Joint Summary of Issues and Engagementt

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Impact Assessment Agency of Canada
Pacific and Yukon Region
757 West Hastings Street
Suite 201A
Vancouver BC V6C 3M2

Agence d'evaluation d'impact du Canada
Region du Pacifique et du Yukon
757 rue Hastings Ouest
bureau 210A
Vancouver (C-B) V6C 3M2

Environmental Assessment Office
PO Box 9426 Stn Prov Govt
Victoria BC V8W 9V1

Sent by Email Only

 

August 14, 2020

Todd Smith
Business Development Manager
FortisBC Holdings Inc.
todd.smithfortisbc.com

Agency File No: 005724

Dear Mr. Smith:

Subject: Joint Summary of Issues and Engagement for the Tilbury Phase 2 LNG Expansion Project

The Impact Assessment Agency of Canada (the Agency) and British Columbia's (B.C.) Environmental Assessment Office (EAO) conducted a comment period from June 1, 2020 to July 16, 2020, inviting participants to provide feedback related to the Tilbury Phase 2 LNG Expansion Project (the Project). The enclosed Joint Summary of Issues and Engagement document (Joint Summary) reflects the issues raised through comments received from the public, Indigenous nations and technical advisors (federal authorities, provincial ministries, local governments, health authorities and Washington State Department of Ecology) during the comment period. As a next step, the Agency and the EAO expect FortisBC Holdings Inc. (FortisBC) to produce a single Detailed Project Description that will meet both federal and provincial requirements.

Pursuant to subsection 15(1) of the federal Impact Assessment Act, FortisBC must provide the Agency with a Detailed Project Description that sets out how it intends to address the issues in the Joint Summary and includes the information described in the Information and Management of Time Limits Regulations (the Regulations). The requirements for the Detailed Project Description are set out in section 4 and Schedule 2 of the Regulations. Please consult the Agency's Guide to Preparing an Initial Project Description and a Detailed Project Description for further information.

The guidelines for completing a Detailed Project Description for the EAO are included in the Early Engagement Policy. Under Section 39(a) of the provincial Environmental Assessment Act (2018), FortisBC has up to one year to submit its Detailed Project Description from the issuance of the Joint Summary or the Chief Executive Assessment Officer may terminate the assessment of the Project.

The EAO notes that the Detailed Project Description is a foundational document for Process Planning, should the Project proceed to an environmental assessment (EA). The EAO strongly encourages FortisBC to submit additional documents along with the Detailed Project Description including FortisBC's proposed Application Information Requirements, based on the EAO's Application Information Requirements Guidelines.

The Agency and the EAO expect FortisBC to engage with Indigenous nations and technical advisors during the development of the Detailed Project Description to ensure their interests are considered to avoid uncertainty and potential time delays later in the process. This includes the sharing of drafts of the Detailed Project Description with these participants. The Detailed Project Description should include information provided in the Initial Project Description with updates, revisions and further details following engagement with Indigenous nations, technical advisors and other stakeholders. It is important that the Detailed Project Description describe how engagement activities and the Joint Summary was considered and how it may have contributed to changes in the Project.

FortisBC is asked to provide meaningful responses in the Detailed Project Description to the issues included in the Joint Summary. The Joint Summary and FortisBC's responses will be used to inform the Agency's decision on whether to require an impact assessment for the Project, and the EAO's decision on whether the Project should proceed to an EA under the provincial Environmental Assessment Act (2018).

In preparing the response, there may be some issues that, in the view of FortisBC, are outside of its care and control. In this situation, FortisBC may choose to identify the party or parties with the potential to address the issue(s).

For ease of reference, the Agency and the EAO request that the response to the Joint Summary be provided in a table with reference to other parts of the Detailed Project Description as warranted.

As part of the comment period, the Agency also invited comments from the public and Indigenous groups on the request from the Government of British Columbia that the conduct of the federal impact assessment, should one be required, be substituted to the province. Comments received in relation to the substitution request will be considered by the federal Minister of Environment and Climate Change in making the substitution decision; they are not reflected in the Joint Summary and FortisBC is not expected to provide a response to those comments.

