Guide for proponents under Section 23 of the James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement

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For projects under federal jurisdiction^Footnote1 mentioned in Annex 1 of Section 23 and for grey-zone projects, the proponent must submit information on the project to the Federal Administrator, as specified in this Guide.

• For the projects mentioned in Annex 1, this information will be used to produce a directive for initiating the environmental and social impact review process.
• For grey-zone projects, this information will make it possible to establish whether the process should be triggered and, if so, to produce a directive.

Proponents can send project descriptions to the Federal Administrator and c.c. the screening committee.

Important note to proponents: It is the proponent’s responsibility to ensure compliance with all other federal, provincial or regional statutes applicable concerning environmental and social protection, to the extent that they are not incompatible with the provisions of the James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement.

Information to include in the project description

General information

• The name, nature and scope of the project
• The name and contact information of the proponent and its principal representative for the purposes of the project description
• The environmental assessment requirements and the regulatory requirements of the other authorities
• The description of any environmental study that has been or is being conducted for the region where the project will be carried out

Project objectives and justification

• The principal objectives pursued and the reasons for carrying out the project

Information on the project

• The forecast production capacity, the description of the production processes that will be used, the related infrastructure, and any permanent or interim structures
• Related activities/structures: the description, if applicable, of the projected related activities and structures (examples: development of access roads, deforestation, blasting, deployment of cofferdams or watercourse diversion) and any other activity likely to influence the design of the proposed project
• The description of the project location and the other possible/envisioned locations:
  • a location plan, including a topographical or cadastral location map of the project and, if applicable, a location plan of the work or activities to an adequate scale, particularly indicating the infrastructure in place (any building inhabited on a permanent, interim or seasonal basis) near the work site
  • the presence of reserves, traditional territories and lands and resources currently used for traditional purposes by nearby Indigenous peoples
  • the presence of municipalities, villages or communities that may be affected by the project

Projected schedule

• The schedule and the description of the phases provided for the construction, operation, decommissioning and closure of the project and restoration of the environment

Information and consultation activities carried out

• The description and the results of the consultations conducted with any authority and other parties, particularly Inuit or Naskapi communities and the public, as well as the concerns raised and the way they were considered in the design of the project
• The description of the approaches to obtain authorizations from the municipalities and land corporations, including a resolution of these bodies, for example

Description of the environment that may be affected

• The description of the biological, physical, social, economic and cultural environment

Description of the key concerns related to the project

• For the development, construction, operational and (as applicable) project closure and restoration phases: a summary of the major concerns for the affected Indigenous communities, local populations, governments, and the scientific community

Description of the main potential impacts of the project on the environment

• For the development, construction, operational and (as applicable) project closure and restoration phases:
  • Briefly describe the project’s potential impacts on the environment, focusing the description on the items considered to have scientific, social, cultural, economic, historical, archaeological and aesthetic importance
  • Present the mitigation or restoration measures projected, if applicable
• Note: In the case of grey-zone projects, the proponent must provide enough information to allow for the assessment of the potential environmental and social impacts. This is needed to determine if the project should be subject to an environmental impact assessment and review. The proponent must present the mitigation or restoration measures projected, if applicable.

Greenhouse Gas Emissions

• The quantity of greenhouse gases the project is likely to emit. Briefly describe the main emission sources projected in the different project development phases

Federal participation

• The description of any financial support that any federal authority provides, or could provide, regarding the project
• The description of the federal lands that could be impacted by the project
• The list of permits, licences or other authorizations that could be required under a federal statute of the project

Other relevant information

• Include any other information needed for a better understanding of the project

Executive summary

• Provide an executive summary of the information from the previous sections