Yukon Environmental and Socio-economic Assessment Act (S.C. 2003, c. 7)

Marginal note:Staff

• 23 (1) The staff of each designated office shall be composed of employees of the Board assigned to that office by the Board.

• Marginal note:Powers in relation to evaluations

  (2) The Board shall authorize one or more members of the staff to exercise the powers of the designated office relating to evaluations, and those persons may delegate any of those powers to another member of the staff.

Marginal note:Conflict of interest

• 24 (1) A member of the staff of a designated office may not participate in any business of that office if doing so would place the member in a material conflict of interest.

• Marginal note:Yukon Indian persons

  (2) A member of the staff is not in a material conflict of interest solely by virtue of being a Yukon Indian person.

Marginal note:Contracts and facilities

25 The Board shall, at the request of a designated office but in accordance with the approved budget of the Board, procure services required by that office and make property and facilities available to it.

Budgets and Reporting

Marginal note:Budgets of designated offices

26 Each designated office shall annually, after consultation with any first nation whose territory falls wholly or partly within its assessment district, prepare and submit a budget for the ensuing fiscal year to the Board.

Marginal note:Budget of Board

• 27 (1) The Board shall submit annually to the federal minister its budget for the ensuing fiscal year, which shall incorporate the budgets of the designated offices as submitted by them or as varied by the Board.

• Marginal note:Approval of budget

  (2) The federal minister may approve the budget as submitted by the Board, or with any variations that the federal minister may make after seeking the views of the Board, the territorial minister and the Council.

• Marginal note:Funding for languages and training

  (3) The Board shall consider including in its annual budget funding in order to enable its members and employees to carry out their functions in their traditional languages and in order to provide its members and employees with training, including cross-cultural orientation and education, for the purpose of improving their ability to carry out their duties.

Marginal note:Accounts

• 28 (1) The Board shall maintain books of account and related records in accordance with accounting principles recommended by the Chartered Professional Accountants of Canada or its successor.

• Marginal note:Consolidated financial statements

  (2) The Board shall, within the time after the end of each fiscal year that the federal minister specifies, prepare consolidated financial statements in respect of that fiscal year in accordance with the accounting principles referred to in subsection (1) and shall include in them any information or statements that are required in their support.

• Marginal note:Audit

  (3) The accounts, financial statements and financial transactions of the Board shall be audited annually by the auditor of the Board and, where the federal minister requests, by the Auditor General of Canada. The auditor and, where applicable, the Auditor General of Canada shall, as soon as practicable, make a report of the audit to the Board and the federal minister.

Marginal note:Annual report

29 The executive committee shall, within three months after the end of each fiscal year, prepare for the approval of the Board an annual report of the activities of the Board for that fiscal year, and the executive committee shall submit the approved report to the federal minister and make it available to the public.

Rules and By-Laws

Marginal note:Rules for executive committee and panels

• 30 (1) The Board shall make rules, applicable to screenings by the executive committee and reviews by panels of the Board, with respect to

  • (a) the form and content of proposals submitted under paragraph 50(1)(a) or of requests made under section 60;

  • (b) the determination of the scope of a project;

  • (c) for the purposes of section 46, the participation of interested persons and the public; and

  • (d) the periods, for each step from the submission or referral of a proposal to the conclusion of the screening or review of the project or existing project, within which the executive committee and panels of the Board must perform their functions.

• Marginal note:Rules for executive committee and panels

  (2) The Board may make rules with respect to

  • (a) the manner in which proponents of projects must consult with first nations and residents of communities for the purposes of subsection 50(3);

  • (b) the conduct of screenings of projects by the executive committee and reviews of projects by panels of the Board;

  • (c) the reconsideration of recommendations referred back to the executive committee or a panel of the Board by a decision body;

  • (d) the membership of panels of the Board and the establishment of their terms of reference; and

  • (e) cooperation by the executive committee and panels of the Board with other bodies, including the coordination of functions.

