure the project realizes both environmental sustainability and generational economic opportunity for their people”, Culbert said.
“The Pacific NorthWest decision is a better standard by which markets will evaluate their investment in Canadian resource proposals moving forward”, he said.
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So while the new federal government threw us a bone in the relatively small Woodfibre decision it appears they intend to slam the breaks on the one mega-project that could make Canada a world player in LNG exports. Environment and Climate Change Canada performed an analysis of anticipated greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) associated with the project.
