WHEREAS the provincial government implemented the Riparian Areas Regulation to protect fish habitat for future generations, and the implementation of this regulation requires a partnership between the provincial Ministry of Environment, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, and local governments to be successful; AND WHEREAS the provincial Ministry of Environment appears to be lacking the dedicated resources to review the reports forwarded by Qualified Environmental Professionals QEPs, which is necessary in order to ensure that the standards set under these regulations are adhered to: THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the provincial Ministry of Environment take immediate steps to provide the necessary staff resources to review the reports forwarded by QEPs so that the provincial Riparian Areas Regulation fully achieves its goal of protecting our fish habitat.
Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations The Riparian Area Regulation RAR is an important tool available under the Fish Protection Act to protect the riparian fish habitat component of watercourses. Implementation of the RAR includes the 2008 intergovernmental cooperation agreement between the federal and provincial governments and UBCM. In addition to establishing roles, responsibilities and dispute-resolution mechanisms, the agreement indicates each party shall be responsible for its own direct costs. The agreement allows for each partner to engage in cost-recovery mechanisms as necessary. Although not included directly in the RAR, these cost-recovery mechanisms enable local governments to approach developers and require them to cover habitat protection costs associated with their proposed activity. An independently developed monitoring framework provides a strong statistical confidence level for reviews submitted under the RAR. When workloads prevent Ministry staff from monitoring, experienced Qualified Environment Professionals are hired on contract to complete the work. The Province continues to monitor results to update training courses provided by Vancouver Island University and develop regional workshops to improve assessment report preparation and overall implementation of the RAR program. The Province stands by its responsibilities to protect important water resources and associated fish habitat, which we recognize contribute to community needs, a healthy environment and economic growth.