Regulatory Corner - January 2022

British Columbia

1 - Scott Morgan has retired from the British Columbia public service, after 30+ years of dedicated and valued service, most recently as Head of Dam Safety with the B.C. Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations & Rural Development, Water Management Branch. Scott has been both an active and valued member of CDA and has been a strong advocate for the important role that the Regulation of Dams Committee can play within CDA. The Committee will miss Scott’s contributions and wishes Scott well in his retirement.

2 - The British Columbia Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development (MFLNRORD) Dam Safety Section, is currently in discussions with the Association of State Dam Safety Officials (ASDSO) to have ASDSO conduct a peer review of the provincial Dam Safety Program.

The ASDSO has been operating a peer review program of dam owner safety programs, as well as state and provincial dam safety programs for over 20 years.

The ASDSO peer review provides professional guidance to improve the performance and management of dam safety programs. The peer review evaluates an agency or company’s dam safety mission, objectives, policies and procedures and compares it to other programs and guidelines including:

• the Model State Dam Safety Program and Federal Guidelines for Dam Safety of the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency
• dam safety program guidelines of the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
• as well as commonly accepted standards of practice.

 The ASDSO peer review follows on the recent Office of the Auditor General of British Columbia’s (OAGBC) independent audit report of the province’s dam safety program.  The MFLNRORD intent is to review and consider action recommendations from both the OAGBC’s audit, with those presented in the ASDSO peer review, to strengthen its dam safety program to ensure the most effective oversight for the safety of dams in B.C.

British Columbia experienced severe flooding in November 2021 caused by multiple atmospheric river events. The MFLNRORD Dam Safety Section is currently in discussions with hydrometeorological consultants to complete a storm analysis to determine if the observed atmospheric river events will be control storms for future Probable Maximum Precipitation and Precipitation Frequency estimates in the regions impacted.

 

Québec

Bill 102 An Act Mainly to Reinforce the Enforcement of Environmental and Dam Safety Legislation, to ensure the responsible management of pesticides and to implement certain measures of the 2030 Plan for a Green Economy concerning zero emission vehicles was re-introduced to the Quebec National Assembly on October 20, 2021 and has been subject to special consultations and public hearings.

Details on the proposed legislation including proposed amendments to the Dam Safety Act and other legislation are available at the following web link: http://www.assnat.qc.ca/en/travaux-parlementaires/projets-loi/projet-loi-102-42-1.html.

 

Ontario

 

As part of its ongoing legislative and regulatory reform of its Environmental Assessment Act, Ontario posted two policy proposals for public consultation: a list of projects that would have their environmental assessment expiry dates extended and a list of projects that would be subject to “comprehensive” environmental assessments.

Ontario is generally proposing no change at this time to how waterpower projects are considered under the EA Act: projects below 200 MW would still be subject to the Ontario Waterpower Association Class Environmental Assessment, while projects over 200 MW would be subject to a comprehensive environmental assessment. While there are no proposed changes to how non-waterpower dams are considered under the EA Act at this time, the Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks advised CDA that interested parties should stay engaged in the ongoing EA Act reform process, as the next stage in the reform will include review of the current list of “class environmental assessments”, which will be rolled into new “streamlined” environmental assessments.

Details on the proposed EA Act changes are available at https://ero.ontario.ca/notice/019-4219.

Secondly, Ontario recently amended its Far North Act following a three-year review process. Amongst the amendments is a change in how certain land uses and activities (including new waterpower and associated dam infrastructure) can now proceed within the area subject to the Far North Act without the requirement for either joint government and First Nation land use planning or a regulatory exemption approved by Cabinet. Waterpower development will still be subject to other provincial and federal regulatory approvals including the Environmental Assessment Act and the Lakes and Rivers and Improvement Act.

Details on the Bill 43 (Schedule 10) amendments to the Far North Act are available at https://www.ola.org/en/legislative-business/bills/parliament-42/session-2/bill-43.