The Agency has estimated that it will take approximately 30 days – until September 15, 2020 – for FortisBC to provide the Detailed Project Description, including the response to the Joint Summary. In consideration of efforts being made to coordinate the federal Planning Phase steps under the Impact Assessment Act and the provincial Early Engagement phase steps under the Environmental Assessment Act (2018), the Agency recognizes that FortisBC may require additional time to produce the Detailed Project Description. You are encouraged to contact the Agency in the next few days to discuss how much time may be required.

FortisBC is reminded that all records produced, collected or received in relation to the assessment of the Project – unless prohibited under the federal Access to Information Act or the provincial Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act – will be considered public and posted on the Canadian Impact Assessment Registry Internet site and/or the EAO's Project Information and Collaboration website.

If you have any questions or if the Agency or the EAO can assist in facilitating engagement with Indigenous nations and technical advisors during the development of FortisBC's Detailed Project Description, please do not hesitate to contact Natasha Anderson from the Agency at Natasha.Anderson@canada.ca or Fern Stockman from the EAO at Fern.Stockman.@gov.bc.ca.

Sincerely,

Regina Wright
Regional Director, Pacific and Yukon
Impact Assessment Agency of Canada

Scott Bailey
Acting Chief Executive Assessment Officer and Associate Deputy Minister
Environmental Assessment Office
Government of British Columbia

Enclosure: Tilbury Phase 2 LNG Expansion Project – Joint Summary of Issues and Engagement

Cc:
Natasha Anderson, Project Manager,
Impact Assessment Agency of Canada
Natasha.Anderson@canada.ca

Fern Stockman, Project Assessment Director,
Environmental Assessment Office
Fern.Stockman.@gov.bc.ca

Enclosure: Tilbury Phase 2 LNG Expansion Project – Joint Summary of Issues and Engagement August 14, 2020

Joint Summary of Issues and Engagement

1.0 Introduction

FortisBC Holdings Inc. (Fortis BC) is proposing to expand its existing Tilbury LNG Project, a liquefied natural gas (LNG) storage and production facility located on Tilbury Island, in Delta, British Columbia (B.C.). As proposed, the Tilbury Phase 2 LNG Expansion Project (the Project) would increase the facility's LNG production capacity by more than 50 Percent, up to 13,700 tonnes of LNG per day for an operational life of at least 40 years. The expansion would allow for a total storage capacity of up to 208,000 cubic metres of LNG and include an additional storage tank and liquefaction trains and supporting infrastructure.

The Impact Assessment Agency of Canada (the Agency) and the B.C. Environmental Assessment Office (EAO) have both accepted an initial project description for the Project, which is subject to the federal Impact Assessment Act and the provincial Environmental Assessment Act (2018).

The Agency and the EAO are working cooperatively in a coordinated process for the initial phase of the Project's review in accordance with the Impact Assessment Cooperation Agreement between Canada and British Columbia (2019) (the Cooperation Agreement), and in support of the principle of "one project, one assessment."

This Joint Summary of Issues and Engagement (Joint Summary) document has been prepared and issued by the Agency and the EAO as part of the federal Planning and provincial Early Engagement phases in the assessment of projects that are captured by both the federal Impact Assessment Act and the provincial Environmental Assessment Act (2018). In accordance with the Cooperation Agreement, this Joint Summary is issued to FortisBC in place of separate federal Summary of Issues and provincial Summary of Engagement documents.

As required by Section 14 (1) of the federal Impact Assessment Act and Section 13(5)(a) of the provincial Environmental Assessment Act (2018), this Joint Summary provides a summary of: the issues raised to the Agency or the EAO by the public during the joint public comment period; comments from Indigenous nations related to their interests in the project area; key issues or concerns identified by Indigenous nations regarding the Project; and, comments provided by technical advisorsFootnote 1 after reviewing FortisBC's Initial Project Description. The Joint Summary also provides a list of participating Indigenous nations as per Section 13(5)(b) of the provincial Environmental Assessment Act (2018). FortisBC is required to consider the issues raised in the Joint Summary and respond to them in its Detailed Project Description.

