VICTORIA – The Mud Bay Nature-Based Foreshore Enhancement project in Surrey, B.C. will not require an environmental assessment certificate to move forward.
The project involves building a nature-based form of flood protection called a living dike and aims to elevate the existing salt marsh to mitigate coastal flooding, reduce wave energy and enhance biodiversity, a release said.
While the project met the threshold to require an environmental assessment certificate, a formal request for exemption was submitted by the City of Surrey and the Environmental Assessment Office (EAO) recommended the project be exempt from an environmental assessment as it poses minimal risk of significant adverse effects.
Review of the exemption request involved consultation with First Nations, technical advisers and the public, as well as addressing concerns raised by the federal government regarding the marine environment, the release said.
Exemptions are formally requested by project proponents and are only issued in cases where a comprehensive review by the EAO has established that the project will not result in significant adverse environmental, economic, social, cultural or health effects or have significant effects on First Nations.
This is the first exemption order granted under the Environmental Assessment Act, which came into force in 2019.
A detailed document is available online giving the minister of environment and climate change strategy’s determination that the project is exempt.
Under the Environmental Assessment Act, the minister of environmental and climate change strategy may determine that an environmental assessment certificate is not required for a proposed project that would otherwise be reviewable under the Reviewable Projects Regulation, the release said.
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