Quebec’s will reduce the amount of time it takes to complete an environmental assessment by about half in order to speed up major projects such as mines and energy sector development, Environment Minister Bernard Drainville said Monday.
He said the time savings will come from simplifying the process for industry and government, without compromising standards.
“I think the strength of our environmental requirements are maintained, and in some regards strengthened, because we involve the public much more quickly,” Drainville said.
He said the time to complete an environmental assessment will drop to nine months, down from the current 13 to 18.
An assessment is a mandatory step that evaluates the environmental impact of certain categories of major projects, including those in the energy, industrial, mining and transportation sector….