Evaluation Of The Effectiveness Of Cumulative Effects Assessment (cea) In North East Alberta
Abstract
This report looked at cumulative effects assessment (CEA) in the context of woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou) conservation in north eastern Alberta. Despite the mandate for CEA to monitor and manage impacts of development in an area, woodland caribou populations are declining across Canada. This report attempts to look at where the failing in CEA may lie. Five CEAs done for energy projects in north eastern Alberta were examined and scored using an evaluation framework developed for this study. It was found that nearly all CEAs had some departure from best practices for CEA, and one was entirely inadequate. Despite this, all had been approved by regulators. This suggests that to improve CEA going forward, regulation and policy needs to be developed to place more emphasis on cumulative effects in the review of projects, as well as improve guideline minimum standards for proponents to use when conducting CEA.
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Citation
Layher, S. R. (2017). Evaluation Of The Effectiveness Of Cumulative Effects Assessment (cea) In North East Alberta (Unpublished report). University of Calgary, Calgary, AB.