This Joint Summary and FortisBC's Detailed Project Description will be used by the Agency to determine whether a federal impact assessment is required and by the EAO to determine if the project is ready to proceed to a provincial environmental assessment.

Further details on the Project can be accessed in the Initial Project Description, Engagement Plan and other documents on the Agency's Canadian Impact Assessment Registry or the EAO's Project Information and Collaboration website (EPIC).

2.0 Early Engagement Overview

During the coordinated process, the Agency and the EAO have sought to understand how the public, Indigenous nations and technical advisors want to be engaged and gathered their initial interests, concerns, questions, feedback and knowledge regarding the Project. The Agency and the EAO hosted two virtual public open houses and held meetings and teleconferences with technical advisors and potentially affected Indigenous nations.

The unique circumstances arising from COVID-19 resulted in changes to the usual approaches of undertaking meaningful public engagement and Indigenous consultation. The Agency and the EAO assessed the situation with key participants, adjusted timelines for the coordinated process and adjusted consultation and engagement activities to provide flexibility as needed in order to prioritize the health and safety of all Canadians.

2.1 Joint Public Comment Period

The Agency and the EAO held a 45-day joint public comment period from June 1 to July 16, 2020. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the associated physical distancing and self-isolation measures, virtual, rather than in-person, open houses were held via webcast and teleconference on June 18 and 23, 2020. The virtual open houses included presentations on the federal and provincial processes, a presentation by FortisBC on the Project and opportunities to ask questions online or by telephone. The two virtual open houses had approximately 150 and 100 participants, respectively.

More than 2500 public comments were received by the Agency and the EAO during the joint public comment period. Of the received comments, approximately 500 comments were from individuals and 2000 originated from three letter writing campaigns. Comments are summarized below in section 4.0.

3.0 Indigenous Nations and Organizations

The Agency and/or the EAO notified and requested input from the following Indigenous nations and organizations, whose interests could reasonably be expected to be affected by the Project:

  • Cowichan Tribes
  • Halalt First Nation
  • Katzie First Nation
  • Kwantlen First Nation
  • Kwikwetlem First Nation
  • Ts'uubaa-asatx (Lake Cowichan First Nation)
  • Leq'á:mel First Nation
  • Lyackson First Nation
  • Malahat First Nation
  • Matsqui First Nation
  • Métis Nation British Columbia
  • Musqueam Indian Band
  • Pauquachin First Nation
  • Penelakut Tribe
  • Popkum First Nation
  • Seabird Island Band
  • Semiahmoo First Nation
  • Shxw'owhámel First Nation
  • S'ólh Téméxw Stewardship Alliance (via the People of River Referrals Office)Footnote 2
    • Aitchelitz First Nation
    • Chawathil First Nation
    • Cheam First Nation
    • Kwaw'Kwaw'Apilt First Nation
    • Semá:th (Sumas) First Nation
    • Shxwhá:y Village
    • Skwah First Nation
    • Skowkale First Nation
    • Soowahlie First Nation
    • Sq'ewá:lxw (Skawahlook) First Nation
    • Sq'éwlets (Scowlitz) First Nation
    • Squiala First Nation
    • Tzeachten First Nation
    • Yakweakwioose First Nation
    • Yale First Nation
  • Squamish Nation
  • Stz'uminus First Nation
  • Tsartlip First Nation
  • Tsawout First Nation
  • Tsawwassen First Nation
  • Tseycum First Nation
  • Tsleil-Waututh First Nation

The Agency and the EAO made funding available to support participation by Indigenous groups in this phase of the assessment.

Under the provincial Environmental Assessment Act (2018) Indigenous nations can self-identify as a participating Indigenous nation for the assessment of a project. Participating Indigenous nations are afforded specific procedural rights under the provincial Environmental Assessment Act (2018), including capacity funding, consensus seeking processes, a procedure to communicate consent or withhold consent at key decision points, and access to facilitated dispute resolution.

Participating Indigenous nations under the provincial Environmental Assessment Act (2018) are identified in Table 1. The notices the EAO received from Indigenous nations self identifying as participating Indigenous nations can be found on the EAO's EPIC website.

