BILL C-62 - First Reading

Environ- mental screening and review of projects	37. (1) In order to avoid unnecessary duplication and to ensure that projects are dealt with in a timely manner, the Board shall cooperate and coordinate its consideration of applications with the Nunavut Impact Review Board or any federal environmental assessment panel referred to in section 12.4.7 of the Agreement in relation to the screening of projects by that Board and the review of projects by that Board or panel.
Joint hearings	(2) The Board may, in lieu of conducting a separate public hearing in respect of a licence in connection with a project for which a public hearing is to be held by the Nunavut Impact Review Board or the panel referred to in subsection (1), as the case may be, conduct, in relation to the project, a joint hearing with that Board or panel or participate in the hearing of that Board or panel.
Restriction on powers: non-conformit y with plan	38. (1) The Board may not issue, amend or renew a licence to use waters or deposit waste if there is an applicable land use plan approved in accordance with Part 5 of Article 11 of the Agreement unless the Nunavut Planning Commission, in accordance with section 11.5.10 of the Agreement,
	(a) has determined that the use or deposit, or in the case of an amendment any change to the use or deposit, conforms to the land use plan; or
	(b) has approved a variance in respect of the use, deposit or change.
	The Board shall reject an application in relation to a licence where the Nunavut Planning Commission has informed the Board that the use, deposit or change to which the application relates does not conform to the land use plan and that the Commission will not be approving a variance.
Exemption	(2) Subsection (1) does not apply if an exemption has been obtained in accordance with section 11.5.11 of the Agreement.
Reconsidera- tion of application	(3) If an exemption is obtained after the Board has rejected an application, the Board must consider the application as if the rejection had not been made, and the date of the application continues to be the date on which the application was first made.
Restriction on powers: environ- mental review of projects	39. (1) The Board may not issue, amend or renew a licence to use waters or deposit waste where the use or deposit, or in the case of an amendment any change to the use or deposit, or the appurtenant undertaking requires screening in accordance with Part 4 of Article 12 of the Agreement, until the Nunavut Impact Review Board has completed the screening and, where a review under Part 5 or 6 of that Article is required, issued a project certificate referred to in section 12.5.12 or 12.6.17 of the Agreement.
Exception	(2) Notwithstanding subsection (1), where an appurtenant undertaking is required to be reviewed, the Board may, before the project certificate is issued, issue, amend or renew a licence to use waters or deposit waste in relation to exploration or developmental work related to the appurtenant undertaking, provided that
	(a) the use or deposit falls within Schedule 12-1 of the Agreement or can, in the judgement of the Nunavut Impact Review Board, proceed without the review; or
	(b) the licence is issued, amended or renewed for an interim, short-term period.
Other water authorities	40. Where the use of waters or the deposit of waste that is the subject of an application to the Board would have a significant impact on a use of waters or a deposit of waste in a national park or any place outside Nunavut, the Board may collaborate with any body exercising powers of water management for that park or place.
Marine areas	41. (1) The Board may, either jointly with the Nunavut Planning Commission, the Nunavut Impact Review Board and the Nunavut Wildlife Management Board, as established by the Agreement, acting as the Nunavut Marine Council referred to in section 15.4.1 of the Agreement, or on its own, advise and make recommendations respecting any marine area to any department or agency of the Government of Canada or the Government of the Northwest Territories, and those governments shall consider that advice and those recommendations when making any decision that may affect that marine area.
Definition of ``marine area''	(2) In this section, ``marine area'' means any waters, including those that are ice-covered, of the Nunavut Settlement Area, other than inland waters, and the seabed and subsoil below those waters.
	DIVISION 2
	LICENCES
	General Rules
Issuance	42. (1) Subject to this Act and on application, the Board may issue the appropriate licence.
Exception	(2) The Board may not issue a licence in respect of a use of waters described in paragraph 11(2)(b) or (c) or a deposit of waste described in paragraph 12(2)(b).
Refusal to issue licence	(3) The Board may not refuse to issue a licence merely because the regulations authorize the use of waters or the deposit of waste without a licence.
