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Five Things to know about Ottawa’s new review process for resource projects

Provincial environment ministers begin two days of talks Thursday in Ottawa with their federal counterpart Catherine McKenna in advance of a full-blown first minister’s conference that is supposed to establish a national climate policy, including putting a price on carbon.

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“If we’re going to attract the investments we need to sustainably develop our energy resources, then we have to better engage Canadians, conduct deeper consultations with indigenous peoples and base decisions on science, facts and evidence”, Carr said.

But the immediate impact will be on two contentious pipeline projects that are now dominating headlines: Kinder Morgan’s proposal to twin the Trans Mountain oil pipeline in B.C. and TransCanada’s Energy East project from Alberta to New Brunswick.

Hearings on Kinder Morgan’s TransMountain twinning project are nearly over and the government is extending the deadline for a decision to the end of 2016.

Direct and upstream greenhouse gas emissions linked to the projects will now be assessed, but not the downstream emissions when fossil fuels are burned in destination countries.

It also extends the total period for the NEB review and subsequent government decision of TransCanada Corp’s Energy East pipeline to 27 months from the now mandated 18 months.

Also affected are proposed liquefied natural gas plants under federal review, including the Pacific Northwest LNG project at Prince Rupert and the Woodfibre LNG proposal near Squamish, both in late stages of review.

Natural Resources Minister Jim Carr will announce a new environmental assessment process for pipeline projects.

“We support a strong and clear regulatory framework that helps Canadians see our commitment to building and operating oil and gas pipelines in the safest and most environmentally sound way possible”, he said in an emailed statement. “This sends a bad signal to investors”, said Tory MP Candice Bergen, who said it’s far from the “glimmer of hope” the energy sector had been looking for.

“Without the confidence of Canadians, none of these projects will move forward”, he said. “This another layer, another process”.

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“The National Energy Board has no mandate to do this type of assessment”, he said, saying that it will be funded and executed instead by the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change. An earlier version misidentified the company responsible for the Energy East project.

The new rules will apply to TransCanada's $15.7-billion Energy East pipeline and Kinder Morgan's $5.4-billion Trans Mountain pipeline expansion which are both being reviewed by the NEB