Selection of valued ecosystem components in cumulative effects assessment: lessons from Canadian road construction projects

Figures & data

Table 1 Details of the selected comprehensive study road construction IAs.

No	Project name	Proponent (Provincial jurisdiction)	Year of CSR/EIS	Road length (km)
1	407 East Transportation Corridor	Ontario Ministry of Transportation	2011	70
2	Athabasca Seasonal Road	Saskatchewan Highways & Trans	1996	180
3	Completion of Highway 35 between Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu and the US Border	Dept of Transport Quebec	2008	38^a
4	Greenville to Kincolith Road	BC Ministry of Transp. & Hwys	1999	24^b
5	Lake Winnipeg East Side Road Project	The Manitoba Floodway and East Side Road Authority	2011	156
6	Local Access Road – Highway 58, Fox Lake and Garden River	The Little Red River Cree Nation (AB)	2007	64.8
7	New Route 2 Trans-Canada Highway Perth-Andover to Woodstock	New Brunswick Dept. of Transp.	2004	70.7
8	St Theresa Point/Wasagamack Airstrip and Connecting Road	Manitoba Transp. & Govt. Services	2001	28^c
9	Trans Labrador Highway Project – Phase III	NL Dept. of Works, Services and Trans	2003	250
10	Waskaganish Permanent Road	Waskaganish Band Council (QC)	1999	102
11	Wollaston Lake Road	Saskatchewan Highways & Transp.	2007	100

a The project encroached into a migratory bird sanctuary.

b Road provided access to communities which lacked an all-season highway.

c Project included a runway greater than 1500 m in length.

Figure 1 Canadian road infrastructure projects subject to ‘comprehensive study’ environmental IA between 1995 and 2011.

Figure 2 VEC selection rationales identified in road construction projects. Note: Frequency in the table depicts number of cases in which a value is cited.

Figure 3 Project-specific VECs and CEA VECs identified in road construction projects.

Table 2 Definition of the term VEC provided in project CSRs.

Project	VEC Definition
407 ETR	Specific features or attributes of the environment that are considered to be important for regulatory reasons, or because of their social, cultural, economic or ecological value
Athabasca^a	None given^b
Completion of Hwy 35^a	Any part or aspect of the environment that is considered important by the proponent, the public, scientists, government or any other administrative entity involved in the assessment process
Greenville to Kincolith	None given^b
Lake Winnipeg ESR	None given^b
Highway 58	Components of the environment (biophysical, socio-cultural, and economic) that are valued by society
New Route 2 Trans-Canada^a	Components of the environment that may be affected by the project, and are of scientific, ecological or cultural importance
St Theresa/Wasagamack	None given^b
Trans Labrador (Phase III)	None given^b
Waskaganish	Component of the natural ecosystem which is perceived to be of social, cultural, economic or ecological significance as identified through consultation with affected people and through scientific opinion.
Wollaston Lake Road^a	None given^b

a The term ‘valued social component’ (VSC) was also used in these projects but none provides a definition different from the VEC concept adopted.

b No definition of ‘VEC’ is provided in the CSR.