Environmental Assessment Process
Aurora must receive approval from two key federal regulatory agencies - the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency (CEAA) and the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) - to construct a mine. The Government of Newfoundland and Labrador and the Nunatsiavut Government will also have to approve the plans for development before Aurora receives the final approval to go ahead with the Michelin Project. This approval process is formally called the Environmental Assessment (EA) process. One of the EA’s main goals is to make sure that environmental protections are a part of project planning, design, construction, and operation.
CEAA’s role is to coordinate the EA process between all federal, provincial, and regional regulators. The CNSC will also have a key role in the EA process and the licensing phase. The mission of the CNSC is to regulate the use of nuclear energy and materials:
- To protect health, safety, security, and the environment.
- To respect Canada's international commitments to the peaceful use of nuclear energy.
Public participation in the EA process ensures an open, balanced review of the project. It also strengthens the quality and credibility of the assessment. As well, we look to community members to share local and traditional knowledge of the project's physical site with us. This information is viewed by Aurora as key to the early identification, assessment and timely addressing of potentially negative environmental effects.
The graphic below shows the EA process as we expect the Michelin Project will follow. Please click on the boxes for more information on individual steps.
Environmental Assessment Process Flowchart
