Environmental Law Quiz 3-2 2 PDF

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Riley Ransom Environmental Law Quiz 3 CHAPTER 7 True of False 1. Environmental assessment requirements and their processes of implementation are consistent across Canada. False 2. One of the most important characteristics of environmental assessment law is that it is anticipatory. True 3. The Canadian government was slow to implement environmental assessment legislation in part because it was concerned about its-decision making authority being constrained by law. True 4. All environmental assessment laws define administrative mandates, set out processes and procedures, and provide details to be specified in regulations. True 5. The federal Impact Assessment Act came into effect in 1995 and was replaced in 2019 by the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act. False 6. Inflexible timelines laid out in the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, 2012, resulted in the difficulties in coordinating federal and provincial processes. True 7. Ontario’s Environmental Assessment Act’s greatest strength is in its application to the private sector. Its greatest deficiency is its failure to reliably apply to public sector undertakings. False

8. In the Yukon, NWT, and Nunavut, all of the legislated assessment processes are based on land claim agreements between the federal government and Indigenous Peoples’ organizations. True 9. All provincial and territorial processes are adopted the definition of ‘environment’ and associated effects to include human social, economic, and cultural considerations. False 10.Canada has been a leader in legislating strategic assessment and considering big policy issues such as cumulative effects. False Multiple Choice 1. Environmental assessment law first appeared in the _______ half of a century ago. 1. Canadian Environmental Assessment Act 2. United States National Environmental Policy Act 3. Ontario Environmental Assessment Act 4. Canadian Environmental Protection Act

2. One significant difference between the US National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the Ontario Environmental Assessment Act is: 1. The Ontario EPA came into effect 15 years after NEPA 2. Ontario’s process led to enforceable decisions 3. NEPA had fines for non-compliance 4. NEPA required assessment documents to be subject to public review

3. The Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, 2012, aimed to streamline federal assessment by: 1. Eliminating “screening” of small projects 2. Focusing more on federal/provincial overlap 3. Providing individualized decision-making authority to the National Energy Board 4. Eliminating specified time limits for particular review process components

4. The application of environmental assessment requirements to government policies, plans, programs, and other broad-scale initiatives is known as: 1. Strategic-level assessment 2. Application rules 3. Class environmental assessment 4. Sustainability-based assessment 5. Class environmental assessment is a document that covers a category of undertakings and sets out a streamlined process for assessments. Step two of the process is: 1. Prepare an assessment report on the process, findings and conclusions 2. Identify purposes and alternatives 3. Carry out a detailed design, incorporating measures to mitigate possible negative effects 4. Select a preferred alternative on the basis of an initial review of potential effects

6. One means of enhancing the effectiveness and efficiency of overlapping authorities in upward harmonization. This means: 1. Encouraging the participation of many diverse parties 2. Creating policies for governments to follow 3. Jurisdiction across Canada adopting a common high standard for environmental assessment law and processes 4. Implementing statutory schemes that involved granting and withdrawal of permits

7. Which of the following is essential to the application of good strategic assessment law and policy? 1. Project-level evaluation of alternatives 2. Reactionary responses to broad-scale issues 3. Consistent application of methods and procedures 4. Transparent processes that involve public engagement

8. In 2009, there was a joint panel report on the Mackenzie Gas project, which involved the development of three gas fields and a 1,000-km pipeline. The panel gathered information to assist the final decision-makers of the collaborating governments. Their analysis included a comprehensive assessment of the positive and negative effects as well as the long-term legacy of the proposed undertaking in light of the alternatives and lasting public interest. This was an example of: 1. Upward harmonization

