Environment Quality Act
The aim of the Environment Quality Act is to preserve the quality of the environment, encourage its clean-up and prevent its deterioration. One of the means provided for in the Act is to establish a preventive plan aimed at requiring certain activities and projects to first obtain a certification of authorization from Quebec Minister of the Sustainable Development, Environment and the Fight against Climate Change, under section 22, or by government order, under section IV.1 of the EQA.
Application of section 22
Subsections 1 and 2 of section 22 of the EQA read as follows:
No one may erect or alter a structure, undertake to operate an industry, carry on an activity or use an industrial process or increase the production of any goods or services if it seems likely that this will result in an emission, deposit, issuance or discharge of contaminants into the environment or a change in the quality of the environment, unless he first obtains from the Minister a certificate of authorization.
However, no one may erect or alter any structure, carry out any works or projects, undertake to operate any industry, carry on any activity or use any industrial process or increase the production of any goods or services in a constant or intermittent watercourse, a lake, pond, marsh, swamp or bog, unless he first obtains a certificate of authorization from the Minister.
The Regulation respecting the application of the Environment Quality Act does not provide for any exemptions for dredging work. As a result, section 22 applies to all types of work.
Projects, activities, and work governed by section 22 of the EQA require a certificate of authorization, which can be applied for using the form available at the regional offices of the ministère du développement durable, de l’Environnement et de la Lutte contre les changements climatiques (MDDELCC). This form must be accompanied by all documents or information set out in the regulation and entered into the information sheet entitled, “Les exigences du ministère de l’Environnement pour l’obtention d’un certificat d’autorisation.” The application must be sent to the regional office of the MDDELCC responsible for the area affected by the project.
Application of Division IV.1 of the EQA
Division IV.1 (sections 31.1 to 31.9) of the EQA deals with the environmental impact assessment and review procedure. Only projects listed in section 2 of the Regulation respecting environmental impact assessment and review are subject to this procedure, i.e., in the case of dredging activities in the St. Lawrence, “any program or project involving the dredging, digging, filling, levelling off or backfilling of a watercourse referred to in Schedule A [of the Regulation] or of a lake, within the 2-year flood line, over a distance of 300 metres or more or an area of 5,000 m2 or more, and any program or project involving dredging, digging, filling, levelling off or backfilling, for any purpose whatsoever, cumulatively equalling or exceeding the above limits for the same watercourse referred to in Schedule A [of the Regulation] or the same lake […].” The St. Lawrence River, Gulf of St. Lawrence (including Baie-des-Chaleurs), the tributaries of the St. Lawrence and the tributaries of the tributaries of the St. Lawrence River are considered watercourses under Schedule A of the Regulation.
A certificate of authorization issued by the Government of Quebec under section 31.5 of the EQA (following the application of the environmental impact assessment and review procedure) must be obtained for all dredging projects or programs corresponding to the description above in advance of the certificate required under section 22 of the EQA. In the case of maintenance dredging programs, government orders typically have a 10-year validity period.
The environmental impact assessment and review process is administered by the Direction générale de l’évaluation environnementale et stratégique of the MDDELCC.
The various steps of this procedure are described on the MDDELCC website, at: http://www.mddelcc.gouv.qc.ca/evaluations/procedure.htm (in French only).
The procedure includes an environmental impact assessment by the project proponent, on which will be based the MDDELCC environmental analysis. The procedure also includes a public consultation step, conducted by the Bureau d’audiences publiques sur l’environnement (BAPE)
For more information on preparing an environmental impact assessment statement, please consult the MDDELCC website (under the “Environmental Assessments” tab). The following documents are available on the website: Directive pour la réalisation d’une étude d’impact sur l’environnement d’un projet de dragage, de creusage et de remplissage en milieu hydrique and the Directive pour la réalisation d’une étude d’impact sur l’environnement d’un programme ou d’un projet de dragage d’entretien (in French only.)
For more information about the Environment Quality Act, please consult the MDDELCC website or contact the MDDELCC’s Centre de renseignements by email or telephone at:
Ministère du Développement durable, de l’Environnement et de la Lutte contre les changements climatiques
Centre de renseignements
Marie-Guyart Building, 29th floor
675 René-Lévesque Blvd. East
Quebec (Quebec) G1R 5V7
Telephone: 418-521-3830 or 1-800-561-1616
Fax: 418-646-5974
Email: info@mddelcc.gouv.qc.ca
Website: http://www.mddelcc.gouv.qc.ca