This project was led by Taylor Belansky, a 4th-year student in the B.Sc. in Northern Environmental and Conservation Sciences program at Yukon University/University of Alberta.
Environmental and socio-economic impact assessment (ESA) is the process used to reduce, mitigate, or eliminate the negative impacts of human activities. In the Yukon, ESA is mandated by the Yukon Environmental and Socio-Economic Assessment Act and administered by the Yukon Environmental and Socio-Economic Assessment Board (YESAB). This board conducts ESA by drawing on western scientific knowledge, Indigenous ways of knowing, and public knowledge and perspectives. With this collection of knowledge, YESAB makes a recommendation to a Decision Body (e.g. federal or territorial government agency) on whether a project should be allowed to proceed, to proceed with conditions or to not be allowed to proceed. These recommendations are often based on whether it is determined that a project will have significant adverse impacts that cannot be adequately mitigated. The Decision Body, informed by the recommendation put forward by YESAB, makes the decision on whether a project may proceed, proceed with conditions or not proceed, and is required to provide the rationale behind their decisions. The objective of this study was to determine how often the Decision Body does not accept YESAB’s recommendations, specifically when the recommendation is that a project not be allowed to proceed, as well as to evaluate the reasons for the rejections. Since the creation of YESAB, there have been 84 cases in which YESAB recommended that a project not be allowed to proceed. In 16 of these cases, the Decision Body disagreed with that recommendation. The reasons given by the Decision Body to disregard the recommendation presented by YESAB varied but were related to significance determination, cumulative effects analysis, and scoping or assessment issues. Suggested improvements to the ESA process include the establishment of legally enforceable significance thresholds that are identified through collaborative processes with stakeholders. The integration of cumulative effects analysis into ESA requires additional research and should be informed by the collection of baseline data regarding the environmental and socio-economic context of pre-project settings. The largest knowledge gap identified in this study was how socio-economic impacts, both adverse and beneficial, inform the ESA process in the Yukon.
Supervisor: Dr. Kathryn Aitken, School of Science, Yukon University and Adjunct Professor, Dept. of Renewable Resources, University of Alberta, Co-supervisor
Project Funder: This research was funded by Yukon University’s Scholarly Activity Grant program.