2. Sustainability-based assessment 3. Cumulative-effect assessment 4. Class environmental assessment Short Answer 1. Summarize the capacities and potential of impact assessments. Impact Assessment can help design and implement policies, plans, programs and projects for climate change, biodiversity, population increase, urbanization, conflicts over resources, inequities, and technological opportunities. Impact assessments contribute to a balanced and sustainable future and to shaping the society that future generations will be living in . As well, it helps to develop proposals for action, enhancing opportunities, avoiding risks and mitigating detrimental effects. 2. List three of the many standard contents of an environmental assessment under the Ontario Environmental Assessment Act. The environmental assessment must consist of: 1. a description of the purpose of the undertaking; 2. a description of and a statement of the rationale for, (i) the undertaking, (ii) the alternative methods of carrying out the undertaking, and (iii) the alternatives to the undertaking 3. a description of, (i) the environment that will be affected or that might reasonably be expected to be affected, directly or indirectly, (ii) the effects that will be caused or that might reasonably be expected to be caused to the environment, and (iii) the actions necessary or that may reasonably be expected to be necessary to prevent, change, mitigate or remedy the effects upon or the effects that might reasonably be expected upon the environment, by the undertaking, the alternative methods of carrying out the undertaking and the alternatives to the undertaking.

3. Explain why it is important that environmental assessment laws require governmental agencies, public interest organizations, or individuals to review the environmental assessments completed by the proponent. It is important that environmental assessment laws require governmental agencies, public interest organizations or individuals to review the environmental assessments because the complexity of environmental threats and their interactions with other concerns, awareness of and respect for the diversity of influential factors, facilitation of a larger public voice in decision-making, and emphasis on anticipation and prevention of environmental damage rather than on corrective action when a crisis emerges is important to consider. Often,

private sector proponents tend to see environmental protection as a cost to be avoided if possible rather than prioritizing the well-being of the environment and the effects on the human population as well. 3. The rights and roles of Indigenous Peoples have been given increased attention in assessments. What significant recent developments have occurred as a result of this? Discuss. A significant recent development to the rights and roles of Indigenous Peoples in assessments is the recognition of rights affirmed by section 35 of Canada’s Constitution Act, 1982. But it is now going further - for example, in British Columbia, where the Environmental Assessment Act passed in late 2018 includes steps to implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which recognizes rights of Indigenous nations to give or withhold “free, prior and informed consent” to projects in their territories. This moves towards assessment processes led by Indigenous authorities, who are better placed to respect Indigenous knowledge, traditional culture, rights, and title, and to reflect Indigenous deliberative and legal traditions. Early examples have included assessments done independently by Indigenous authorities as well as ones in cooperation with a proponent.

CHAPTER 7 True or False 1. Land use planning laws and policies play a role in finding balance between managing urban growth and protecting environmental resources. True 2. All protected areas including parks, reserves, sanctuaries, wilderness areas, and conservation land have the same degree of protection offered. False 3. In recent amendments to the Canada National Parks Act, conservation easement was adopted as the guiding vision for Canada’s national parks. False

4. Protected areas managed by the provinces and territories account for more protected land area than the national parks system. True 5. Current rates of extinction are much higher than historical rates of extinction. True 6. Land use planning establishes general land use policies across large geographical areas delineated by political boundaries. False 7. One of the most important aspects of any official plan is the land use map attached to the plan. The map indicates the land on which urban growth and redevelopment are intended to take place. True 8. Official land use plans directly impose legal requirements on property owners, allowing municipalities to lay charges. False 9. One of the detrimental effects of urban sprawl is the loss of prime agricultural land. True 10.The key challenge facing the redevelopment of brownfields is the disconnect between municipal and provincial governments. False

Multiple Choice 1. The International Union for Conservation of Nature sets out how many categories of protected areas? These range from strictly protected areas to sustainable use areas. 1. four 2. five 3. six

