It isn’t ideal, but the provincial government’s Cumulative Effects Assessment Framework for Howe Sound is a step in the right direction, according to the Future of Howe Sound Society.
In simple terms, the Cumulative Effects Assessment Framework, recently launched by the provincial Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource, means that Howe Sound will be considered as one region when impacts of major projects in and around the Sound are assessed.
Data will be available to help stakeholders and decision makers understand the overall impact of a project on a region as a whole.
“It is a major step towards there being this holistic look at Howe Sound as a fjord, as one ecosystem as opposed to piecemeal,” said Ruth Simons, executive director of the Future of Howe Sound Society.
Phased implementation of the framework by the Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource began in 2014. Howe Sound’s assessment will begin this year.
To better understand how the assessment tool will be helpful for planning, Simons said a hypothetical example would be a proponent for a project – say a proposal for a large housing development in the Howe Sound region – looking into the impact of this proposed project on grizzly bears. Without the new framework, decision makers would look for information for each part of Howe Sound. With the new framework, the data will be available for Howe Sound as a whole.
The framework will be helpful for proponents in early stages of planning as they will be able to access this data and mapping, and therefore understand the impact of a proposal on the sustainability of aquatic ecosystems, air quality, forest ecosystems and more.
Cumulative effects have been considered as part of the EAO assessments that go on for projects in Howe Sound, but they tended to look at the effects of each project on the immediate area. The new provincial plan will build data for Howe Sound as a whole, Simons said.
Another positive step is that the province is now incorporating marine values into its 10 assessment criteria.
“They are bringing in their marine people as well, so this is another acknowledgement that Howe Sound, is mostly water… so this is a good thing,” said Simons.
For years, the society had been calling for a comprehensive management plan for the land and waterway, and though the plan had support from area municipalities, the province said that was not going to happen.
“We have to acknowledge that this is some progress for us, even though it is not a plan. It provides some of the elements that would go into planning,” Simons said.
According to a spokesperson with the Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource, the Woodfibre LNG site is not included in the framework because it is on private, not Crown land, and falls within the All Resource Use zone of the Sea to Sky Land and Resource Management Plan.
Woodfibre LNG is subject to an environmental assessment by the Environmental Assessment Office, which provides for the review of cumulative effects, the spokesperson told The Squamish Chief by email.
According to Simons, the projects will still have an impact on the assessment framework and visa versa.
“Data is data and so whatever the engineers for each project bring forward as evidence of species in their study area, that contributes to the data overall,” Simons said.
At its Feb. 17 meeting, Squamish council passed a resolution in support of the Cumulative Effects Assessment for Howe Sound, at the request of the Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations and the Future of Howe Sound Society.
The next Howe Sound Community Forum will be hosted by Bowen Island Municipality on Bowen Island May, 1.
