Allegiance Coal files Tenas environmental assessment certificate application

Highlights

• The application for an environmental assessment certificate for the Tenas project has been filed by Telkwa Coal Ltd with the British Columbia Environmental Assessment Office, Canada (BC-EAO).
• This activates a nine month review process by the BC-EAO under the British Columbia Environmental Assessment Act 2002, summarised as follows:
• 1 – 2 month screening.
• Six months review.
• Two months for a joint decision by the Ministers for the Environment, and Energy, Mining & Natural Resources, respectively.
• While the review process is time regulated, the experience of other applications tells the company that it does take longer than nine months. How long will depend on the quality of the application that has been submitted.

While the 2002 Act was amended by the BC Environmental Assessment Act 2018 (2018 Act), which amongst other things introduced a new process for the review of such applications, the transitional provisions of the 2018 Act allowed the Tenas Project to be reviewed under the 2002 Act.

Chairman and CEO Mark Gray commented: “I am delighted to announce the EA Application for our Tenas Project has been lodged. While it is 15 months past our original target date, I cannot stress the enormity of reaching this milestone. A combination of prudence and caution in preparing the Application coupled with a voluntary nine month pause in the pre-application phase of the process by Telkwa Coal, at the request of the Office of the Wet’suwet’en (OW), were key reasons for the delay. We are, however, better placed in the knowledge that our application is more robust, and we have reached this point in consultation with the OW. We have also finalised a project assessment agreement with the OW to ensure they are resourced to participate in the environmental assessment application review.”

Read the article online at: https://www.worldcoal.com/coal/03032022/allegiance-coal-files-tenas-environmental-assessment-certificate-application/