OF-Fac-Gas-N081-2013- 10 01 President Arlene Lylyk Fort St. John

National Energy
Board
Office national
de I’énergie
OF-Fac-Gas-N081-2013- 10 01
29 January 2014
President Arlene Lylyk
Fort St. John Métis Society
10011 100 Street
Fort St. John, BC V1J 3Y5
Facsimile 250-785-7207
-
Dear Ms. Lylyk:
NOVA Gas Transmission Ltd. North Montney Project
Further to the EAE materials dated 11 October 2013, the Major Projects Management Office has
provided the following communiqué to explain the federal Crown’s process for Aboriginal
Crown consultation with respect to NOVA Gas Transmission Ltd.’s proposed North Montney
Project.
Yours truly,
p../
Sheri Young
Secretary of the Board
Attachments
Cc:
Jim Delaney, Natural Resources Canada, Major Projects Management Office
Facsimile 613-995-7555
E-mail jim.delaney@ NRCan-RNCan.gc.ca
Adrienne Menzies, NOVA Gas Transmission Ltd.
Facsimile 403-920-2347
E-mail adrienne_menzies @transcanada.com
444 Seventh Avenue SW
Calgary, Alberta T2P 0X8
444, Septieme Avenue S-C.
Calgary (Alberta) T2P 0X8
Cana (.1
Telephone/Téléphone : (403) 292-4800
Facsimile/Télécopieur: (403) 292-5503
http://www.neb.gc.ca
I.i
•
Natural Resources
Canada
Ressources natureHes
Canada
29 January 2014
President Arlene Lylyk
Fort St. John Métis Society
10011 100 Street
Fort St. John, BC V1J 3Y5
Facsimile 250-785-7207
-
Dear Ms. Lylyk:
The purpose of this letter is to provide you with information on the federal Crown’s
process for Aboriginal Crown consultation with respect to NOVA Gas Transmission
Ltd.’s proposed North Montney Project (the Project). The proposed Project is subject to
a review under the National Energy Board Act (NEB Act). The federal regulatory review
process for the project will be managed through the Government’s Major Projects
Management Office (MPMO) Initiative.
The Crown will rely on the National Energy Board’s (NEB) public hearing process, to the
extent possible, to fulfil any Crown duty to consult Aboriginal groups for the proposed
Project. Through the NEB process, the NEB will consider issues and concerns raised by
Aboriginal groups. The Crown will utilise the NEB process to identify, consider and
address the potential adverse impacts of the proposed Project on established or
potential Aboriginal and treaty rights through the following steps:
1) As part of its enhanced Aboriginal engagement process initiated after
receiving the Project Description, the NEB contacts potentially affected
Aboriginal groups by letter as well as by telephone, to introduce the federal
review process for the proposed Project. In addition, the NEB offers to meet
Aboriginal groups to provide further information on the process and how to
participate.
2) Aboriginal groups that have project-related concerns are encouraged to
discuss them with NOVA Gas Transmission Ltd. Unresolved concerns should
be conveyed to the NEB, either orally or in writing, through the NEB public
hearing process. To learn more about the proposed Project, the Application
submitted by NOVA Gas Transmission Ltd. may be accessed by going to the
NEB website (www.neb-one.pc.ca) and clicking on Regulatory Documents
“View” on the right-hand side. On the next screen, enter the following filing
numbers individually in the yellow box situated at the bottom on the left-hand
side: A55184, A55183, A55180.
3) Once the NEB has determined that the Application is complete, it will
schedule a hearing for the project review. The NEB will provide information
about the public hearing process, including options for those wishing to
participate. To facilitate participation in the NEB process, all regulatory
documents pertaining to the proposed project will be publicly available on the
NEB website.
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4) Other federal departments that determine that they have a regulatory
responsibility for the proposed Project will also participate in the NEB process
to further understand the concerns Aboriginal groups may have regarding the
possible effects of their federal regulatory decisions on potential or
established Aboriginal or treaty rights.
5) Federal authorizations for the proposed project will only be issued once the
Crown determines that its consultation obligations with respect to each of
these authorizations have been discharged.
If you wish to obtain more information regarding the MPMO Initiative in general or on the
overall Crown approach to consultation for projects subject to NEB reviews, please refer
to the MPMO’s website at www.mmo.Qc.ca and/or contact me at (613) 955-7526 or
[email protected] or Scott Clausen, Senior Policy Advisor with the MPMO,
at (613) 995-7506 or [email protected]. Should you have any questions
related to the NEB hearing process, please contact Carla Osborne at 1-800-899-1265
(NEB toll-free) or email [email protected].
Sincerely,
Jim Clarke
Director General, Policy
Major Projects Management Office