N.S. shakes up requirements for metal mines in bid to speed up approvals

Nova Scotia Environment Minister Tim Halman says he's acting on years of requests from the mining industry to change the regulatory requirements for some major projects.

The changes are the latest move in the Houston government's plan to ramp up resource development.

"We are embracing the fact that strong environmental protection, economic opportunity and regulatory clarity are not competing priorities. They must work together, and in Nova Scotia they will," Halman said at a news conference Friday.

Halman's department is removing 15 requirements from the application for industrial approvals, which a project needs before it can start operating.

The changes apply only to metal mining projects, while all other major projects will still have to meet the pre-existing requirements for industrial applications.

15 requirements pushed down the road

The 15 requirements that were dropped include noise and air emissions monitoring plans, the submission of reclamation securities and signed authorization from landowners, among other items.

The requirements are not being completely discarded but are being pushed further down the road. The requirements will be conditions of industrial approval, with deadlines coming at various stages of construction and operation of the mine.

Officials from Halman's department called it a "phased" approach and said it will help speed things up.

"When a company receives industrial approval, it may be many months or years before they begin construction," said Janet MacKinnon, executive director of sustainability and applied science.

"So we wouldn't necessarily need that information until they were ready at that phase of their project to start building or start constructing or start operating."

'Quicker is better'

Metal mining projects have to undergo a Class I environmental assessment, which takes 50 days, before moving on to industrial approval, which takes 60 days. Those timelines are set in legislation.

The period in between receipt of environmental approval and the submission of an application for industrial approval is highly variable, said Paul Keats, and that's the area the province is aiming to address.

Keats, director of the regional integration, compliance and operations unit at the Environment Department, said the months or years that can go by in between the two stages is dictated in part by the applicant's ability to meet all the requirements for industrial applications.

He said a group of 10 staff has been assigned to work exclusively on industrial approvals for metal mining projects.

"We are going to be here to help clients understand the requirements and help them get through a successful approval quicker," he said.

He couldn't say exactly how much time he expects the new process to shave off.

"Quicker is better," said Keats.

MacKinnon said Mi'kmaw leaders were "made aware" of the changes to the industrial approval process and will continue to be consulted on a project-by-project basis.