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Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics

Strategic Environmental Assessment And Regional Infrastructure Planning: The Case Of York Region, Ontario, Denis Kirchhoff, Daniel D. Mccarthy, Debbe D. Crandall, Graham S. Whitelaw Jan 2011

Strategic Environmental Assessment And Regional Infrastructure Planning: The Case Of York Region, Ontario, Denis Kirchhoff, Daniel D. Mccarthy, Debbe D. Crandall, Graham S. Whitelaw

Denis Kirchhoff

Strategic environmental assessment (SEA) is seen as an instrument that is essential to realizing sustainability goals that transcend project-level undertakings (e.g. policies, plans and programmes). The purpose of this case-based, collaborative research was to extend practical and theoretical understanding of SEA to the related, but in practice poorly coordinated, processes of project-level environmental assessment (EA), master planning and regional land use planning. Semi-structured key informant interviews and review of policy documents were used as the main sources of qualitative data to explore the key events that have led to an emerging strategic approach to planning and EA in York Region. …


Strengthening Strategic Environmental Assessment In Canada: An Evaluation Of Three Basic Options, Robert Gibson, Hugh Benevides, Meinhard Doelle, Denis Kirchhoff Sep 2010

Strengthening Strategic Environmental Assessment In Canada: An Evaluation Of Three Basic Options, Robert Gibson, Hugh Benevides, Meinhard Doelle, Denis Kirchhoff

Denis Kirchhoff

Canada has a long and diverse but largely disappointing record in integrating environmental and sustainability considerations into the development of policies, plans, programs and other strategic undertakings. For over 25 years, the federal government has had a policy-based strategic environmental assessment (SEA) process. In 2003, the deficiencies of this process led the House of Commons Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development to recommend establishment of a legislated framework for mandatory SEA before the 2010 Parliamentary review of environmental assessment. Governments since then have not acted on this recommendation but have promised to strengthen federal SEA. In this paper, we …


Law And Policy Options For Strategic Environmental Assessment In Canada, Hugh Benevides, Denis Kirchhoff, Meinhard Doelle, Robert Gibson Oct 2009

Law And Policy Options For Strategic Environmental Assessment In Canada, Hugh Benevides, Denis Kirchhoff, Meinhard Doelle, Robert Gibson

Denis Kirchhoff

This research paper has been produced for the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency on behalf of the sub-committee on Strategic Environmental Assessment (the SEA sub-committee) which is in turn mandated by the Minister of the Environment’s Regulatory Advisory Committee (RAC). The immediate need for the report is a request from RAC to the SEA sub-committee to research and report on law and policy options for improving the conduct of Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) in Canada, with a focus on the federal level. The purpose of the paper is to provide an impartial, research-based assessment of the best approaches to designing and …