Table 1 also identifies the Agency and the EAO's preliminary understanding of Indigenous nations' interests in the Project area, based on responses received from Indigenous nations.

Table 1: Preliminary Understanding of Indigenous Interests

Indigenous Nation

Participating Indigenous Nation under the provincial EAAFootnote 3

Summarized Understanding of Interests

Chawathil First Nation

Yes

  • Impacts to governance and self-determination rights in the Project area
  • Impacts to rights to implement Indigenous laws, customs and protocols
  • Impacts to stewardship rights and responsibilities, including ongoing conservation efforts targeted at restoring important fish species and habitat
  • Impact to the lands and resources, and rights to clean air, waters and lands
  • Impacts to rights to determine and develop strategies for the development or use of our territory, and the water, lands and resources therein
  • Impacts to rights to fish for food, ceremonial, social and trade purposes, gathering rights and traditional medicine including the conservation of medicinal plants, animals and minerals
  • Impacts to cultural and spiritual rights, including protection and access areas of cultural and spiritual importance
  • Impacts to rights to revitalize, develop and transmit to future generations our histories, oral traditions and place names relating to the Project area
  • Impacts to economic development and socio­economic rights and ability to improve current conditions
  • Impacts to passing on traditional knowledge to our future generations

Cheam First Nation

Yes

  • Effects to salmon and salmon habitat and Cheam First Nation's way of life
  • Impacts to Aboriginal rights in the Fraser River

Cowichan Tribes Halalt First Nation

Stz'uminus

First Nation

Lyackson
First Nation

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

  • Indigenous and Aboriginal rights as recognized by the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and Section 35 of the Constitution Act, including in relation to:
    • archaeological, historical and cultural sites, including the Cowichan Nation Alliance's historic village site of Tl'uqtinus
    • decision-making
    • social, economic, and physical and mental health conditions
    • spiritual relationship with traditional lands, territories water and other resources
    • subsistence
    • traditional medicines and health practices
    • redress
    • harvest wildlife, waterfowl, vegetation and other resources
    • histories, oral traditions and place names
    • Aboriginal rights to fish for food, social and ceremonial purposes
    • the land itself (for example, Aboriginal title interests)

Katzie First Nation

No (at Katzie First Nation's request)

  • Cultural stewardship including the protection of archaeological and cultural resources and the potential impacts on archaeological and cultural resources
  • Environmental stewardship including the protection of environmental resources, and potential impacts on aquatic habitat and resources, including fisheries, amphibians and water
  • Access to and use of the Fraser River as a transportation corridor and as a source of fisheries resources, and potential impacts of the Project on navigation and fishing activities
  • Respect for Aboriginal rights, title and knowledge
  • Economic development and capacity building
  • Meaningful assessment of the cumulative impacts to environmental and cultural resources

Kwantlen First Nation

Yes

  • Aboriginal rights to Tilbury Island and surrounding area and general impacts to this area

Musqueam First Nation

Yes

  • Aboriginal rights and title and cumulative effects to those rights
  • Impacts to fishing rights including:
    • food, social and ceremonial needs
    • economic well-being
    • vessel traffic
    • Indigenous knowledge
    • fishing practices
  • Potential Project interactions with Musqueam First Nation's sense of place and identity including:
    • sacred, spiritually relevant and culturally significant sites
    • identities and connection to cultural heritage
    • psychological and emotional stress
    • protection, persistence and living of Musqueam ways/manners/customs and teachings including identity and responsibilities
  • Impacts to cultural continuity and heritage including:
    • tangible and intangible values and activities
    • exercising rights, including associated knowledge, use and occupancy
    • knowledge transmission
    • cultural heritage sites and access restrictions
  • Impacts to human health including air emissions, sensory disturbances and safety risks

S'ólh Téméxw Stewardship Alliance

Yes

  • Impacts to rights to fish salmon relied on by nations for food, social and ceremonial well-being
  • Impacts to community members' health and wind-dried salmon from cumulative air quality effects
  • Impacts to cultural and spiritual practices and related impacts on health and wellbeing
  • Protection of S'ólh Téméxw ecosystem as an integrated system
  • Potential impacts to the maintenance and transmission of cultural practices from past developments and future projects

