The Environmental Assessment Office is a Crown Agency of the provincial government of

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, for ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...

. Its mandate is to coordinate assessments of major development proposals in British Columbia. It reports to the provincial Minister of Environment.

History

The EAO was established in 2002 via the Environmental Assessment Act, 2002. The EAO's activities were governed by a quasi-judicial Executive Director. The legislation was renewed in 2018, by the Environmental Assessment Act, 2018.

Controversies

In February 2020, it came to light that the EAO was instrumental in approving the

Coastal GasLink Pipeline The Coastal GasLink pipeline is a TC Energy natural gas pipeline under construction in British Columbia, Canada. Starting in Dawson Creek, the pipeline's route crosses through the Canadian Rockies and other mountain ranges to Kitimat, where t ...

project, on 23 October 2014. The EAO, which acknowledged concerns from, among others, the Office of the Hereditary Chiefs of the Wetʼsuwetʼen, recommended that the ministry of the first Clark government approve the project, which in the event, it did.

External links

Environmental Assessment Office - Official Site

References

British Columbia government departments and agencies Environmental organizations based in British Columbia

Environmental agencies in Canada 2002 establishments in British Columbia Government agencies established in 2002 {{environmental-agency-stub