NEB to continue hotly contested review of Kinder Morgan and Energy East
Natural Resources Minister Jim Carr told reporters Wednesday that ongoing oil pipeline reviews will continue on as usual, despite a promise by the federal Liberal government to make the environmental assessment process more robust.
“They have not stopped,” Carr said. “The process continues.”
Ongoing National Energy Board reviews will continue for projects like the Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain pipeline expansion even though the Liberal party platform promised an immediate review of the process, saying the renewed assessments will “restore robust oversight and thorough environmental assessments” and “restore lost protections” resulting from weakened environmental laws under the Stephen Harper government.
Minister Carr indicated the National Energy Board review process will undergo a transition but until that time, project reviews will remain unchanged.
“There will be a transition as we amend the ways in which the National Energy Board goes about the process of evaluating these projects,” Minister Carr said, “and we will announce those changes as soon as we can, but the process continues.”