Tsawwassen First Nation

Yes

  • Effects to Treaty rights
  • Impacts to fish and fish habitat
  • Impacts to harvesting rights (plants, wildlife) and fishing rights around and up the Fraser River
  • Impacts to Southern Resident Killer Whales and associated cultural and spiritual impacts
  • Potential interference with access to traditional territory and resources, along with the ability to share knowledge and culture with young and future generations
  • Impacts to Tsawwassen First Nation members' health

Tsleil-Waututh Nation

Yes

  • Impacts to Aboriginal right to fish
  • Impacts to right to practice and preserve traditional culture and right to self-governance
  • Impacts to salmonids and other aquatic species
  • Impacts to marine mammals including Southern Resident Killer Whales
  • Impacts to air quality and compounding impacts of climate change
  • Impacts to local vegetation and harvesting sites
  • Impacts to heritage resources
  • Impacts to ability to practice Tsleil-Waututh Nation culture
  • Impacts to cultural health
  • Cumulative effects

Ts'uubaa-asatx First Nation

Yes

  • Impacts to resource camp and harvesting including fish and seals
  • Impacts to trade along the south arm of the Fraser River
  • Impacts to inter-community relations

The Agency and the EAO expect FortisBC to engage with each of the Indigenous nations listed in section 3.0 to ensure their interests and issues are reflected in the Detailed Project Description.

4.0 Summary of Issues

This section provides a high-level summary of the issues raised in comments received by the Agency and the EAO from the public, Indigenous nations and technical advisors on FortisBC's Initial Project Description (see Table 2). FortisBC is directed to review the original submissions posted on the Agency's Canadian Impact Assessment Registry and the EAO's EPIC website.

The Joint Summary does not include comments received on B.C.'s request to substitute the conduct of the federal impact assessment, should one be required, to the province. Should a federal impact assessment be required, the federal Minister of Environment and Climate Change will consider any comments received in deciding whether to approve the request for substitution. The Agency will post a notice of the Minister's decision with respect to the request for substitution along with the reasons for the decision on the Agency's Canadian Impact Assessment Registry.

Table 2: Summary of Issues Raised

Accidents, Malfunctions, and Public Safety

  • Potential for adverse environmental and human-health effects from accidents and malfunctions, such as leaks or spills, during the construction and operation of the Project, and details on proposed prevention, mitigation and response measures that will be implemented.
  • Potential impacts of accidents and malfunctions on nearby urban areas and businesses.
  • Concern regarding the Project's proximity to the Vancouver Airport Fuel Delivery Project and the potential for an accident between the two projects.
  • Inclusion of reliable modelling for contaminants released to air or spilled to water to inform the emergency management plans and associated response measures and capacities for each major type of foreseeable incident.
  • Concerns regarding the safety of people living in urban/residential areas near the Project site, including in relation to flaring.
  • Risk of a terrorist attack on the Project site or LNG ships.
  • Concerns that Canada lacks regulations for LNG siting similar to regulations in the USA that would prohibit this proposal.
  • Concerns related to locating LNG facilities near populated areas in an environment such as the Fraser River, in consideration of safety concerns and recommendations by the Society of International Gas Tanker and Terminal Operators.

Acoustic Environment

  • Effects due to underwater noise.
  • Details of the noise and steam vapour characteristics of the Project.

Alternative Means of Carrying Out the Project

  • Clarity and further detail on the alternative means of carrying out the Project listed in the Initial Project Description and the rationale for why the current technologies and processes were chosen.

Alternatives to the Project

  • Clarity and further detail on the alternatives to the Project that were considered and rationale for why the current approach was selected.