• Marginal note:Other rules

  (3) The Board may make rules with respect to

  • (a) reviews of existing projects, reviews of plans and reviews of activities outside Yukon;

  • (b) the conduct of audits, and effects monitoring, of projects and existing projects under sections 110 and 111; and

  • (c) the conduct of studies and research under section 112.

• Marginal note:Categories of projects, etc.

  (4) Rules made under this section may provide for different types of screenings or reviews for different categories of projects, existing projects or plans, or activities outside Yukon, as the case may be.

Marginal note:Rules for designated offices

• 31 (1) The Board shall make rules with respect to the conduct of evaluations of projects by designated offices, which may include rules providing for

  • (a) different phases of the evaluation of projects; and

  • (b) different types of evaluations for different categories of projects.

• Marginal note:Rules for designated offices

  (2) The Board shall make rules, applicable to evaluations of projects by designated offices, with respect to

  • (a) the form and content of proposals submitted under paragraph 50(1)(b);

  • (b) the determination of the scope of a project;

  • (c) for the purposes of section 46, participation in evaluations by interested persons and the public;

  • (d) the submission of proposals for projects located in two or more assessment districts;

  • (e) the conduct of evaluations by two or more designated offices, jointly or by one of them on behalf of the other or others, under section 53; and

  • (f) the periods, for each step from the submission of a proposal to the conclusion of the evaluation of the project or existing project, within which designated offices must perform their functions.

• Marginal note:Rules for cooperation

  (3) The Board may make rules with respect to cooperation by designated offices with other bodies, including the coordination of functions.

• Marginal note:Collaboration with designated offices

  (4) The Board shall seek the collaboration of the designated offices in making rules under subsections (1) to (3).

• Marginal note:Rules made by designated office

  (5) A designated office may make rules with respect to the conduct of its evaluations, including rules respecting any of the matters specified in subsections (1) to (3), but rules made by the Board prevail over rules made by a designated office to the extent of any inconsistency.

Marginal note:Standard mitigative measures

• 32 (1) The Board may make rules with respect to the development, by a designated office or the executive committee, of standard mitigative measures referred to in section 37.

• Marginal note:Collaboration

  (2) The Board shall seek the collaboration of the designated offices in making rules under subsection (1).

Marginal note:General rules re information

33 The Board shall make rules with respect to

• (a) the integration of scientific information, traditional knowledge and other information by designated offices, the executive committee and panels of the Board;

• (b) the determination of whether traditional knowledge is confidential for the purposes of paragraph 121(a); and

• (c) the handling of information to prevent its disclosure contrary to section 121, including the conduct of private hearings and the restriction of access to information at public hearings.

Marginal note:Publication of proposed rules

• 34 (1) At least 60 days before making rules, the Board or a designated office shall publish a notice of any proposed rules in the Canada Gazette, in a periodical that, in its opinion, has a large circulation in Yukon and in a periodical distributed in the Gwich’in Settlement Area referred to in the Gwich’in Agreement and shall, in the notice, invite written representations to be made to it with respect to the proposed rules within 60 days after publication.

• Marginal note:Exception

  (2) No further notice need be published if the proposed rules are amended solely in response to representations made to the Board or the designated office.

• Marginal note:Publication of rules

  (3) Rules made by the Board or a designated office shall be published in the Canada Gazette immediately after they are made.

Marginal note:By-laws of Board

35 The Board may make by-laws

• (a) for the conduct and management of its internal administrative affairs;

• (b) specifying grounds for the removal of members from office other than for cause, for the purposes of subsection 11(1); and

• (c) respecting the performance of a member’s functions for the purposes of subsections 10(4) and 11(4).

Marginal note:By-laws for designated offices

• 36 (1) The Board may make by-laws for the conduct and management of the internal administrative affairs of all designated offices.

• Marginal note:Collaboration

  (2) The Board shall seek the collaboration of the designated offices in making by-laws applicable to them.

• Marginal note:By-laws made by designated office

  (3) A designated office may make by-laws for the conduct and management of its internal administrative affairs, but by-laws made by the Board under subsection (1) prevail over by-laws made by a designated office to the extent of any inconsistency.

Marginal note:Standard mitigation measures

• 37 (1) A designated office may develop standard mitigative measures that can be applied to a class of projects, or to projects located within a geographic area.

