SFPR

As I am sure you are already aware, pre-loading work has already started on the South Fraser Perimeter Road/Freeway. Last year the project got the green light from the BC Environmental Assessment Office after being in the system since 2003. What I didn’t know was that there is now an Inter-Agency Environmental Review Committee which is supposed to review and approve the different steps of this project to ensure that it complies with the EA certificate. According the Government of Canada:

A follow-up program to verify the accuracy of the environmental assessment and/or determine the effectiveness of any measures taken to mitigate the adverse environmental effects is considered appropriate for this project for the following reasons:

-Environmentally Sensitive Area/Valued Ecosystem Components
-Nature of Project

The big question is what happens if the measures where found not effective? What will the report say? This follow-up process will last until 2017.

Anyway, the Corporation of Delta has a website that has a timeline of the SFPR project activities and the actions of the Inter-Agency Environmental Review Committee. Accord to a recent report from Delta, they have "concerns with the post-Environmental Assessment procedures have been previously documented by Council and conveyed to the Premier and Minister of Environment. These concerns included that the Environmental Assessment Office should be the lead on the Inter-Agency Environmental Review Committee and also that a community liaison committee, like the one set up for Deltaport Third Berth should be formed to review issues relating to construction and operation of SFPR. The Premier did respond recently advising that the Minister of Environment would be looking into this matter and providing a response to Delta."