Atmospheric Environment

  • Effects on air quality from construction, operation and decommissioning, including activities associated with combustion (for example, transportation, construction vehicles, compression), intentional and non-intentional releases from equipment, electricity generation, flaring and venting, fugitive sources and physical disturbance to land causing dust (particulate matter).
  • Use of the most stringent Canadian Ambient Air Quality Standards or B.C. Ambient Air Quality Objectives to undertake an assessment of existing (baseline) and predicted future (project, project + baseline, accidents and malfunctions, and cumulative) air quality.
  • Alignment of the Project with Metro Vancouver's regional air quality objectives.

Climate Change and Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions

  • Contribution of the Project's carbon dioxide and methane emissions to climate change and how this could impact local, provincial, and federal government ability to meet climate change commitments and GHG emission targets.
  • Clarity on the scope of activities included in the GHG emissions estimates (including methane leakage during life cycle of LNG production), and descriptions of the methodologies and assumptions used for the quantification of GHG emissions from each activity.
  • Inclusion of net GHG emissions quantified on an annual basis.
  • Consideration of best available technologies, best environmental practices, and emerging technologies for all aspects and phases of the Project to maximize GHG reductions and energy efficiency.
  • Impacts of the Project on FortisBC being able to meet its corporate 30BY30 objective.

Country Foods

  • Effects on country foods from the release of contaminants of potential concern into the environment (air, water, soil) which could be absorbed by foods sourced through hunting, trapping, fishing and harvesting, grown for subsistence or medicinal purposes or having Indigenous cultural importance.

Cumulative Effects

  • Cumulative effects on regional traffic and land use, including lands within the Agricultural Land Reserve and in the lower Fraser River area.
  • Cumulative effects of the Project and other industrial projects, such as the Trans Mountain Expansion and Woodfibre LNG Projects, on Southern Resident Killer Whales.
  • Cumulative effects on air quality from an increase in water and land-based transportation due to the number of developments proposed in the Project area.
  • Cumulative effects from underwater noise on Southern Resident Killer Whales, their food sources and habitat.
  • Cumulative climate change effects from the Project and other industrial projects.

Current and Future Generations

  • Project impacts on future generations due to GHG emissions and climate change.

Economic Conditions

  • Effects of the Project construction on the local and regional economy, local job creation and labour force.
  • Consideration of whether the Project will generate significant social and economic benefits and opportunities for local communities, including women's employment or entrepreneurship opportunities.
  • Details on how women, men, and diverse groups of people are employed either as wage earners in the labour market or in customary livelihood occupations, and employment rates and the level or nature of unemployment in the local area.
  • Inclusion of measures that will be undertaken to support the recruitment, development and retention of workers.

Ecosystems

  • Effects on the sensitive Fraser River estuary ecosystem including its ecosystem function to reduce flooding impacts.

Effects of the Environment on the Project

  • Effects of the environment on the Project such as fire, floods, extreme weather events, increased precipitation, and higher water levels due to climate change. Future climate projections should be taken into account.

Environmental and Impact Assessment Processes

  • Concerns about the credibility of information generated throughout the assessment process and the opportunity to participate in the process.
  • Concerns regarding public confidence in the assessment process; including lack of advertising of the open houses and opportunities for meaningful public engagement.

Fish and Fish Habitat

  • Effects on fish (including salmon, sturgeon, steelhead, and eulachon) mortality, lifecycle, productivity and habitat through alteration, disruption, and destruction of fish habitat during all Project phases.
  • Additional information to determine if the upgrades to the temporary construction jetty requires a Fisheries Act authorization.
  • Mitigation plan, including timing windows for construction of the temporary construction jetty, for impacts to fish and fish habitat.

Geology, Geochemistry, and Geological Hazards

  • Inclusion of a seismic hazard assessment and effects related to seismic activity including liquefaction and other relevant hazards.