Renewal, amendment and cancellation	43. (1) Subject to this Act, the Board may
	(a) on application by the licensee, renew a licence, with or without changes to the conditions of the licence;
	(b) amend, for a specified term or otherwise, any condition of a licence
	(i) on application by the licensee,
	(ii) to deal with a water shortage, or
	(iii) where the Board considers the amendment to be in the public interest; and
	(c) cancel a licence
	(i) on application by the licensee,
	(ii) where the licensee, for three successive years, fails to exercise the licensee's rights under the licence, or
	(iii) where the Board considers the cancellation to be in the public interest.
Renewal and amendment	(2) Sections 57 to 75 apply in relation to the renewal or amendment of a licence.
Assignment of licences	44. (1) A sale or other disposition by a licensee of any right, title or interest in an appurtenant undertaking constitutes, subject to the authorization of the Board, an assignment of the licence to the person to whom the sale or other disposition is made.
Authoriza- tion of assignment	(2) The Board shall, on application, authorize the assignment of a licence if it is satisfied that the assignment and the operation of the appurtenant undertaking would not be likely to result in a contravention of any condition of the licence or any provision of this Part or the regulations.
Licence not otherwise assignable	(3) Except as provided in this section, a licence is not assignable.
Term	45. The term of a licence or any renewal shall not exceed twenty-five years.
Expiry or cancellation	46. The expiry or cancellation of a licence does not relieve the holder from any obligations imposed by the licence.
Precedence	47. Subject to section 62, where two persons hold licences or other authorizations to use waters issued by any authority responsible for the management of waters in the Northwest Territories, the person who first applied is entitled to the use of the waters in accordance with that person's licence or authorization in precedence to the other person.
	Applications in Relation to Licences
Require- ments	48. (1) An application in relation to a licence shall contain the information and be in the form required by the rules or by-laws of the Board, and be accompanied by the fees required by the regulations.
Information and studies to be provided to Board	(2) An application, except in relation to a cancellation, shall be accompanied by the information and studies concerning the use of waters or the deposit of waste that are required for the Board to evaluate the qualitative and quantitative effects of the use or the deposit on waters.
Guidelines for applicant	(3) On the filing of an application, the Board may provide guidelines to the applicant respecting the information to be provided by the applicant in respect of any matter that the Board considers relevant, including the following:
	(a) the description of the use of waters, deposit of waste or appurtenant undertaking, as the case may be;
	(b) the qualitative and quantitative effects of the use of waters or the deposit of waste on the drainage basin where the use is to be undertaken or the deposit is to be made, and the anticipated impact of the use or deposit on other users;
	(c) the measures the applicant proposes to take to avoid or mitigate any adverse impact of the use of waters or the deposit of waste;
	(d) the measures the applicant proposes to take to compensate persons, including the designated Inuit organization, who are adversely affected by the use of waters or the deposit of waste;
	(e) the program the applicant proposes to undertake to monitor the impact of the use of waters or the deposit of waste;
	(f) the interests in and rights to lands and waters that the applicant has obtained or seeks to obtain; and
	(g) the options available for the use of waters or the deposit of waste.
Delegation	49. The Board may delegate to its chief administrative officer the power
	(a) to issue, amend, renew or cancel a licence in relation to which no public hearing is required; and
	(b) to authorize, in accordance with subsection 44(2), the assignment of a licence.
	Procedure
Standing	50. In the exercise of its functions in relation to applications, the Board shall accord full standing to the following:
	(a) Tunngavik, or any other Organization, within the meaning of section 1.1.1 of the Agreement, designated by Tunngavik to make representations on behalf of the Inuit of Nunavut;
	(b) Makivik to make representations respecting the interests of the Inuit of northern Quebec in relation to islands and marine areas of the Nunavut Settlement Area traditionally used and occupied by those Inuit;
	(c) the councils of the Fort Churchill Indian Band and Northlands Indian Band to make representations respecting their interests in relation to the areas that those bands have traditionally used and continue to use; and
	(d) the councils of the Black Lake Indian Band, Hatchet Lake Indian Band and Fond du Lac Indian Band to make representations respecting their interests in relation to the areas that those bands have traditionally used and continue to use.
