2003/04 -- 2005/06 Service Plan -- Environmental Assessment Office

Objectives, Strategies, Performance Measures and Targets — Continued

Goal 1: Efficient and Effective Delivery of Environmental Assessment

Objective 1. Continual improvement of provincial environmental assessment.
Strategies	Performance Measures	2002/03 Base Data	2003/04 Target	2004/05 Target	2005/06 Target
• Timely and cost-efficient delivery of the provincial environmental assessment process. • Evaluate the environmental assessment process, and refine based on implementation experience. • Align environmental assessment and permitting/licensing. • Fulfill government’s legal obligations towards First Nations. • Facilitating proponents’ and review participants’ understanding of relationship-building with First Nations.	Duration of government application review.¹	New measure. Base data collection in progress.	90% of application reviews completed in 180 days.	Maintain or improve.	Maintain or improve.
	Participants’ perceptions of a professional, expert, fair, and open review process.	Proponent, First Nations, and review participant surveys in progress.	Proponents: continual improvement. Others: maintain or improve.	Proponents: continual improvement. Others: maintain or improve.	Proponents: continual improvement. Others: maintain or improve.
	Average annual government costs per project for environmental assessment.	Estimated to be $317K. To be finalized in 2002/03 Service Plan Report.	Reduce 2002/03 level by 5%.	Reduce 2002/03 level by 10%.	Maintain or reduce.
	Deregulation: reducing unnecessary red tape and regulation.	56% reduction in regulatory requirements of provincial environmental assessment.²	Maintain or reduce regulatory requirements of provincial environmental assessment.	Maintain or reduce regulatory requirements of provincial environmental assessment.	Maintain or reduce regulatory requirements of provincial environmental assessment.
Objective 2. Enhance federal/provincial cooperation to increase timeliness and certainty, and minimize overlap and duplication.
Strategies	Performance Measures	2002/03 Base Data	2003/04 Target	2004/05 Target	2005/06 Target
• Implement operational processes (work plans, dispute resolution mechanisms, etc.) to facilitate federal/provincial cooperation. • Negotiate a new federal/provincial agreement for environmental assessment cooperation.	Participants’ perceptions of efforts made to achieve a harmonized inter- governmental review.³	Proponent, First Nations, and review participant surveys in progress.	Proponents: continual improvement. Others: maintain or improve.	Proponents: continual improvement. Others: maintain or improve.	Proponents: continual improvement. Others: maintain or improve.


1	Replaces “% of reviews completed on time” as the measure of achieving a timely review process. This change was made to reflect the new legislated requirement for government review of project applications to be completed in 180 days or less.
2	Three-year target (i.e., by end of 2004/05) of reducing regulatory requirements of provincial environmental assessment by 33% achieved in year one (2002/03).
3	Replaces the development of an “approved plan for cooperative federal/provincial relationship to guide joint reviews” as the measure of enhanced federal/provincial cooperation.