Human Health and Well-Being

  • The Human Health Risk Assessment should include baseline, project-attributed and cumulative health effects (for example hazard quotients for non-carcinogenic and incremental cancer risks for potentially carcinogenic contaminants of potential concern).
  • Inclusion of a detailed noise assessment and any related health effects on all potential human receptor locations in accordance with Health Canada guidance. The assessment should include sensitive human receptor locations (for example schools, hospitals, retirement and care homes), residences, cabins and other temporary/seasonal traditional use sites such as hunting, fishing, trapping, berry picking and ceremonial and other use (for example recreational) within the Project area and their distances to key Project components that maybe have potential impacts on these receptors.
  • Consideration of effects on human health from all pollutants, including emissions from vessel/barge deliveries, use of portable generator systems or temporary construction power, and potential use of self-generation and/or gas combustion compressor drives.
  • Consideration of effects on human health of released contaminants against federal and provincial standards during all Project phases, including abnormal operating scenarios.
  • Effects on human health and sensitive ecosystem receptors from emission of air pollutants (particulate matter (PM, PM2.5, PM10), sulfur oxides, nitrogen oxides, volatile organic compounds, hydrogen sulphide, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide and other pollutants) and degradation of local or regional ambient air quality.
  • Diesel particulate matter should be assessed for potential effects on human health.
  • Inclusion of information on populations and activities in the area, including Indigenous peoples who practice traditional activities, their distances in relation to the Project and what Project components may affect which population/activity.
  • Information on how products of LNG processing, such as wastewater including accidental wastewater discharge, hydrogen sulfide, mercury, acid gas and heavy hydrocarbons, will be treated and/or disposed of on Tilbury Island.

Indigenous Peoples' Rights

  • Effects to the rights of Indigenous peoples and their traditional land use through the construction and operation of the Project.

Infrastructure and Services

  • Clarity on the relationship between the Tilbury Marine Jetty project and the Tilbury Phase 2 LNG Expansion Project.
  • Additional details on other infrastructure upgrades that will be required, including the transmission line and offsite lay down and storage areas.
  • Further description of the temporary construction jetty and upgrades.
  • Traffic impact assessment to understand effects from construction and operation traffic on regional and local traffic and future traffic forecasts.
  • Effects on local and regional infrastructure such as water mains, forecasts for Greater Vancouver Water District water demand and City of Delta municipal forecasts.
  • Effects from construction, operation, or associated marine shipping traffic on City of Richmond flood protection infrastructure.
  • Information on the amount of energy required for processing the LNG and the energy's source.
  • Information on the source of the natural gas and whether a new or expanded pipeline will be needed to service the Project.

Land and Resource Use

  • Additional details on subsistence use (for example fishing and harvesting), recreational use (for example trails and parks), and sensitive places (for example schools and hospitals) in the Project area generated by engagement of appropriate Indigenous groups and stakeholders.
  • Effects on agricultural land near the Project site.

Marine Use (Excluding Navigation)

  • Clarity around use of the Fraser River during construction of the Project.
  • Clarity on upgrades and use of the temporary construction jetty and whether upgrades would be completed as part of this Project or the Tilbury Marine Jetty Project.
  • Further details on dredging in the Fraser River.

Marine Mammals

  • Effects to marine mammals and their habitat from Project activities including barging that could alter, disrupt or destroy habitat.

Natural Gas Extraction using Hydraulic Fracturing (Fracking) Methods and Upstream Effects

  • Consideration of upstream and downstream climate impacts related to the Project's lifecycle emissions, including fugitive emissions from fracking, processing, transport and final combustion of the gas.
  • Concerns about the effects of fracking on human health, land use, surface water, ground water, agriculture and air quality upstream of the Project.
  • Information on the companies responsible for upstream and downstream environmental effects of fracking and combustion, including GHGs and effects to water.

Navigation

  • Concerns around increased shipping use of the Fraser River and effects to marine navigation in the narrow inland waterway.
  • Consideration of vessel movement and transits both directly to and from the terminal and interaction with existing vessel traffic and safety areas related to the loading of LNG carriers.

Project Contribution to Sustainability

  • Project impacts on B.C.'s fossil fuel use.

Public and Stakeholder Engagement

  • Engagement of the local agricultural community to discuss ways to minimize the effects to agriculture.
  • Concerns about holding public consultation during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Purpose of and Need for the Project

  • Consideration of the need for LNG by Asian markets and the economic sustainability of exporting LNG to Asia.
  • Consideration of the purpose of the Project and economics for LNG export versus need by the domestic market.
  • Information on the percentage of LNG produced by the Project that FortisBC plans to export.
  • Details on the economic feasibility of the Project in the context of the current LNG market, including a cost/benefit analysis.

