Project automatically subject to a federal assessment and review process on Cree territory

A project under federal jurisdiction is automatically subject to a federal assessment and review process if it is mentioned in Annex 1 of Section 22 (Future developments automatically subject to assessment) of the James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement.

Annex 1 of Section 22 (Future developments automatically subject to assessment)

• All new major mining operations excluding explorations.
• Siting and operation of major sand and gravel pits and of quarries.
• Energy production:
  • Hydro-electric power plants and their associated works.
  • Storage and water supply reservoirs.
  • Transmission lines of 75 kilovolts and above.
  • Extraction and processing of energy yielding materials.
  • Fossil-fuel fired power generating plants above three thousand (3,000) kilowatts.
• Forestry and Agriculture:
  • Major access roads built for extraction of forest products.
  • Pulp and paper mills or other forestry plants.
  • In general, any significant change in land use substantially affecting more than 25 square miles.
• Community and municipal services:
  • new major sewage and waste water collection and disposal systems.
  • solid waste collection and disposal, including land fill and incineration.
  • proposals for parks, wilderness areas, ecological reserves or other similar land classifications.
  • new outfitting facilities for more than thirty (30) persons, including networks of outpost camps.
  • new communities or significant expansion of existing communities.
• Transportation:
  • access roads to and near Native communities.
  • port and harbour facilities.
  • airports.
  • railroads.
  • road infrastructure for new development.
  • pipelines.
  • dredging operations for navigation improvements.

Federal assessment and review process

Assessment process

1. The proponent must submit preliminary information on its project to the Federal Administrator, as specified in the Guide for proponents (Section 22).

2. The Federal Administrator submits the preliminary information they receive to the Evaluating Committee (COMEV).

3. After analysis, COMEV prepares a directive on the scope of the impact assessment. It may request additional information from the proponent, as needed. Public consultations may happen at this point.

4. The Federal Administrator forwards the directive to the proponent.

Review process

5. The proponent prepares its impact statement report in accordance with the directive.

6. The proponent submits its impact statement report to the Federal Administrator.

7. The Federal Administrator forwards the impact statement report to the Federal Review Panel South (FRP-South, commonly referred to as COFEX-South) and specifies the mandate they entrust in it. COFEX-South then sends a copy to the Cree Nation Government.

8. COFEX-South verifies the compliance of the impact statement report with the directive. It may request additional information from the proponent, as needed. Public consultations may happen at this point. COFEX-South reviews the report and the public consultations. Finally, it recommends whether or not the Federal Administrator should authorize the project and on what conditions.

9. Based on the recommendations, the Federal Administrator decides whether or not to authorize the project and determines the conditions, including the environmental and social monitoring and follow-up measures.

10. The Federal Administrator informs the proponent of the decision. If the project is authorized, the proponent must comply with the conditions, including the monitoring and follow-up measures. If the project is refused, the proponent must not go ahead with its project.