• Marginal note:Standard mitigation measures

  (2) The executive committee may develop standard mitigative measures that can be applied to a class of projects or existing projects, or to projects or existing projects located within a geographic area.

• Marginal note:Public participation

  (3) The designated office and the executive committee shall provide opportunities for public participation in the development of standard mitigative measures.

• Marginal note:Conflict

  (4) Unless otherwise provided by the rules, standard mitigative measures developed by the executive committee prevail over those developed by a designated office to the extent of any inconsistency.

Marginal note:Statutory Instruments Act

38 Sections 3, 5 and 11 of the Statutory Instruments Act do not apply in respect of the rules or by-laws of the Board or a designated office.

General Requirement

Marginal note:Scientific and traditional knowledge

39 A designated office, the executive committee or a panel of the Board shall give full and fair consideration to scientific information, traditional knowledge and other information provided to it or obtained by it under this Act.

PART 2Assessment Process and Decision Documents

Assessments — General

Marginal note:Non-duplication and certainty

40 The Board, the designated offices, the executive committee and panels of the Board shall avoid duplication in the assessment process and shall provide certainty, to the extent practicable, to persons participating in the assessment process with respect to assessment procedures, including information requirements, time limits and costs.

Marginal note:Timeliness of assessments

41 The designated offices, the executive committee and panels of the Board shall conduct assessments of projects, existing projects and plans in a timely and expeditious manner.

Marginal note:Matters to be considered

• 42 (1) In conducting an assessment of a project or existing project, a designated office, the executive committee or a panel of the Board shall take the following matters into consideration:

  • (a) the purpose of the project or existing project;

  • (b) all stages of the project or existing project;

  • (c) the significance of any environmental or socio-economic effects of the project or existing project that have occurred or might occur in or outside Yukon, including the effects of malfunctions or accidents;

  • (d) the significance of any adverse cumulative environmental or socio-economic effects that have occurred or might occur in connection with the project or existing project in combination with the effects of other projects for which proposals have been submitted under subsection 50(1) or any activities that have been carried out, are being carried out or are likely to be carried out in or outside Yukon;

  • (d.1) any studies or research undertaken under subsection 112(1) that are relevant to the project or existing project;

  • (d.2) the need for effects monitoring;

  • (e) alternatives to the project or existing project, or alternative ways of undertaking or operating it, that would avoid or minimize any significant adverse environmental or socio-economic effects;

  • (f) mitigative measures and measures to compensate for any significant adverse environmental or socio-economic effects;

  • (g) the need to protect the rights of Yukon Indian persons under final agreements, the special relationship between Yukon Indian persons and the wilderness environment of Yukon, and the cultures, traditions, health and lifestyles of Yukon Indian persons and other residents of Yukon;

  • (g.1) the interests of first nations;

  • (h) the interests of residents of Yukon and of Canadian residents outside Yukon;

  • (i) any matter that a decision body has asked it to take into consideration; and

  • (j) any matter specified by the regulations.

• Marginal note:Additional matters to be considered

  (2) In addition to the matters referred to in subsection (1), the executive committee or a panel of the Board shall take into consideration the capacity of any renewable resources that are likely to be significantly affected by the project or existing project to meet present and future needs.

• Marginal note:Potential activities of third parties

  (2.1) If the proponent is a government agency or first nation and the project or existing project concerns planning activities related to timber harvesting, the designated office, executive committee or panel of the Board shall take into consideration any potential activities of third parties that, if proposed to be undertaken, would be subject to an assessment under section 47 or 48.

• Marginal note:Consideration of standards

  (3) Where a project or existing project to be assessed belongs to a class, or is to be located in a geographic area, for which standard mitigative measures have been developed, whether developed by the designated office or the executive committee, those measures shall be taken into consideration by the designated office, the executive committee or a panel of the Board when assessing the project or existing project.

• Marginal note:Optional matters

  (4) A designated office, the executive committee or a panel of the Board may also take into consideration any matter that it considers relevant in the assessment of a project or existing project.