Social Conditions

  • Inclusion of details on what was heard through the engagement and consultation process on social needs and well-being.
  • Inclusion of engagement activity methodology that will be used to ensure that the specific needs of men, women and diverse groups of people are understood.
  • Inclusion of a description of the social norms and broader social power structure that could impact women, men and diverse groups of people's abilities to equally benefit from the Project.

Species at Risk, Terrestrial Wildlife and their Habitat

  • Effects on aquatic Species at Risk (for example white sturgeon, eulachon, Southern Resident Killer Whales), and their habitat, including injury or mortality, sensory disturbance, and change in habitat as a result of noise, vibration, wake and artificial lighting.
  • Effects on terrestrial wildlife resources, migratory birds protected under the Migratory Birds Convention Act, and non-aquatic Species at Risk (amphibians, arthropods, birds, lichens, terrestrial mammals, mosses, reptiles and vascular plants) protected under the Species at Risk Act (SARA), and their habitat (including residences and critical habitat defined under SARA).
  • Inclusion of a nest survey to determine potential effects on nesting birds at the site.
  • Inclusion of measures to avoid, reduce, or compensate for potential adverse effects to federally and provincially listed Species at Risk.

Vegetation

  • Inclusion of a vegetation inventory in the Project area and mitigation for the effects of construction and operation on vegetation.

Visual Environment

  • Analysis of the visual impacts of construction and operation from significant City of Richmond viewpoints for example west/south dyke trails and parks.

Vulnerable Population Groups (Gender-based Analysis Plus (GBA+))

  • Use of a GBA+ lens throughout the project lifecycle to understand the differential impacts and experiences of risk, benefits and impacts of the Project on men, women, diverse persons and people from a range of groups and communities.
  • Consideration of equity throughout the design and implementation of engagement and consultation processes to ensure inclusiveness.
  • Inclusion of adequate consultation with women or diverse groups when negotiating access to land, compensation, or benefit-sharing agreements.
  • Use of language and information materials that are accessible to all.
  • Use of disaggregated baseline information (at a minimum, by sex, age and ethnicity, and where possible, by other factors such as Indigeneity or education levels) and inclusion of descriptions of data gaps, where applicable.
  • Inclusion of qualitative insights from studies, consultations, and other sources to complement quantitative information.
  • Inclusion of information on how the Project intends to support culturally sensitive participation of women and diverse groups in decision making.
  • Inclusion of scoping, assessment and mitigation measures for potential issues of gender-based violence (for example sexual harassment, violence against women, and human trafficking) and identification of vulnerable groups among women (for example Indigenous and younger women).

Water – Groundwater and Surface Water

  • Effects on water quality from in-stream, upland and onsite activities during construction, closure and decommissioning, such as disturbances from upgrades to the temporary construction jetty (dredging, installation of piles, placement of fill and riprap and vegetation removal), discharge of water from hydrostatic tests, construction water and increased marine traffic for material delivery.
  • Details on the volume, timing and frequency of removing and redepositing large quantities of water in the Fraser River and its effects on turbidity and water quality.
  • Effects of construction on the turbidity of the Fraser River.
  • Long-term effects on water quality from deposition of airborne particulate matter generated by the plant operation, discharges related to effluent (for example cooling process) and storm water management.

5.0 Next Steps

The next steps in this initial phase of the coordinated process are included below:

  • FortisBC is required to submit a Detailed Project Description to the Agency and the EAO that includes responses to the issues raised in the Joint Summary.
  • FortisBC is expected to engage with technical advisors and each of the Indigenous nations listed in section 3.0 to ensure their interests and issues are reflected in the Detailed Project Description.
  • FortisBC is encouraged to submit additional documents along with the Detailed Project Description including FortisBC's proposed Application Information Requirements.
  • The Agency will use the Detailed Project Description to determine whether a federal impact assessment is required and the EAO will use it to determine if the Project is ready to proceed to a provincial environmental assessment.
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