Environmental Assessments
When a major project is proposed in British Columbia, it must undergo an environmental assessment. In B.C. environmental assessments are managed by the Environmental Assessment Office (EAO), a neutral regulatory agency within the provincial government.
The Environmental Assessment Office and COVID-19
The Environmental Assessment Office (EAO) is committed to providing a safe place to work - protecting the health and wellbeing of both our staff and those with whom we work with.
Like many other businesses and provincial agencies, we are now beginning to return to the office. The EAO has begun essential travel and in-person engagement activities. We will continue to utilize virtual engagements we have seen to be beneficial as we navigate the EA process moving forward. When assessing our work processes overall and how we return to in-person engagement activities, we will continue to follow the direction of the Provincial Health Officer and our workplace health and safety experts.
Thank you for your understanding and patience as we all do our best in this unique time. Please reach out to your project lead, sector lead, or other contact person at the EAO if you have any questions. We will update this website as and when appropriate
The environmental assessment process ensures that any potential environmental, economic, social, cultural and health effects that may occur during the lifetime of a major project are thoroughly assessed. Environmental assessments are managed by the EAO, a neutral regulatory agency within the provincial government that works with and seeks input from scientific professionals, Indigenous groups, proponents, the public, local governments, and federal and provincial agencies to ensure that no adverse effects are missed.
The EAO follows a clearly defined process in the Environmental Assessment Act to conduct the assessment of a major project and produce a detailed Assessment Report. That report is then given to provincial Ministers to make a decision on if the project should proceed.
You can learn more about the environmental assessment process, here.
