First Nations-FocusedScientific Reviews of Environmental

Assessments

MSES

Prepared by

Sarah Hechtenthal, M.Sc., P. Biol.sarah.hechtenthal@mses.ca

MSES – Who are we?Management and Solutions in Environmental Science

MSES

Who: Network of senior scientists & engineers - regularly review Environmental Assessments for pipelines, oil and gas projects, metals mining, roads, land development, etc…

MSES Independent Scientists & Engineers• Cumulative Effects• Groundwater Quantity and Quality• Surface Water Quantity and Quality• Fish and Fish Habitat• Air Quality• Noise• Visual impact• Health (human and wildlife)• Vegetation and Wetlands• Reclamation• Wildlife (terrestrial and aquatic)• Biodiversity• Heritage Resources• Traditional Land and Resource Use• Socio-economics• Mitigation measures• Community-based monitoring programs

MSES – Who are we?Management and Solutions in Environmental Science

MSES

What we do: Provide expert technical advice & guidance to clients throughout the environmental assessment process. Inform clients about potential local and regional impacts of development. Provide effective scientific solutions.

Clients: First Nations, legal teams, governments, regulators, environmental review boards and judiciary review panels, etc… *Conducting Aboriginal-focused technical reviews for 11+ years*

Will water quality change?

How will this project contribute to regional disturbances in my traditional territory?

Will the vegetation come back?

Will I still be able to hunt moose?

How will fish be impacted?

This is one copy of an EIA………….

1. Get Informed about projects that are planned in your traditional territories. Think regional scale too!

2. Get Involved – depending on scope of project and degree of concern there are lots of ways to be involved including requesting a technical review of EIA by experts *(Technical reviews often paid for by proponent NOT First Nation)

3. Participate at the decision-making table so that you have a voice in the project planning, the Application process, monitoring, and beyond…. When? How? Who?

Experts can help you…

When should you get involved?

Project Planning

Terms of Reference for EIA

Submit EIA Go to Regulatory Hearing

Input into Approval Conditions and Licenses

Design Mitigation and Monitoring Programs

One rule – the earlier the better!!!

Negotiate Impact Benefit Agreement or other….

Who should complete your third-party review?1. Independent/arms-length experts with no conflicts of interest. Can they

offer a totally unbiased scientific analysis and examination of all information? Not advocacy.

2. Professionals who are experts in their field, have professional designations, and have experience in doing impact assessment. Qualify as an expert witness at a regulatory hearing?

3. Professionals who have experience conducting technical reviews within Aboriginal Rights framework (“First Nations-Focused Technical Review”) Know how to integrate TK data with technical data? Able to focus on what is most critical to First Nations? Able to incorporate community feedback into the review process to make it more meaningful?

4. Experts who are flexible, experienced with working with Aboriginal groups, and have successfully navigated this process before. Have they negotiated with governments and industry to find best path forward? Can they offer solutions that work for your community and regulators?

MSES Technical Review ApproachFirst Nation-focused reviews have 3 KEY GOALS:1. Ensure that community concerns are meaningfully

addressed throughout the review process whilst also conducting a scientifically rigorous assessment of EIA and monitoring plans.

2. Empower our clients in their communications with regulators and industry by providing powerful negotiation tools (science, evidence, and knowledge).

3. Provide communities with the information they need in order to make their own informed decisions that are in line with their vision of current and future resource and land uses.

Technical Experts can also help to:*Promote transparency throughout Application process.

*Inform “Decision Makers” (governments, regulators, monitoring and review boards, expert panels, and legal teams) allowing them to make decisions based on science when considering development on traditional lands.

*Help governments make balanced decisions about competing land uses on traditional lands and build scientifically-sound solutions to resource use.

MSES