seven Conservation easements are: 1. A legal tool used to protect natural habitats on privately owned land 2. An approach adopted for national parks that considers the needs of nature to be the first priority 3. Plans that cover specific areas within a municipality with the focus on conserving the land 4. Legally enforceable rules and requirements for the use of land and for structures on the land Which of the following is NOT a function of zoning by-laws? 5. Setting parking requirements 6. Establishing rules for the depth of lots 7. Determining the number of dwelling units permitted on each lot within a zone 8. Investigating to determine unforeseen contamination The Top Gun Pizzeria has been operating in its current location for 50 years. A new zoning by-law has been established that has changed the area to residential. The pizzeria will be permitted to carry on business due to the concept of: 9. Consent to sever 10.Legal non-conforming uses 11.Residential intensification 12.Ecological integrity In cases involving complex lot creation patterns, such as new housing developments, a _________________ is required. 13.Consent to sever 14.Plan of subdivision 15.Conservation easement 16.Zoning by-law The approval processes for municipally and privately initiated proposals in Ontario are similar; however, differences exist. An example of one of these differences is: 17.Only private proposals require studies to be conducted to support their application 18.Public stakeholders only have input on municipal proposals and not private proposals 19.Private proposals require developers or landowners to apply to the municipality to seek amendments to the official plan in order for their development to proceed 20.Stakeholders who are unhappy with council’s decision have the opportunity to appeal municipal proposals but not private proposals The government of Ontario has taken a number of steps to reduce the costs and risks of environmental liability in order to advance brownfields redevelopment. An example of one of these steps is: 4.

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21.Eliminating the need for an investigation to assess the environmental quality of the site in order to reduce costs 22.Granting guaranteed redevelopment approvals in order to reduce the risk to developers 23.Providing funding to municipalities in order to create grants and loans that can be provided to brownfield developers 24.Permitting municipalities to provide incentives for mortgages in order to extend funding to developers of brownfield properties, and protecting them from orders made by the Ministry of the Environment 8. Reduced environmental effects and increased efficiencies in electrical energy can be achieved by: 25.Shifting a portion of electricity demand to off-peak times to make better use of existing generating capacity 26.Anticipating growth in demand and responding by building more generating units 27.Expanding the grid of transmission lines 28.Creating plants that are powered by fossil fuels or nuclear technology Short Answer 1. Summarize the major problems that have historically been associated with sectoral natural resource development. (3) 1. Fragmented decision-making: Separate legal frameworks for minerals, forestry, and recreation do not take cross-purposes into account. 2. Incrementalism: Decision-making on a project-by-project basis without a clear consideration of long-term objectives. The succession of individual approvals degrades vulnerable lands, eliminates opportunities for non-exploitive land uses, undermines ecological functions, and reduces the environmental legacy of future generations. 3. Pre-emption effect: Things such as roads and power lines may be built before the environmental assessment process begins which can raise the community's expectations regarding employment and other economic benefits. .4. Cumulative effects: The combined effects of multiple land uses and developments are not anticipated and therefore not considered by decision-makers. The cumulative result is often negative, unexpected, and irreversible 2. Identify and define the five categories of species at risk used by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC)(5) 1. Extinct - no longer exist. 2. Extirpated - no longer exists in the wild in Canada but still exists elsewhere

3. Endangered - facing imminent extirpation or extinction. 4. Threatened - likely to become endangered if limiting factors are not reversed. 5. Special concern - may become threatened or endangered because of a combination of biological characteristics and identified threats.

3. In most Canadian jurisdictions, the current preferred planning approach to growth management is to focus population growth within existing areas and adjacent lands. Outline some of the benefits of this approach. (3) Some of the benefits of focussing on population growth within existing areas and adjacent lands include that redevelopment allows more people to live within the current urban boundaries, helps support improvements in public transit, and better uses other existing services and infrastructure. Redevelopment through intensification also reduces the need to accommodate growth through additional land consumption, avoiding the loss of good agricultural lands and the extension of human activities into natural areas. In addition, the Ontario Greenbelt Plan redirects employment growth to existing urban areas and reverses the trend of urban sprawl to limit pressure on the environment and agricultural land resources. 3. Although Ontario’s Clean Water Act being is a ground breaking piece of legislation, its approach falls short of true watershed planning in three important ways. Describe one of these three drawbacks. (2) Ontario’s Clean Water Act falls short of true watershed planning. One being its humancentred assessment and risk-management measures. Due to the fact that the core rationale for the Act is to protect source water for the specific needs of human populations, the resulting source water planning does not necessarily consider the broader needs of the ecosystem. The assessment, planning, and risk-management measures are therefore all tied to drinking water protection objectives, with little or no consideration of plant life, fisheries, wildlife, or their habitat. Therefore, it can have an extremely negative impact on the environment....