ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT OF INTERNATIONAL BORDER CROSSING PROJECTS

摘要

Canada and the United States are the world's largest trading partners, withrnalmost half of this trade crossing between the Province of Ontario and thernState of Michigan. The Sarnia/Port Huron area contains two of the majorrninternational transportation trade links; Canadian National's St. Clair RiverrnTunnel (rail) and the Blue Water Bridge (road).rnIn the early 1990's, the owners and operators of each of these facilitiesrnrealized that major capacity improvements would be required to servernincreasing demands and that these improvements should be in place asrnsoon as possible in order to keep the corridor competitive with alternativernlocations, particularly the Detroit-Windsor corridor 85km to the south.rnCapacity expansion was scheduled to proceed at each location on a fastrntrack program. Key to this accelerated schedule was the timely completionrnof environmental assessments, required as a prerequisite to obtaining allrngovernment approvals. This required that a comprehensive environmentalrndatabase be established with the early identification of potential projectrnissues.rnInvolvement of over 300 stakeholders and government agencies in the USrnand Canada was solicited for each of the capacity expansion projects.rnTransportation and environmental legislation in both countries wasrnreviewed to develop detailed work programs. A coordinated team ofrnlawyers, engineers, air quality specialists, noise and vibration experts,rnarchaeologists, land use planners, and other environmental specialistsrnensured that project work encompassed all areas of the environment, wasrnissue focussed and carried out in an efficient manner.rnThe purpose of this paper is to describe each study including key tasks,rnfactors considered, project alternatives, potential environmental impactsrnand mitigation measures. Also discussed are issues raised by intervenorsrnduring the permitting and approvals phase. Key study aspectsrncontributing to the success of each environmental assessment arernpresented as well as recommendations for carrying out similar fast trackrnprojects.