Environmental Impact Assessment in the
Canadian Federal System
Judith B. Hanebury*
Several recent court cases have focused atten-
tion on federal environmental impact assess-
ment procedures. At the same time, proposed
new legislation would create, for the first time,
a statutorily defined federal environmental
assessment process. Although presented as a
resolution to current uncertainty, the proposed
legislation suffers, in the author’s view, from a
restrictive definition of the “environment,” and
thus fails to ensure truly comprehensive envi-
ronmental assessments. The author then ex-
plores the need for a comprehensive federal
presence in the area, focusing on international,
economic and ecological concerns. A compar-
ative analysis of environmental assessment
processes in Australia and the United States
provides insight into alternative schemes
available within a federal state. Finally, the
author examines the place of the environment
within existing ss 91-92 jurisprudence, arguing
that a broad, comprehensive environmental
impact assessment process can be firmly
grounded in the peace, order and good govern-
ment power as elaborated in R. v. Crown
Zellerbach.
Plusieurs d6cisions se sont pench~es rdcem-
ment sur les procedures f~d6rales concemant
les 6tudes d’impact environnemental. De plus,
un nouveau projet de loi f6d~ral cr~erait, pour
la premiere fois par voie statutaire, un proces-
sus formel d’6tude d’impact environnemental.
Malgr6 son objectif qui est de r6duire l’incer-
titude actuelle dans ce domaine, ce projet de
loi comporte, selon l’auteur, une d6finition
trop restrictive de