	The Board shall take the representations into account.
Applications determined summarily	51. (1) Applications in relation to licences for which no public hearing is required shall be dealt with summarily by the Board.
Exception	(2) Notwithstanding subsection (1), the Board may, where satisfied that it would be in the public interest to do so, hold a public hearing in connection with any matter relating to its objects.
Public hearing required	52. (1) Subject to subsection 37(2), a public hearing shall be held by the Board before it disposes of
	(a) any application in relation to a licence that is not of a prescribed class; and
	(b) an application for permission to expropriate under section 76.
Exception	(2) A public hearing need not be held
	(a) if the applicant or licensee consents in writing to the disposition of a matter without a public hearing, provided that no other person informs the Board by the tenth day before the day of the proposed hearing of the person's intention to make representations; or
	(b) before an application is rejected under subsection 38(1).
Place of hearing	53. A public hearing that is held by the Board shall take place at the community or communities within Nunavut most affected by the application before the Board.
Powers at hearings	54. The Board has, in respect of public hearings, the powers of a commissioner appointed under Part I of the Inquiries Act.
Notice of applications	55. (1) The Board shall give notice of every application in relation to a licence to the council of each municipality in the area affected by the application and shall publish the notice in a newspaper of general circulation in the area affected or, if there is no such newspaper, in such other manner as the Board considers appropriate. The notice shall invite interested persons to make representations within a specified period and shall advise them of the consequences, as provided in subsections 58(2) and 60(2), of any failure to respond to the notice.
Notice of hearings	(2) Where the Board decides or is required under this Part to hold a public hearing, it shall give notice, in the manner described in subsection (1), at least sixty days before the commencement of the hearing, of the place, date and time of the hearing. The place, date and time of the hearing must be chosen and the notice published by the Board in a manner that promotes public awareness and participation in that hearing.
Communica- tion of information	(3) Where a public hearing is held in relation to an application, the information provided to the Board in relation to the application shall be made available to the public within a reasonable period of time before the commencement of the hearing.
Where public hearing not held	(4) Where a public hearing is not held in relation to an application, the Board shall not act on the application until at least thirty days after notice of the application has been published under subsection (1) unless, in the opinion of the Board, there are urgent circumstances that justify the Board acting on that application in a shorter period, but that shorter period shall not be less than ten days.
Exception	(5) Subsections (1) and (4) do not apply in respect of an application for the amendment of a licence where the Board, with the consent of the Minister, declares the amendment to be required on an emergency basis.
	Conditions of Issuance
Approval of issuance	56. (1) The issuance, amendment, renewal and cancellation of a type A licence and, if a public hearing is held, a type B licence are subject to the approval of the Minister.
Reasons	(2) If the Minister makes a decision not to approve the issuance, amendment, renewal or cancellation of a licence, the Minister must give written reasons.
Limitation	(3) The disagreement of the Minister with the amount of compensation determined under paragraph 63(1)(b) is not sufficient reason for the Minister to withhold approval in respect of a licence for a use of waters or deposit of waste that may alter the quality, quantity or flow of waters flowing through Inuit-owned land.
Copies of decisions to parties	(4) The Minister shall send a copy of the Minister's decision and, in the case of a decision to withhold approval, the reasons for the decision
	(a) to the Board;
	(b) to the applicant or licensee;
	(c) where the affected waters are ones in respect of which section 63 applies, to the designated Inuit organization; and
	(d) to any other person with a right to compensation under section 58 or 60.
Conditions for issuance of licence	57. The Board may not issue a licence unless the applicant satisfies the Board that
	(a) any waste produced by the appurtenant undertaking will be treated and disposed of in a manner that is appropriate for the maintenance of the water quality standards and effluent standards that are prescribed by the regulations or, in the absence of such regulations, that the Board considers acceptable; and
	(b) the financial responsibility of the applicant, taking into account the applicant's past performance, is adequate for
	(i) the completion of the appurtenant undertaking,
	(ii) such measures as may be required in mitigation of any adverse impact, and

DIVISION 2

LICENCES