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Ottawa has finalized the list of physical activities subject to the revamped Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, 2012.  As anticipated, the federal government has significantly shortened the list of designated activities and raised the thresholds for a number of activities still subject to the Act.  Amendments to the Regulations Designating Physical Activities (SOR/2013-186) were published in the Canada Gazette Part II on November 6, 2013.  They came into force on October 24, 2013.

In drafting the amendments, the government’s primary intention was to ensure that federal EA requirements would be focused on those major projects “that have the greatest potential for significant adverse environmental effects in areas of federal jurisdiction” (see “Ottawa rewrites list of projects subject to federal environmental assessment” in the June 2013 issue of our newsletter).

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